𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬.

𝖫𝗈𝗌𝗍-𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗀𝗈𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇.

"𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾'𝗌 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗀𝗍𝗁 𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖺𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗀𝗈𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗆𝗌 𝗅𝗈𝗌𝗍."

✩ ✮ ✩

They sat by the stream for a short while under the canopy of trees. The soldier, still not entirely recovered from the illness, felt discomfort as his adrenaline wore off. A deep moan leaked out of his sigh as he moved in the sand. He heard, "You all right?"

Nate turned to see the emotionally drained gaze. "Good enough. Maggie, I can't stay here. Jamie and others are out there somewhere. Besides, if what you guys say is true about Danny, I need to find him. Even if it's too late...I won't let him turn, and if he did, I'm not leaving him like that. I can't."

"How's he doing?" She questioned, her focus shifting as footsteps came from behind.

Looking over his shoulder, Sasha stood. With a quick glance at Bob, he saw the woman's torn sleeves wrapped around his arm to cover the wound.
"Bleeding stopped. He'll be fine. We've got the water to our backs. Decent vantage points from the bank. I'm thinking we camp here for the night."

Maggie got up and faced the woman, just as Nate had done prior. He had the same tone and mannerisms—dead. "That's good. Stay here, look after each other, and I'll be back to get you guys as soon as I can."

"What? You can't leave." With barely any time to respond, her worrisome features aimed at the woman as her objection was interrupted.

"You should both be safe here. The bus got out, so we know at least Glenn got out. We find him and then look for Danny and the others. Together." She turned to see Nate's furrowed brows.

"Maggie, with any luck, the bus is gone." Sasha said.

"The bus headed east down the main road. If we follow in that direction, we might be able to pick up its tracks." As she defended her decision against doubt, her eyes never left his. A silent agreement was made and confirmed with just a small nod each.

Pointing towards the knife held in the woman's hands, Sasha still tried despite the odds. "Just the two of you, with that?"

"We're out of ammo, so yeah. I couldn't find Beth, but I know Glenn got out, and I know which way he went. We're going to go get him and then come back for you. All of us."

"That isn't a good idea. Anything could happen out there. One knife isn't going to help if you get caught up and Nate's just barely over being sick."

"This isn't a debate, Sasha." He argued, "Our family is missing. My brother, nephew, and kid included, plus Danny got shot. Bob's patched up now, so I'm not waiting around anymore. We're going."

"Danny wouldn't want you to go back for him. Not like this." Bass was added to her tone, and in doing so, she struck a nerve with the man. Already walking off, Maggie turned after his footsteps behind her ceased.

"What he'd say and what he'd do if roles were reversed are two different things. I shouldn't have to tell you that." He bit his tongue in vexation to keep from spewing out things he couldn't take back after the stressful moment had passed.

But when witnessing the anger begin to muster, she lowered the temperature by regaining a calm level. "We cannot split up. Not now."

"We're going." Maggie said, her hand wrapping around Nate's wrist to pull him back. The two walked off, leaving them to their own devices.

"You said it. We can't split up." Bob wore a faint grin while passing by on his way to follow. With a forced hand, Sasha shook her head in disbelief before going to catch up.