I brought Sophia to stay in my house in the hollow, since I know I have a second room. Originally when Zack, Erin and I started building the hollow, we three stayed in the same house. After we had found several others and had more help to build the walls, we started on the main house and then houses for the others to stay in. We built a house for Erin and her baby to live in when it's born so now she stays there leaving an extra room open with us.
"I'm going to grab some extra blankets and a pillow for you Sophia, I'll be right back" I say seeing her sit on the small bed in what will be her room for now. I left my house to go to the storage room so I could get bedding and find some new clothes for her.
"Hey babe! I've been looking for you. I thought you might have gone on another foraging trip with out telling me" Zack pouts coming across one of bridges to me. "Hey baby sorry, My little guest woke up so I was showing her around earlier. I looked for you but I didn't see you." I said as we entered the main house.
"That might have been when I was on the outside of the wall doing some undead clearing up" Zack said grinning. "Yea probably. If it's ok with you I told our little guest she could stay with us for now" I said before we entered the storage room.
"Thats fine with me" Zack said leaning against one of the shelves watching me. I ignored his watching as I gathered what I needed for Sophia and put it all in one of the baskets to take back. I grabbed a few pairs of clothes for now that I think might fit her.
"Alright I think that's everything I need for now. You coming to meet her?" I asked turning to Zack after picking up my basket for Sophia. We made small talk on the way back to the house to see Sophia. "I'm back. I brought someone with to meet you" I yelled into the house as we walked in. "You came back" Sophia whispered shyly. "Of course I did. I made a promise to you didn't I? I'm not going to go back on it" I said reassuringly.
"Zack this is Sophia. Sophia this is Zack" I said introducing the two. "Hi" Sophia said shyly. "Hiya Sophia it's nice to meet you. My lovely girlfriend has become something of our leader here at the hollow. Most everyone here is here because she saved them just like she did you" Zack said impressively. "Oh stop! I am nobody's leader we all work together here" I said embarrassed.
"I saw the way everyone looked up to you when you showed me around." Sophia muttered quietly. I can tell she's nervous and very shy. "I don't know how I feel about that, but for now let's get your bed made and I got some clothes for you to change into once you've had a bath" I said smiling. "Do you have running water?" Sophia asked curiously. "No running water per se... We have a main bath house pretty much directly over the river. It has a bucket system to get water up to it. And the tub is warmed by a special fire run furnace." I said grinning.
"That sounds amazing" Sophia said excited. "Oh it is" I agreed. "Well I leave you lady's to it" Zack says making his way out. I helped Sophia with her bed and then led her to the bath house. After helping get her bath run I walked outside for her to have her privacy. "Willow got a minute?" Jen said coming up to me on the landing for the bath house. "Hey Jen! Yeah, what's up? Is something wrong?" I asked.
"We've had quite a few undead building up around the walls lately. Right now it's manageable but we're going to have to figure out very soon a way to keep them at bay." Jen says worriedly. I looked out over the hollows walls thoughtfully. I can see at least a dozen undead wandering which is unusually high for the hollow. "Let's call a meeting tonight and discuss ideas and options to help this issue." I said worried now.
I know we had built in the trees for if the walls were ever breached but I don't want to take any chances or risk losing access to the garden and river. The last thing we need is for even a small herd of undead to stumble upon us. We are a good 5miles into the woods from the closest highway, but if a young girl can find her way that deep into the woods by accident then who knows how many undead can.