Hollow Child, page 10
“You will all be separated for examination. If you show any signs of infection, you will be denied entry,” they explained in their alien, neutral tone. “You will all be separated for examination. If you show no signs of infection, you will be welcomed into Emberwood.
“Can I stay with her?” Max asked
“You will be separated –” they started to repeat, but Max held up his hand to stop them.
“Yeah, I got it,” he snapped.
They sent us down a narrow pathway between the exterior stone and wood fence and an interior chain link fence, and Max hung onto my hand for as long as he could. Ahead were a row of small sheds, and it wasn’t until we stopped at the first one that the separation they’d warned of began. They directed me to go through the door into one, and Max squeezed my hand and promised he’d see me soon.
The little shacks were made of sheet metal, and they had no windows. They did, however, have electricity, and they were lit by a bright white light. A folding chair sat in the center, and in one corner, there was a basin with clean water and a mirror above it. In the other corner, there was a bucket of sawdust for waste.
“Sit down and someone will be with you soon,” the people in the spacesuits said, and they closed the door behind them.
I stripped down to the bandeau bra and boxer shorts I’d made from the clothes I had outgrown at the lakehouse. The fabric had clouds and rainbows of the little girl who had loved them before me.
The door opened without a knock, and someone in a space suit came in carrying a tacklebox. They shut the door behind them, and with their gloved hand, they pulled out a thermometer.
“You can sit if you want. I need a few vitals,” they said.
“I can’t. It hurts to sit or straighten up,” I said. All I could comfortably do was lean against my walking stick.
They quickly took my temperature, my blood pressure, and checked my pupils, along with a few other tests that I didn’t understand. Then, much to my surprise, they pulled off their helmet, and revealed a woman with a round, kind face. Her dark hair was graying at the temples, and her tentative smile was comforting.
“You have a fever, but no other signs of infection,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“Stella.”
“How old are you, Stella?”
“I turned fifteen in June.”
“Do you know how far along you are in your pregnancy?”
“A little over seven months, I think,” I said.
“Stella, you are sick, but I think you know that,” she said gently. “My name is Jovie Galaway, and I’m a midwife. I want to help you.”
Tears formed in my eyes. “Really?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “I’ll leave you to get dressed, and then we’ll get you out of here. Okay?”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
She left, and I dressed as hurriedly as I could. The ache underneath my belly made it difficult. I ran my hand along my bare skin, and I felt a wound. My fingertips were red with blood.
My heart dropped, and I looked to the mirror. I couldn’t see under my belly, so I stood on my tip toes, lifting it up and tilting back until I could see it in the reflection. The waistband of my boxers were red with blood straight beneath my belly button, and I could see the shape of teeth, small but clear.
A zombie had bitten me.
21
Remy
I could hear Ripley grumbling through the shed walls as I hurried to get dressed after my exam. When I tried the door, I half-expected it to be locked even though they had told me that I was free to go. Just being in a cramped box like this with too bright of lights reminded me of my time in my last quarantine zone, but I never let myself think about that anymore.
The door opened, and the person in the HAZMAT suit that had cleared me was waiting to tell me how to enter the town. I didn’t ask how anyone else was doing, mostly because I didn’t think they would tell me, so I just got out of the shed and raced to find my family.
Max was the first, waiting in an area with benches surrounded by a chain link fence. Boden and Serg were calming Ripley, who was tolerating her leash okay, but she always got restless when she was caged. The others were milled about – Lillian, Samara, and Castor – but Stella wasn’t there.
“Max!” I ran and hugged my brother, but he didn’t really hug me back.
“I don’t know where Stella is,” he said before I even released him.
“She’ll be here soon,” I said. “Everyone else is.”
The gates to the cage opened, and a well-dressed man greeted us with a hundred-watt smile. He was white and appeared to be in his late forties, with dark thinning hair. He was slight for a man, but he stood tall in a flashy pair of leather boots with heels.
“Good afternoon, folks,” he said with a warm drawl. “I am Vaughn Douglas, the democratically elected mayor of Emberwood for nine years running. Since it is your first time here, I am happy to be the one to explain to you how things work here in our blessed little hamlet.”
“We’re not all here yet,” Max said. “Where is Stella?”
“Stella is the pregnant young woman that is with you?” Vaughn asked, and Max nodded. “She has been taken by our wonderful midwife Jovie Galaway to her clinic. As you likely were aware, Stella arrived here in need of medical attention. Jovie runs a fantastic little clinic that focuses on the treatment during pregnancy and when children are young, and she truly is the best help you can get for a woman in Stella’s condition in these times. With that said, Jovie wanted me to pass along to you that Stella is currently stable, and she is getting the care she needs.”
“I need to be with her,” Max said, stepping out away from me. “She’s sick and scared and carrying my baby. Take me to her. Please.”
“Certainly.” Vaughn looked back over his shoulder, and he motioned to a slender young man waiting in the wings. “This is my alderman, Wilder Cruz.”
Wilder had light brown skin, delicate features, and his black hair was slicked back into a short ponytail. His suit was perfectly tailored in a stiff, dark crimson fabric, and it reminded me vaguely of a barbershop quartet.
“I will be happy to take you directly to Jovie’s clinic,” Wilder told Max, and gestured for him to follow him.
“I should go, too.” I started after him, but Vaughn held up his hand to stop me.
“Jovie’s clinic gets crowded easily, and there is so much to go over about Emberwood,” Vaughn said. “It is best if newcomers have the tour if they can, especially since two of your family members are missing it.”
“Will we be able to see Stella right after the tour?” Boden asked before I could start putting up a fight.
“I will take you straight to Jovie’s the moment we are done,” Vaughn promised us, and he made a motion like he was crossing his heart.
I relented and stepped back beside Boden. Vaughn went around, doing quick introductions with all of us. When we had finished, the mayor said, “There is just one thing I need to know before we begin. Are you moving to Emberwood, or are you only here on a visit?”
“We’re all moving here,” Lillian answered for the group, and I didn’t correct her because I really had no idea how long we would be here.
“That is excellent news.” His smile widened. “We have many housing opportunities for newcomers. All we ask is that you contribute to the community. Now let’s begin!”
About the same time as we were entering, a group of hunters were returning carrying two large bear carcasses behind them.
“We try not to hunt too many bears, because they help control the local zombie population, but we are having a great feast tomorrow night!” Vaughn explained exuberantly. “You’ve all arrived at just the perfect time.”
He stepped back and spread his arms wide, like a great showman. “Welcome to Emberwood!
“Back before the zombies changed everything, this was a sleepy little hamlet called Baptiste,” Vaughn explained. “It started off as a trading post for the hunters and loggers back in the 1800s. Until about a decade ago, it had been little more than a few houses, a post office, a general store, and a church.
“Most of the original residents were lost to zombies, unfortunately, but the cold impedes the virus, so ingenious survivors decided to make this somewhere people could live again,” he went on. “This town is flanked by a cliff to the south, a river to east, and a mountain to the north, so it is hard for zombies to enter. We have fenced in an area of fifty acres, and nearly three thousand people live here.
“We have markets, greenhouses, schools, clinics, and much more,” Vaughn boasted. “Some of the original buildings here have electricity through solar power, but we are expanding that with wind power in the future.
“That right there is the mayor’s office.” Vaughn pointed to a church. “It also houses my apartment in the back, a storm shelter in the basement, and jail cells, though they are rarely needed. Behind that is the town garage where we have a very small fleet of electric vehicles that we can use for special circumstances.
“That right there is an old post office, but now it’s sort of a culture center.” The mayor pointed to a squat log cabin-style building with a sign out front painted to say The Athenaeum of Emberwood.
The front door was open, and I could hear music softly playing inside, along with the sweet scent of tea and pastries.
“There’s live music and books to buy or rent, and on Fridays, they even play movies,” Vaughn was explaining, but the music caught me, and I tuned him out.
It was an old Britney Spears song that I hadn’t heard in years, and it was being sung by a very familiar baritone.
“Remy, where are you going?” Boden asked as I walked towards the music.
“I’ll be right back,” I called over my shoulder, and I jogged into the Athenaeum.
In the center of the room, a man sat on a stool with an acoustic guitar across his lap as he played a bluesy cover of “Toxic.” As he strummed, he looked up and saw me, and he smiled.
It was Lazlo Durante, and he was alive and well.
22
Remy
I had been trying not to worry about him all summer, ever since he had failed to show for our scheduled meet at the old farmhouse. I hadn’t even let myself think about all the things that could’ve befallen him, and for the most part, I had been able to avoid it all because I was so focused on everything with Stella and Max.
But now, as Lazlo stood before me, a rush of emotion came over me. It was as if the dam that had been holding back all my darkest fear suddenly burst, and for a horrible moment, I felt too much.
Lazlo’s smile fell, and he hurried to close the distance between us. A sob escaped my lips because I couldn’t contain it.
“Hey, Remy, are you okay?” he put a hand on my shoulder, and his dark eyes were filled with concern. “Did something happen?”
“I thought you were dead,” I admitted, and he pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m sorry,” he said thickly. “My homestead caught on fire in the winter, and we all managed to get out alive, along with some of the animals, but we had to get here before the cold got us, and I couldn’t go back to the old farmhouse to meet you or leave you a note.”
“Your homestead burned down?” I asked, and I released him so I could look him in the face as we talked. “What happened?”
I had never been to his homestead, but I knew that he lived on a nice property that his partner had owned before the virus. It was already set up to be self-sufficient, with livestock, gardens, and solar panels, so Lazlo and his family had been doing well for themselves.
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you another time,” he replied vaguely. “But what are you doing here? Did you come looking for me?”
“No. I mean, I had hoped that I would see you again somewhere, but that’s not what brought us to Emberwood,” I said. “Stella is pregnant.”
His forehead pinched. “Stella? Isn’t she a little kid?”
“She is fifteen,” I said. “And my sixteen-year-old brother is the father.”
“Oh, shit,” Lazlo said, and then quickly corrected himself, “Or congratulations?”
“Probably both, I guess,” I said. “Stella has been sick, so we came here to get her help. The mayor says that a midwife took her or something.” I glanced around the Athenaeum, which was mostly empty other than a few people drinking tea or perusing the books on the shelves.
I lowered my voice when I spoke again anyway. “Is this place safe? Is the mayor good?”
“Yeah, this is a good place,” he assured me with a smile. “It’s safe, and life is a lot easier living in a community. Are you planning to move here?”
“I don’t know. The plan so far is to do whatever is needed for Stella and the baby, and for the time being, that means being here,” I said.
“So you just got here today?” he asked.
I nodded. “The mayor was giving us a tour when I heard you singing.”
“Well, my singing is certainly the highlight of any tour,” he said with a wry smirk, and glanced around at the mostly empty room. “Not a lot of people listen, but I’m still happy to play.”
“It is really great to hear you again,” I said. “But I should get back to the tour and see how Stella is doing. Do you know where the midwife Jovie Galaway’s place is?”
“Yeah, I do. I can take you there. This town can be a little confusing until you get used to the layout,” Lazlo said. He looked back over his shoulder and called to the bespectacled woman wiping down the tables. “I’m heading out for the day.”
“That is always allowed,” she said without looking up. “See you later, Laz.”
“Come on,” Lazlo said to me and gestured for the door. “Jovie’s clinic. There’s another clinic that treats wounds and illnesses for everybody, and some animals, actually. That one is run by a veterinarian, a nurse, and an orthopedic surgeon. Jovie just focuses on pregnancy and children under four.”
“At home, we’ve been getting by with a first aid kit and some old books, so all of that sounds like a real upgrade,” I said, even though just thinking about doctors or medical equipment made me sick to my stomach.
“Harlow lives in an apartment just over there.” Lazlo pointed, and I followed his finger past clothes hanging on the line, a chicken pen built up against a log cabin, and a stand where a vendor seemed to be selling toad kabobs.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, straining as if I could see her through the walls. “How is she? I’d really like to see her while I’m in town.”
“Yeah, I’m sure she’d love that,” Lazlo said. “She was hurt in the fire, and she had a real rough go of it for a while. But she’s doing better now. I think she’s really happy here. Her girlfriend Kimber’s working on expanding the town’s electrical grid, and they live together. Harlow just opened up her own boutique a month ago.”
“That’s really great,” I said. “Are you happy here?”
“I am.” He nodded and smiled. “Me and Nova have this tiny farm on the northern end of town. Still inside the fence, of course, but it’s just a great little bit of land to take care of. Our daughter Sage just turned four, and she’s growing up so smart and strong.”
“When you and Nova had your baby, was it here?” I asked.
“No, we had her on the homestead, but Nova had a really easy pregnancy,” Lazlo clarified. “We were also in our mid-twenties. So I don’t blame you for getting her help. Jovie has been really good with Sage when she’s gone to see her.”
We walked down the roads between small buildings made of found materials, like reclaimed wood and scrap metal, and they had been turned into surprisingly quaint homes and shops. I had forgotten about how loud life in a town could be, especially in a cramped one with livestock. People were riding bikes, horses, and donkeys down the roads, along with the other pedestrians.
“Jovie’s clinic is just over there,” Lazlo said.
But I already knew. It was a cute little two-story house with a barn roof, and Boden was standing on the covered porch out front. His expression was grim, and my heart sunk.
“Boden?” I called and jogged away from Lazlo. “Where is Stella?”
“She’s inside, and the midwife is helping her,” Boden said, and he was speaking with that tone and had that look, like what he actually wanted to say was, Don’t freak out, Remy, but he knew that would only make me freak out faster.
“Is she okay?” I asked as I went up the front steps, and Boden stood blocking the door. “Let me see her.”
“Just give me a minute. Max and Serg are with her now, so she’s not alone. But I have to tell you something first.” Boden was still speaking in that irritatingly soothing tone, and I could see the pain and fear in his eyes.
“Just fucking tell me then!” I snapped.
Boden let out a shaky breath. “Stella was bitten.”
I blinked, not understanding. “By what?”
He waited a beat. “A zombie. Earlier today. One must’ve gotten her somehow during her seizure.”
“No. She wasn’t bitten.” I shook my head. “I would’ve known. I would’ve seen it.”
He just looked at me, and I knew he was telling the truth, no matter how badly I didn’t want to believe it.
“Let me see her.” I tried to push past Boden, but when he touched my arm, I started shouting at him. “Let me see her! I raised her! She’s my kid!”
“I know. She’s my kid, too!” Boden yelled back, and he grabbed my arms to keep me from barreling into the house. “But you’ve got to calm down! Stella and Max don’t need to see you like this. So get ahold of yourself.”
Finally, I relented. I leaned against him, and we held each other. “What are we going to do?”
23
Stella
I told Max and Jovie the moment I was alone with them both. Jovie had brought me to the clinic on the back of something she called a “rickshaw,” where a person pedaling a bike pulled us on a wagon through town.
The clinic had obviously been an ordinary home before. The living room was set up like a waiting room, and Jovie led me into a dining room that had been partitioned with wood and converted into a few small patient rooms.
