They walked along the pavement, the air noticeably chillier now that the sun had fully dropped. Solar streetlights lined the road at steady intervals, casting pale white pools of light that barely reached the edges of the sidewalks.
Most of the buildings around them were dark.
Windows empty. Doors shut. Signs faded.
Years of passing through places like this had trained her eyes to search automatically for movement behind glass, for shadows where there shouldn't be any, for blocked exits. Even when a zone was declared clear, even when guards patrolled the perimeter, her body never fully believed it.
She glanced at a second floor window across the street.
Nothing.
Still, a shiver ran through her.
Too many buildings in the past had looked harmless from the outside. Too many had turned into traps with walkers inside and no clean way out.
She rubbed her arms once, more out of habit than cold.
Malcolm noticed.
"Clear," he said quietly.
She nodded.
"I know."
