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Right as she did, a flash of movement caught her attention.
Then, before she had even a split second to reach for her rifle, it happened.
Something hit against her head with a sickening crack.
Then everything went black.
Chapter four
Something had to be wrong.
There was no way it should be taking so long.
Maddie tapped her fingers restlessly against the side of her cane. Could something have happened? Or maybe this was her weird way of backing out on their arrangement?
Maddie pursed her lips. She had a hard time believing that. This woman didn't seem like the type that had trouble saying no to someone. If she were going to back out, she would've said so.
She let out a frustrated breath, pushing herself off the wall where she'd been leaning. Maybe she could give it another five minutes.
No.Her eyes rolled internally. It had already been five more minutes. And five more before that. Now that time was up. It had to have already been a little over an hour, which seemed like too long.
And that led to one conclusion. Something was wrong.
Maddie’s stomach churned uneasily.
She couldn't stay in the bathroom forever, but what was the alternative? She didn't know this area of the city. They had tobe somewhere near the edge, where it turned into freeways and roads leading to the suburbs and countryside. But where exactly, she wasn't sure.
Maddie loosed another frustrated breath, leaning forward to rest her chin against the handle of the cane where it stood.
The only solution involved going outside, and it wouldn't help to wait any longer.
She tightened the straps on her backpack and pulled out her one small knife, flicking it open in her hand. Then she turned the lock on the door and slowly tugged it open.
A large rectangular source of light shined some distance ahead, which must have been the entrance.
She moved slowly toward it, counting out each step.
This time she wouldn't make the same mistakes as before. She'd make mental notes of everything in the building and outside just in case she had to navigate back to safety at some point.
She paid attention to every detail of how the room was oriented and how far back the bathroom was from the front. Then she paused, listening for any noise out of place as she neared the entrance.
She slipped her glasses back on as she finally stepped outside into the overpowering sunlight.
There weren't any noises that she could immediately hear, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. If she could hear a horde of infected people right off the bat, then she could make an assumption about what had happened to her temporary guide. But instead, she was still left wondering.
She took a few careful steps, moving the cane back and forth across the sidewalk, while letting her other hand that held the knife gently pass its knuckles across the building beside her.
Then suddenly, she stopped.
Voices.
She could hear voices. They weren't loud enough to discern, too muffled by the distance, but she could tell they were somewhere close by.
She half turned to go back to hide, but then paused. What if, by some miracle, they were people from her group? It was definitely possible that more of them could have been separated and had the same idea they did to come into the city for more supplies.
She stood still, waiting, contemplating.
Even if it posed a risk, she had to know for sure one way or the other.