"I think that city is on fire."
She didn't bother telling them it was snowing.
It got Melvin up as she'd known it would, and he woke Henry. While she was glad something had happened to get them moving, her heart worried that her freedom might come at the cost of innocent lives. Had she made it happen with her hurting wishes? Was she responsible?
Her grieving mind said she knew better. They had hidden from those men before, seen the smoke and fires from the direction they went. The group was attacking towns, trying to what? Eliminate the survivors? She nodded. That fit, and her American heart cried in protest at the loss of people she hadn't even known. Someone had to do something, had to fight back, she thought, never considering that she might end up being one of those heroes.
Sam listened to them talk about going back with fear in her heart, lazy Henry all for it. When they stepped out to look around, she gently searched the front for anything she could use as a weapon if they did decide to wait in the farmhouse. This was the first time they had left her alone inside the van and she was very quiet.
"No way she's still there, man. Look at all those flames."
Melvin shook his head, eyeing the storm clouds that were currently raining black, ashy flakes over them.
"Gail'll be there. I told her to stay."
"I don't know, man." Henry was looking at the roof of the farmhouse they could just barely see. It wasn't his girlfriend, and he clearly didn't want to go where there was such obvious danger.
"I do. We'll make it by dark. We just gotta get started moving shit again."
"It's an overpass, Mel. No stores if the storm gets bad."
Melvin waved a dirty hand. "These cars're the grocery now - and we're not stuck anywhere. The van'll go through any storm, even a Norther."
"Yeah, I guess." There was deep reluctance in Henry's voice, mostly because of the rotting corpses in so many of the cars.
Melvin's laughter was mean. "The bitch'll look for supplies while we're shovin' that bus over. We'll just chain her to the bumper like usual."
Samantha's gut clenched with nervous anger and hope. Maybe she would find a real weapon while searching those cars.
"Turn off that engine! Get out here, Slut! Time to earn your keep."
Samantha was careful to put heavy loathing into her voice. "In the snow?"