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She didn’t look good. Had he been unaw
are of the situation that the country was in, he would have thought that she was a hobo living on the streets. Her red hair was full of filth and her face was dirty. There were bags under her eyes and grime underneath her fingernails. She looked like she needed a bath. But at least she looked warm which was more than he could say about himself. The three piece suit he wore barely kept the cold away.
“We didn’t know that there were more survivors out here,” the woman stated, as she began to remove her coat before draping it across his body. She caught a glance of his leg as she covered him.
“Oh, that looks nasty! We need to get you to the health care center. Carlisle might be able to help you there. You haven’t been walking on it, have you?”
“I didn’t particularly have a choice to.”
“Ah, I see,” the woman stated, as she nodded her head. “Well, it ain’t too far, not where we’re going.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
A puzzled look made its way across her features and she seemed genuinely surprised by his words. “Now, why would you say something stupid like that?” she scolded him, placing her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow up at him. “Obviously, you are unless you have a death wish.”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you this, sweetie, but this person is probably gone at this point. I doubt you’d even be able to find the body if you were looking. Now, come on,” she urged him, beginning to reach for his arm. Xander knew that her intent was only to help him but he didn’t want her help, not when he didn’t have the girls with him.
He jerked his arm away.
“They’re not dead,” he stated, his voice stern because he didn’t want to consider that possibility.
“How can you be so sure?” she raised an eyebrow at him again. She wasn’t sure of how many people they were talking about any longer. “When was the last time you saw this person?”
The question made Xander frown. It was one that he didn’t know the answer to.
“Well,” the red head asked, growing impatient.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, his words cold.
“Don’t go snapping at me because you can’t handle the truth,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Who is it that you’re looking for?”
Xander studied her, as if unsure whether or not he could trust her. He wasn’t a proud man and often he would relent whenever he thought that he needed help but this was different. Their country had just been attacked, their population dying. It left him not trusting. He didn’t know how long he’d been out and that only helped to raise his suspicion of her. Still, with how she looked, he doubted she was anything more than a survivor that had managed to live through the attack. He sighed in defeat. “My sister and her friend.”
Oh, we’re talking about two people, Harper thought.
“And just how old are they?”
“Eleven.”
The woman nodded her head. “Are the three of you from here? From Chicago?”
“Yes. But not from this neighborhood.”
“Why did you stop here?”
“It’s my sister’s birthday. I was supposed to pick her and her friend from the amusement park. Look, why does any of this matter?”
“I suppose it doesn’t.”
Before either of them could say anything else, the sound of a loud growl interrupted them, making Xander’s eyes widen as he quickly looked around them. The sound had been so dangerous and much closer than he was pleased to admit. It made him gulp. “What was that?” he asked, turning around to face the woman.
She was looking into the distance, her eyes scanning for something before she checked behind her. When her brown eyes came back to meet his, he could see the worry clouding them before she coughed and cleared her throat. “My guess is a bear.”
Xander choked on his own spit. “Maybe it’s just me but I don’t remember reading about wild bears running free around this area otherwise I may have picked a different amusement park.”
She rolled her eyes. “They’re not wild.”
