Mattie gave a violent jump and dropped the fence post, taking in a sharp breath as she turned around. Nicholas' voice was still ringing in her ears. [i]Don't leave me.[/i] But she had to. She couldn't risk getting sick. Couldn't risk either of them getting little Cole sick. Her heart thumped weirdly and for several heartbeats all she could do was stare at the man who was now in front of her. Her mind was whirling too quickly for any decisions to be made. All she could think was: [i]He was bitten. I'm alone with a baby. Stranger danger. I'm dead.[/i] 

Her head cleared enough to compel Mattie to pick the fence-post back up. She was stuck between Nicholas and the house that stank with coppery blood she hadn't smelled before, and a man she'd never met. An even more complete stranger than Nicholas was. Her chest heaved. She'd been lucky enough, she realized, that Nicholas (to her knowledge) hadn't been using her, and wasn't (to her knowledge) a murderer, rapist, cannibal, or anything else horrible. Encountering another man in a world like this was asking for trouble. 

"Yes, everything's fine," she lied, her shaking voice betraying the real nature of the situation. Thud, thud, went her heart. Her eyes flitted to the backpacks that Cole lay between. Oh, God. Everything was crashing down on her at the worst possible time. She should have stayed in that damn apartment and let the zombies eat her. She glanced back at the bloody-smelling house and felt tears springing to her eyes. "Sir? There's...a problem..." She wiped the tears off. 

"My friend's in there. He's been bitten." [i]Don't break down yet, Matts. Not yet. Not in front of this guy.[/i]