Nicholas caught Mattie's smirk, which made him feel even more humiliated. He was starting to become frustrated, wishing that he'd never met another living person at all. Then another part of him told him that this was one of the best things that could have happened in a situation like this. Like a miracle. If he even still believed in miracles. Civilization was gone - and only recently so. The heaviness of his heart became even heavier.

"Not safe?" he asked, more of a statement than a question. His voice had dropped to a grumbling mumble.

Going in the following houses was kind of exciting to Nicholas, but now that Mattie told him that they weren't safe, his excitement was ruined. It wasn't very likely that there would have been anything worthwhile in them, anyway. Either the previous residents took all the food with them, or scavengers came along afterward and looted them. Their only hope was to see if those small stores down the road had anything to salvage, which was also very unlikely, but Nicholas kept his hopes up anyway.

As they continued down the deserted road, the hand not holding the machete fidgeted with the rugged cloth of Nicholas' pants. The anxiety he was beginning to feel was too much. He was paranoid. What if this person killed him? Alissa would never know. And she couldn't fend for herself and their mother. What if Alissa was dying, and Nicholas wasn't there to comfort her through her last breaths? The thoughts made him feel sick. If he'd eaten anything but crackers the past few days, he might vomit. His hand loosely clutched his chest.