In another time and place Nick might have been hesitant about offering help to a stranger. Before the outbreak she had always taken the whole ‘don’t go anywhere with a stranger’ thing very seriously. But now that just wasn’t a luxury anyone could afford, not now when more often than not everyone or nearly everyone was a stranger. Plus, if Everett was telling the truth and he was Caitie’s older brother she wasn’t too worried about him being dangerous. Still, with the things that had been happening lately and the group of newcomers that everyone was suspicious of she would make a point to be smart and careful as she took this guy in search of Caitie.
“I’m heading that way anyway,” Nick replied, a friendly smile still gracing her features. Caitie and Maddie’s room really wasn’t out of her way, she just hoped Caitie was there and hadn’t gone out looting or something.
With a motion for him to follow her, Nick began down the path in the direction of the cellblocks. Her pace was quick, but she didn’t think Everett would mind that really, he was probably anxious to find Caitie anyway. Normally she would have stopped to speak to a few of the people they passed, but she was well aware of her companion and knew if she had been in his shoes she wouldn’t appreciate that. So instead she just offered smile and nod as they passed.
When they approached the cellblock Caitie lived in, Nick glanced at Everett as she spoke. “So I’m not sure if she’ll be around here right now or not,” she hoped that her friend would be, but she didn’t want to get his hopes up if she wasn’t. She barely paused to say this; still very aware of just how anxious Everett must be, even if it wasn’t apparent from his outward behavior.
The remaining portion of the walk was short and as they reached Caitie’s ‘room’ Nick stopped just outside of the door, relieved when it appeared as if Caitie was in fact ‘home’. “Knock, knock,” she tapped on the portion of wall right beside the doorframe to get her friend’s attention. “I’ve got someone here who says he knows you,” she motioned behind her towards Everett as she said this, keeping the ‘brother’ part to herself purely because she didn’t feel it was her place to announce that.