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“Saff?” she called out.
No response.
The grunting sound grew closer with every passing second.
Maddie swung her cane against the ground, back and forth in front of her in wide, fast arcs.
“Saff?” she called out again, louder this time.
And right as the word left her mouth, her cane suddenly hit against something.
Then, before she knew it, the grunting, moaning sounds were right in front of her.
A scream, strangled with shock and fear, tried to escape from her throat.
She had only a split-second thought that she needed to stab upward, trying to reach the head of the infected. And right as that thought crossed her mind, arms and hands slammed into her.
They knocked the air from her lungs, and she dropped her cane just in time to throw one arm up and push back against the solid chest in front of her.
The sickening sound of clacking teeth rang out just inches from her face.
She shrieked, stabbing the knife upward immediately in front of her.
The blade pierced easily through the flesh in front of her, but right away, she knew it wasn't high enough to be in its head. She tried to pull her arm back, to pull the knife back out, but something prevented it, as if the knife had lodged onto something and stuck inside the rotting body.
The hands grabbed at her, pulling her shoulders and chest closer. She struggled against the body as hard as she possibly could, throwing herself backward.
Her legs didn't move as fast as her upper body, and when she stepped back to catch herself, her foot caught against something on the ground. She toppled backward, her hands shooting back to catch against the hard-packed ground.
A feral snarl echoed out mere feet away.
She immediately pushed herself back up, but before she had a second to do anything else, a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her torso, lifting her into the air and spinning the opposite way.
This time, she screamed.
Her feet hit the ground again, but the arm didn't release its tight grip.
The infected groaned, now behind her for one split second, then she heard the sound of a knife piercing flesh.
Her hands scrambled, grabbing and pushing and pulling all at once against the arm that had entrapped her.
Then slowly she began to realize its familiarity.
She stopped struggling, and instead held on, keeping it there, keeping it wrapped around her like it was keeping her held together. Like it was theonly thingholding her together.
The thud of a body hit the ground. Then Saff immediately loosened her grip, sliding her arm out from around her.
Maddie silently wished she would have kept it there.
Her quaking legs gave out, slumping to the ground.
Leaves crunched beside her, paired with Saff’s harsh breathing.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins like nothing she’d ever felt before. Not even when their settlement had been attacked and they’d had to flee. Not even when the infected had attacked their group as they traveled.
This was different. Never before had she come so close to being bit.
A few moments went by, and then soft hands wrapped around her wrists.