After Ryan dropped them off at the edge of the street and turned back toward the Boardwalk, Cindy and Daisy made their way inside together. The area was quiet in the way it only got late at night , settled, most of the noise of the day packed away somewhere out of reach. The torches were keeping things at a low burn, scattered at careful intervals and doing just enough to push the dark back without wasting what couldn't be replaced. Out at the barricades, the watch shifts would keep them going through the night, ready to flare up at the first wrong sound. They had enough batteries stockpiled to keep that going for a while yet, one of the smarter calls that had been made early on, prioritizing that particular resource before everything else ran dry.
They found Rachel almost immediately, standing outside in easy conversation with Margaret, their voices low and hushed.
Both women looked up when Cindy and Daisy came through.
