Page 29 of Say You'll Stay

“Some of this would have been impossible to afford before the virus.”

“Now it’s all free. Everything is. The only price we pay is survival.”

She aims for a rack of clothing first, picking up fluffy coats and tiny outfits in different colored stripes and patterns. Lays Lucy on a wide display table and holds one up to check the sizing.

“Heads up!” he calls out, tossing her a piece of clothing. “Gotta take that one.”

He tosses her a onesie with a fluffy white kitten on the front playing with a ball of yarn, the perfect visual representation of his nickname for the baby. No time like the present to try it out. Olivia stuffs Lucy’s tiny arms and legs into it on the spot, happy to see it fits and impressed at how patient her daughter is about all this fussing.

“What do you think?” She waves Cole over, showing off the new outfit with a proud smile on her lips.

Cole isn’t often expressive. That joke about all his faces looking the same was spot on back at the car, but sometimes, if she pays close enough attention, she can see the difference. Like when he’s worried and does that scowling squint, or now, when he’s trying to hide his smile.

“Looks good. You got an opinion on this?” He directs that question to the baby, who faintly squeals in response, wrinkling her nose. “I’ll take that to mean it’s her favorite.”

“Clearly so. She has good taste.”

He’s got the attention span of a fruit fly when he’s shopping. He grabs a new item every five seconds, constantly fiddling with them. Olivia’s busy stuffing diaper creams in her bag when she spots him wrapping a proper sling around himself, testing the weight it’ll hold by pushing on the hammock with both hands.

He hadn’t noticed she’d been staring at him the whole time. Watching this man, she’s definitely not growing attracted to put on a baby sling like he’d be happy to cart around her child.

“This is a good one,” he grunts, unsnapping the straps to shove it into his bag before handing her a second sling. “Not flimsy. Could put a bowling ball in this thing. We should get two in case we lose one.”

She tries it on right away, gasping in blissful approval. “Oh my god, it’s amazing. Look! No hands!”

He flashes her a thumbs-up in return.

Lucy is little, but carrying around this small bundle for hours on end can get heavy. Now, she can let her arms rest while the baby is safely nestled against her chest.

“I’m gonna see what they have in the back room,” she calls out. “Maybe a car seat that’ll fit her. Everything out here is too big.”

“Wait!”

Her hand already brushes the door handle when he yells out for her to stop and all at once she knows exactly what her mistake was.

“Check first.” He taps on the door, pressing his ear to the wood. “Hear ‘em?”

Sure enough, the groan of the dead percolates on the other side when she leans in close to listen. Olivia was about to walk right into that with Lucy like a complete fool. She was too lost in her head and it’s a costly mistake that could have risked their lives.

Cole cracks the door an inch, stabbing the first rotter easily, but the next one takes him by surprise. It’s barely knee-high, and he almost gets a child-sized bite to the leg before ending it. Matching blonde hair, nearly platinum, confirms who thelittle one belonged to.

The silence that follows is eerie like the room revealed to them. Several employees lay mauled on the ground, a party banner tangled in one’s arms and the intestines of another strewn across the floor.

“Must’ve been hiding from the one out there, and then someone turned.” He pulls out the knife tucked into the waistband of the woman’s pants, hefting its weight. “Try this one out.”

It’s silver and small, but with a blade long enough to do the job. Her fingers wrap around the handle easily, a perfect fit.

“I wasn’t thinking,” she whispers, gripping the knife tight. “I almost walked right in here.”

“No one got hurt. You made a mistake, but you won’t make that one again. Right?”

She nods. He’s not angry with her, but she’s angry enough with herself for the both of them. “Right.”

This is her first real weapon, pulled from a mother who couldn’t protect her family and given to her so she can protect hers. The kitchen knife before didn’t count. She had to snatch it off Jason after he died, and the dull blade made it difficult to get a clean stab. A shiver runs through her spine as she remembers how it got stuck twice in his skull and she had to shove the trash can between them while struggling to rip it free.

Her pulse skyrockets, pumping anxiety through her veins as the memory blanks her gaze and traps her all over again.

Cole’s tap on her arm snaps her out of it, his worried voice reminding her she’s miles from that subway station. “You okay?”

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