The Hole — Chapter 6

A Novel of Supernatural Apocalypse

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She must have been waiting for their return or heard the men coming down the hill, because Evajean was standing where the slope leveled out and the daily life of the town had packed down the grass. She waved as he drew near enough to see her in the moon’s faint light, and then he was next to her and hugging her and asking how she was, was she okay, had she been hurt? And she told him she was fine, just fine, and wanted to know the same about him.

“It must have been horrible,” she said. “They told me you were captured and they were going after you, to rescue you.”

Elliot nodded.

“It was the crazies?” she asked.

“A lot of them. Not like the ones on the road or at Walmart. These talked. They communicated. They weren’t,” he said, hating to admit it out loud, “actually crazy.”

She looked at him like he was, though. Then she said, “They gave us a cabin, a tiny place but it’s got beds. And there’s food. You should sleep now, Elliot, and, really, I want to do the same.”

“Sure,” he said. “Sure, okay.”

“That dog’s there, too. He snores. Bad. But I was so tired when I found this place and I thought…