In the Sound

“You bit?”

Kit gave a threatening growl, leaning back onto his hind legs. I glanced over at him to see his lips curled into a nasty snarl, baring his wicked teeth.

“Does it look like I’m bit?” I snapped back, a little harsher than intended.

There was a small pause, and I guessed it was probably because the man was very focused on Kit. I let out a soft coo to hush him. Kit licked at his lips, eyeing me before crinkling his nose again at the man behind me.

“Hands where I can see them, turn around slowly.”

I did as he asked, sailing my shaky arms into the air and brushing my ears with my thumbs. The spin was slow and steady, so I had enough time to suck in my breath before I faced him.

The first thing I saw was the glistening silver pistol aimed at my head.

It was so close that I could peer into the little black hole of where my death slumbered. The man holding it watched me carefully, his stern eyes unmoving. His brow crinkled slightly from the sun that probably poked at his eyes. His jaw line was firm, and set into a tight hold. Shadowed by stubble. He was dressed nicely, or nicely enough in the new world. A dark grey button up shirt, sleeves bunched up around his elbows.

“Now, this is what’s gonna happen. You and I are gonna have a calm discussion. Can’t do that with him growling at me. Call down your pup and everythin’ will be just fine.” His tone was measured and even, with a thick southern twang.

“He won’t stand down ‘til you take that pistol away from my head.”

The man glanced towards Kit for a moment, measuring his options in his mind. Seeming decided, his pistol arm fell in one swift swoop. He tucked the pistol into his gun holster, eyes unwavering. Kit’s growl softened, and he licked his lips again with a hard breath.

“K-9?”

“Retired,” I replied softly. I lowered my hands back towards my hips slowly, wishing I told him that he was still young and dangerous. “But still beasty as hell. Just try him.”

The smallest smile lined at the man’s lips. “I’ll take ya word for it. You alone?”

He pretended to glance around behind me, but he already knew the answer.
“Yeah.”
The man rested his right hand on the gun holster. I should have taken it as a threat, but his easy expression told me he did this habitually. “Have you got a name?”

“Yeah.”

Kit sniffed before bowing down into the mud, nibbling at the cloth wound around his paw. I clicked at him in annoyance. He lifted his nose curiously, sniffed at me, and bent down to continue his chewing.
“Well, I’m Rick Grimes. I’ve got a much larger group camped not far from here.” Rick’s hand waved lazily toward the open fields before resting back over his holster. “I think you can understand my caution.”

“Nora,” I said, nodding slowly.

Rick shifted on his feet, resting his weight on the other one. The corner of his lips raised in amusement. “That it?”

“Foster. Nora Foster,” I chuckled sheepishly, stressing my hand through my hair. I was a little embarrassed to be honest. Grimes was the first man I’d seen in a few weeks, and he was pretty charming. “This here’s Kit. We need help. Are the Greenes alive?”

Rick gave one sure nod, the cogs twirling in his mind. His eyes unmoving from my face. “You one of Herschel’s people?”

I shook my head quickly, hoping that wasn’t the wrong answer. Either this man knew the Greenes, or he had killed them and took their farm. I sure as hell wasn’t strong enough to fight him now, neither was Kit.

I waved towards Kit hesitantly, “I need a vet.” Any sense of amusement had evaporated.

A wary silence numbed us. Rick’s cautious eyes darted back over to Kit, searching desperately for whatever was wrong with him. His dark bulbs rested over the bandage that was getting destroyed by Kit’s incessant chewing.

“Did he get bit?” Grimes asked finally, his thumb brushing over his pistol.

I shook my head even faster, “Nope. Scratched up pretty bad on his paw though, all the way up to his leg. We were escaping.”

“I’ll take you to Herschel,” Rick offered slowly. “But I’ll need to ask you a few questions first.”

He rubbed at the back of his neck, bowing his head for a moment before shifting his weight onto his other foot again. “We lost a little girl not long ago in there. You seen her?”

“Sorry. No.” Rick’s brows furrowed again, but this time I knew it wasn’t because of the sun. He bowed his head again, a heavy sigh building in his broad chest.

“How many have you killed?”