The walker was busy scavenging in rubbish bins, looking around for any tiny scraps of food. Despite the plague having severely damaged the majority of the brain, little things remained, like rifling through rubbish to look for food even though you know there isn't any. The walker was about to move on to look for some more when a girl ran past. Young and fresh, prime for the taking. A large pack of fellow walkers followed shortly afterwards, appearing round the corner and disappearing behind another fairly quickly for a pack. She followed her comrades, as did others nearby. Every other walker who spotted the crowd joined the hunt, and the pack slowly turned into a swarm of vicious cannibals, all chasing one goal: Eileen.

* WD * WD *

She didn't stand a chance. Hiding from her predators was not going to work, given that she had a steadily increasing number of walkers getting closer every second as she got more and more tired. It was like she was some sort of magnet, because thirty-seven had increased to maybe seventy within five minutes. She couldn't keep up this chase for much longer: she felt like keeling over from exhaustion more so every time she took a painful step. She had twisted her ankle when she had been attacked in the house, so she would be reduced to a limp soon. The situation was dire. She entered the next back alley, going insane from the repetitive cycle; back alley to back alley, garden to garden. She turned another corner, spotted another pack of walkers. They were about to spot her and she had nowhere to run. There must be another way, girl! Think!

Suddenly, a strong, rough hand shot around her mouth preventing her from screaming. Before she could lash out a deep voice whispered in her ear. "Keep quiet." He dragged her into a house and quietly shut the door, while still holding her still. For what seemed like ages, they stood there while the familiar scuffling sound of a hundred and forty feet passed by, until it was silent. She thought he was going to let go then, but he spoke again:
"I'm going to let you go now. If you scream, I will leave you here, and trust me, you will not survive. I can take you to safety. Do you understand? Nod your head."
She nodded.
"Good."

He released his grip over her mouth, and she breathed in heavily, feeling like she hadn't been able to do that in a long time.
"Thank you," she gasped through short breaths.
"You're very welcome." Now the danger was gone (or at least, gone for the time being), he sounded friendly and consoling. She got a good look at him. He was maybe in his early thirties with a rugged, handsome face and fair, curly hair. He was well-built with defined arms and a slim figure. Despite the situation, Eileen felt her inner girl giggle at her attractive saviour.
"What's your name?" he asked nicely, which she nearly didn't hear because she was too busy gawping.
"Eileen."
"I'm Lenny. I've been tracking you for the last few blocks. Now come on, my car is just around the block."
Getting into cars with strangers was not usually appropriate, but under the circumstances it could be understood.

* WD * WD *

"Why has he been gone for so long?"
"He's probably just taking a bit longer to fetch some supplies, dear. You don't need to worry."

Rita sat with Karen in one of the tent, comforting her as she worried herself over Lenny's whereabouts. While she was fine with telling Karen that there was nothing to worry about, she herself was worrying. Lenny was never usually gone for more than an hour. He had lectured the group on not spending too much time in the city, because it was very dangerous. Now he had been gone for more than three hours and it wasn't just Karen fretting about him.

"I should never have let him go," cried Karen, seeming to have not heard Rita's reassuring words. "For all we know he could be dead already, some walker's lunch."
"Don't go saying that, dear. He's a resourceful man. He just wants to fetch some extra supplies so he doesn't have to go back as often. Isn't that more likely than him being dead?"
Too late she realised that was a stupid question. Of course it was more likely that Lenny was dead, but Karen smiled anyway, taking Rita by the hand.
"Thank you for trying to comfort me. It's very nice of you."
"Well, I can't let you wallow in self-pity, can I? Especially when we both know that whatever the danger, Lenny will survive."
Thankfully, the conversation didn't have to continue as there was the sound of a car approaching. Karen jumped up, doing the duty of asking the obvious question: "Is that Lenny?" Before Rita could open her mouth to reply, Karen had darted out of the tent and into the main campsite. Rita followed, grateful to have escaped the awkward conversation.

Indeed, it was Lenny. He got out of the little pickup truck and entered the camp… with a new face. A teenage girl got out of the car with him, spattered with blood and dirt. She looked knackered, ready to drop at any moment. She stood there silently, waiting for Lenny to speak.

"Who's that?" asked Karen, speaking for everyone. The entire camp had gathered around now, a small group of nine people staring at Lenny, and then redirecting their gaze at the girl.

"I found her being chased by a huge group of them, so I tracked her for a bit and got her to safety. Her name's Eileen." There was silence for a bit, as they all took in the news. From their deadpan expression, it seemed that they were quite negative about the new arrival. After all, it was another mouth to feed.

Eileen instantly felt uncomfortable in the camp. Regardless of Lenny's authority in the camp – if he had any at all – he had still brought a burden back with him. This was not going to go down well.