Natalie fell asleep in the backseat within fifteen minutes of us driving. Milo had his head in her lap.
“What do you think her story is?” Ian asked.
“I can guess and it’s not good,” I answered.
“How long do you think she’s been on her own?” He asked.
I sighed, “Hard to say. She ran out of food only the other day but that doesn’t really say much. But she was scared of us when we first came across her, makes you wonder if the people who were alive that she met were worse than the dead.”
Ian nodded, “Poor kid.”
Chapter 4
The sun was beginning to go down when Ian drove through the gates. Jerry came to greet us and saw Natalie asleep in the backseat. His face went pale.
“That’s not going to go over well,” He said shaking his head. “You both know that full well.”
“We didn’t really have a choice,” I said. “She’s a kid. We couldn’t leave her.”
Jerry’s face was grim, “I know but those two…they’re not reasonable.”
“They’re going to have to get reasonable real fast,” Ian said.
Jerry said nothing else and waved us through. We didn’t drive around the complex this time. Ian pulled in an empty spot near the office. He rolled down the windows before shutting of the engine. We left Natalie and Milo asleep. It was very nice out so the car wouldn’t be too hot for them.
I got the bag of food and drinks out of the car. Ian and I made our way to the office.
Aaron was sitting at the desk when we walked in.
“You two made it back before dark. Good. Did you make a good score this time?” He asked.
Neither of us answered.
“That bad?” He asked shaking his head.
“We brought back a girl,” I answered, “She’s fifteen, injured, and on her own. We couldn’t leave her.”
Aaron sighed, “Of course you couldn’t.”
Ian and I looked at each other confused. I looked back at Aaron. His expression didn’t indicate sarcasm or annoyance. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.
“It looks like you were injured too,” He said.
I nodded, “Yeah. I fell fighting a zombie.”
“She’s pretty banged up. I don’t think she should go on runs for a while,” Ian suggested.
Aaron nodded, “Cate can take a break. Tom can help you on runs for a while.”
Aaron got up from the desk and got a set of keys. He handed them to me.
“The girl can stay in 2154, next to you and Emma.”
I nodded in confusion. I still wasn’t sure why he was being so cool about a new mouth to feed. This wasn’t like him.
“How old is she?” He asked, “And her name?”
“Natalie. She’s fifteen.” I answered.
“And the haul?” He asked pointing to the bag.
I handed it over to him. He looked through it.
“Not great but there’s water in here. So I guess that even things out.”
“Yeah,” I said still confused.
Ian and I made to leave.
“Cate, a moment please.”
I stopped. Ian looked back at me and I could tell he was going to protest to stay. I shook my head at him. I knew I was going to have to pay for the argument I had with Laura and Aaron earlier that day. I was prepared to take the heat for running my mouth.
I could tell Ian didn’t want to but he walked out the door leaving me alone with Aaron.
I sighed and turned back to Aaron, he was taking the food out of the bag.
“Look, I know,” I began.
He put his hand up to stop me from continuing.
“It’s alright. Things are heated right now. We’re all hungry, thirsty, scared. We say things we regret. I just wanted to let you know my mom and I understand your frustration and we want you to know we do appreciate the risk you take every time you do a run. I mean look at what happened this time,” he said pointing to my left side. “We’re going to be putting together a group to begin hunting. The runs won’t stop but we’re going to take the pressure of you two tremendously.”
I felt extremely uneasy. I felt like I was going to be sick, my stomach was beginning to turn itself into such intense knots.
I nodded, “Thank you for understanding,” I said with as much sincerity as I could fake.
He handed me my bag back. “Rest up and get better. Mom and I will go by to welcome Natalie in the morning and bring her food.”
“Okay,” I said and headed for the door. Then I remembered and turned back around. “Hey, Aaron. You wouldn’t happen to know why there was a dead possum in the back of the Nissan would you?”
He looked at me but I couldn’t read his expression. I knew he wouldn’t tell me if he had anything to do with it but I was hoping I could at least gage his expression when I asked. He just shook his head, “No. Maybe it was put in there by the previous owner.”
We had that car for nearly five months. The possum would have started to decompose by now.
I just nodded, “True, I didn’t think about that. Night.” With that I headed out the door.
Ian was waiting for me a few feet from the door, where he was out of sight from Aaron.
“What was that about?” Ian asked.
“He apologized for earlier,” I replied.
Ian looked lost and began shaking his head, “None of this makes sense. He’s okay with Natalie staying and he apologized?”
“They’re putting together a hunting group to gather more food to take the pressure of us but I think
