Page 82 of Hollow Child

“I don’t really know how to ride a bike,” Max said. “Dad was just talking about taking the training wheels off when the virus broke out.”

“I can, so we’ll be fine,” I replied, and I could onlyspare a fleeting thought to mourn all the ordinary childhood experiences that had been stolen from him. Stolen from us all.

“It won’t hold three of us,” Nova said. “And I’m going in the opposite direction. But I think I can stick to the roofs for a bit longer.”

“We’ll see you back in the garage,” I said.

“Take care of yourself,” Nova said, and then she took a long running jump before landing on the roof of the building just to the north of us.

To get to the alley, Max and I jumped on the roof to the west, and then ran along the edge of the roof until we were right above the alley. I dropped my sledgehammer to the ground, and then I jumped onto the clothesline to soften the fall before landing on my feet.

Max followed suit, and I grabbed the bike and straddled it. “Grab the sledgehammer and get on the handlebars,” I instructed. “Hang on tight and swing at any zombie that gets in our way.”

I started pedaling, but it was slow and wobbly at first.

“When was the last time you rode a bike?” he asked

“Too long ago, apparently,” I muttered, but I had until the rapidly approaching end of the alley way to pick up the speed. The adrenaline and determination got my legs pumping and I finally got a handle on it.

We came out of the alley swinging. Max took out a zombie that ran past us, and I had to struggle to keep the bike upright with the weight shift, but I managed to keep going without wiping out.

I stood up as I pedaled, looking over Max’s head. We weaved between zombies and outraced their desperate hands. Max used the hammer when he had to, but mostly I swerved and avoided the zombies because I didn’t want to risk the bike spilling over if Ilost my balance.

Once we passed three children, barely outrunning a horde of a dozen zombies, which was more than Max and I could fight on our own. So I didn’t slow down, not even when Max yelled for me to go back.

“Remy, they’re just kids!” He craned his neck around, trying to see what happened to them. “We have to help them!”

“We can’t save them, and you need to get back to Rafaella,” I told him. “We can’t stop until we get to the house.”

He stopped trying to look around, and he didn’t say anything when I didn’t slow for a zombie devouring an old man while he was still alive.

Since our house was in the newer section, far enough away from downtown, there weren’t as many zombies. Not yet anyway.

I rode up to the door as close as I could get, and I almost ended up crashing into the house. Both Max and I spilled out onto the grass, and quickly got to our feet.

“Go in the house,” I told him as I wiped the dirt from my knees. “Grab anything you need for the baby, and I’ll get the goat.”

“I can get the goat,” he said, as if I implied he couldn’t handle it.

“I don’t know what the baby needs,” I said and pushed him toward the house. “Hurry. And let the cat out.”

Thankfully, he didn’t argue anymore, and he went inside. I turned to go to the shed where Minnie was kept when I heard someone crying out.

“Help me!” A middle-aged woman had a fresh bite wound on her arm, and her stomach had been torn open, so she was cradling her intestines in her arms as she staggered toward me. “Please! Help me!”

“I can’t help you,” was all I said before stalkingback to the dwarf goat.

She kept coming, begging for help, but she moved slowly before falling to her knees in our yard. I glanced back over my shoulder once, and then I focused on looping the rope we used to tie Minnie out. I looped it under her legs and around her middle, and then I hooked my arms through the rope, essentially turning the goat into a hefty backpack, so I could still ride a bike.

“Why aren’t you helping me?” The woman was weeping, and I had to walk past her on my way back to the front of the house.

“Because I can’t, and a moment I waste on you could cost someone I love their life,” I replied flatly. “You’re going to die today no matter what I do.”

“But… but I need help,” she cried.

The front door to the house opened, and Max stepped out with my crossbow in hand.

“Can you help me?” the woman asked him hopefully.

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