Page 62 of Hollow Child

“Feeding zombies just seems so antithetical to everything I’ve ever known,” I said.

“If it keeps us safe, I don’t see what the problem is,” Nova said.

Something about the way she spoke, it reminded me of a conversation with Lazlo when I had first saw him at the old farmhouse.

“You think that zombies aren’t dangerous anymore?” I had asked him.

“No, of course not. They’re incredibly dangerous. But so are sharks and bears and lions.” He glanced over at Ripley strolling around, and corrected himself with, “Well, wild lions, at least. But maybe some zombies can be domesticated or aren’t that bothersome if you give them space.”

That wasn’t something that I had believed then, and I still didn’t now.

“It’s really helpful keeping them occupied with all the visitors coming and going, especially with the Emberwood Fest coming up,” Nova went on.

“Emberwood Fest?” I asked.

“It’s this big festival we have every year on the harvest moon to celebrate surviving another summer before the winter closes us in for so many months,” Nova explained.

I frowned as I thought about what she was saying. “So, you have this town full of people where you feed zombies, and then you invite strangers from all over to come and party with you? And all of this is safe?”

“It has been so far,” Eden said, sounding unfazed. “I do understand that all of this might sound risky to you, but Emberwood is about more than just doing the bare minimum so we never rock the boat. Life is for living, otherwise what’s the point?”

36

Stella

Everyone wants to help, and they offered as much as they could. Boden and Serg would volunteer to take Rafaella every time she fussed or cried. But they didn’t have the one thing she needed.

I feed her, and I feed her, but it is never enough? How can one small baby be so ravenous?

“I can hold her, if you need a break,” Max said. That was the third time he had offered in the past hour, according to the clocktick-tick-tickingon our bedroom wall as I paced.

“She’s hungry,” I snapped, because that should be obvious since the baby was attached to my breast, whimpering and crying between suckling.

“I just think you could use a break,” he persisted. “You could even put her down in the basinet for a few minutes, and we could go outside together and get some air.”

“I won’t just abandon my baby!” I shouted at him.

“No one wants that. I would never abandon Fae.”

“You told me to just leave her, even though she’s crying!”

Max raked his hands through his thick, dark hair in exasperation. “For a few minutes!”

“But she needs me!”

“And you have needs, too!” he shot back.

A knock at our bedroom door silenced our argument. Neither of us moved toward the door, soBoden tentatively opened it and poked his head inside.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

“How does it sound like we’re doing?” I asked him in bitter exasperation.

He frowned in understanding. “Put the baby down, and put on your sweater. There is someone here to see you.”

“I can’t –” I started to argue, but Boden held up his hand.

“Five minutes, Stella. That’s all I need,” he assured me.

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