Free Hollowmen by Amanda Hocking Page B

trust her.”
    Reluctantly, Stella pushed off the blankets and walked over to me. She still clung to the ratty old teddy bear. When she got closer to me, I put my hands gently on her arms, and she tensed up, as if expecting me to hit her.
    “Do you have anything here that you want to take with you?” I asked. “Max is packing a bag for you, but I want to make sure you get everything.”
    “I’m not going,” Stella said, her voice muffled because she spoke into her teddy bear.
    “You have to go, Stella,” I insisted as gently as I could. “Max is going. I’m going. Even Ripley is going.”
    Ripley wasn’t in the loft right then. I wasn’t sure where she was, since she’d left while I’d been gone. But since she’d followed me across the country once, I was pretty sure she would do it again.
    “I’m not going,” Stella repeated, her little voice getting more indignant.
    “Why not?” I asked, trying a different approach.
    “I don’t go down there.” She pointed to the hole in the floor. “That’s where the monsters are. I’m not going anywhere there’s monsters.”
    “There’s already monsters here,” I said. “That’s why we’re leaving. To get away from them.”
    “ No !” Stella pulled away from me, and I tried to hang onto her, but she was squirming like crazy, so I let go.
    “Max!” I sighed and stood up. “Tell her she can’t stay here.”
    I stepped away from her in frustration. Throwing her over my shoulder while she kicked and screamed wouldn’t have been out of the question, except that it would attract zombies. But I couldn’t very well leave a little girl here to die, either.
    Max came over and crouched in front of her. He talked to her in a low voice that I couldn’t quite understand, and I went to help Bishop finish getting the food. We’d gotten about as much as the sheet could handle, so Bishop knotted it twice.
    Bishop dropped the food down through the hole and climbed down after it. I stood at the top of the hole, watching Max whisper to Stella, but we really didn’t have much more time to waste. More zombies were probably on their way.
    “We have to go, Max,” I said, interrupting their conversation.
    “She’ll come,” Max said finally and stood up. “You go down the ladder first and help her.”
    I did as Max suggested, and when I got on the ladder, I understood why. The rungs were almost too far apart for her short legs. She would have fallen off the ladder several times if I hadn’t been there to catch her.
    Max climbed down with her bag and his. She put the bag on her back, then took Max’s hand. I took the sack of food, while Bishop stayed close to Max and Stella, offering to help them as we walked back to get the others. Stella refused any help, and I knew it was going to be an awfully long walk north.

11.
     
    Boden had smartly suggested that we stay off the main roads and away from any cities. We’d followed the highway to the compound because it was the only way I knew how to get there, but if we were just going north, it didn’t really matter what route we took.
    Main roads meant more cities and towns, and more cities and towns meant more people, which meant more zombies.
    We met up with Nolita, Teddy, and Daniels at the house, and Ripley was already there, waiting for us. Max had actually been happy to see Daniels, and he even tried to hug him, but I put my hand on Max’s shoulder and wouldn’t let him. I didn’t care if Daniels was trying to save the human race. I’d never forgive him for nearly killing my brother.
    We followed an old dirt road out of town and eventually cut through fields. No crops had been planted in them for a very long time, so they were overgrown with weeds, but they still had the patchwork appearance of cornfields.
    Stella wanted to hang onto to Max the entire time, even when she started lagging. Eventually she got tired enough that she was willing to let someone carry her, and Teddy toted her on his hip.
    Sometime in