Something Was There

I didn’t move.

My hand stayed wrapped around the handle of my knife, every muscle in my body locked as I stared at the door.

Nothing.

The room had fallen silent again.

Too silent.

Beside me, Liam shifted against the wall but didn’t wake. I glanced at him, then back toward the door.

Maybe I’d imagined it.

Exhaustion could do strange things to your head. So could hunger. Fear. Spending weeks listening to the dead groan outside every place you tried to sleep.

Another scrape dragged across the wood.

My breath caught. There. I hadn’t imagined that. I tightened my grip on the knife and slowly pushed myself to my feet.

The flashlight lay on the floor beside me, its weak beam stretching across Liam’s boots. I left it there. If something was outside, the last thing I needed was light spilling through the cracks around the door.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Then that sound again. Low. Broken. Almost human.

I stepped closer.

The chair remained wedged beneath the handle.

Whatever stood outside hadn’t tried hard enough to get through it.

That bothered me more than if it had.

Walkers didn’t think. They pushed. Scratched. Clawed.

If something stood between them and food, they kept going until they reached it or something else caught their attention.

This one wasn’t pushing.

It was just… standing there.

Listening.

My heart hammered hard enough that I was sure it could hear me.

The sound came again.

“Vvv—”

I froze. No. Absolutely not.

“Violet?”

I nearly screamed.

I spun around. Liam was sitting up, blinking at me through the darkness.

“Jesus Christ,” I whispered.

“What?” Liam asked, his voice laced with a hoarse rasp.

“You scared the shit out of me.”

His hand immediately found the machete beside him. “What’s wrong?”

I looked back at the door. Nothing. Of course.

“You were supposed to be sleeping,” I snapped, turning back toward him.

“You’re standing three feet from a door with a knife.”

“Very observant.” I took a step closer to him, crossing my arms.

“Vi.” Liam studied me.

I sighed. “There was something outside.”

He pushed himself to his feet. “A walker?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Liam placed himself between me and the door.

“It sounded…” I stopped. Saying it aloud would make it ridiculous.

Liam waited.

“It sounded like it was trying to talk.” I forced myself to finish.

His expression didn’t change. That somehow made it worse. “You heard a walker talk?”

“I didn’t say it talked,” I frowned.

“You just said—”

“I said it sounded like it was trying to.” I cut him off.

He looked toward the door. We stood quietly.

Nothing scratched.

Nothing groaned.

Nothing spoke.

Liam leaned closer to the door.

I caught his arm. “What are you doing?”

“Checking.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“So is standing beside the door waiting for it to come back.” He had a point.

I hated when he had a point. Liam carefully pulled the chair away. I raised my knife.

He looked at me. “Ready?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Good enough.” His fingers wrapped around the handle. He opened the door.

Empty street.

Gray morning light filtered between the buildings, revealing cracked pavement and abandoned cars.

No walker.

No body.

Nothing.

Liam stepped outside. “Stay here.”

“Absolutely not.” I protested pushing my way out behind him.

“Why do I even bother?”

“I’ve been wondering that for years.”

I followed him. He checked around the corner. Clear. The street we’d run through the night before was empty except for a few bodies we’d already put down.

The horde had moved on.

Thank God.

Liam crouched beside the doorway.

“What?”

He touched the ground.

I stepped closer.

Dark smears marked the pavement.

Blood.

Not much.

A few drops leading away from the building.

I followed them with my eyes until they disappeared between two abandoned cars.

“Something was here,” I whispered.

“Clearly.”

“Walkers don’t leave.”

“They do if something distracts them.” Liam pointed out.

“Nothing distracted it.” I pointed out.

“You don’t know that.” Liam’s eyes found mine.

I looked at him. “You don’t believe me.”

“I believe you heard something.” He sighed.

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No.” At least he didn’t lie.

I folded my arms. “It wasn’t a normal walker.”

“Violet, we’ve seen people with half their faces missing make noises that shouldn’t physically be possible.”

“It was different.”

He studied me for a moment.

Then nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?” My eyebrows lifted.

“If you say it was different, it was different.” Some of the tension left my shoulders. “But,” he continued, “whatever it was isn’t here anymore, and I’d really rather not wait around for it to come back.”

“Agreed.” I shook my head with a grin.

“Good. Because we have five miles to walk.”

I groaned.

Liam grinned. “Come on.”