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“Where’s everyone else?”I asked.
“Sleeping in the tent or standing guard somewhere, which is what I was doing, by the way.Standing guard.”
I side-glanced at Steve, who was grinning at me.
“Spit it out,” I said.
“Molev asked me to watch over you so you wouldn’t wake up and wonder where he was.He also told me to tell you he’d like you to stay on the roof and to call him if you need him.”
Another distant howl rang out.I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t sound like the first one.That meant two hounds were out there.
“How long has that been going on?”I asked.
“About ten minutes.”
“Where’s Patrick?”I asked.
Steve nodded toward the far side of the roof, and I started that way.When he kept pace with me, I glanced at him again.
“Molev told you to stick with me all night, didn’t he?”I asked.
“Yep, two seconds after Patrick gave me orders to guard the wall.Patrick wasn’t happy, but I’d rather deal with an angry Patrick than an annoyed Molev, you know?”
I did know and agreed with Steve’s choice.However, I didn’t fully agree with Molev’s.Asking Steve to babysit me was a waste of Steve’s time.But if it allowed Molev to stay focused on what he was doing, so be it.
Patrick saw our approach and broke away from the soldier he’d been speaking with to meet us halfway.Frustration radiated from him.
“Andie, I’m glad you’re here.We need Molev to go after those hounds before they discover us.”
“And what did he say when you told him that?”
“He refused to leave, stating that he was needed here.”Patrick rubbed a hand over his head.“I get that he’s worried about you, Andie, but we need him to understand the bigger picture.”
“And what’s the bigger picture?”I asked.
“Yours isn’t the only life that matters.There are fifty other immediate people counting on him and millions more beyond that.He has a responsibility.”
“He’s well aware of that, which is why he’s staying close and not taking any unnecessary risks.Besides, those hounds aren’t after the infected.They hunt us.And they always hunt in pairs or packs.If he leaves to try to track one down, what do you think the other one will do?”
“We have the lights,” Patrick said.
“We still have the lights on because Molev is killing the infected.Look at the body piles.If he wouldn’t be killing them, they would be trying to find their way in.We would be shooting, which would draw even more in.Then what?”
“You’re acting like we’ve never been in a situation like this before?We’ve held—”
“Patrick, look around.The infected are changing.When we were in the field in the beginning, the infected moved slower and didn’t care about light.As they got faster and smarter, we lost more lives.There are seven of us are left.Seven, Patrick.And that’s because of Molev.Start trusting him before you’re the one who costs us more lives.”
“And when the hounds come?”Patrick asked angrily.“We both know he can’t fight two at once.”
“He won’t need to.While he’s fighting one, the other will be trying to find its way to us.All we need to do is keep the lights going and wait for Molev to finish them off one at a time.”
“I hope you’re right, Andie.For all of our sakes.”Patrick strode away to the next guard stationed on the roof.
“Where’s Sid?”I asked.
Steve pointed him out along the edge of the roof, and we jogged over.
“Did we bring anything that would slow a hound?”I asked.
