AVERY’S POV
My brain short circuited.
Oh.
Hannah froze behind me, her breath hitching.
“Is thatㅡ”
Tentatively, I took a step forward, careful and cautious ㅡ like I would if I was trying not to scare off a stray cat.
“Hey… Are you okay?”
The little girl didn’t move, her gaze flicked between the three of us before eventually resting on me.
“I’m looking for my…mum.”
Hannah adjusted the strap of her bag, muttering under her breath.
“Me too. Me too.”
I shot her a glare and turned back to the girl.
“Come. What’s your name? We don’t wanna hurt you.”
Her shoes scuffed against the pavement, riddled with holes and dirt as she came closer, staring at the three of us warily.
“Those things were following you,” she stated.
My gaze quickly flicked over her, searching for any sign of injury or worse ㅡ that iridescent fluid.
“What’s your name?”
She finally stopped in front of me, looking up at me with her lips pulled in a thin line.
“Nadia.”
Hannah, as though on cue searched her carefully, checking for any anomalies.
Normal.
The girl was normal.
I let out a huge sigh of relief, nodding to Joel who was staring at the entrance of the car park, as though waiting for a Fractured to stumble through the opening.
“Well, Nadia. Who were you with?” I crouched down to her level.
Upclose, I noticed the bruise forming on her left cheek.
How long had she been out here alone?
“My mum. She told me to stay put here and I haven’t seen her since. I’ve been here for about…three days.”
My heart sank.
Three days.
I straightened up again and looked at Hannah and Joel.
“We can’t just leave her here. A 10 year oldㅡ”
“12 year old.” Nadia corrected with a slight huff and a grumble.
Right.
I paid her no attention.
“We take her with us.”
Joel glanced down at her.
“Are we seriously babysitting right now?” But his words held no bite.
Hannah nodded towards the girl’s bag.
“What’s in there, Nadia?”
The girl hesitated then unstrapped the hello kitty bag, unzipping it before turning it to us.
My gaze darted around the items in it.
Chocolate bars.
A half finished bottle of water that was crumpled under tension.
And a photograph.
She must have caught me staring at the photograph because she quickly zipped the bag back up.
I raised a finger to my lips.
“Quiet. We’re not leaving you. You just have to promise that you’ll listen and stay close at all time, yes? I’m Avery. This is Hannah and that is Joel. We’re not gonna hurt you, okay?”
There was a brief pause as we all just stared at her and she stared back at us with large unblinking eyes.
“I promise.”
Good.
I spun around to Joel.
“Think we can crash somewhere?”
He nodded to the end of the carpark at the other end, leading us back into open street.
“Definitely not here for sure. I’ll go ahead and scout a building for us. Draw out anything that is dangerous and then I’ll signal you guys.”
Hannah dug into her backpack, fishing out a flashlight.
“Here. Be careful.”
Joel nodded solemnly, fingers gripping the crowbar he picked up.
“Five minutes.”
Then he was jogging off.
I turned to Nadia, looking down at her frail figure.
I wondered if she had any siblings.
If she was scared.
Her face gave nothing away ㅡ a lot of steel for a child.
We stood around for what felt like eternity, the crickets chirping around us and I listened for any strange sounds.
Nothing.
Even the Rig in the distance had gone silent.
“Do you think he got held down by a hoarde?” Hannah whispered beside me after a bit, her voice a worried hush as she stared off into the distance.
Jerking back to reality, my gaze flickered to the distance where Joel had disappeared to a while ago.
“I don’t know, maybe I should go check.”
Nadia who was leaning against a beat up car perked up.
“What are you guys talking about?”
My fingers tightened around the gun in my belt.
He was taking time.
What if something hadㅡ
“Oh thank fuck for thatㅡ” Hannah suddenly took a breath of relief as a flash of light came on in the distance.
One flash.
Then two more.
A signal.
I turned to Nadia.
“We’re moving now.”
We moved low, blending in with the dark as we made our way back into the city.
The light had come from a row of severely damaged buildings.
Particularly from one on the western block.
We found Joel at the door of a toy store, his crowbar still tight in his hands.
“You okay?” I whispered as we neared the door.
He nodded.
“One stray. Took me a while to take it down.”
My gaze flicked down to the body near the door.
I immediately looked away, pulling Nadia in before she could take a good look at it.
We shut the door behind us and I opened the blinds partially to have a good look at the street.
The building itself wasn’t inherently creepy ㅡ Okay, fuck it.
It was.
Tall and fluffy bears occupied the corners.
Dark, looming figures that looked like something was about to pop out from behind.
I tore my gaze away, watching as the others settled in.
“We have a few hours until dawn. Also a long stretch of road to cover so get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.”
There were no arguments.
Everyone was too tired and strung up to argue so they huddled in the corner, trying to make makeshift beds comfortable enough before they drifted off to sleep.
My head tipped back against one of the table, my breathing slow and steady in the building.
My gaze remained on the barricaded door and my fingers were still resting on the gun beside me.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
Maybe an hour?
But the radio crackled.
For a second, I stiffened, unsure if I had heard right.
Then it crackled again.
Immediately, I dashed for my backpack laying lazily on the marble floor, fingers trembling as I pulled it out.
Static.
Fuck.
I leaned back against the table, fiddling with it and trying to find the right channel.
What if it was something important?
Or someone trying to reach anybody else?
The glow of the radio illuminated my face on the dark as I hunched in the corner, trying different channels.
Thenㅡ
“Oi. You got visual?” A gruff voice crackled through the radio.
My brows knitted and I listened carefully.
These were humans.
What were they talking about?
Another voice sounded a second later.
“Toy shop. Seems like they’re closed in for the night. Should we close in?”
My heart jumped and I looked around.
Toy store?
This…was a toy store.
The first voice came in again, casual and bored.
“No. Morning. They’ll come to us eventually. We take what they have and move on to the next.”
“Copy.”
Then static.
My eyes were blown wide and I just gripped the radio that had gone silent in my hand.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I just heard.
I immediately knew who they were.
Scavengers.