She had been in the middle of her very first gun battle. Her ears still rang, though it might have been the head wound.

The stranger slipped into the shed like a shadow. Calm, with his gun still in hand, everything about him at the ready. “Hey,” he said with a nice, deep voice, serene despite all the bloodshed and crazy in the supermarket.

Her eyesight blurred, and he was just a shape, crouching down before her. Everything around her was a painful gray haze. She had no recollection of sliding down the wall, but it was probably all for the best.

“H-hey.” Ali frowned, concentrating til things swam into focus.

It took some time.

The stranger frowned too, which was fair enough. She didn’t sound so great to her own ears, probably looked awful. Stupid thing to worry about, but the man watching her, he was pretty. Take a picture pretty. A few years younger than her thirty-two, blonde hair on the longish side, with pale green eyes staring back at her. Still frowning.

Her focus wavered as the pounding in her skull kicked in anew. Curling up into a ball in the corner would be for the best, but she couldn’t. If she fell apart now they were f**ked. Those people were still out there, ready to murder and God knows what else.

“Put your head between your knees.” The stranger used that voice again, smooth and authoritative. He controlled the situation.

Exactly what was required. She did as told and hung her head. “That’s it.”

She nodded. Or tried to.

“Hey you,” he said, referring to Daniel. “There’s water in my pack there …” Fingers rubbed at the back of her neck. The stranger’s fingers. Nice of him.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

There came the sound of footsteps and ruffling, then more footsteps headed straight for her. Daniel. Daniel was close. Good.

Everything was better already.

“Babe?”

“I’m okay,” she whispered. Willing it to be true. Hoping she didn’t pass out.

“Course you are. Here, drink some water.” Daniel coaxed her head back and held the water to her lips.

God, he was so good to her.

She tightened her grip on the pistol and gave pulling her shit together another shot. They really didn’t have time for this. Water trickled into her mouth, and the world slid slowly back into focus.

“You’re going to have quite a bump there,” the stranger said, pul ing at her scattered senses.

He no longer frowned, but still looked pretty.

Her head spun, and she put it back between her knees. Preferable to puking on the pretty man or her shiny brand new boyfriend.

“I’ll second the thank you for saving our asses. Who are you by the way?” asked Daniel.

He moved closer to her other side, and she ever so slowly reverted her head to the upright position. Seeing him was a medicine all of its own.

Daniel leant in to brush her bruised cheek with a quick kiss. “God, I’m sorry, baby. You alright? Keeping it together?”

No. Not really. “Yep.”

“Atta girl.” Daniel winked and sat back on his haunches, dealing the stranger an assessing look. He raised his chin and gazed at the guy frankly. “You saved our asses, all power to you. And yet …”

“Finn Edwards. I was an officer, a cop, before …”

“A cop,” Ali echoed in surprise.

“Yeah. For what it’s worth.” The stranger took a hefty gulp of water. She tried not to notice the blood stains on his arm and the sleeve of his blue t-shirt. No uniform, just jeans and a t-shirt. What use would a police uniform be? The blood and gore would have been from those two bastards on the floor with their throats missing. Two people he had dispatched to protect her. It was surreal.

Her hands started shaking. About time the rabbit hopped back onto the scene. “You’re really a cop?”

“Hang on. I’ve got my badge in my pack.” Finn hopped up and made for a pack waiting by the half-torn away shed door. He returned with a black leather wallet and flipped it open with practiced ease, displaying the shiny silver shield within and a picture ID. “If it helps any.”

His jeans were hitched up on one side; a knife in its sheath jutted out from one of his big brown hiking boots. What a weapon.

Probably the one he had used to slit those throats.

“You haven’t told me your name.” Finn bent down, putting himself back into her line of vision. He cocked his head, smiled briefly.

More choirboy than killer.

“I’m Ali. This is Daniel.” She tried to smile back, but the expression wouldn’t quite work. “Why were you following us?”

Finn rubbed his chin with the palm of his hand, his forehead furrowed. “I spotted you two on the highway heading west yesterday, heard the gunshot the day before. I figured I’d follow. A man and a woman alone … perhaps you don’t want company. Making new friends is difficult these days; there are a lot of dangers to consider. You weren’t likely to just accept whoever came along.”

He hesitated, seeming much older for a moment, and very serious. “Humans are social creatures. I didn’t realize how much until nearly everyone was gone. Then there’s security, safety in numbers …”

Daniel made a noise. She couldn’t tell what the noise meant, but apparently, it made sense to Finn. He nodded solemnly in reply.

“They got the drop on you. No offense intended. They were halfwits, but they were trained halfwits. They came prepared and they outnumbered you.” Finn gave the badge in his hand a long look, eyes going blank. “I can help you protect her,” he said to Daniel.