The Hollowing

Chapter 20

"You must always exercise extraordinary caution around the infected, even after the brain has been destroyed and they are no longer animated. Every cell becomes resurrected, so they're never truly dead."

–Dr Ava Sherman. Manchester, New Hampshire. 3 Months After.

* * *

Just a little further, Liam told himself. You'll be fine.

He wiped the perspiration away. Leah had said that there'd be a car to take soon. If Liam could just make it over this hump, he could convince her to drive them to Aspen. On foot, the trip would take months, but by car, they could be there and back in less than a day, and then off to wherever else Mother wanted them to go.

He shielded himself from the sun and eyed the rising pillar of smoke on the horizon. The damn thing was getting larger by the second, and the smell was horrendous.

"What's the deal with this 'Larder' place, anyway?" he asked. "Why is it so far from everywhere else?"

Leah stared into the horizon. "Even with all that's been built in Pandemonium, there are some services that can't be performed in the region, so we established a number of outposts to keep the city going, usually in other cities to make them easier to find, and each with a different purpose. Seaside is based in San Francisco, and combs the bay for fish. The Farm sits outside Fresno, and provides feed for cattle. Oasis was made in Phoenix, and recycles old world trash into usable materials."

"And the Larder?"

"Exactly as it sounds. Turns meat into food... Among other things."

"Doesn't seem all that useful. I could've sworn you lot had all the meat you could get your hands on."

"Not all flesh is edible to us. The Larder rectifies that."

"What do you mean?"

Her magenta eyes met his. "Have you noticed that the moment we entered Reno, there hasn't been a single hollow?"

He paused. Now that she mentioned it, it had seemed rather odd that they weren't forced to sidestep the usual clusters of undead. Why, this part of the city was completely abandoned, and it might have been the first one they'd entered that was so destitute.

The smoke on the horizon rose without remorse, and Liam knew the truth. "You're cooking the dead? How is that even possible?"

Leah shrugged. "Trust me, once you get near Vaughn, he'll tell you everything you want to know, and plenty that you won't. He's a good guy, but working hundred-hour shifts tends to make rezzers fixate only on their jobs, until it becomes all that defines them. Happens a lot in Asphodel, and doubly so in outposts. There's a reason why it's so easy for us Hunters to get the best clothes and weapons. We can always find a guy willing to sink their soul into making high quality gear for us, to the point that they'll forget about everything else. Vaughn's like that, so it's best to just nod along in silence to whatever he has to say. That's what I do."

Liam gulped. Whenever he started to get complacent with this new world, it had a habit of giving his sanity a jolt. As he watched the black veil of soot and death, he suspected that he might never fully adapt to this resurrected society.

* * *

The houses and shopping centers became fewer and farther in between, and the sprawling metropolis eroded into an industrial center. Collapsed warehouses and rusted shipping containers became a common sight. The smell of death mingled with an effluvium of chemicals and oils, as all the drums and silos had burst after years of neglect. Ash fell from the blackened sky like grey snow, turning the grease below into an iridescent sludge that clung more to their boots with each step.