Page 38 of Hollow Valley

“Keep walking and don’t talk to no one,” Dusty said in a loud commanding voice.

That was the first time that the residents of Fort Lately seemed to notice.They looked at us with mild curiosity, and some of them whispered to one another, but mostly it fell eerily silent as we passed by.

Alphie kept her eyes down on the ground, but a few people seemed to recognize her.Nobody spoke to her, though.Nobody said anything to us – or even to our captors – at all.

“You’re going straight ahead to the barracks,” Benedict directed us, pointing to the buildings that made a quadrangle in the center of the fortress.

The barracks were made of stone with evenly spaced windows covered in bars.They were relatively squat rectangles topped with low-pitched thatched roofs, and if not for the colorful murals on the exterior walls, they appeared simple and utilitarian.

As we approached, Dusty went ahead of us and unlocked the door.He led us down a narrow hall dimly lit with lanterns, and the ceiling was so low, it was almost claustrophobic walking in single file.

Finally, we reached the bunk room at the back.The ceilings were still low, and the walls were white.A dozen cots lined the walls, each one with folded blankets on top of it, but that was it for furnishings.

The windows were small but numerous, so they let in plenty of light.Although the bars cast shadows all over, almost comically emphasizing the fact that we were in prison.

Unfortunately, the view from the bunkroom wasn’t something any of us wanted to see.We were at the back of the building, with the windows open to the courtyard created by the barracks quadrangle.And that courtyard held hundreds of zombies milling about.

But unlike any other zombie I had ever seen, these ones appeared to bedecorated.They were draped in robes and scarves colored in vibrant jewel tones.Many of them wore necklaces and bracelets, and some had on earrings, pierced through the rotting flesh of their ears, noses, even their cheeks and lips.

“What the hell did you do to your zombies?”Boden asked, sounding shocked.

“Nell will come by later, and you can ask your questions then,” Benedict said, his musket still in hand but now pointed at the ceiling.

“Are you going to tell her that I’m here?”Alphie asked him.

He smirked down at her.“You’ll find out when she gets here.”

None of us said anything until after our captors had left.Most of us stared at the zombies, watching the strange sight of the costumed corpses shuffling this way and that.Fergus helped his brother over to a cot, and Dougal collapsed back onto it with an exhausted sigh.

As soon as Benedict and Dusty had gone – the door closing with a loud click of a lock – Fergus asked, “Alphie, girl, what the fuck is this place at all?”

“I already told you,” Alphie said.Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her eyes were on the floor as she bounced from one foot to the other.

“No.I feel like you didn’t tell us aboutanyof this,” Edie argued.“Why are there a bunch of zombies dressed like drag queens in the damn courtyard?”

“Those are the Loved Ones.”Alphie pointed at the windows, out toward the zombies, but she wouldn’t look at them.“They were family or friends of Nell or other Revvers before they got infected.So they keep them and care for them to honor what they’ve become.”

“What about zombies that aren’t connected to the Revvers?”I asked.“What becomes of them?”

“We burn them, and we mix their ashes with the paints,” Alphie explained, sounding more and more agitated as she spoke.

“I suppose that’s not theworstthing I’ve heard someone doing with zombies,” Fergus muttered.

“What is this room we’re in?”Leandro motioned around the barren room and the cots.“Why did they bring us here?Is this like a quarantine or something?”

Alphie nodded rapidly.“They want to make sure that we’re not sick.”

“And how do they do that?”Boden asked.

“For three days, they will keep us locked in this room,” Alphie explained.“They will give us water and food, and they will wait.”

“And then what happens?”Boden asked.

“And then Nell decides,” Alphie said as if that explained anything.

“What does that mean?”Leandro asked.

“It means that Nell decides!”Alphie snapped.“She decides after she meets with us, and she alone.”