City Island was quieter than Long Island.
That was the first thing Iyisha noticed.
A few walkers moved along the road ahead, slow and scattered. One dragged itself between two parked cars. Farther down, another stumbled out from between two houses and hit a fence before it found its feet again.
"Let's find somewhere safer for the night," Arnulf said, leading the group forward.
The place still looked like a fishing town under all the ruin. Cars sat dead along the curb. Front gates hung open. Trash moved in the wind. Nothing looked burned out the way Long Island had. It looked abandoned in a different way. Left behind. Sealed in time.
Iyisha took two more steps before her legs gave out.
Her knee buckled first.
Then the other.
She would have hit the road if Malcolm had not caught her.
"I got you," he said.
Before she could answer, he bent and lifted her into his arms. One arm went under her knees. The other held her back.
Usually, she would have said something.
