Chapter Text
Nadine looks over the pieces of her rifle. She's laid each part out with a meticulous care that was instilled in her at a young age. It takes her nearly an hour to look over each part, clean it, and then rebuild the rifle. More time than usual, yes, but she's got a plan for the future. Her favorite gun needs to be in good shape for that plan to happen.
The latest horde had wandered through two days prior. The encampment they have now-- an office building with the bottom floor boarded up and catwalks spread to the nearby roofs-- is less than ideal in her eyes. It's pure stupidity to stay stationary in a city these days. Rafe claims it’s a perfect spot to hunker down for a few weeks and clear out any supplies they can find. Nadine can't see the sense.
Zombies are all over cities. The most people lived there, the most died there. Camping out in a city building just gives the zombies a target. No matter how quiet their group tries to be, the zombies will know. It only takes a little time. And Rafe's men-- Nadine no longer thinks of them as her own-- aren't quiet. They stomp around like they're invincible. They get drunk off their stash and loudly sound off in their camaraderie.
It's only a matter of time.
Nadine is just waiting for her chance to leave. She'll need a good head start if she wants to keep Rafe from hunting her down. He'd do it out of spite, sure, but he'll be doing it out of more than that. Nadine isn't about to leave without taking every crumb and bandage she deserves from the supply room. It won't be enough to weigh her down, but it won't be a small amount either. She's the only reason any of the damn men with her have training.
Nadine is just pulling the strap of her rifle over her shoulder when there's a commotion down the hall. She steps out, a hand on her gun, to see Rafe and a couple of his men rounding the corner. They're headed away from her room, thankfully. The noise comes from a woman one of the men is carrying over his shoulder. Her hands seem to be bound behind her back and there's a gag in her mouth. Her ankles are tied together too. She's thrashing against the man that's carrying her. Her dark hair is everywhere as she tries to hit him with any part of herself that can get the momentum. He's struggling to control her. The other man keeps having to help.
Rafe, of course, doesn't do more than snap at them for being slow.
Nadine feels nauseous.
What the fuck are they doing?
She starts down the hall behind them. They enter a room a few down from the one Nadine calls her own. She grits her teeth. When she reaches the door, she watches as the woman is thrown inside Rafe's makeshift cell and locked in.
The room had been someone's office once upon a time. Now, it's been twisted into something else.
When the group had first decided on this building, Rafe had chosen this room to be a prison. He'd had some men find some chainlink fencing nearby and cut a big enough piece to form the majority of the fourth cell wall. They'd even been smart enough to get a section with a gate. With some work, they'd set it up dissecting the office room in two. The far side had become a windowless cell. And places the chainlink couldn't cover were enforced with whatever was laying around. Mostly scrap metal ripped from desks or wood from tables and chairs. A padlock was the last thing added, so it could serve the function Rafe had envisioned.
Nadine hadn't understood why he needed it. What's the point when he barely chastises the worst of the men for things Nadine would have broken their arm for? They'd used it once in the time they'd been there. One of the men had become belligerent in his drunken idiocy, and the others tossed him into the cell to sober up.
Nadine shifts. It feels like there are ants under her skin. Why did they capture this woman? Why lock her up?
Rafe answers part of the question. “You can wait in here. Tell me where he is and I'll let you go! Easy as that!” A lie, Nadine knows. “I'll be back later. Maybe by then, you'll have remembered.”
He pockets the padlock key and swings towards the door.
Nadine immediately steps back to let him pass. He doesn't even give her a second glance. She's been letting him believe she's some submissive little henchman. It'll make it easier to leave without being noticed if he's forgotten she exists in the first place.
The other two men follow him out.
Nadine finds herself standing in the doorway again. The woman has hopped her legs back through the circle of her arms to get her hands in front of her again. She rips the gag down.
“I already told you I don't know, you bloody bastard!” she shouts after Rafe. She bites into the binds on her wrist and tugs. Her eyes flick to Nadine. “What?!” comes a snarl, half muffled against the knot of the fabric.
Nadine grits her teeth and steps back out. She heads back to her room.
Who is Rafe looking for? And why bother? The world here is shit. The number of survivors gets lower every day. There's not much of a point in looking for a particular person. They're as likely to be a zombie as they are to be a survivor.
Still, Nadine can't help but find herself a bit relieved. There's a lot of horrible reasons they could have captured the woman. She'd expected the worst in all honesty. But it's much less of an issue if Rafe is just trying to get information. It still doesn't feel great, she'll admit, but it's not as bad as it could be.
Some of the men might still try something.
Nadine resolves to make sure that doesn't happen. Her room is only a couple down from the cell, so she can keep an ear out. Whoever the woman is, whatever information Rafe thinks she has, she does not deserve the horror of a man's desires.
Nadine realizes the next day that no one has bothered to feed the woman. What's worse, she realizes it in the evening. She's kept an ear out like she planned. No one has gone near the room.
With a sigh, Nadine heads to the storage room.
Alan is on guard as usual. Nadine doesn't outright hate him, but she certainly doesn't like him. He's an ass kisser. Rafe would have hickies all over his ass if Alan had his way. It's a survival technique, Nadine supposes, but only for a man who couldn't make it otherwise.
He greets her with a nod. She nods back as she heads for the shelf with a few MREs on it.
MREs are far from a favorite fair. The best of the canned foods are carefully watched. Anything in normal plastic packaging, like candy or chips? Forget it. No one but Rafe gets that. But MREs are free game as long as Alan doesn't see how many you take.
Nadine grabs two. One for the woman in the cell, the other for her personal stash.
After tossing one MRE in her room, she heads for the cell.
The woman is back in the corner of the cell when she enters the room. Her bindings are off, but there's still a line of red around each wrist. She scowls when she sees Nadine.
Nadine barely notices.
The MRE is “Chili with beans”. It's not the worst option. Nadine removes the matches from the accessory packet before sliding the rest of the MRE under the fencing.
The woman practically glares at it before turning that glare on Nadine.
“Eat it or don't,” Nadine comments. “You watched me open it. It's not tampered with.”
The woman doesn't move.
Nadine sighs. She didn't sign up for this.
She glances over the cell. There's nothing inside save for the woman, the scraps from what they had tied her up with, and a bucket likely left behind from when the drunk was inside. Rafe hadn't given her anything else.
Nadine is no stranger to cruelty. She's received some and inflicted plenty more on others. This, however, gets her. She doesn't know why. It could be the change that's come over her these last few weeks. It could be the softness she’s always held but tried to snuff out. Whatever it is, she turns and leaves the room.
Nadine reenters the room maybe fifteen minutes later. In her arms she carries a few blankets and a pillow. Sure, the pillow was originally meant to be more decorative than functional, but it'll work. And, admittedly, some of the blankets started their lives as curtains, but beggars can't be choosers.
The woman freezes when she sees Nadine again. She'd dug into the MRE in Nadine’s absence.
Nadine ignores that in favor of shoving the blankets into the gap under the fence. They bunch up on the other side. It makes it difficult to get them all through, let alone the pillow.
“Pull them on your side, would you?”
The woman remains still for a moment. Nadine almost thinks she isn't going to do as she was asked. But after a moment, she reaches out and pulls the blankets closer.
“Dankie.” Nadine shoves the pillow under before standing. Is she forgetting anything?
The woman seems to read her mind.
“Mind getting me something to drink?”
Her accent is Australian. Her voice is smooth and pleasant despite a bit of dehydration.
“Ja, I can do that.”
Nadine rolls her sleeping bag as tight as she can manage. Once it's packed, she'll just need one unobserved stop in the storage room in order to be ready. She's got three routes through the city she can take. Her best option is the one headed north west. It'll take her through an area that should have any pursuers lose her before long. The edge of the city will let her disappear into the woods. From there, she can decide what plan is best for her.
It'd be nice to get out of the states. She's heard rumors of evacuations still happening on the coasts. She wishes she were stupid enough to believe that.
If Nadine’s calculations are correct, the horde the scouts spotted the day before should start arriving in just a few hours. A straggler has already appeared here and there.
It had taken time for Nadine to realize Rafe enjoys taking out the zombies that trudge by. He'd gotten the men to dig through the pockets of each corpse and raid each bag still left hanging on the rotting backs of the dead. It had gotten them some supplies, yes. Fallen survivors tend to have some. But Nadine can't see the use in risking a healthy person for a handful of acetaminophen or a can of peas.
Killing zombies is a necessity, yes, but Nadine wants to avoid them whenever possible. Her own health, her own survival, is most important. Everyone and everything else is behind her on her list.
Nadine finds herself counting the minutes until someone sounds the alarm for the horde’s approach. Her bag is staged inside her room so she can grab it, hit the supply room, and run. When the call goes out, almost all of the men will head for the second floor. It has plenty of windows to aim out of and provides the best vantage on the approaching zombies. A few may stay on the roof or other stations they've been assigned, but most enjoy the chance to mow down the undead. They've been counting kills lately.
She stations herself at a window on the floor above the one with her room with rifle in hand. Any who see her will think she's on the lookout for threats. And she is, really. But for her own good and not that of the group. Even her rush to her room will look the way it should. She'll need to hit the stairs to get to the second floor after all. No one will notice her break off to go to her room.
Anticipation has an anxious rock sitting in her stomach. Rafe will see her leaving as a betrayal. She has no idea if he'll hunt her down, but he's unpredictable. A few months into the outbreak, a man in their company had run off. He wasn't the first or the last, but he was the one they ran into again. Rafe hung him upside-down and used him as a dartboard until his heart gave out. She'd rather not be in that position.
If this all works out, though? Her best case scenario is finding a way out of the states and back to South Africa. She's homesick. She wants some real South African food and to be in the home she had there.
Hell, even if she has to stay in the states, she can find someplace remote and secluded to weather out whatever happens next. What she wouldn't give for the ability to be alone. Privacy is near non-existent with the group she's with.
Being the only woman with them is a word she doesn't like to admit to: scary. It's what made her think the worst when the woman in the cell got carried in. But no man has gone to the cell but Rafe in the few days she's been there. He's only questioned her. And the men who have dared approach Nadine with their own ideas, intent positive or not, have left thoroughly disappointed, one with a broken arm.
No, Nadine wants to escape these men. While she isn't a prisoner and has no shoddily made fence holding her there, she's felt held there all the same. Today will be different. She'll go to sleep miles from here with a future she actually looks forward to. Something, anything but what she's doing now.
A man shouts.
Nadine is right back to full alert. She waits through the few seconds of quiet that follows the shout. Another call is followed swiftly by a third. The horde is in sight. Even from her poor vantage, Nadine can see the first few stumbling towards their barricades.
Nadine takes aim. A gunshot should get the attention of anyone who hasn't heard the alarms the sentries are raising. She downs the zombie in the lead. Her rifle's gunshot is a loud crack that the others won't be able to ignore.
Sure enough, she can hear the stomping of men rushing down the stairs. It's finally time to enact her plan.
Nadine rushes to the stairs. She makes sure to be last in line. While they continue down to the second floor, she breaks off to head to her room.
Her bag has been checked a dozen times, but she still looks over the room to make sure she's not leaving anything behind. Nothing catches her eye.
Whirling around, she heads for the supply room. It's on the same floor as her room. Not by accident, either.
Nadine enters the room almost too quickly and nearly trips over Alan. He's crumpled on the floor just in the doorway. Dead, if she had to guess, but there's a chance he's just unconscious.
She looks up and finds herself making eye contact with the woman from the cell. She's got a duffle bag and is frozen in the middle of shoving supplies in it. Who knows how she escaped her cell.
They both stay frozen there for a long few seconds. The woman's eyes are a cool gray blue, Nadine notices.
Nadine could shoot her. It'd be easy. She's supposed to be a prisoner after all. Who knows what she's armed herself with since she escaped?
But no, they just stare at each other.
At almost ten seconds in, Nadine motions the woman to continue. What does she care if these assholes lose more supplies?
“Quick. They'll be headed here once they've looted the bodies.”
Surprise passes over the woman's face, but she gets right back to raiding the shelves.
Nadine heads for what she came for. She's got her hands around a bottle of painkillers when there's a groan from the floor. Alan is waking up.
Rather than panic, Nadine turns and delivers a swift stomp to the man's neck. He tries to gasp, his hands twitch, and he goes still. She never liked him anyway.
Nadine barely has any of what she'd wanted to grab when there's the sound of boots coming down the hall.
“Shit,” the woman whispers. “Time to go.”
She looks up, zips the duffle bag, and nods toward the door.
Before either can make a move, a man enters. Nadine is on him in a flash. She swings her fist into the side of his face. He goes sprawling into one of the shelves. The shelf falls but he manages to stay up. The woman is on him then, bringing her knee into his gut. He doubles over as the air is driven out of him. Nadine tags in by catching his throat on the crook of her arm and spinning him so she can keep the pressure. She grunts as she snaps his neck and drops the body.
He lands at the end of the shelf he'd knocked over. She looks down at it. No more time to loot with that sort of noise.
Nadine finds herself rushing back down the hall with the woman just beside her. When they hit the stairs, the woman starts heading down. Nadine grabs her arm and tugs.
“Up. Not down.”
“What?!” comes a hushed protest. Still, she follows.
Nadine doesn't bother explaining as they run up the stairs. She stops at the door onto the roof and motions the woman to wait. Cracking the door, she can see the usual hangouts are empty. She keeps her pace slow as she leads the way onto the rooftop.
Her body goes tense at a gunshot much closer than those down on the second floor.
She turns and sees another of the men positioned on one of the bridges. He's aiming down at the horde below and firing a shot from time to time. It wouldn't be an issue if not for the fact it's the bridge she needs. It goes right across the roof gap to a building she needs to reach.
The woman hisses a question at her. “Where the hell are we going?”
Nadine grits her teeth. She never asked for a tagalong.
“I've got a path planned out,” is all she answers.
She makes her move before more questions come. The paths between the roofs are almost all shaky at best. The one she needs to take is a ladder that's been stretched across a three meter gap and had plywood attached over it. It's functional but only just. No railings exist on any of the bridges. It's a miracle no one has fallen.
Nadine stays low as she rushes forward and slams the bottom of her foot into the back of the man's knee. His leg crumples. His arms flail, but she's already pushing him forward so he can't save himself. There's a yelp and a short cry before he makes contact with the ground below. Even if he survived the fall, the zombies now surrounding him will ensure he doesn't get away.
Nadine does all of this while keeping low so anyone looking up has a hard time spotting her. She motions to the woman, letting her know she needs to keep down too.
They make it across the gap to the next roof. None of the usual sentry points are occupied. It's sloppy work, but it means Nadine has a clear path to leave. She'd stopped pointing out holes in their defense, issues with the men working, and the incompetence of sentries some time back. It had become clear that nothing would be done. Anyways, it's to her benefit now. She would have killed more of the men if she needed to, but it's so much easier to go undetected when they leave their posts.
The next path is another bridge to an adjacent building. It's directly connected to another building, though the second is somewhat higher. The day before, she'd checked to ensure she still had a crate to climb on to reach the next roof.
Only, now that she's here again, the crate is gone.
She swears. Looking around, she finds the roof to have barely anything on it. Trash, a chair at the sentry point, and little else that isn't immovable. She spots the crate back on the building they've just come from. It'd take too long to get it over the bridge.
“What's wrong?” the woman asks.
“We need to get up there, but they've moved the crate.”
She turns and examines the wall. It's a bit more than three meters high and made of brick. Nadine watches as she reaches out to touch the wall.
She shifts the duffle on her back. “Watch where I put my hands and follow me.”
And then just like that, she's scaling the wall.
Nadine blinks in surprise but still tries to track where to grip. It's barely ten seconds before the woman is looking down at her from the top level. She's grinning.
“All clear, china. Come on up.”
An almost shocking jolt of homesickness hits Nadine when she hears that. It's an Australian term too, of course, but it's common in South Africa. China as in “china plate” because it rhymes with “mate”. It's good to hear this one familiar term, even from a stranger's mouth.
Nadine does her best to climb. She's not nearly as practiced as the company with her is though. Her pace is so slow she's embarrassed. She'd obviously not paid enough attention to the handholds. Still, she makes it to the top. The woman grabs her elbow and pulls her over the ledge even though Nadine doesn't really need the help.
“I'm Chloe, by the way. Chloe Frazer.”
Nadine meets her gaze. “Nadine Ross.”
They don't shake hands.
Nadine leads to the next part of the path. There's another door leading down into the building here. Nadine digs into her pocket and pulls out a screwdriver. She shoves it into the small space between the door and the frame, aiming for where the latch is.
The woman-- Chloe-- scoffs. She nudges Nadine to the side.
“Let me.”
With what seems to be no more than a flick of her wrist, she has a lockpick in hand. She makes quick work of the lock and the door pops open.
Nadine blinks.
“What?” Chloe asks with a grin. “How do you think I got out of that stupid cell?”
“Useful skill,” is all Nadine replies.
Stale air greets them inside. Nadine’s own previous footsteps make a path through the dust settled on every step. She’d ensured she’d be able to get through the building some days before. The other side of the building is out of view of any of the sentry spots. If they can get on the street and make it another block away, it’ll be a valuable head start. It’s only a matter of time before evidence of their departure is discovered. Chloe missing from her cell, Alan and the other man dead in the supply room…
Besides Chloe’s ability to get past locks, Nadine is thankful at the very least she’s quick on her feet. She's not slowing Nadine down at all, though Nadine isn't sure she'd stop if Chloe needed her to.
They make it through the building and find themselves on the bottom floor in only a few minutes. They are forced to wait there for some of the undead to pass by. They stumble and groan as they're attracted by the gunshots still ringing out from Rafe's building.
Chloe seems stealthy enough. They stick together still as they dodge through the streets. It's not until they're some five blocks away that Chloe speaks.
“Well. I certainly didn't expect anyone else to run off.”
Nadine doesn't want to respond. She prefers the quiet, especially when noise could bring the infected. She makes it quick.
“Didn’t want to be there anymore.”
“I'd assumed, seeing as you killed, what, three men? Maybe two and a half, since I had knocked out that first one.”
“They were all shit to be around.” She'll lose no sleep over killing them.
“I didn't see any other women either. It couldn't have been fun to be the only one.”
Nadine makes a noncommittal grunt. She has an idea of the direction she needs to head to leave the city, but she's got to find a particular street first. They should be coming up on it soon.
“And tolerating Rafe couldn't have been easy.”
“Eish, Frazer. Do you always talk this much? You'll draw every infected right to us.”
Chloe shrugs one shoulder. “I'm not that loud. They'll be more interested in those gunshots.”
Nadine frowns. The gunshots from Rafe's group are barely sounding off now, however distant they're becoming. The horde must be nearly wiped out. They may already be looting the bodies. If that's the case, they really need to move faster. Rafe may not send anyone after Nadine, but he'll be all sorts of pissed about Chloe. There's no chance a group isn't sent after her. Nadine should split off if she wants a quiet escape.
Nadine spots the street she needs and starts to jog toward it. Chloe follows her.
“So, you planning to leave the city?”
“Ja.”
She heads for the building she needs. It looks to be in decent enough condition, thankfully. They reach the steps outside and Nadine starts up them. Still, Chloe is just behind her.
“The library? Trying to find something out, or do you just need a good book to read?”
“I need something.”
The front doors of the library are clear glass, as is part of that front wall. She can see the front desk inside. There’s a splatter of a blood stain on the floor as well as plenty of scattered papers. Some books lay higgledy piggledy across the desk and part of the floor. There’s no sign of any infected inside though.
Nadine pushes open the door and frowns when the hinge groans. Inside remains quiet. The air is heavy with the unadulterated smell of books. It’s some sort of comforting to Nadine. Not even the blood stain on the floor is tainting it. She enters.
And still, Chloe follows.
“You’re free to go, if you haven’t realized,” Nadine comments.
The woman hums. “See, I was thinking. I’m headed out of the city, you’re headed out of the city… We could stick together, at least until there. Watch each other’s backs.”
The library is far from in a perfect state. Shelves have been tipped over to spill endless books on the ground. The farther they get from the front doors, the less light there is to see. Nadine takes a flashlight from her bag. The tags on the end of each aisle guide her towards her desired destination.
There’s no evidence of any infected hiding here. They carry a smell that’s difficult to miss. It’s a cloying odor somewhere between body odor and rot. There’s not even a whiff of it in here.
“I’m a good scrapper,” Chloe continues. “And you already saw I’m good with my hands.”
It’s the almost suggestive tone that has Nadine tune back in. She raises an eyebrow, but she keeps her focus on her search.
“Suppose it depends on which way we’re each heading.” Nadine replies flatly.
“I’ve gotta go north east.” Chloe looks over the shelves. “What are you looking for anyway?”
“Maps.”
“Gotcha.”
And then Chloe disappears.
Nadine frowns but continues her search. Whatever the woman is doing, it’s her business.
Aisle after aisle is uninteresting to her. In another life, she would have browsed and tried to find something interesting. History has always held a bit of interest for her, but far more interesting are animals. She’d love to read something about some animal she’d previously never heard of. It used to be a hobby she’d indulge in her downtime, reading about the binturong or the thai micro crab as a way to relax on stressful days. More than once, her newfound knowledge had helped her to spot the animals she researched while on her travels.
Maybe she could find a small book on animals while she’s here. Something light that won’t add much weight to her pack. It’d be nice to have.
“Nadine.”
Nadine starts at the sudden sound of her own name. Her hand goes to the pistol on her hip but falls when she realizes it’s Chloe.
“What?”
“I found the maps.”
Chloe gestures to her to follow and heads further into the dark of the library. Here and there, windows high on the wall let a bit of light in, but the flashlight is far better. Nadine isn’t sure how Chloe was able to spot anything without one.
In a back corner, there’s an alcove with a table in the center. On the walls around it are colorful letters and cartoonish maps. The letters read out “EXPLORE THE WORLD”. While the maps on the walls are just generic shapes with minimal detail, there are shelves with proper maps surrounding the edge of the alcove.
Nadine silences a relieved sigh. “Lekker.”
She sets her flashlight on the table so it illuminates as much of the area as it can before searching the maps.
“Which map do you want? Local, or something bigger?”
She waves Chloe off. “Keep watch if you want to help.”
There's a soft “hmph” before Chloe slips back through the shelves.
There are all sorts of maps to be found in the alcove. The various world maps are all from different time periods. Some seem to be copies of historical maps, complete with sea serpents. Others have the names of countries that no longer exist. She passes them all by. A bit of digging helps her find a map of the city. She sets it on the table beside her flashlight. Searching through more, she finds a large map folded down into a manageable square. It shows a greater view of the area and out into nearby states. It's a recent enough version as far as she can tell. She unfolds a few squares and lays it flat on the table.
Starting from her location, she traces roads away. Any direction is an option for her travels, but she's ruled out a few.
South is no good. The southern states are less than favorable, even if the deserts to the west could be seen as familiar. The Mojave is no Karoo. Besides, she needs something liveable with good resources. Parts of the south might have that, but from the travelling she did with Rafe's group, the infected seem to last longer in the heat.
So the north then.
The north gives plenty of options. Avoid the strip where tornados like to form, of course. The north west could let her see Yellowstone if she travels far enough. It's tempting. She could hide out in the woods and wait out this damn zombie bullshit. Hunting could keep her fed. Scavenging could ensure she had anything she couldn't get from the woods.
But waiting things out is supposed to be her backup plan. She'd really like to see if there's any hope of leaving the Americas. There's been no way to get outside news for months, so she has no idea if the whole world is like this now, or just the states. The other countries had handled the ordeal better from what she'd heard early on. Surely things could be okay elsewhere?
Her best bet to leave would likely be on the coast. The east coast is the one she's closest to now. Could there be a chance of a boat? Evacuation?
There's small surviving outposts kept by the military, she knows. Could they have the information? Some have horror stories about how they're run, but some also seem to be doing well enough.
Whatever Nadine decides to do after, getting out of the city is the first step. Chloe is going north east; Nadine may as well go with her. Worst case scenario is she has to leave Chloe behind to save herself.
Nadine carefully folds the larger map back up and slides it into her bag.
She’s just begun to unfold the city map when Chloe reappears.
“Rafe’s men are out on the street.”
Nadine immediately folds the map closed again. “Fok. But I suppose we got more time than I expected. How many did you see?”
Chloe turns her head towards the way she came from, staring into the darkness. “Four turned down this street. I saw three more heading down another.”
Nadine clicks her flashlight off. The two are left standing in darkness.
“Think we could take down four?”
She snorts. “I could do that alone. No, too risky. If we leave bodies, they’ll know we were here. Best if we find a spot to hide until they’re further out.”
“I found the stairs to the next level,” Chloe offers. “Might be a window we can keep a lookout from up there.”
With a nod, Nadine gestures for her to lead the way. Anything is better than nothing, and hiding behind the bookshelves would keep them blind. Too close to the front doors and they’ll be spotted. Upstairs may be the best spot, though she worries about not having a backup exit. Maybe there’ll be a fire escape. Most buildings here seem to have them.
Upstairs has more shelves full of books, but there’s also an open area to one side with tables and computers. Windows line the far wall and light the space well enough, though long shadows fall towards them. There's no smell of death here either. No one must have rushed to the library in the initial outbreak. Nadine finds it a wasted resource, but she's glad for her own easy access to it.
They drop low as they move toward the windows. Outside, they can see the street they'd entered on. There are four men standing in the road maybe one building from the library. They seem to be discussing something. After a couple minutes, they split off into different directions. Each seems to head for a nearby building. Nadine can't help but grit her teeth when one heads towards the library.
She backs away from the window, tugging Chloe’s arm a bit so she follows.
“You have a plan?”
Nadine shrugs. “As good a plan as I can have in this situation.”
“Which is?”
“Hide better.”
Chloe snorts. “We should just kill him, China. And the other three.”
Shaking her head, Nadine heads for the darkest corner. She hasn't heard the front door open yet.
“It'll just give Rafe a trail if we do that.”
“We could stage the body with a zombie. Make it look like it got him?”
She considers it but shakes her head again. “We don't have one nearby.”
Chloe lets out a harumph. “Not very open to the plans of others, are you?”
Nadine rolls her eyes as she finds a spot in the corner. There’s enough room for them both. If they stay still and he doesn’t get too close, they’ll be fine. It's not the best spot, she'll admit, but it's all they can do to try. “I’m not open to plans with unnecessary risk. What, you want to lure one in? The other men would find us in the time that took.”
There’s the sound of the front door opening downstairs.
In a lower voice, Chloe speaks again. “And if hiding doesn’t work?”
A shrug. “We kill him. But it’s our last resort, not our first. If we can get out of the city without a trace, it’ll be that much harder for Rafe to follow.”
She opens her mouth to say more, but Nadine shushes her. She can hear the heavy footsteps of the man searching for them. It only takes a minute or two before they march up the stairs. The man stands at the top and drags his flashlight's beam across the room. He turns towards the computers first. It's the opposite side of the room from their hiding spot. Really, it's wishful thinking that he won't check where they are, but she's taking the chance. None of the men are trained like they should be. All became lazy the moment she was no longer in charge. Afterall, why bother maintaining discipline when you can get drunk, loot, and make a target practice out of the infected?
He kicks at the chairs by the computers before shoving over a monitor. It doesn't surprise Nadine that he's destructive just for fun. The windows catch his attention. He stares out for a few long seconds. After letting out an annoyed huff, he turns towards the bookshelves. It's hard to spot him for a moment, but he comes into view again a few seconds later.
Mumbling under his breath, he pauses with his eyes towards the stairs. Nadine can see the boredom on his face from where she's hidden. She mentally urges him to give up his search here. There's other buildings. He can try one of them.
But no, he continues his sweep of the room. Maybe it's chance that has him a bit less lazy than the others. Maybe he's just afraid of Rafe.
Nadine says a silent swear as he approaches them. They could retreat from where they are, but he'd see them. Their best bet is to remain still.
He stops and shines his light quickly over the shelves. Both women stay completely still.
It's when he starts forward again that he catches his foot on something on the floor-- some of the fallen books, most likely. He trips and his flashlight flies out of his hand. It rolls to a stop just in front of Chloe. Its beam illuminates her there.
The man's eyes land on Chloe. A grin starts to form on his face as he reaches past the flashlight to her. He grabs her arm before she can back away. With a yank, she's out from their hiding spot.
“Rafe is looking for you, pretty lady,” he grumbles out.
Chloe pulls her free arm back, ready to throw a punch, but Nadine is faster. Her fist collides with the side of his head with a muted smack. He releases Chloe as he stumbles back. Chloe is quick to hook her foot behind his ankle. He fails to right himself and thuds to the ground. Nadine is on him then, hitting as hard as she can. He tries to fight back for all of a few seconds before he's unconscious. She hits harder. She doesn't stop until Chloe is grabbing her shoulder and tugging her away.
“Yes, you're very strong and tough, but maybe we take this as a chance to get away, yeah?”
Nadine isn't sure why she feels almost embarrassed when Chloe had just been discussing how they very much should kill him. He's dead now at least.
Nadine follows Chloe to the window. None of the men they'd seen before are visible, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. Still, they head downstairs. Chloe pulls her towards an emergency exit instead of the front door.
“The alarm,” Nadine warns.
Chloe shakes her head. “I handled it. Let's go.”
Nadine can't help but wonder what she means by that. There's no time for questions now.