"Are you really not staying with us?" "Carol" stood in the basement with the baby in her arms, looking up at Nick and Lila.
Behind her lay a pile of food, including cereal and powdered milk, along with some fruit and other things they had just scavenged from the refrigerator. It should have been enough to feed them for three or four days.
"Our friends are still waiting at the supermarket. If nothing changes in three days, I'll bring you food." Nick set a large container of clean water on the floor and cautioned her, "Don't come out until rescue arrives or the fog clears, no matter what happens."
After a pause, he added another reminder. "Try to keep the baby quiet. You saw it yourself just now. There are things in the fog."
The closing door cut off the woman's reluctant gaze. In the living room, Lila, who looked like "Root," was sticking a sheet of paper to the window that read, "SOS, women and children in the basement."
"We leave in ten minutes. Whatever you want to tell me, you'd better say it now." Nick stood in the entryway, watching outside without turning his head.
Lila crouched in front of the shoe cabinet and picked out a pair of soft-soled shoes. She had walked barefoot the entire way here. Nick noticed that she had nicely shaped legs and good skin. Even without stockings, they still looked quite enticing.
If pictures were posted online in his previous life, they probably wouldn't even need Photoshop. Some simple lighting would have been enough to draw a crowd of perverts shouting about her "exquisite feet."
The woman seemed not to notice Nick's gaze. After putting on the shoes, she walked over to stand in front of him and looked out at the