Max, Cherry, Bea, and Dani
Max gave Bea a smile. The intended feelings of excitement didn’t quite reach his face as he hoped but he doubted she, or any of their group, minded. He was happy to hang out with not just Cherry but obviously Dani and Bea as well but there was a huge part of him (and he suspected in the three ladies as well) that couldn’t stop thinking about the people in quarantine. Max wanted nothing more than to see Pete, Marina, Demi, Mina and all the Austinites in lockdown to be well again but he knew going home and hiding in his room to worry wouldn’t make them better. He could think and wonder and analyze everything he could have done to keep them out of harm’s way but he’d go crazy if that’s all he thought about.
“Yeah! I mean, for a little while at least.” Max knew he should go back to the homestead before dinner so he could be there for Vic and Sasha but he knew his family wouldn’t begrudge him a little time away. It seemed like the soldiers and APD had rounded up most of the errant shufflers that had somehow sprung up so Max didn’t see the harm in staying at the duplex to hang for awhile. He’d be back in plenty of time to round some grub up for the three men of the house. Maybe he’d try and make something special to lift Vic and Sasha’s spirits.
“I bet I have enough time for a rousing game of parcheesi,” Max mused. “Or Monopoly but, full disclosure, I’m awful at it.” Max wasn’t sure if he had it in him to play any sort of game but he would if it would make the girls feel better. He was wondering if he was really as bad at Monopoly as he remembered when heard a rustling nearby. Usually errant noises would mean a soldier was passing by on their rounds or a vehicle was rumbling by but considering the passed few days events, he stopped and listened.
There was silence for a moment as the women listened, too. Cherry could pick up the usual ambient noise of a city getting its bearings: cars going along the streets, patrols in front of and behind them, the faint sound of wind. And then there was a loud sound up ahead, followed by another. Already on edge from the past two days' events, Cherry grabbed onto Max's arm instinctively, squeezing tight, then stepped forward and turned to look back at her friends.
"We should keep moving." The cracking sounds hadn't been followed by anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't mean they needed to be lazy about this. "And get home and inside before anything weird happens."
There was no way in hell Dani was going to wait around and see if either the rustling or any of the other sounds were about to turn into anything. Perhaps they were all being paranoid, but given that Mina (and Kitty and Pete and Olivia and Demi) was in quarantine, perhaps they weren't.
“Tomorrow we’re taking the car.” Grabbing hold of Bea’s hand, she set off in the direction of the duplex, following Cherry and Max. The four of them stayed silent as they walked, even the charade of normal conversation dropping away at this point. Dani couldn't speak for the others but her every nerve was on edge, her heartbeat thudding along with her footsteps.
At last the duplex came into a view, no more than a couple of blocks away. Dani didn't slow, but allowed herself a moment of relief at the sight. No sooner had it washed over her -- and wasn't this just Murphy’s law at work? -- than she heard the first moan. A shuffler lurched out of a side street, followed by another, and then another. That was far as Dani counted before she turned to her friends and uttered one word: “Run.”