“I just contacted base headquarters,” Lou stated while closing the kitchen cabinet, mentally keeping track of the number of canned food in it.

She looked up to see her savior dressed in a baggy sweater and sweatpants, a towel draped over his shoulders as he dried his hair with it. He nodded, padding over bare-footed to where she was standing. “What did they say?”

“They told us to sit tight for a day. A team will be sent to pick us up here,” she answered as she leant back against the cabinet, her arms resting on top of the counter.

Cocking her head in his direction, she eyed him cautiously. “Any infection?”

“No.” He placed the towel on the island table before fixing her in a cold stare. “You?”

She shook her head. “Negative.”

“Good.”

As he took a look around the kitchen, she sized him up. Now that she was all cleaned up and in a much calmer state, she finally had an opportunity to assess this stranger. He was short but she could tell he had a good build. His movement was fluid and confident, his behavior cool and aloof on the field. This guy was a professional.

Leading in with an ice-breaker, she said, “Thanks for saving me out there by the way. I’m Lou.”

He glanced her way. “Matt.”

So much for conversation. She straightened up and took a step forward, letting her hands come to rest on the island table. “I’m guessing you’re military?”

“Ex-military,” he replied drily, tousling his hair. “I resigned a few years back.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guessed so with that gun you had.”

“Oh.” He looked up. “It’s not mine. I picked it up off one of you guys.”

She froze. Her heart stopped cold and she mumbled in a daze, “One of…”

“At the mall.”

An ex-military man was at the scene when they were attacked by the undead…

“I heard the commotion, waited till all was clear, then-”

As a clear picture formed in her head, the blood in her veins boiled. Hissing between her teeth, she glared daggers at him. “You motherfucker… You were there??”

Her outburst was only met by an unflinching stare that never left her face. His lack of expression only served to drive her up the wall. Her fingers clenched into fists as she shook with unbridled fury.

“You could have helped us, you bastard!” she hollered in his impassive face. Her chest heaved as the fire within her grew into an inferno. “We were being picked off one by one and you did nothing!!”

Practically screaming the last word, she threw a punch straight at him, wanting to wipe off that apathetic look on his face. Almost as if he had anticipated her move, he dodged to the left, grabbed hold of her arm and slammed it down on the table. His other hand found the back of her head and pushed it face down onto the wooden surface.

She cried out in pain, the side of her face feeling the burn of the impact. Her lips curling into a snarl, she regarded him with a murderous glare. As he bent closer, she jerked her head about but his firm grip kept her face planted on the table.

His lips barely an inch away from her ear, his breath tickled her skin. But what he said next was what made her veins turn ice cold.

“You mean… you did nothing.”

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