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I lift my chin to indicate Griffin. “He okay, there?”
“He’s fine.”
“Good. Let’s go, then.” I hold out a hand to her, which she takes after a moment of hesitation.
“Where are we going?”
“To explore.” I pull her to her feet and she stumbles, catching herself with her hand against my chest, my heart racing beneath her palm. “You worry too much.”
“I have reason to.”
“That you do. You know, I haven’t crossed paths with many people who will go to such great lengths to help others. Your friend, William with his arm, and now Griffin. Makes me wonder what you would do if I’m ever in trouble.”
“I can’t turn my back on those who need me.”
“That’s a rare quality. The changed world hasn’t knocked that out of you yet.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Yet?”
“Come on. Let’s see what kind of trouble we can find.”
The door creaks open and I walk through first. Everything is eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the rest of the world. It’s abandoned like the rest of the town. I reach back behind me and tug Emily inside. “Come on. It’s a bit dusty, but there must be something good around here.”
“I don’t like leaving Griffin behind like this.”
“We’re right next door, mere feet away. Plus, Buddy is with him.” I point at a window on the far wall. “Look, we can see them through this window here.”
She peers through the window and frowns. “No, I can’t.”
Moving behind her, I wrap my hands around her waist and lift her up so she can see. I knew she was tiny, but I didn’t realize how much until now. How can so much stubbornness fit inside such a tiny little thing? “Well, not them, exactly. But you can see the building. Now, what’s your poison?”
She waits until I set her back on her feet and take my place behind the bar before answering. Playing bartender tonight sounds like a good time. “Death cap sounds like a fun one.”
A smirk plays on my lips when I look at her. She’s serious. That’s adorable. Also, a little fucked up. I love it. “That sounds like a fun one, but I wasn’t intending to put mushrooms in your glass. Or anything that’s literal poison. I was thinking of something that might burn differently. Something along the lines of whiskey.”
She abandons the window and walks over so she’s standing across from me, her forearms resting on the bar top as she leans over to watch me work. “Well, that sounds more appetizing.”
“You scare me sometimes.”
“A little fear is healthy.”
“Not when you’re talking about eating poisonous mushrooms.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to eat them. Just that they sounded fun.”
“Anything with the word death in the name does sound fun,” I agree, then lay two whiskey tumblers on the bar top and open the ice machine to find there’s actually some ice in it.
“What’s that smirk for?”
“People in this town had their priorities in order. The general store doesn’t have power, but the ice machine in the pub next door does. The power company in this area must’ve lasted much longer than most of the other areas we’ve traveled through.”
“I wonder what happened to everyone,” Emily says, looking around at the dusty pub. “Someone must have recently abandoned it because a generator can only last for so long.”
“Rotters happened, pet. That herd that took us over? That was probably them. I’d bet my weapons on it.”
“All it takes is one bite to take out a whole town.” Her voice is barely a whisper now. She’s getting lost in her thoughts, and her thoughts at the moment aren’t great. I don’t like that. I want her thoughts to be on me. We can think about doom and gloom later on. There’ll be plenty of time for that. I’ll even make sure of it.
Grabbing the most expensive bottle of whiskey from the top shelf, I pour her a glass first and slide it closer to her. “Drink.”
