After 30 Days

Eight -Day 36

I burst from the trees just a few steps behind Maggie and Shawn. Rex had started barking wildly a few seconds before, and the first thing I noticed was him jumping up on the side of the suv, still barking. Peering out from the front seat, I could just make out Luna's pale face through the tinted windows.

The second thing I noticed? Charlie was conspicuously absent from our makeshift camp.

Fanning out a little as we hurried toward the suv, I wasn't the only one who was hyper aware of everything around us. The trees closed in menacingly on either side of the road, blocking whatever could be out there from my view.

Luna shoved the door open, nearly tumbling from the seat to the road in her haste. She and the dog got tangled up with each other before she bounced back to her feet and bolted straight at Shawn.

"Are you ok, kiddo?" He held her at arms length, searching for any reason for the hair raising scream she had made.

Tears had cleaned her dirty cheeks. Nodding mutely, she buried her face in his shirt. At least she seemed ok, other than being so shook up.

Our sprint through the woods had left me panting. Trying to control my breathing, I switched my attention to the camp. In our absence, it looked like Charlie had finished packing our belongings. The few things that had been scattered near the fading fire were gone, the charred pieces of wood surrounded by depressions in the sparse grass left by sleeping bodies all that was left. It all looked rather peaceful.

Maggie kept scanning the trees as she asked the questions churning in my mind, "Luna, what happened? Where's Charlie?"

Giving her face another wipe with Shawn's now wet shirt, she looked at Maggie. "That lady, she came back while we were cleaning up. She had a knife. Charlie chased her away," she buried her face again. I had to listen closely to make out the rest of her mumbled reply. "I got in the car and locked the door. Shoulda helped Charlie."

My heart skipped a beat to hear Charlie had gone after an attacker on her own. She was arguably the most capable person in our group, but anything could happen in this strange new world. At the same time, the girl's mumbles made my heart squeeze in sympathy. She felt like she had done something wrong.

Maggie stopped surveying our surroundings to pat Luna on her shoulder, "It's ok. You did the right thing, Luna. Always keep yourself safe, no matter what."

A noise in the trees broke up the moment. Something big was coming towards us, fast. I barely had time to step in between the girl and whatever it was, before a relieved exhale exploded from me.

Bill came running out of the woods with Maya right behind him. They wore identical expressions of worry. Seeing us standing near the suv, they slowed.

"What's going on?" Bill leaned over to rest his hands on his knees. He still really wasn't in good enough shape to run. He was going to pay for the exertions later.

"It sounds like Jackie came back and was up to something. Charlie chased her off, but now we don't know where she is."

"We're going to have to go look for her. Luna says Jackie had a knife," Maggie added.

Alex crashed his way awkwardly into the camp at that moment, breathing raggedly and sweating profusely. Maggie shot him an annoyed look before hiding the expression behind the take charge demeanor I'd come to expect from the woman.

"Ok, this is what we're going to do. Alex, you're going to stay here with Luna. The two of you stay in the suv and keep the doors locked until we get back. The rest of us are going to go find Charlie. We stay together, I don't know what Jackie wants, but we can't trust her anymore."