A Candle in the Dark

She hated herself for what she’d said to him. Astrid wanted nothing more than to just have a flicker of happiness, but she knew that as soon as she let herself relax that something bad was bound to happen. This was Hell on Earth. There was no relaxing for those who survived; every day was a battle. Instinctively she reached down and dug her fingers into Monroe’s fur, taking comfort in the way that her companion’s muscles moved smoothly beneath her fingertips.

They smelled the body before they saw it. It lay, mangled and rotting, on the forest floor. Astrid crouched next to the creature, surveying it for cause of death. It’s neck was mostly severed, save for a few strands of flesh. The surrounding ground was soaked with black blood, and Astrid had to step back after only a few seconds near the body from the smell.

“Think it was Maddie? Or Jack?” she asked Ezra.

He peered at the killing blow, then shook his head. “Neither of them carries a knife big enough to do that kind of damage.”

They shared a look that said they both knew the only other explanation, and neither wanted to admit it aloud.

“We should keep looking. That thing could’ve been killed days ago, for all we know.” Ezra said, after a long moment of silence. He continued forward, and Astrid had no choice but to follow.

In the next half an hour, they came upon three more bodies. All had been killed in the same fashion as the first, with the head either mostly or entirely severed from the body. After the fourth, Astrid had enough.

“Alright, this is getting ridiculous. We’re following somebody, that’s for sure, but why haven’t we caught up yet?”

“Perhaps, sweetheart, because we’ve been following you,” came an entirely unfamiliar voice from behind them. “Good thing those monsters give off such a strong smell, or else your pretty dog would have noticed you weren’t alone.”

Astrid noted that at the appearance of the stranger, Ezra had moved closer to her. By the time the man was talking, he was practically standing in front of her. Stupid boys and their stupid protective behaviour, she thought, shoving him out of the way as she faced the man.

Her first thought was that he’d be attractive, if not for the hungry smirk and dead eyes. There was a few days worth of stubble on his jaw and his hair twisted in whorls atop his head as though he ran his fingers through it every few minutes. It was obvious that he was in shape; the contours of his muscles were detectable through the threadbare material of his white t-shirt. From one of his hands hung the hunting knife responsible for killing the Walkers, still dripping thick black blood.

Before she could muster up a retort to the man, several others came up from behind him. Two of them had guns pointed at Jack and Maddie’s heads. These were Snatchers, Astrid was sure of it. She wondered which one was Brady, and how far he would go before the woman he loved was in real danger.

Monroe did something quite out of character and snarled at the man when he took a step closer to Astrid. He spared the dog one glance and scoffed. “You don’t scare me, pooch,” he said.

The man took another step and Monroe snarled again, baring her teeth. She must smell the danger on this man, Astrid thought. But like her dog, Astrid was not going to back down. He was just a human, and although she didn’t much like the idea of killing another human, she would do whatever she had to in order to survive. People underestimated that part of her, and she was tired of it.

“What do you want?” Astrid asked, keeping her voice even. She quirked an eyebrow, to see if her lack of fear would cause a reaction in the man.

He only smiled. It was a cruel smile. “Fiesty, aren’t you?”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Me? I don’t want nothing, sweetheart. Except for you to come with me.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Astrid said. Then there were guns aimed right at her head, all manned by stoic faced men. Except for their leader, he’d kept his knife down and was still smiling as though she was entertaining him.

“That’s not an option, sweetheart,” he said easily, tucking one hand into his pocket. “You’ll be coming with us, and your boyfriend will too. You can even walk next to me.”

While Ezra was dragged to the back of the group where Maddie and Jack were, the man had Astrid stick next to him as they made their way through the forest. He walked with barely contained arrogance, occasionally glancing over to smirk at her. It made her uncomfortable.