48

Stella

Nova and the wolves returned first. She'd used old pallets to help them scale the walls, and they all came into the second story window. The wolves had green zombie blood on their muzzles, but I hadn't needed to see the color to know who it belonged to. It smelled of the virus and urgency and hunger.

I sat on the counter, a wall of tools and potential weapons tacked up behind me, and my daughter was in my arms. She was fussing a little, but not much anymore. The howl of zombies were less shocking to her, and the screams of the other townspeople were growing less frequent as most of them died. Sitting beside me because someone had set her there was Lazlo and Nova's young daughter Sage. She clung onto my dress and sucked her thumb.

The wolves hadn't been the only thing that Nova brought back with her. She had found others along the way, survivors who didn't appear to be bitten. Another ten or so of them, and the garage already felt cramped before they arrived.

I had the strongest urge to run. It was an electric feel in my legs, insisting that I should not be sitting and that I needed to run. But there was nowhere to go, so I held onto Fae, and I chewed on the inside of my cheek until I drew blood.

"What are we waiting for?" someone asked. " Don't we have the keys? We should go before the zombies find a way in."

"We're waiting for the others to return," Lazlo said. He had found the keys to the truck, and he still held them in his hand while he pet the wolves. "We can't leave until everyone returns because zombies will come in when we open the garage."

"How is this even going to work?" Samara asked. "There's already two dozen people here, not even counting those giant dogs. We can't all fit in one truck and a couple of ATVs."

The room was quiet as everyone around was doing the same math. All the people and animals already inside this garage would not be able to escape in a single trip, and Max, Remy, and Ripley weren't even back yet.

"We don't know where we're going anyway," Eden said. She had been one of the survivors that Nova had found, and the hem of her dress was singed from fire and red from blood.

"The boat," Serg said, almost to himself. He was leaning on the counter right beside me, and I barely even heard him. Then he straightened up and cleared his throat. "There's a steamboat on the river. The S. S. Barbarabelle. It's right below the waterfall, has plenty of rooms, and zombies can't swim."

"Too bad nobody knows how to drive it now that my dad is dead," Samara reminded us bitterly.

"No, he taught me how," Serg said. "I could drive it again, and I bet Boden could, too."

"Are you saying that there is a working boat that we could escape on?" Lazlo asked, sounding excited.

"That's great, but it doesn't explain how we'll all get out," Castor said.

"We'll split up," Boden decided. "The kids will go first, and those that stay behind will hide up in the loft. We'll close the door after they leave, and we'll be stuck facing off the zombies that make it in, but we'll be ready, and we'll have the high ground."

"Someone will have to drive the truck back to get the rest of us," Eden pointed out.

"I'll drive, and I'll come back for whoever is left," Lazlo volunteered, and no one disagreed, so it was settled.

Over the sounds of the zombies pounding on the walls and singing to me, I could hear a goat bleating, and I knew that it was Minnie.

My heart soared in relief. I always felt better knowing Max was safe, but more than that, I needed to get away from the zombies and their calls. Once we were far enough away, the electric feeling in my legs would dull, and my hunger wouldn't feel so urgent.

Ripley came crashing in through the window first, but Max and Remy with a goat strapped to her back followed closed behind. Max came down to greet me, while Remy was pulled into a discussion about who would leave when.

"Are you okay?" Max asked, and he put a hand on my face. "You look pale."

"It's the stress." I leaned into his touch, because it grounds me, and I need to be here with him and Fae. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He kissed my forehead, and then kissed the baby.

It didn't take that long for the others to decide how the evacuation plan would go. There was some bickering, but I tuned it out because all I really heard were the zombies. I leaned against Max and closed my eyes, and I wished we could go far, far away.

"Max, Stella, you're going on the first trip out," Remy said. "The goat will go with you, and Serg will be there to help you and keep you safe."

"The goat is going?" Samara asked, disgusted.

"She's one small goat, and she'll ride in the back with me," Max said.

"Whatever. People are going to die because a goat gets to escape in the truck," Samara insisted. "She still takes up space."

"My daughter could die without the milk. The goat goes with," Max said firmly.

"You think that it's fair that someone will have to stay back and could possibly die because you think that your goat is more important than them?" Samara pressed.

"Fine. Then I'll go in the second trip," Max decided. "The goat will go in my place, and that will free up one more spot for someone else. But the goat will go with Stella and the baby."

That started another argument, because Samara didn't want to leave without Castor, but there wasn't enough room for the both of them. Remy didn't want Max to stay back with her and Boden, and eventually someone I had never met ended up taking Max's place.

Ripley was up in the loft, her heavy feet stomping around, and she was growling and chuffing. The wolves were unmuzzled sniffing the air, and Minnie wouldn't stop bleating. It felt like a powder keg about to explode.

"We have to go," I said, because I knew we couldn't survive if we stayed much longer, and my baby felt so heavy in my arms. "I have to get Rafaella somewhere safe."

"I know. Go and be safe," Max said. "I'll catch up with you soon."

"Be careful, and remember that we love you.:

He kissed us both before I climbed in the backseat of the F-150 Lightning. I sat at the left side, and Nova was in the middle with Sage on her lap. On the right side, Harlow was folded up and squished with Kimber .

I held Fae and her diaper bag on my lap. They were the only things I had left in the world.

Lazlo was driving, and a pair of little boys shared the passenger seat. They were brothers, the younger one about eight, and the other about eleven.

Serg rode in the back of the truck, in charge of the goat and keeping her safe. Eden and her boyfriend Alek, along with others I didn't know, filled out the rest of the back until there was no room.

Four other people were taking two ATVs, but I didn't know if they could pick up enough speed before the zombies would bite them or rip them off. But I didn't blame them for taking a risk. We all wanted to survive.

Everyone who stayed behind climbed up onto the loft, and when the garage door groaned open, I folded myself up over the baby. I closed my eyes and covered my ears as much as I could while still holding onto Fae.

I had to block out the sound of the zombies calling, and I clenched my legs and curled my toes to keep from running. My body wanted to move or thrash so badly, and it was all I could do to keep myself still.

But if I didn't have my daughter, maybe I would've thrown open the door and ran with the zombies. Maybe I could outrun them, maybe it would be worth it to be feasted on if I got to churn my legs.

The engine of the truck was quiet, virtually inaudible under the sound of the zombies, but I could feel it surging forward while I kept my head down. Sage was crying, and I think the boys in front were, too. In the back, the people were shouting. Someone screamed but it stopped abruptly.

"Hold on tight!" Lazlo warned and the truck lurched and skidded. The tires were slipping on the blood and guts like they were slush and ice.

The windshield cracked when a zombie crashed into it, but the truck kept moving forward.

"We're going through a hole in the fence," Nova said, since I couldn't look up. "And now we're outside of Emberwood. We should be leaving the zombies behind soon."