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I gave Turik a disgruntled look. “You should have told me.”
He grunted. That was it. Likely, he wouldn’t ever complain about what I made.
I thought about Nat and how he would throw a plate of food at the wall because he hadn’t liked it. Turik’s reaction was the far better one. If I had someone cooking for me on a more permanent basis, I sure wouldn’t complain about anything they made, either. I’d want to keep them happily cooking for me. Turik was a smart man.
“Ryan’s in the study again, looking at the maps and pulling out his hair. Why don’t you see if you can keep him from premature baldness?”
“I can hear you,” Ryan called.
Julie grinned, and Ryan looked up at us when Turik and I entered.
“Just the people I was hoping to talk to today. Can you tell me more about the subdivision you found? I know you ran into infected and a hound and that you thought the place had promise, and that’s about it.”
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.” I sat in the chair across from him. “The attack happened so fast that I didn’t have the time to count the houses, but the number looked decent enough. Eden’s sounded more promising, though, with the pond in the middle.”
“I agree, but there has to be a reason those infected were in that house with the hound. Some resource we might have missed.”
I frowned in thought. “I hadn’t considered that. After having that hound chase after me in daylight and Vorx’s injuries, I just wanted to get back here.”
“I’m not criticizing,” Ryan said. “You made the right choice. There’s no point in risking more lives than necessary, which is why I’m debating going back there at all. Is the potential for a resource enough of a reason to warrant the risk? If the infected were there once, would it be unsafe to settle there? It’s not as close as Tenacity, but neither is Eden’s neighborhood.”
His hands crept toward his hair.
“If there is some kind of resource there, it’s been there for months and will probably be there in another few months. There’s no rush to check it out or stress over it. Did you find any promising sites?” I asked.
“Nothing extensive like this place. A small subdivision here and there. Like you, I noted some houses with solars that we can scavenge, but that’s about it.”
“It would be smarter to scout out Eden’s site first. Before the infected notice our interest and flood that location like they did the one I found.”
He nodded and looked down at the maps again.
“You’re right. I just can’t help but wonder what would make the infected protect a hound like that.”
“You think they were protecting it?” Turik asked.
“I do. It’s just like the farm where we found June. The infected were inside the barn with it. They’d killed a few of the animals, but not many. Did you see any cows roaming around or find any in the house when you cleared it out?”
“None,” Turik said.
“So that leaves one other reason they were in that subdivision,” Ryan said somberly.
“More humans?” Turik’s expression turned troubled, and he glanced at me. “Females?”
“Exactly,” Ryan said. “Well, about people being there, not about their genders. I can’t think of any other reason the infected and hound would work together, can you?”
“I must speak with Drav. Stay here, Shelby.” With a steely glint in his eyes, Turik looked at Ryan. “Keep her safe.”
Turik strode away, leaving Ryan smirking at me.
“You know what that means,” Ryan said after the front door closed. “Turik’s calling dibs.”
“I figured that out yesterday when he told you not to kiss me.” I shook my head ruefully. “I’ve explained to both him and Vorx that I’m not interested in a new man. They hear me, but they aren’t really listening.”
“According to Mya, she had the same trouble with Drav. Look where that landed her.”
“I’m honestly trying not to think about that. Surviving one day at a time is enough. Speaking of surviving, we need to figure out where my ex-husband went.”
He studied me for a long moment.
