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Saff's jaw clenched in annoyance. "We're about to finish this. You don't need to know the name of someone you're never going to see again."
She expected another irritated retort, but this time, the girl remained quiet.
And Saff was glad for the silence; she needed time to think about how they could approach the hotel.
They continued on like that the rest of the way, crossing block after block, with Saff silently checking the crossroads each time.
Until eventually, she could see the tall skyscraper with the hotel's logo at the top. They were only two blocks away. It was time to slow their approach. She'd been in this area of downtowna few times before, just passing through, and she knew it was a hotbed for zombies. They would need to be extra careful.
Saff slowed them to a full stop.
“Are we here?” the girl asked beside her.
She grunted, glancing around, looking for any opportunity to gain higher ground. But she couldn't see anything obvious. They would need to go closer.
She pulled them forward, crossing the street to the last block before the hotel.
And right as they stepped up the next curb, a zombie came around the corner. He wasn't close yet, at least twenty feet away, but he grunted loudly, quickening his pace when he spotted them.
“Is that—”
“Don't move,” Saff whispered, drawing the knife off her belt. She flipped it in her hand, catching it with the blade pointed at the ground. Then she jogged toward him, staying light on her feet to avoid making too much noise.
She approached easily. Then, in one swift movement, before he could do much of anything, she lifted the knife and swung down, piercing it through his soft skull.
He went limp, falling to the cement with a light thump.
She glanced behind her, then took a few steps forward to see around the corner from where he had come. From there, she could see the entire front of the hotel and the entrance to the lobby.
Three zombies wandered aimlessly in the street in front of the hotel. But beyond that, it was relatively clear.
She took one more quick look around, then turned and jogged back to the girl.
“There are more of them in front of the hotel,” Saff said as she hooked the knife back onto her belt temporarily. “You should hide in this building while I take care of them.”
“Oh–uh–okay,” the girl replied, her hand instantly going to her backpack and pulling out her white cane.
Saff took one more quick glance around the street before leading her into the building they stood in front of.
It looked to be the small lobby of some type of office building, and after a second, she spotted a bathroom door off to the left of the main desk. She led them to it, then opened the door slowly with her hand on the knife, ready in case there were any zombies waiting inside.
Luckily, there was nothing but one toilet and sink—a single family bathroom.
“Go in and lock the door. When I'm done clearing the front of the hotel, I'll come back.”
The girl nodded slowly, using her cane to navigate inside. Saff closed the door behind her, then waited until she heard the lock click into place.
She turned and jogged back out the door onto the sidewalk.
The first two zombies went down with no challenge at all.
After stabbing the second one, she pulled her knife out, shaking the thick burgundy blood off the blade. She turned around, holding her hand up to her forehead to block the midday sun. It was getting later than she’d originally planned.
She made a mental note to speed up their pace once they got inside the hotel.
After another second of looking around, she spotted the last zombie of the bunch. She jogged toward him, and his head lurched up upon detecting her. She slowed to a walk, adjusting the knife in her hand. Then, in one swift movement, she lunged and jammed the knife upward through his jaw.
She shook the knife off one more time, then turned back toward the office building behind her.