SETBACKS

They moved from rooftop to rooftop, as swift as they could afford to be while staying silent. William had chosen a very carefully planned route, he knew exactly where he was leading them and what to expect to find along the way. They were traversing the city across building blocks, were everything was so packed together that alleys were narrow enough to be jumped over, and streets could be crossed with makeshift bridges, like planks, ladders or improvised rope. Power lines were dead since long ago, and could now be used as ziplines or handholds. Bigger streets were avoided if possible. If one of those had to be crossed, they'd go down the side of the building itself, typically using a fire escape, and then they'd immediately get up at the other side by similar means. Any indoor environment was also avoided unless necessary.

Up, then down, then climb over something, then down again, then up again… It didn't take long for fatigue to settle in and take its toll. Nora's face started to shine with sweat, her breath becoming heavier as time went by. Yet she couldn't afford to slow down even for a moment, she couldn't allow herself to become a burden at this point.

As she followed William around a corner, she was so focused on her thoughts she didn't notice her partner signaling her to stop with his hand, to the point she almost flinched on the spot.

"We'll take a short break here." he said.

Over the next couple of minutes, Nora took a quick gulp of water from a plastic bottle, and slowly nibbled on the small amount of food they packed up for the trip. She was very hungry, but she knew they had to use their resources sparingly.

She couldn't help but notice how William was staring at her intently the whole time. It made her very uncomfortable.

"You seem to work well under this kind of stress. Beyond your obviously lacking fitness and your cluelessness, you don't seem very fazed by this environment. You puzzle me." He took a sip of water before continuing. "I'm aware of how strong the desire to protect someone can be, but I wonder if that's all there is to it."

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right on the spot. She averted her eyes away from him for a moment, before mustering a reply. She didn't really feel like sharing a lot of things with him, but she had to say something.

"I saw a lot of things back at our original shelter. Claire and Lilian were kept unaware of this reality as much as possible, but I used to help the scouting parties when they came back from scavenging. Whether it was tending to the wounded, helping with supply management and organization…" She sighed, still avoiding eye contact with him. "I feel like I got to see the worst of both sides. I saw arguments, nonsensical fights ending in unnecessary tragedy, theft and opportunism, selfishness… and I also saw the way some of them came back. Horrific injuries, sometimes turning on the spot…"

Nora stopped for a moment, and even though she looked like she still had more to say, William stood up and interrupted her. He didn't look too pleased.

"I don't mean to disrespect, but I seriously doubt you've seen the worst. Of neither side." He started rummaging through his belongings and packing what remained of his food. "Of course, I don't mean to completely disregard your own experiences either. I'm very aware that you can't judge a book by its cover. And frankly, that's the only reason you're still alive. Don't make me regret it. Now pack up, let's keep moving"

Nora didn't say anything, even though she wanted to. What William said sounded insensitive to her, yet she still agreed. In the old world, it was already risky to trust people based solely on words. This new world had made it worse.

In all honesty, the distrust was mutual. Claire and Lilian had been left locked up back in the apartment building, and after coming this far away from it, Nora doubted she could manage to get back on her own. By all practical means, they were all pretty much kidnapped and at William's mercy. Still, neither of them showed signs of having ill intentions. At least, it didn't look like it. It should all be a matter of trust-building. Easier said than done, of course.

Nora packed everything up and got ready to move. William was already waiting for her at the opposite side of the rooftop, arms crossed. She hurried over, the last thing she wanted was to irritate him any further.

"At least you've seen some things. That's a good start already." added William, as he descended a nearby ladder.

Nora let out a breath of relief as she followed him down. Relief for being given a chance, at least. Given the current state of the world, such a thing was probably a privilege.

They kept going for a couple more buildings until they came to an abrupt stop. Nora approached the edge of the rooftop, right beside William. A big, open space was in front of them.

"We reached the river. Our destination is on the other side. This bridge would be our best option, but…" announced William.

The entire city was split in half by a big canal, around fifty meters wide with a bridge connecting both shores. The whole scenery was a good, depressing summary of the city's state of disrepair. Beyond the line of ruined and uninhabited buildings, hundreds of cars piled up on and around the bridge. The bridge itself was littered with remains of military and police barricades, overrun and destroyed long ago. Some areas still looked like they had a slight dark tint of dried blood. An obvious hot spot at the beginning of the outbreak, most likely a deathtrap as people tried to evacuate and get to safety, now completely silent, a remainder of the past. Silent, as long as it remained undisturbed.

Nora looked down, and shuddered. It was difficult to judge their numbers, but it was definitely hundreds. Completely still, staring at the sky, all over the bridge.

"Get down." William grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down on her knees. "Don't let them see you, they have surprisingly good sight."

"I was actually wondering why have the streets been nearly empty so far… B-but this…"

"So, you really know nothing about them? You said you used to help your scavenging parties. You helped them, yet nobody told you anything?"

"We… We weren't told a lot."

William stared at her once again, and sighed.

"Alright, listen. They always move in hordes. Actually, based on what I've observed so far, it's more like a stream. They seem to take specific paths around the city, and flow across those paths. But they only do so at night. During the day, they all stop and stare at the sky. I have no idea why."

"What…? Isn't that… way too organized!? I mean, aren't they just mindless zombies?"

"Congratulations, you just asked what everyone else is asking." William looked serious, yet that comment almost sounded like teasing.

He pulled out a map of the area, and scratched his beard, thinking.

"Damn it… I kinda predicted this horde would be hanging around in the area, but I didn't expect them to actually be directly occupying the bridge. And I don't think it's something we can distract with a sound trap, we can't guarantee that the sound will reach the other side of the bridge and pull the entire horde away. There's too many risks involved…"

"Hmm… Do we actually need to use the bridge? Is there no other way across?"

"If you're thinking about swimming, that'd be a terrible idea. The current is strong, way stronger than it looks." He diverted his eyes to a different area of the map, downstream. "However… there's another bridge. We'll take longer to reach our destination, but it might be our only way across."

That sounded like good news, but Nora noticed him frowning and checking the sky, visibly worried.

"Is something wrong…?"

"I don't like this change of plans. But we can't really afford to go back empty-handed. The supplies back at the apartments are dangerously low, and nearly everything on this side of the river has been ransacked already." He proceeded to put the map back in his pocket, and signaled Nora to quietly follow him. "If we move fast, we should have enough time to be back before nightfall. Let's go."

"Is the night really that dangerous?"

He suddenly stopped and turned around to face her.

"Don't even question it for a moment. Not only are they mobile during the night, their senses also sharpen. You can't run away from them, you can't hide, you can't even fight back. Let's just pray we can make it back in time."

Nora gulped. The night. She had heard some things before, but nothing too specific. Back at her old shelter, she had noticed how the scouting parties always worked during the day, and only during the day. The building was sealed shut once the sun started to go down. So, there was a good reason for that protocol.

******

If the night came down on them, there was no way they would be able to guarantee their own safety. The apartment building was relatively safe, because it was big enough to keep them away from their sharp nocturnal senses. But anywhere else was a death sentence. William knew very well what would happen if they triggered a night-time rampant horde. To call it disastrous would be an understatement.

They went from one building to the next one, following the river downstream. Almost the entire shore was free of stationary hordes, only populated by a handful of shamblers scattered around. Although the vast majority of them tended to flow as a stream across their paths around the city, some amounts of them occasionally strayed apart from the group and wandered aimlessly. Luckily, even if they were spotted by one of these loners, they didn't really pose a problem, since they lacked strength in numbers.

William was deep in thought, as usual. On top of deciding the best path to take, counting the time, and keeping his guard up at all times; keeping watch on Nora was proving to be an additional hurdle on the list. She was following him quite nicely despite her obvious lack of physical training and exercise, but his pacing would definitely be faster if she wasn't there.

About halfway to their destination, they reached a decently safe spot on a well-hidden rooftop between taller buildings. Judging by the position of the sun, it was around noon.

"Rest up here for a while, catch your breath."

"Are you sure…? I can keep going." she replied.

"Your sweat and your panting say otherwise. We'll still need to come back. If you completely exhaust yourself now, we're going to have a problem later. We need to ration energy properly, like any other resource."

"Alright… Thank you."

…

William finished taking a look at the surrounding streets, which only contained a handful of shamblers. He memorized the exact path they would take for the remainder of the way to the bridge, and put the map back in his pocket. He headed back towards Nora, just in time to see her taking a glance at a small piece of paper, which she hid back in her pocket when she noticed him coming back. Suspicious.

"I saw that. What is it?"

She flinched, and avoided his gaze. "Uh… No, this is… Um…" Nervous rambling, but no clear answer.

"Don't make me take it from you."

She stayed silent for a moment, before finally letting out a deep sigh.

"It's… a medical prescription. Lilian needs a certain medication. She needs to take it monthly, or she risks serious health issues… We ran out of it, and she'll need a new dose soon…"

"Are you kidding me!? And now you tell me!?"

"I… I didn't mean to-!"

"You say she needs a new dose soon. How soon!?"

"…more than a couple of days would be risky for her already."

"Unbelievable…!"

William walked around in circles for a moment. He took a cigarette and a lighter out of his bag, lit it up, and took a puff. He faced Nora again. He was angry, they couldn't afford any setbacks at the moment. Besides, medication? With the current state of the world? That was a fucking death sentence, a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up. Talk about liabilities.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Did you really expect me to do so…? I know you don't trust me; you don't trust any of us. And you expect me to openly request that we go check out a pharmacy, or a hospital? Are we in a position to make requests?" She was now drilling him with her eyes, yet they weren't neither defiant or fearful like they had been so far. If anything, she looked more self-conscious than anything else. "I was merely going to keep watch just in case we happened to travel close to one… And then ask, if the possibility arose. Nothing else…"

He took another puff, and then he breathed deeply. He closed his eyes for an instant. She did have a point, although that didn't make the current situation any better. Still, arguing wouldn't achieve anything. Indeed, had she made any requests, he probably wouldn't have reacted nicely to it. It was just an unfortunate turn of events.

"Didn't you have any chance to gather these medicines before you arrived at the apartment building?"

"Why do you think we were completely out of gas when we arrived? I tried… I tried several places, but they were either infested with shamblers or ransacked to the ground."

'I see… So, she knew what their destination was, but she postponed it as much as possible so she could look for her sister's medication… And in the end, she calculated the remaining fuel a bit too tightly, and ended up getting them stuck in the middle of a horde…'

Assuming her story was true and she wasn't lying to him, he had no reason to be angry at her. If anything, he would feel sorry. Still, he needed to remain analytical. This world no longer had any place for mercy, as long as it implied unnecessary risk.

"Listen, I'm going to be clear. I won't go out of my way to get your medicine. If we run into it by chance, consider yourself lucky. But if you want to go looting on your own, then you're entirely on your own. And so are the other girls. Understood?"

Nora nodded. Her expression was bitter, but he hoped she would understand. As rough as it was, there was no other chance. He wasn't going to risk getting himself killed for someone he didn't trust. His safety was first, whether she liked it or not.

"Get up, let's keep going."