Page 53 of Bound in Ashes

We got close, maybe a hundred yards away. Still not obscured, but close enough to the tree line that it’d be easy to duck forward if it came to that.

“Whoever’s in there needs to come out.”

I looked at the trees swaying slightly. Easy to mistake for a nice early morning breeze.

I pulled out my gun.

“Final warning.”

I said nothing else. There was no need to. I made myself clear, and if whoever was hiding in the woods didn’t want to die, they’d step out.

I waited a moment, clicking the safety off. Ready.

“Here we come,” a man called.

The leaves rustled, the branches swaying heavily.

“I… we’re sorry…we had nowhere else to go.”

As he spoke, the man emerged, his hands up. Forty. Middle manager-looking type.

“Why are you here?”

“Is this the Griffin farm?” the man said.

I looked at the gun, then looked at the man. “I’m asking the questions.”

“Our… the subdivision, it’s gone. Those… things were everywhere. We stayed as long as we could, but⁠—”

The man dropped his arms, his face crumbled.

“Who’s we?” I said.

“Come on out, guys,” the man said.

Leaves rustled, and six more people filed out. Another man, about the same age. Two women. Four children, preteens and teenagers from the looks of it, stepped out.

“We had nowhere else to go,” the first man said.

“How do we know you’re not here to rob the place?” I said.

The man laughed. “Do I look insane?” he said.

“Never judge a book by its cover,” I responded.

He shrugged.

“Yeah. But Mr. Griffin’s always been decent. We were hoping…”

“Farm’s closed⁠—”

“We’ll go talk to him,” he said.

I looked back at Asia, who stared at the group, her eyes soft.

Sympathetic.

Fuck.