Page 16 of Hollow Valley

“That’s because they were pictures, and my mom made sure that we alwaysappearedhappy and perfect,” he replied darkly.“But that wasnotreal life.”

“Oh?”I asked, slightly taken aback by the bitterness in his voice.“What were they really like?”

He was silent for long enough I thought that he wasn’t going to answer, but then he took a fortifying breath and said, “My dad was never around.He worked all the time, and my mom was obsessed with keeping everything neat and wonderful.And if me or my sister weren’t picture perfect at all times, there would be hell to pay.The fact that a zombie got my mom so early was actually a blessing, because there was no way she could’ve handled the mess of everything now.”

Ryder’s words hung in the air, heavy and raw.All the time I had been imagining their lives from the glimpses I found, and I had gotten it so wrong.My time at the Lakehouse with my family hadn’t been without issues, but we were mostly happy.It was unnerving to think that Ryder’s life before the zombies was somehow less joyful than my life afterwards.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally, because it seemed like the right thing to say.

“I’m not,” he replied, and then he picked up his pace, leaving me behind as he caught up to Boden.

“Don’t mind him,” Leandro said, speaking low enough that Ryder wouldn’t be able to hear us.“He doesn’t like talking about his family.”Leandro was a step behind me, so I slowed to fall in next to him.

“I shouldn’t have been prying about them,” I said.

“No, you were fine,” Leandro insisted.“And I don’t blame you for being curious.You grew up in a house full of pictures of Ryder and his family.It must be so surreal actually talking to him now.”

“It kinda is,” I admitted.

We walked amiably together, following a trail through the trees.A log had fallen across the path, and Boden and Ryder effortlessly climbed over it.They were both a lot taller than me, making it easier for them to maneuver with their longer legs, so I decided to go around it.

Leandro followed me, and he asked, “What about you?What was your family like before the zombies?”

“I don’t really –” I began to answer, when the ground gave out underneath me.

I had stepped on what looked like a pile of leaves, but I was suddenly falling down into a hole.Leandro was right next to me, so I reached for him and he grabbed onto me, and we were both tumbling down.I screamed as we fell, but it was all over in a matter of seconds.

I landed hard on my back, with something jabbing up into my rucksack.Fortunately, my overloaded bag absorbed most of it, but it still hurt, especially when Leandro landed on me.

“Stella!”Boden yelled, and Ryder was shouting for Leandro.

Their faces appeared at the top of the hole above us.Boden and Ryder first, Murphy and Bianka a moment later.

“Are you okay?”Leandro asked me as he carefully climbed off me.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said, but I grimaced when I sat up from the back pain.My skin wasn’t broken, but I’d definitely have a big bruise later on.

“I’ve got to tie my rope to a tree, and then I’ll get you both out of there,” Boden promised.His face disappeared from the top of the hole, but Ryder, Murphy, and Bianka remained.

This clearly wasn’t a naturally occurring hole.It was three meters deep with a width a little over half-that.At the bottom, about two feet long, were sticks sharpened to a point and embedded in the dirt like spikes.

The only reason that I wasn’t injured on them – other than my backpack – was that the previous occupants had destroyed many of them.Leandro and I weren’t alone in the hole, but we were the only ones still alive.

Three zombie corpses lay motionless on the dirt floor.One had been impaled on a spike, but the other two had been mobile long enough to destroy the spikes and tear at the walls with their hands and teeth.All of them had been finished off by a bullet hole in the skull.

“What the hell did we fall in?”Leandro asked as we took in our situation.

“Looks like a spike pit trap,” Murphy said.“People use them for hunting or trapping zombies.”

There were remnants of a few small animals – rabbits and squirrels that had fallen in without any way out – but there were no signs of larger prey.Either more valuable animals like elk had been harvested by someone, or they were large enough to get out on their own.

“Someone has definitely been checking this trap,” Leandro said.“The zombies have bullets to the head, and the hole was strategically covered with leaves and sticks, so we couldn’t see it at all.”

“Well, we’ll get you out of there before anyone comes back,” Ryder assured us.

A chill ran over me, and it wasn’t so much from the cold, damp earth that surrounded us but the memory that surfaced.I’d readThe Book of Mercy, and I’d spoken to Harlow about the Loths, and I’d learned about people who trap humans to enslave them or infect them.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”Leandro asked, looking at me with concern.