Page 13 of Hollow Child

As Stella greeted the others with a delighted smile, I once again worried about the unseen effects of raising Max and Stella in such isolation.

Not that we had really much choice to do otherwise. They had been just north of kindergarten when civilization had fallen to the zombies, and when I had first met Stella, she had seemed nearly feral. It had taken us so long to get her to open up to anyone outside of Max, but after we’d retreated to the lakehouse, she had really blossomed.

In those intervening years, for safety and necessity, Max and Stella had interacted with almost no one outside of our family. Which meant that they had little understanding of how the real world worked, and how fear and distrust should be the primary reaction when meeting new people, not excitement and friendship.

In a world full of unimaginable horrors, we had somehow managed to shelter Max and Stella from too much.

“We could travel together,” Stella suggested before introductions had even been made.

“Well, yeah, sure! Yeah!” The older man went from reluctant to enthusiastic with almost comical speed. “That would be great. I’m Garrison, and this is my daughter, Samara.” The bolder teen girl stepped closer to him, and she gave a forced smile.

“I’m Lillian Waterston,” the woman with the axe said.

“I’m Castor,” the boy said, and he motioned to the matching girl beside him. “This is my twin sister,Polly.”

“It’s short for Polluxia,” she added. “Our parents were big fans of Greek mythology.”

That had explained why the names sounded vaguely familiar to me. Castor and Pollux were the twins of Gemini in astrology, which I had an interest in during my younger days.

“And who would you all be?” Lillian Waterston asked, and her sharp gaze went from Stella’s belly – visibly swollen underneath her threadbare dress and knit cardigan – to Boden standing tall nearby her.

His jaw tensed, but he didn’t hurry to explain the circumstances, and instead went on with the introductions. “I’m Boden, the cat is Ripley, this is Stella, and that is Max. Remy is the one with the crossbow, and Serg is the one up in the spires that you probably haven’t even noticed yet.”

Everyone turned to look up at Serg, and he gave a wave before skittering down the same way that I had.

“Is that everyone in your group?” Garrison asked, still wearing his pleasant smile.

“This would be all of us,” Boden said.

“Well, no need for us to waste any time, if we’re all going the same place,” Garrison said. He stepped to the side, motioning for Boden and the others to join me and lead the way on the trail straight ahead.

“Have any of you been to Emberwood before?” Stella asked them.

“Nope, we have not had the pleasure yet,” Garrison replied.

“We haven’t either,” Stella admitted. “But Remy knows someone who has, and he gave us a map.”

“Well, won’t that be nice then?” Garrison asked. “All of us seeing the town together for the first time?”

10

Remy

We’d only just met the others shortly before sunset, so we had no choice but to camp out with these virtual strangers. Boden and the older man Garrison kept discussing it as if it was such luck that we’d found each other so we could share labor. They crowed about it as we set up camp under the outcroppings of the sand dunes, and Serg and the twins ventured out to the nearby forest for firewood.

“And we’ll be able to sleep more because we all can take turns at the night watch,” Garrison said jovially, while I broke some larger sticks over my leg for kindling.

“I’ll stay up most of the night anyway. I can’t sleep in an open space like this,” I said, which was true, and also much more diplomatic than admitting that I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t trust the others sharing our camp.

I didn’t dare go too far from the firepit that Boden and Max built, according to Lillian’s specifications. She seemed surprisingly comfortable standing off to the side and delegating what the others should do.

“Samara, why don’t you sweep away the dust and gravel so we call sleep on that flat rock over there?” Lillian asked and pointed to the spot. “And Stella, since you’re just sitting there, you can get –”

“Stella’s resting,” I cut Lillian off, and she looked at me in surprise.

I knew we were already asking so much of Stella, too much considering her current state. But the only way we could get to the town and potential medical help was by walking.

“For her safety, she’s on bedrest once we get to camp,” Boden clarified.

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