After 30 Days

Eleven - Day 38

The pair of zombies had sprinted after us. It took far too long for comfort before the suv pulled away from them on the back road. It was even longer still before I relaxed at all. I kept expecting them to make a reappearance in the grey pre dawn light, running unnaturally fast as they hunted us. But my fears didn't come true. The zombies stayed out of sight and the miles passed quickly.

The morning sun was coming in the window, making me turn my face away from the bright glare, when Maya hit the brakes. Our haphazardly stacked pile of belongings fell across my legs and I was glad that I'd already been sitting with my back braced against the back of the seats. Rubbing the aching spot on my shin where something hard had connected with it, I twisted around to look out the front.

A small car that looked like it had seen better days was rolling to a stop ahead of us on the otherwise deserted road.

"What should we do?"

No one had a ready answer for Maya's quiet question. Our last few interactions with strangers had left everyone wary.

Inside the dusty blue car, the strangers seemed to be every bit as concerned about us, as we were about them. I could just make out the two heads in the front seat as they swiveled back and forth. They appeared to be having an animated discussion.

"Maybe we should just get out of here," Charlie leaned forward.

I found myself agreeing with her one hundred percent. As far as I was concerned, anyone who wasn't currently seated inside our suv was not to be trusted.

A tiny curl of the tension that had knotted my insides at the sight of the other car released when Maya put the vehicle into reverse. It came back again a thousand times stronger when the passenger door of the car suddenly opened.

"Wait," Maggie's exclamation had the suv jolting to a stop again.

Out on the road, a rail thin man unfolded his impressive height from the small car. He stayed in the dubious cover provided by his open door, and raised his hands in an obvious gesture meant to show that he was unarmed. When it became obvious that he had our attention, he dropped his hands and waited.

The suv was silent for a minute. Rex panted lightly in my ear, but that was the only sound or movement from any of us. Shawn was the first one to speak.

"I'm going out to see what they want."

My eyes had started to burn from staring so intensely at the stranger for so long, and for a second, I thought that my hearing must be failing me too. I blinked dumbly at him, not comprehending his words, because there was just no way that I could have heard him right.

But my hearing turned out to be fine after all. I slammed my hand down on his arm as he reached to open the back hatch.

My mouth hung open, but I failed to articulate the scramble of thoughts and emotions that was making mush of my mind at that moment. Shawn's eyes were strangely calm as he met my wide ones. "It's ok. Someone has to find out what they want. What if they have a group that we could join? Not everyone is bad, Bri." He looked meaningfully over his shoulder at our friends.

"Are you sure?" Maggie's voice was tight.

"Yeah," he was back to looking at me again.

Nausea threatened to choke me as I reluctantly pulled my hand from his arm. He could make his own decisions, whether I agreed with him or not, but that didn't stop the tiny sound of distress that I couldn't hold back when he reached for the door again.

"I sure wish we had something better than a knife to send you out there with. I miss our guns," Charlie grumbled.

"I wouldn't really know what to do with one, anyhow." He shrugged and pushed open the door.

The time it took him to cautiously walk the distance between the vehicles was simultaneously the longest, and shortest, of my life. I was barely aware of the clammy sweat that broke out over my skin as I leaned over the seat to get a better view.

"Stop there. Stop," I muttered under my breath. He was within thirty feet of the car. Much too close in my opinion. But he kept going. Then he was within twenty feet. He finally stopped just as the screaming nerves under my skin became unbearable.

The tall man said something and I found myself cursing my inability to read lips. Frustration mounted as whatever the two of them were talking about seemed to take much longer than I thought it should. The tension in the suv rose until it felt like a physical presence in the air. In the front seat, Maggie held our one gun just out of view, ready to jump out and use it if things went wrong. I didn't know exactly how much ammunition was left for the rifle, but I knew there wasn't much.

I almost couldn't believe it when Shawn turned around and started back to us without anything bad having happened.

It was only when he climbed back inside the suv that I realized that my hands were shaking from the adrenaline.

"There's two of them. Brad, and Marcus is in the car. They're looking for a few of their own people who went on a supply run a few days ago, and never came back. They say they have a small community not far from here," he paused. "I think I believe them."

All eyes were on him. Maggie was the first to speak, "So, what do they want?"

"To know if we've run across anyone else out here recently. And to tell us about their community. They say they do take in others, so long as they're a good fit for their group."

Various expressions around the vehicle told of the varied reactions to his statement. Charlie scowled. Alex and Maggie had identical expressions of interest. Luna, Maya, and Bill all seemed to fall somewhere in between the other two in regards to their emotions. I hadn't a clue what my own face must say. I felt numb.

"Um, well, you think they were telling the truth?" Maggie questioned.

"I do. I don't know why, really, but I do."

Maggie turned to look back to where the two men now stood together beside their own car.

"I told them they'd have to come talk to everyone, that I couldn't make decisions for the whole group," Shawn told her. "If you all want to hear what they have to say, open a door."

Settling himself more comfortably, he abruptly reached out and took my hand in his own. Pulling lightly, he tugged me until I was firmly up against his side. Smoothing the top of my hand with his own, he spoke directly into my ear. "It's ok. Everything's fine."

There was quiet conversation going on in the front of the vehicle, but I didn't care at that moment what was being said. I was too busy feeling the warmth from his side seep into my own, chasing the numbness that had set in away.

The sound of Maggie opening her car door made me startle upright again.