I ran alongside Maribel, keeping close enough that neither of us fell out of reach in the dark.
Honestly, I would have preferred she stayed hidden in the cabin with Carmen and Shannon. It would have been safer. But Maribel was not built for hiding while other people needed help, especially not when she had the strength to do something about it.
She had been a fighter long before the world fell apart.
I knew what she was capable of.
Still, the Screamer changed everything. Maribel could handle two or three Infected without much trouble, but if she got surrounded, her skill alone would not be enough to save her. Speed and strength meant nothing against numbers.
I just had to make sure she never ended up in that position.
"Was everything okay with Carmen up there?" Maribel asked suddenly.
"What?"
"You took a while," she said. "And she only grabbed a small bag. That shouldn't have taken that long to pack."
I kept my eyes forward, scanning the street ahead for movement.
