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"Leaving in a minute," Saff mumbled through the roll of tape she held between her teeth as she ripped open the gauze with her hands.
Maddie nodded and began slowly gathering up her things.
Saff winced as she poured the rubbing alcohol over the wound. She wiped off the excess that dripped down onto her hip and stuck the gauze over it.
Then she stood, feeling the tape tug against her skin with every movement. "Have your knife out."
"I don't have it anymore. That guy took it," Maddie answered as she placed the jug of water into her bag.
Saff frowned, reaching down into her backpack. She pulled out one of many medium-sized blades.
"Put your hand out," she breathed, hoisting the backpack onto her shoulder.
Maddie hesitated for a moment as she put her bag on her own shoulders, then tentatively held her palm up in the air.
"There's a sheath on the blade," Saff muttered, placing the knife handle into Maddie's hand.
Maddie turned the knife over, fingers gliding over the details of the handle. "Thanks," she said, a hint of surprise in her tone.
Saff adjusted the backpack on her shoulders, then turned towards the door.
"Let's go."
Chapter six
Compared to everything else that had happened over the last two days, this was almost boring.
They’d walked for at least an hour without running into any infected people. And although Maddie was grateful to finally not be in immediate danger, walking for hours in silence wasn't exactly her idea of a good time.
"So," she finally started, "how much farther do we have to go?"
It took a few moments for Saff to answer. "Couple miles."
The pause didn't inspire much confidence.
"How many times have you gone this way?" Maddie asked. Then, as the silence dragged on, anxiety slowly swelled in her chest. The last thing she needed was to get lost again. "I mean," Maddie continued with slight hesitation, "you do know where you're going, right?"
Saff let out a dismissive snort. "I know where to go.”
Maddie shifted her hand around Saff's arm, the doubt dying off. She couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but there was something different in the air where they were now. Something in the way it smelled or felt.
"Is it different here from where we were before?" she asked.
"Different how?"
"I don't know," Maddie mumbled. "Does it look different?"
Saff went quiet for a few moments, and Maddie wondered if she was going to get an answer. She’d quickly come to realize that the odds of getting any verbal response from Saff were about fifty-fifty at best. Although it didn’t bother her as much as before. In a weird way, the woman's silences were almost more of answers than any words could have been.
"No more skyscrapers,” Saff finally muttered. “Some trees, I guess."
"Are there still buildings?" Maddie asked.
Saff cleared her throat. "Yeah."
“Houses?”
"No." She cleared her throat again. "Industrial buildings."