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When they made it to the end of the alleyway, Saff stopped them, peering out into the empty street.
If Mike was there, the others had to be somewhere close by.And they couldn’t afford to run into them.
She tugged Maddie forward, her breathing quick and sporadic.
They slowly made their way down the street, staying as close to the wall of the buildings as possible.
If Mike had already spotted them before they’d gone down the alley, that meant there was a good chance he’d been perched somewhere, waiting—watching. And if that was the case, then the others probably were, too.
They crossed over to the next block, and Saff immediately caught two zombies ambling by in the distance, far enough away that they hadn’t noticed them yet.
She stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Maddie whispered, her voice still shaking. “Are you okay?”
She turned inward to Saff, her shaky hand instantly grabbing the collar of her hoodie.
“Zombies,” she breathed.
In any other case, she would’ve jogged ahead and easily taken them out. But this time, she couldn’t. Even if she tried, she knew she wouldn’t have the energy, or be able to move fast enough to get them both before they got her.
She cast a glance down the street to their right. Then she turned them that way, pulling Maddie without another word.
They made it another two blocks before hearing the gunshots.
They were still far away, but closer this time, and Saff continued, even when Maddie froze in place.
She couldn’t stop. Not yet.
“We need to hurry,” Saff gritted, as her head waded through the fog that had begun to dull her senses.
She forced through, her body miraculously obeying as it placed one foot after the next, urging them down the next street.
They made it down three more blocks before they heard the next barrage of gunfire, this time much closer.
Maddie didn’t say a word, just surging ahead. As if she would get them there on sheer will alone.
And then Saff finally saw it.
The buildings ahead thinned out to reveal a dark blue ocean on the other side.
And when they reached the end of the block, there it was.
The road she’d memorized a thousand times on the map.
Her body seemed to know it too. Every ounce of pain surged back, as if it’d been waiting for that exact moment. Like it had known that it had one last task to complete before letting go.
She swallowed, a new lightness swelling in her chest.
They crossed the short distance to the start of the road.
“There’s—there’s a guard rail—on the right,” Saff rasped. “Can you feel it?”
Maddie moved her cane to the side, a light clang ringing out as it tapped against the metal.
“Follow it.“ Saff took short shallow breaths, trying to force the words out. “All the way.”
Maddie shook her head, her grip hardening against her arm. But even then, the pressure felt dull, like her nerve endings were only half firing.