They retreated into the safety of the reinforced basement.
Eliza quickly locked the door behind them and slid a iron bar into place.
She sat down on a crate and finally let out a long, shaky breath.
The adrenaline of the rescue was fading away, leaving behind raw exhaustion.
"How long have you been hiding down here?" Kai asked.
He leaned against the cold brick wall and put his dagger away.
"Three weeks," Eliza said.
Her voice was quiet but held a steady edge.
"It feels like three years. The sickness hit the outer farms first. We thought it was just a bad fever brought in by a traveling merchant. Then the dead started getting back up and eating the living."
She looked at the closed steel door.
A complicated shadow crossed her dirty face.
"Arthur was never a brave man," Eliza continued, resting her spear across her lap.
