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The fingers were hot, moving with a purpose. They turned her arms over so her palms were facing up. Then she felt Saff pulling the sleeves of her jacket up, turning her arms, as if checking every angle.
Bite marks, Maddie realized. She was looking for bite marks.
The thought sent a fresh chill down her already frozen spine.
“I don't—I don't think it bit me,” she whispered, voice shaking and vibrating out of her pounding chest.
Saff said nothing as her hands continued up and reached her neck. She felt her checking her throat and the back of her neck, the hot fingers tracing over her skin in a quick and efficient way.
Then finally, Saff released a slight exhale of breath.
She wanted to ask, but she didn't think she could speak anymore without her voice quivering.
Then, as if Saff immediately read her thoughts, she answered the silent question. “No bite marks.”
They sat there for a few minutes that felt more like hours, before a strong breeze blew through, and Maddie began to shiver.
“Ready?” Saff rasped beside her.
Maddie nodded, placing her hand out to the side. She held it in midair until she felt Saff lift her arm up beneath it, hooking it and pulling her with her as she stood up.
Immediately, Maddie could feel the hard shivers running through Saff's arm. And she wondered for the first time if Saff had been hurt at all when she fought off the infected. Then she wondered how close, if at all, Saff had come to getting bitten in order to pull her out of the way.
Another chill traveled down her spine.
They began walking up the hill again, but this time felt different. Maddie couldn't help but hold on just a bit tighter to her arm. She hoped Saff wouldn't notice.
Then finally, after what felt like an eternity, they made it to ground that evened out. But still, Saff seemed to struggle even more than she had before.
“Did you get hurt at all back there?” Maddie asked, finally breaking their silence.
“No,” Saff answered, her voice barely a whisper.
She wasn't sure if she was telling the truth. She actually wasn't sure if Saff would tell her at all if she had been hurt.
A few more minutes of silence passed until suddenly Saff spoke.
“We're here.”
Chapter eleven
Saff stared through the clearing, still dimly lit by the gray light of the sun that had just dipped below the horizon.
A metal shed perched on one edge of the lot, and beside it, the old wooden structure that she and her father had camped out in each time they’d come when she was a child. Calling it a cabin would’ve been an overstatement, especially in its current condition. One wall appeared to have collapsed, taking half of the wooden roof down with it. And weeds had grown tall on all sides, reclaiming the wood back down into the earth.
But that wasn’t what she was looking for.
Her eyes drifted back to the metal shed.
Childhood memories of playing outside, while her father worked somewhere inside the shed—somewhere below it—floated back to her.
She took slow steps toward it, her body shivering through the cold air. Maddie’s hand tightened around her arm, as if trying to keep her steady.
She slowed as they approached the metal door. If she weren’t so out of it, maybe she would’ve thought to be morecautious. Maybe she would’ve thought to inspect the area more thoroughly for signs of zombies or humans. But she didn’t have the energy. She could feel her body slowly shutting down beneath the pain and fever.
Maddie hadn’t said a word since they’d come up the last hill, and Saff wondered if she was just as exhausted.
Saff took the last step to the door, where two broad, rust-coated locks hung from the door handle.