Taking the bowl with me, I walked outside, looking for Zeke.
I found him talking to Darren near the broken gate, discussing plans for the night. Physically, Darren and Zeke were similar, all lean muscle and wiry strength, though Darren was dark where Zeke was pale and fair. Between them, the pair probably did most of the harder physical tasks, since the majority of the group were women, kids and old people. There was a middle-aged black man—Jake, I think his name was—who helped out as well, but he had a bad shoulder so the harder tasks fell to the two boys.
“I think we should spend some more time scavenging, too,” Zeke was saying as I came up, “but Jeb wants everyone to move out as soon as they’ve finished eating. He already thinks we’ve wasted too much time here. You want to argue, you take it up with him. Oh, hey, Allison.” He nodded pleasantly, and Darren scowled at me and walked off. I jerked my thumb at his back.
“What’s with him?”
“Darren?” Zeke shrugged. “He’s just being sulky, don’t worry about it. He thinks we should wait another night before moving on, search the rest of the town for food and supplies. We got lucky yesterday. Found a mini-mart that hadn’t been picked clean, and Dare thinks there could be more nearby.” He sighed and shook his head. “He has a point. Unfortunately, once Jeb says it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”
“That’s insane. Here.” I handed him the bowl. He blinked in surprise but took it with a murmur of thanks. “He won’t even stop for food? What’s the hurry?”
“He’s always been like that,” Zeke replied with a careless shrug, and picked out a chunk of white fruit, tossing it back. “Hey, don’t look at me. I don’t make the rules. I just carry them out. But Jeb has our best interests at heart, always, so don’t worry about it. Speaking of which, did you get anything to eat? We’re not going to stop for several hours, and you should have something for the march.”
“I’m good,” I told him, avoiding his eyes. “I already ate.”
“Ezekiel!” called a familiar voice. Jeb walked out of the apartments and motioned to him. “Are we almost ready?”
“Yes, sir!” Zeke called back and headed in his direction. But he stopped and gave the bowl to the elderly man sitting on the fountain ruins before continuing toward Jeb. “Everyone is packing up. As soon as we’re all finished eating, we’re ready to go.”
They walked off, still discussing. I turned and came face-to-face with Ruth.
The other girl held my gaze. We were about the same height, so I could see right into her dark brown eyes. Oh, man, she didn’t just dislike me, she loathed me. Which was pretty ungrateful, I thought. Especially since I had saved her darling little brother. Especially since I had no idea why she hated me so much.
“Can I help you?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at her.
She flushed. “I know who you are,” she huffed, making my stomach lurch. “I know why you’re here, why you’re hanging around.”
Narrowing my eyes, I regarded her intently, wondering if she knew what a dangerous position she was in. “Is that so?”
“Yes. And I’m here to tell you to forget it. Zeke isn’t interested.”
Ah, now it all made sense. I almost laughed in her face. “Look, you don’t have to worry,” I said, trying to be reasonable. “I’m not interested that way, either.”
“Good,” she said, watching me intently. “’Cause there’s something about you that isn’t…right.”
My amusement vanished. My senses prickled a warning, and the vampire within urged me to attack, to silence her before she became a problem. I shut it down, hard. “Aren’t you taking this ‘don’t talk to strangers’ thing a little far?” I asked.
Ruth’s lips tightened. “You’re hiding something,” she said, taking a step back. “I don’t know what it is, and I don’t care, but Zeke is too good to be ruined by someone like you. He has the unfortunate habit of seeing the good in everyone, and he’s too nice to realize he’s being taken advantage of. So I’m warning you now, keep your dirty claws away from him. I’ll make you sorry you ever came here if you don’t.” Before I could respond, she flounced off, dark curls bouncing. “And stay away from Caleb, too,” she called back over her shoulder.
“Charming,” I muttered under my breath and felt my fangs poking my gums. “Well, we know who’s going to get bitten first now, don’t we?”
Not long after that, fed, packed up and ready to march, the small group of eleven people gathered around the fountain, talking quietly with each other and shooting curious glances at me, hanging back in the shadows. Then, as if prodded by an invisible signal, we started moving out; three teens, five adults, three children and a vampire, weaving silently through town and onto the road. They walked quickly—even the kids and the two elderly people moved with a sense of purpose—and soon the town faded behind us.