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“I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I know it sounds extreme, but I don’t see any other chance we have at keeping Stella and the baby alive,” Remy said bluntly. “We have to go to Emberwood, and we have to go now, before Stella is too pregnant to travel.”

“Isn’t shealreadytoo pregnant to travel?” Max asked.

“Emberwood?” Boden asked skeptically. “That town is at least 150 kilometers away, and none of us have ever even been there. You’ve only heard about it from Lazlo.”

Emberwood was a settlement that Lazlo had told me that he had visited before. He claimed that a few thousand people were living there, and they had markets, inns, and most importantly, medical care. It had been built on the remains of a small town that hadfallen during the zombie apocalypse, but allegedly, it was a place where people had been living safely ever since.

“Did Lazlo tell you that we need to go to Emberwood?” Serg asked.

Remy shook her head. “Lazlo wasn’t at the farmhouse. I haven’t talked to him since last fall.”

“Do you think he went to Emberwood?” Boden asked.

“I have no idea where Lazlo is, but he has nothing to do with why I’m suggesting this,” Remy said. “I know this is risky, but it’s worth it to keep Stella and the baby safe. We’ve always taken risks when we need to, and we need to now.”

7

Remy

It wasn’t until they all agreed to my plan that I realized I had been hoping they would talk me out of it.

Boden held my gaze for a long moment, dark and uncertain, the lines creasing beside his eyes. When he nodded once, I suddenly felt queasy.

“If that’s the only way we can get help for Stella, then I think it’s a risk that we have to take,” he said finally.

“You really think the best thing we can do is leave the lakehouse right now?” Max asked, staring up at me expectantly.

“I do,” I said. “It’s early August, so the weather is good, and Stella is only going to get more pregnant every day.”

Max looked over at Stella, and she looked at him. There was so much tenderness and love in the looks they exchanged, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed what was going on under my own roof.

It was so unnerving because what else had I missed?

“Then we’ll go,” Stella decided with a brave smile that somehow made her appear even younger.

“When do we leave?” Serg asked.

“As soon as we get our supplies together. The sooner, the better with the suspected due date looming” I said, then carefully, I added, “You know,Serg, you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to. The lakehouse is likely safer.”

Serg smirked at me. “Come on, Remy. After all this time? I’m going with you guys.”

“I do know that. I just wanted to make sure that we all understand that we have options,” I said. “I’m not a dictator telling you what to do.”

Both Max and Boden laughed at that.

Everyone went our separate ways to start getting things together, and I took Boden’s hand so he’d come with me upstairs to our bedroom. All the way back from the old farmhouse, I’d been steeling myself for a fight, and then everyone had acquiesced so easily, I felt like I was losing my mind.

“Going to Emberwood is a horrible idea. Why can’t any of you see that?” I asked him the moment we were alone in our room.

Boden gave an incredulous laugh. “What? You’re the one who suggested it!”

“I know but you were all supposed to argue with me and point out how ridiculous it is for us to leave somewhere that has been a safe harbor for us for so long,” I insisted. “That walking that far with a sick, pregnant teenager to an unknown place is borderline fatalistic. We haven’t had to seriously fight off zombies in years. We are practically thriving here. How could we leave all of this behind for certain death?”

“I am not arguing with anything you’re saying, because those are all valid points,” he admitted, but his voice was thick when he said, “Stella had another seizure while you were gone, and I am afraid that if we don’t do something, we’re going to lose her.”

“Fuck,” I whispered.

Anger surged through me, and I had to pace to keep from punching a wall. A broken fist wouldn’t help anyone now, but I really wanted to breaksomething.