Hollowland by Amanda Hocking Read Free Book Online

swimming,” Lazlo nodded to the pool out back. That’s what he’d been staring at. Ripley freaked him out.
    “I think lions like water.” I swallowed down the salmon and walked over to watch her. The pool had an algae film to it, but she dog paddled through it.
    “So where do you come from that they have lions?” Lazlo gave me a sidelong glance.
    “We found her on the way here,” I shrugged and took another bite. I didn’t want to talk about where I came from, or remember the quarantine or Beck or Sommer.
    “I was in L.A.,” Lazlo explained, as if I asked. “I lived in a bunker under a house after the virus really started spreading. Then three weeks ago, we ran out of food.”
    “So you’ve been living in a bunker throughout this whole thing?” I glared at him, but he was too busy watching Ripley to notice.
    “Through most of it,” he said, oblivious to my icy tone. “When shit started hitting the fan, I bought this house in the hills with a bunker underneath. It was me, my bassist, his girlfriend, and a friend of mine from high school.
    “I asked my mom to stay with us.” His voice got lower as he went on. “But she was at home in Toledo and didn’t want to fly out. And at first, I think we went in the bunker almost as a joke. We didn’t think it was really as bad as they were saying. We didn’t think …” He trailed off.
    “What happened after you left the bunker?” I asked.
    “They all died.” Lazlo shook his head, trying to shake it off, but his voice was thick. “Within a week. The only good thing is that they were all killed. None of them ever got infected.”
    “How did you survive?” I asked. To be honest, I was a little shocked that he had been the brains of the operation.
    “Don’t know,” Lazlo shrugged. “Luck. I hid out in an old recording studio for a while. I left to scavenge, and I found Blue last week. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it this far.” When I didn’t say anything, he smirked at me. “He’s Canadian, you know.”
    “I did not know that,” I said, but I wasn’t sure why it mattered either.
    “Listen for when he says ‘about.’ It’s a hoot,” Lazlo grinned. His abrupt shift in emotions bugged me, so I turned back to the kitchen. “Where are you going?”
    “The kitchen. I was gonna throw this away and get some water.” I held up my empty can.
    “No, I meant, where are you headed in life?” There was something sad in his eyes when he looked at me. His happiness might be more of an act than he let on.
    “North,” I said, wishing I had a better answer. “My brother is in a government quarantine, and I have to find him.”
    “We’re looking for a quarantine.” Lazlo brightened. “Maybe we should go with you.” I didn’t answer right away, so he added, “There’s safety in numbers.”
    “Yeah,” I nodded, and I wasn’t sure if I’d live to regret my decision. “We’re gonna rest here for the night and go in the morning.”
    “That sounds good,” Lazlo said and went back to staring outside.
    Ripley climbed out of the pool and shook the water off, her chain crashing loudly against the stone patio. I went into the kitchen to get water, and then went upstairs to the master bedroom. Blue had cleaned Harlow’s feet and wrapped them up. With new socks, hopefully they would hold up better tomorrow.
    I stole silk pajamas from the dresser drawers, knowing that I would have to leave them here to conserve space in my messenger bag. Grabbing a candle, I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
    Once I took off my clothes, I inspected my entire body for scratches, and I only found a bruise. When I turned on the faucet, dirty water sputtered out, but it was better than no water at all. Using a washcloth, I did the best I could to clean myself up.
    When I came out, Blue had gone, and Harlow had changed and crawled into bed, but she wasn’t asleep yet. I called Ripley, and once she finally came in, I locked the door behind her. Ripley lay