Hollowland Read Online Free PDF Page A

zombies got the other one. And for some reason, they had a lion chained up in the back.”
    “Do you think she’s tame?” Harlow asked.
    I eyed up the lion. Her ears were up, her eyes were wide, but her tail kept flicking back and forth. From my experience with house cats, that usually meant they were going to pounce on something.
    “Maybe. But I don’t know how tame lions can really be.” I took a careful step closer to the lion, and she didn’t move. “Take your gun out.”
    “You want me to shoot her?” Harlow asked nervously.
    “Not unless you have to.” I set my own gun on the ground. I didn’t want to scare her, but I didn’t want to be completely exposed.
    I took slow, deliberate steps towards the lion, and when I got to the edge of her reach, I waited a beat. I half-expected her to pounce, but she didn’t move. She just watched me.
    I wasn’t stupid enough to go and undo the chain from around her neck, so I headed towards the truck. I held my hands out in front of me and made sure I always faced her. In some part in the back of my mind, I was freaking out about how much of an idiot I was being.
    All I wanted to do was get to my brother, and I was risking my life trying to free a stupid cat.
    I got to the truck without her mauling me, but I found a new problem. The chain was looped through a hole in the truck, held in place with a giant lock in need of a key. I’d never tried shooting through a chain to break it, but I suspected that this one was too large.
    “Aw, hell.” I looked back at Harlow. She had the gun pointed at either the lion or me, I’m not sure which, and her hands were shaking. “Harlow, put down the gun.”
    “Are you sure?” Harlow asked, but she looked relieved. If we ever found extra bullets, I’d have to teach her how to shoot.
    “I need you to go into the cab of the truck and get the keys,” I said. “The chain is locked to the truck, and I need a key.”
    “But there’s a body in the truck,” Harlow grimaced.
    “There are bodies all over. Please just get the keys before the lion eats me.”
    “Why don’t we just leave her here?” She was tired, scared, and did not want to crawl around a decomposing corpse. “I mean, you left Sommer in the desert-”
    “Just get the damn keys, Harlow!” I snapped before she could finish her thought. I didn’t need to be reminded of all the people that I couldn’t save.
    When I shouted, the lion bent back her ears but didn’t move. Harlow opened the door to the cab of the truck, and flies swarmed out. She made a retching sound, and the lion growled. When she climbed inside the cab, she swore loudly.
    The lion started pacing, and I again reminded myself that I could die over this. I could die for no good reason at all.
    Harlow gasped and jumped out of the cab faster than I had ever seen her move before. She gagged and threw up in the sand. I looked away, but the lion watched with intense fascination, her tail still flicking wildly.
    “I have never smelled anything that bad in my entire life!”
    “Yeah, that really sucks. Toss me the keys please!” I shouted.
    Harlow spit a few times, pushing dirty tangles of hair back from her face, then stood up and threw the keys at me. They landed at my feet, and I picked them up.
    “What happens when you let her go?” Harlow asked between spitting on the ground.
    “What?” I asked, trying a key in the lock. It clicked open, and I almost shouted with happiness.
    “I mean, she’s not gonna be on a chain. What if she wants to eat us?” Harlow asked as soon as I’d unlocked the lion.
    I stood there, debating on whether or not I should lock her up again, then shook my head and pulled it off.
    “She won’t eat us,” I decided. I pulled the chain free from the truck and tossed it on the ground. “There you go! You’re free! Go!”
    The lion stared at me. I don’t know what I expected her to do, but it wasn’t this. Her tail swung more slowly, but she wasn’t going anywhere. I