Footprints in the Blood

FOUR

Day 11

When I step inside our self made haven, Matt is on top of me before I can take another step. His arms wrap around my middle, holding me tightly, as he buries his head in the crook of my neck.

"I thought you were dead," he whispers against my skin, dissipating the shock of him holding me and I hug him back. I never thought we'd be here, holding each other like this, with the world falling to pieces around us. When I hear a throat clearing behind me, I realize I've forgotten all about Captain America. I pull out of Matt's arms, turning to face the group of men at my back. That's when Matt notices them as well.

"Who's this?" he asks, looking at me puzzled. I can hear the apprehension behind his question because he knows as well as I do the nuisance the crazy squad running around campus is.

"This is Captain America, and his group of mismatched Avengers," I mumble, but the man in question hears me anyway.

"I prefer Carter, but whatever your heart desires." He replies, throwing me a wink. I roll my eyes and move to stand closer to Matt. I'm not exactly sure why he's unnerving me so much, but he is. I'm going to ignore the fact that I like his name and keep my face to a scowl.

"Okay, Carter. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Matt asks, crossing his arms in front of him and moving closer to me. There's a flash of something in Carter's eyes that I can quite catch before he speaks.

"Well, first of all, we saved your friend's life there. We're part of a unit that assembled not far from here, to keep the Infected in check. We've been making a sweep when we stumbled onto royalty here."

I make a very unladylike noise at the back of my throat, turning to look at Matt. "I was fine on my own, but they may have been a little helpful." I'm not giving Cap here any leeway. I hear him chuckle and try not to be pleased by the sound.

"In any case, we need to get you out of here." One of the men behind Carter speaks up. "The Infected have almost over run this place and this is the last sweep of campus before we're moving on."

Matt and I exchange a look because what the stranger said is true. We've been talking about moving on for a few days now, especially since the supplies are almost completely gone.

"There are seven...six of us left." Matt says, and the pain I feel is just as fresh as it was an hour ago.

"Perfect," the man behind Carter speaks up again. I feel Matt go rigid at that one word and I glance at him from the corner of my eye, unsure why he looks like he'd seen a ghost. "We can fit all of you in the van and get out of here before it gets any darker. Let's get a move on shall we?" Matt seems to have frozen beside me, all bravado gone and I'm not sure what causes that, but I step up.

"I"m Addison. This is Matt. Let me show you the way."

The man nods and follows my lead. I feel Carter's eyes on me as I grab Matt and drag him beside me. It is suddenly evident to me that I really don't know Matt at all and I hope that whatever this sudden stiffness in him is, it won't stop us from getting out of here alive.