“Well, one of us has a niece, and the other doesn’t.” I wiggled my thumb in Brynn’s fist. “I used to spend a lot of time with Ruby.”
“She’ll be hanging out to see you again.” Sadie went quiet for a minute, then shifted in her seat and glanced over at the public toilets. “Will you be okay for two minutes? I want to pay a visit while I have the chance.”
“Take the sword with you, just in case.” I stroked Brynn’s head, still coming to terms with being responsible for her wellbeing in a world that had never felt less safe.
“I won’t be long.” Sadie pushed off the seat and scooped up the sword, traipsing off with a more carefree bounce in her step now she’d offloaded the main source of her stress.
“Don’t forget to check for the dead before you go in there,” I called after her.
She threw me a smile over her shoulder.
I watched her walk away, a woman I’d only admired from afar until a few weeks ago. So much had changed since we had our first conversation on the rooftop.
Now there was no more rooftop. No Laura, Owen, and the girls.
We were starting fresh… with a baby.
Thirty-Four
theo
My back straightened, and I stared at the opposite side of the rest area where vegetation grew dense enough to form a wall. The wind had been blowing steadily while we sat here, rustling bushes and eucalyptus trees, but this sound was different. Crunching leaves.
Brynn kept her eyes on me, her hands locked around the bottle. Sadie had just gone into the women’s side of the toilet block. If I yelled out for her to come back, I’d only attract more attention.
I angled my head, listening hard. The sound came again, and any doubt I’d had about what I was listening to disappeared.
Multiple sets of footsteps were coming this way, pushing through the grass and thick shrubs.
“Why don’t we get out of here, Brynnie?” I stood and grabbed the tin of formula with my free hand, sacrificing the jar of food.
She whimpered at the sudden shift in position, clutching the bottle tightly enough I didn’t need to worry about her dropping it.
I paused and waited for visual confirmation.
The first figure broke through the line of trees, a shadow emerging from the darkness.
Then another. And another.
Three more followed the leading cluster.
A red hatchback zipped past on the highway, the driver giving a few warning beeps despite having no intention of stopping. A glimpse of humanity hanging in there.
The group drifted toward us, bodies close enough they jostled one another.
The smell finally reached me, forcing me into action.
Sadie and I had taken on more infected together in that foyer this morning, but we didn’t have Brynn with us then.
The baby bobbed against me as I rushed to the ute and yanked open the passenger door. Pulse racing, I deposited her on the seat, reminding myself to be careful with her. Before she could register I was leaving her behind, I slipped the axe from the footwell and dumped the formula tin in its place.
I blew out a breath, unable to meet her eyes as I shut the door.
Axe in hand, I sprinted across the bitumen, focused on the next task.
Each of the infected showed signs of their violent deaths, clothes torn and smeared with blood, some missing body parts, and others with their insides on the outside. One man shuffled in bare feet, wearing only a pair of boxers.
“Sadie!” I ran straight inside the entrance on the left and pulled up short.
