He stared
at
me. Rage
burned
in
his
eyes.
That
was
the Liet
I
knew.
Surprisingly,
he
spoke
in
an
even
tone.
“I’l
l
do
what
I
have
to
do.
What
are
you
still
doing
here,
anyway?
I
thought
I
sent
you
to
get
more
supplies.”
“You
needed
my
help.”
“I
didn’t
need
anything!
My
soldiers
could
have
handled
it
fine.
You
just
thought
we
needed
your
help.”
I felt my
face
flush
with
anger.
“Oh,
yeah,
who
destroyed
seven
zombies
in a
backyard
that
your
soldiers
didn
’t
even
know
about?
Without
me,
they
could still
be
wandering
the
street.”
Liet
stuck
his
face
inches
from
mine.
“Why
do
you
think
it’s
all
right
to
go
looking
for
danger?
Don’t
you
realize
you
could
have
been
killed?
We
would
have
found
them eventually.”
“Yeah,
but
by
then
it
might
have
been
too
late.”
“Why
is
everything
a
constant
battle
with
you?”
“Why
can
’t
you
see
I
don
’t
need
you
to
protect
me?”
I
screamed.
“Why
can’t
you
see
that
I
can
take
care
of
myself?”
Liet’s
jaw
muscles
tightened.
“I
know
I
said
you
could
go
on
the
trip,
but I’v
e
changed
my
mind. You
’r
e
grounded.
Get
to
your
room
right
now.”
He
grabbed
my
arm,
but
I
backed
out
of
his
grasp.
My
foot
caught
on
an
uneven
part
of
the
street,
and
I
fell
onto
my
butt.
“Hey!”
A
voice
called
off
to
my
right.
Quinn
approached
at a
fast
pace.
I
jumped
to
my
feet
and
stood
between
the
two
guys,
holding
my
hands
out
in
front
to
stop
Quinn.
“Here
comes
your
boyfriend
to
save
the
day.”
“Quinn,
stop,
please.
I’m
fine.”
Quinn
stopped,
his
hands
on
his
hips
and
his
teeth
grinding together.
Liet
grabbed
me
by
the
arm
and
spun
me
around.
“I told
you
to
go
to
your
room.”
He
pushed
me
toward
the
courthouse.
“You,
hero,
get
out
of
my
sight.”
I
stormed
off,
but
I
didn
’t
go
to
my
room.
Instead,
I
climbed
into
the
truck
with
Quinn
and
we
headed
west.
I
stared
out
the
window,
avoiding
Quinn’s
gaze,
as
he
sat
in
the
drive
r’
s
seat,
fuming.
“Stupid
jerk!
I
wish
I
could
take
him
out
now.
Put
one
between
his
eyes.”
I
slammed
my
fist
into
the
side
of
the
door.
“Even
if
you
take
him
out
now,
Florida
would
send
another
to
replace
him.
We
have
to
time
this
perfectly
if
it’s
going
to
work.”
I
glared
at
him. “And
what
were
you
doing?
What
were
you
expecting
to
do
to
Liet
on
the
street
back
there?”
Quinn
shrugged.
“I
don
’t
know.
It
upset
me
to
see
him
do
that
to
you.”
“Do
what?
I
tripped.
I
don’t
need
you
to
fight
my
battles
for
me
either.”
Quinn
opened
his
mouth
to
say
something,
appeared to think
better
of
it,
and
took
a
deep
breath.
“You
’r
e
right.
I’m
sorry
.” He paused. “Liet’s
going
to
be
pissed
when
he
realizes
you
’r
e
gone.
I
hope
he
doesn
’t
take
it
out
on
the
workers.”
I
hesitated
for
a
moment.
I
hadn
’t
thought
about
that.
All
I
was
worried
about
was
proving
to
Liet
that
he
didn
’t
control
me.
Maybe
that
explained
why
he
was
so
calm
when
I
got
back
from
Florida.
Maybe
he’d
already
taken
all
his
anger
out
on
some
poor
innocent
victim.
It
softened
my
mood
and
made
me
feel
slightly
guilty.
“Besides,
if
you
had
attacked
Liet,
he
wou
ld’ve
killed
you.”
I
shrugged. “Well,
maybe
not
him,
but
his
soldiers
would
have.”
I
folded
my
hands
on
my
lap and
stared
at
them.
“Thanks
for
trying
to come to
my
rescue.”
I
smiled
feebly
.
He pulled the right side of his mouth up
.
“Sure.”
We
traveled
for
a
while
in
silence.
How
did
the
zombies
get
into
the
city
in the
first
place?
They
had
such
stringent
rules
about
checking the
workers,
someone
should
have
noticed
a
bite
mark.
Whoever
dropped
the
ball
on
that
one
was
going
to pay
dearly.
I
felt
sorry
for
those
who
were
being
quarantined.
If
someone
else
did
turn,
then
everyone
who
was in
the
cage
with
them
was
fair
game.
Being
in
one
alone
had
to
be
scary
and
stressful.
I
couldn
’t
imagine
also
having
the
extra
worry
if one
of
your
friends
was
going
to
turn.
What
else
could
they
do?
It
wouldn
’t
be
very
cost
effective
to
build
separate
cages
for all
of
them.
It
was
a
shame
it
had
come
to
this.