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“Sure.” I smiled gratefully up at him. “That would be wonderful. Do you know where to look?”
“There’s a stream along the western edge of the farm, and Nova says it’s supposed to grow right along that.” He limped over to a closet and pulled out a basket and gloves, and when he handed them to me, he added, “It’s okay if you don’t find anything, either. Nova has lots of canned and frozen vegetables.”
“Got it,” I said and started toward the door.
“If you get chilly, you can come back and grab a jacket,” Lazlo said. “And there’s no rush. You can take as long as you want, but if you get tired, don’t be afraid to come back empty handed.”
He was looking at me again with guilt and apologies in his eyes. He had found me and gotten me away from the Loth farm, but in his mind, it had not been soon enough. Yes, I would’ve loved it if I had never had to spend a single moment in that godforsaken place, but I didn’t fault him for not knowing where I was.
It didn’t matter how much I told Lazlo that I didn’t blame him, and I was only grateful that Kimber and I were here now. He might not ever forgive himself, and I would have to accept that. I just wished he’d stop treating me like I was a small child or irrevocably broken.
“Lazlo, I got it. I’ll be fine,” I said firmly, but I softened it with a smile. “I’m basically going to be in the side yard. It’s no big deal.”
His expression turned embarrassed, and he nodded. “Right. I know. Sorry. Go have fun. And let me know if you need anything.”
“I will,” I said and headed outside with my basket, feeling a little bit like Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolves added to the vibe. Since Nova was back with the other animals, showing Kimber how to care for them, the wolves were free roaming the yard. They usually spent all their time with Nova, but they would almost certainly eat a chicken or a goat if given the opportunity.
The two majestic animals jogged leisurely through the long grass simply because they could. Frost seemed to like me, occasionally coming over for pets, and he even slept at the foot of the bed I shared with Kimber. Sable kept her distance, though. Kimber had been able to pet her already, but she had a way with animals that I didn’t.
Lazlo had been unnecessarily worried about the weather, since it was a warm, sunny day. Birds were singing, and the breeze brought in the scent of early spring flowers.
The stream was easy enough to find, with the banks overgrown with bright bluebells. Some stalks of asparagus had sprouted out, and I realized belatedly that I wasn’t exactly certain how to tell if they were ripe or not.
While I mulled over the maturity of wild asparagus, I suddenly got the strangest whiff of something putrid, and my heart stopped. Even though it was very faint, it was unmistakably the scent of the Loth farm. Of zombies.
I heard it breathing before I saw it – that awful death rattle – and I turned around slowly. The zombie stood at the top of the embankment, watching me. She was a woman in tattered clothing and her lips chewed off, and she tilted her head, as if studying me.
“They found me,” I whispered in horror, and the basket fell out of my hand. Some of the Loths had survived, and they had used a zombie to track me down. They had found me again, and they were going to drag me back to the ranch. They would never let me escape.
They found me. They found me. They found me.
I should fight, I should run, and I knew it, but all I could do in that moment was stand frozen in place, and then I began to scream.
As soon as I did, the zombie started to howl, and she ran at me.
Finally, my legs could move, and I started running up the embankment, through the grassy field between the forest and the farmhouse. I raced as fast as I could, screaming for help the entire time, and I heard the zombie behind me.
“Harlow!” Lazlo shouted. I could see him running out the front door, but he was still so far away from me.
The wolves moved so fast, like a blur in the grass. They ran the opposite direction, toward me then past me, and Frost growled as he pounced on the zombie.
I just kept running, and I was crying by the time I reached Lazlo. He pulled into his arms, holding me close, and telling me that I was safe now.
“How do you know that?” I asked through my tears. “The Loths found me again!”
“No, no, that wasn’t the Loths,” Lazlo said.
I was about to ask him how he knew that, when I heard Nova shrieking. I finally looked back and saw her sprinting across the yard, running at full speed to where the wolves had dismembered the zombie.
“No, no, no!” Nova wailed, and she chased the wolves away from the zombie corpse before collapsing beside it. Then she let out an earthshattering, “NO!”
“Is… is Nova crying over the zombie?” I asked Lazlo uncertainly.
“Yeah,” he replied. “That was her sister, Sage.”
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