Page 74 of Hollow Valley
“People aren’t usually curious about the fact that you have a pet lion?”Alphie asked me with a smirk.
“Fair point,” I said, because I couldn’t argue it.
I readjusted myself a little, because there was something digging into my back.I slid my hand underneath me and pulled out my copy ofThe Book of Mercy.When the Empath had first come in the room, I’d hidden it behind myself, and apparently I passed out on top of it.
“What is that?”Alphie asked.
“It’s just some book.”I tried to brush it off, but she reached over me and picked it up.
“This is about the Loths?”Alphie asked in surprise as she flipped through it.“I’ve heard stories about them and the way they abused and exploited zombies.”
“I’ve never been a big fan of zombies, but I’m not gonna disagree with you about that point,” I said.“Mercy Loth and her family sound like some deranged folks.”
“If you’d don’t like them or admire them, why are you carrying this book with you?”Alphie asked.
“There’s some information in there that’s relevant to me,” I explained as vaguely as I could.I never liked divulging anything, but I really wanted to make it clear that I had nothing to do with the practices at the Loth Family Ranch.“I’m trying to get to the Cold Shore outpost in Glacier Valley.”
“What do you want with Cold Shore?”she asked.
“What does anybody want with anything these days?”I retorted.“I want to find a way to survive the end of the world.”
“That is something I think about a lot myself.If I’m being honest…” Alphie turned timid, her hands fiddling in her lap, and she stared down at the floor.“There is something else you said that had memorecurious than your exotic pets or your taboo reading.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When you were unconscious, you kept mumbling strange things,” she explained, almost ashamed at having overheard me.“You said that you knew of the One Who Commands Two Hearts.”
“That sounds like some real fever dream panic attack shit,” I said, immediately dismissing her.I closed my eyes, just in case she could see any recognition in them.
“People have always had crazy ideas about prophecies, especially charismatic cult leaders,” I went on.“I survived three ‘end of days’ predictions before the virus broke out.Which also goes to show you that if you say enough looney shit, eventually some of it might turn out to be true.You know the old saying a broken clock is right twice a day?”
She was quiet for a moment, long enough that I considered opening my eyes to see what she was doing.But finally, Alphie said, “When I was a little girl and my mother brought me here to the walls of Fort Lately, Nell promised that she would find a way to reunite us.All humans, both infected and uninfected, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless.All would be well again.I believed that then, and I still need to believe that now.”
“You don’tneedto believe inanything,” I corrected her.“You onlywantto.You need oxygen and food and sleep.A belief in something better is just a fantasy, a wishful dream.All we really have is what we do ourselves, and how long we can survive with what we’ve done.”
Alphie’s gaze flickered up from her hands, meeting mine with a quiet intensity.
“I’m going to leave now,” she announced as she got to her feet, but her voice sounded odd.Sort of flat and… scripted.“If I have forgotten my basket here with my supplies, that would be such a shame.”
45
Remy
Lockpicking was one of many skills I’d picked up during the first year or so after the end of civilization.Back then, it had been especially valuable because Max and I were scavenging so much for our supplies.
I hadn’t done much lockpicking in recent years, but this was just a simple office door.Using a suture needle and a pair of tweezers, it didn’t take that long until it clicked to unlock.
Already, I’d put on my boots.I would have to find something better than my tattered boot for my injured foot, but for now, it was better than running around bare feet through the snow.Alphie had left a tie-dye cloak in the wicker basket, and it was large enough that I could pull it on over my bulky jacket, so I could blend in.
After that, I rummaged through the rest of Alphie’s bag for any other useful supplies.I took some bandages and disinfectants for my foot, and I palmed an especially sharp scalpel.
When I had everything I needed, I opened the door slowly.The Wellness Center itself was mostly dark, with only a few lanterns burning, and the windows outside showed that it was nightfall.
To be safe, I stayed crouched down, which wasn’t easy with my limp and foot injury.But nobody noticed me as I made my way to the exit.I eased the front door open silently, but the frigid night air blustered in around it.
Somewhere behind me, someone called out, “Who’s there?”But I ran outside and into the night.
The fortress of Fort Lately lay quiet beneath a blanket of snow, the only sounds the distant creak of wood and the low whisper of wind against the stone walls.