Following Sid's lead, they had been walking for about ten minutes when Zane noticed something strange.
This place she's leading us to... it's in the direction of that disturbance. The same place the Ravager ran off to.
At the same time, Anna began to stir.
Her eyes slowly opened, and the first thing she noticed was that she was being carried by Quin. Looking ahead, she saw Zane and a girl walking in front of them.
Sid.
Where am I...? What's going on...? I was in the store just a moment ago... Where is Drew...? Drew... Drew and...
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
"Ahh!!! Ravager!"
Quin immediately noticed she had woken up and turned his attention toward her, trying to calm her down.
"Anna, don't worry. The Ravager is gone. You're safe now."
Zane and Sid turned around at the sudden noise.
"Ah, she's awake," Sid commented.
Anna slowly regained her senses and realised she was no longer in danger.
"How are you feeling?" Zane asked.
"Yeah," Quin added, turning his head slightly to look at her, clearly worried about her condition.
"I'm fine," Anna replied. "My head is just a bit foggy."
"That's great," Quin said with a smile, relieved that she was alright.
"Where are we going?" Anna asked.
"It's getting late, so we're going to stay at Sid's camp for the night."
"Who is Sid?"
"That's right, you two haven't met yet."
Quin pointed toward Sid, who turned around and waved.
"That's Sid. We met her at the mall when she was trying to rescue you. She's letting us stay with her at her camp for the night. I'm really thankful to her."
"Hi. It's nice to meet you, Anna."
Sid greeted her while putting her chest forward, tilting her head slightly, and placing her hands behind her back. She stared directly into Anna's eyes with an intense gaze that felt like it was piercing straight through her soul, almost as if she was trying to force a reaction out of her.
"Likewise..."
That girl...
The girl from the mall.
The one who threw the can and told her to be quiet.
Anna stumbled backwards as she remembered her.
Quin, carrying her on his back, tightened his grip around her legs and leaned forward slightly to stabilise her.
Only then did Anna realize just how firmly he was holding her and that she was being carried.
Her face became flushed, and for a moment, she completely forgot what she was thinking about.
Looking around, she noticed someone was missing.
Drew.
A new question immediately entered her mind.
"Where is Drew? I haven't seen him since I woke up."
Remembering the events that had happened before, her voice became filled with anger.
"That bastard—"
"He's dead."
Zane interrupted her, misunderstanding the reason behind her anger. He assumed she was still upset with Drew over a petty squable and didn't want her to say anything she might regret.
"He is what?"
Anna repeated in disbelief.
"Yes. He died... in the mall. The Ravager got him."
Quin explained in a saddened tone.
"Could you put me down?"
Anna tapped Quin on the shoulder.
"Are you sure?"
"Ye- yes."
Quin carefully lowered her down.
Anna placed a hand over her face as she sorted through her thoughts.
So Drew... is really dead.
This all happened so suddenly.
It's not like I liked him. Especially not after what he did.
But I still didn't want him... to die.
As she went through everything that happened, the pieces slowly began falling into place.
A sudden realisation washed over her.
She looked toward Sid.
Sid was now standing beside her, one finger pressed against her lips.
Shh.
Sid... killed Drew.
Anna was startled by the thought but quickly began rationalizing it.
But she did it to protect me.
And it was Drew's fault the Ravager was there in the first place. He brought it on himself...
Right?
If anything... I should be grateful.
She even tried to save me from the freezer.
Anna looked at Sid silently for a moment before speaking sincerely.
"Thank you. For everything. I don't know why you're helping me, but... thank you."
Sid looked surprised.
That was not the reaction she expected.
She awkwardly tried to brush it off.
"I said it before. It's no big deal, so can you drop it already? You're making things weird."
The group continued walking until they passed a parked automobile.
Suddenly, Sid acted as if she had spotted something.
"Ah, I just spotted something neat."
She quickly rushed toward the vehicle.
"You guys keep going straight. I'll be back with you in a bit."
Quin and Zane continued moving forward, but Anna stopped.
"I'm going to talk to her for a bit."
She walked after Sid.
Sid reached the van and opened the boot.
She began searching through the contents.
Most of it was useless junk, but after digging around for a while, she found something.
A steel bat.
It had stickers of cartoon characters and a baseball player covering it.
"Wow, what a great find."
She admired the bat.
"I like the style of whoever owned this thing."
At that moment, Anna walked up behind her.
"Hey."
Sid jumped in surprise.
"I thought I told you to keep moving without me. Why did you follow me?"
"I've got something I want to talk about with you. In private."
Sid scoffed and continued searching through the junk.
"Well? Get on with it."
Isn't she afraid of being so noisy in the open?
Anna watched Sid continue searching through the van.
"It's about the mall," Anna finally said. "It was you who threw the can to protect me, right?"
"Protect?"
Sid repeated the word questioningly.
"Wasn't that kind of obvious?"
"I just wanted to be sure," Anna clarified.
Sid stopped searching for a moment.
"So now you know. What are you gonna do? Snitch?"
She turned around, leaning against the bat as she faced Anna.
"I did cause your hookup to die."
"No."
Anna shook her head.
"And Drew was nothing like that to me."
Sid raised an eyebrow. oh really
"Say what?"
She tilted her head.
"If you don't tell on me, I won't say what happened between you and the dead guy."
Anna frowned.
"Why are you making this into blackmail? I already said I wasn't going to tell anyone."
"I just like to be sure," Sid replied doubtfully.
While saying this, she noticed something in the pile of junk.
A ring.
She picked it up and admired it for a moment before putting it on her finger.
Yeah... this person was definitely my type.
She looked at the ring for a moment, pleased with her find.
"So... we have a deal?"
"Yeah, fine, whatever."
Anna looked away, annoyed.
"I can't believe I thought you were nice."
"Ha!"
Sid couldn't help but laugh.
"What could have possibly made you think that?"
"Forget it. Let's go."
Anna turned to leave.
But Sid refused.
"No way. I just got started looking through this place."
I thought that was just an excuse to get away from us.
"Are you serious?"
Anna sighed.
"Alright then. Die alone."
She began walking away.
Seeing this, Sid finally gave in.
"Fine, fine. I'm coming."
"And shut the fuck up."
Anna snapped back.
"You're too loud. Don't you know you're in danger?"
The two hurried to catch up with the others, Sid carrying the bat with her.
Meanwhile, Quin and Zane had gained some distance ahead.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Quin asked.
Zane looked at him with disappointment.
"Are you going to start speaking freely now?"
"What's the harm? I'm being as quiet as I can."
Quin defended himself.
"So?"
"I don't know, and I couldn't care less. Now be quiet."
"Oh, what a wet towel."
Quin pouted.
"Fine."
"You want to know what we were talking about?"
Sid suddenly interrupted.
She had heard their entire conversation.
"We were talking about how great your asses looked from behind."
Quin and Zane froze.
"A guy with a nice square ass is my type."
Sid grinned.
"Right, Anna?"
Anna didn't respond.
"How cruel."
Sid placed a hand over her chest dramatically.
"And I thought we were warming up to each other."
Still slightly confused by the compliment, Quin commented.
"I know this is payback, but those are two completely different types of compliments."
"That's the point."
Sid pointed two fingers toward him.
"You never see me coming."
Zane, who had remained silent, finally spoke giving in to the humorous vibe.
"If you really like my ass then—"
"No, no, I was joking."
Sid immediately cut him off.
The group laughed it off and continued moving.
They walked for another five minutes before reaching an open patch of land.
Then they heard it.
An engine.
The entire group became alert.
"What is that?" Quin asked.
"Is that an engine?" Anna added.
Who would be stupid enough to drive a car at a time like this?
But this sound... it's coming towards us.
Anna listened closely.
And then—
There is ringing.
"RUN!"
She immediately signalled everyone to move.
Quin and Zane, already familiar with her, reacted instantly and followed after her.
Sid, however, took a few seconds to process what was happening before finally running after them.
But before they could leave the clearing, the vehicle caught up.
A four-wheeled truck with an open trunk sped around them, performing several spins and kicking up a massive cloud of dust before stopping directly in front of them.
Three men stepped out.
They wore chaotic clothing, covered in tattoos and jewelry.
Two exited from the front.
The third jumped out of the trunk.
"Looks like we scored. Alright, let's make this quick, boys!"
"YEHEHEAH!"
Quin and Zane immediately stepped in front of Anna and Sid, shielding them.
Seeing their willingness to protect her at a time like this, Sid looked down in resignation.
"Those damned gangsters... of all people, why did we have to run into them?"
Quin clenched his fists.
"We were lucky not to have run into them sooner, seeing as this is their territory."
Zane corrected him while scanning their opponents carefully, searching for weapons.
Quin looked toward him.
"Do you think we can take them in a fight?"
"No!"
Anna interrupted firmly.
"There are monsters following behind those guys. I can sense them."
She looked toward the direction they had come from.
"If we waste any more time dealing with these guys, they'll catch up."
"Really?"
Quin looked at her in disbelief.
More confused than him was Sid.
How does she know?
She stared at Anna, unable to understand how she could sense something like that.
"Alright."
Zane immediately accepted her warning.
He had already seen Anna's abilities in action.
He scanned the area for an escape route and spotted an alleyway beside a nearby saloon.
"There!"
He pointed.
"Run!"
"Not so fast, whitey."
The leader of the thugs interrupted them.
"We let you have your little chit-chat. Now come with us quietly."
He stared at them for a moment before breaking into a sadistic smile.
"Or don't."
He pulled out a pocket knife.
"I would love to beat you up. Drag your swollen bodies back to our boss."
He licked the blade.
"I'll tell him, 'It was unavoidable. They were fighting back.'"
He laughed.
"I'm sure he'll understand."
"There are monsters coming."
Quin tried to warn them, stunned by their attitude.
"They'll get you too."
"Oh no... the monsters."
The leader mocked him, laughing with his two companions.
"Do you really think we don't know?"
He spread his arms.
"Those things can't do anything to us. Apocalypse or not, humans will always be on top."
Mad men.
Quin took a step back.
"Forget them and ru—"
Zane was interrupted.
"Hey, neighbour."
The leader looked past them.
"How long are you going to keep standing there doing nothing?"
He smiled.
"Come on. Get to work. Make our jobs a little easier, will you?"
The group froze.
They were confused.
Why was he talking to them?
Then suddenly—
Sid slammed the bat into the back of Quin's head.
The impact sent him collapsing forward.
"You shouldn't trust just anyone you meet."
Sid stared at the gang with lifeless eyes.
"These are dangerous times."