The Dead Hunger Series: Books 1 through 5 (113 page)

They both turned to look at Blue Eyes.

She looked back.

“I wonder what she’s thinking,” said Charlie.

“Soon enough,” said Hemp, “She just might tell us.”

“I want to cut her head off before she does,” said Charlie.

*****

“Look,” said Gem.  “I love the girls, and you know it.  I love the dogs.  But if I have to stay here another fuckin’ hour, I’m going to go stir crazy.”

“And that’s cool.  We’ll get you a sitter,” said Charlie.  “But what we need first is like a covered cake plate or something.  The kind with the glass dome.  Did you see one here?”

“Chick who lived here was a baking freakshow.  I think there’s a separate shelf just for ramekins.  Yeah, I think there are three different sizes.  Which one do you need?”

“Got a ruler?”

Gem opened a drawer and withdrew a red, plastic ruler, giving it to Charlie.

Charlie smiled and held the ruler up to Gem’s head.  She took one measurement with the ruler in the vertical position and another horizontally.

“Charlie, what the hell are you doing?” asked Gem.

“It needs to be at least 10” diameter and 12” tall.”

“What’s it for?”

“Oh, my God.  You’ll see.”

“The large should do it,” said Gem.  She pulled it from the walk-in pantry and two-handed it to Charlie, then pulled it back.  “The minute I give this to you, I’m loading up the Crown  Vic and I’m going to find Flex and Dave.”

“Fuck that,” said Charlie.  “But give me ten more minutes in case Hemp needs help.  I’m going with you.”

“Doesn’t Hemp want to come?”

“He can’t,” said Charlie.  “He’s got lots to do.  This stuff is serious, Gem.  So much that we don’t trust that bitch out there enough to have a body.”

Gem stared at her.  “What?”

“We’re cutting off her head.  It’s why we need the cake plate.”

Gem shuddered, imagining the girls coming across it.  “Oh, keep that shit covered and out in the lab.  Why keep her?”

Charlie looked uncharacteristically unwilling to speak for a moment.

“Charlie,” said Gem.  “Really?  Secrets?”

“No, Gem,” said Charlie.  “It’s just that … you got pretty upset at the information about their pregnancies.”

“So they were both pregnant?”

Charlie nodded.

“So?  What now?”

“Look.  It involves estrogen.  Which is why you and I need to stay very clear of females in the family way.  Our estrogen levels are freaky high right now according to Hemp, and if we were to become exposed to that new, red vapor, we both might become fucking parrots, or puppets, or something like that.”

Gem stared at Charlie.  “What about Lisa?  She’s upstairs sleeping.  Is she dangerous?”

Charlie shrugged.  “I don’t think so.  She just picked up some psychic shit from Red Dress.”

Gem’s eyes narrowed.  “You know something, Charlie?  The minute you start protecting me because I’m pregnant is the minute this bond you and I’ve developed starts to unravel.  I can take care of myself, as I’m sure you know.”

“Gem, I –”

“No, let me finish.  Being scared in this world doesn’t work.  Kicking ass
does
work.  We’ve seen it.  We push all the fear into the back of our minds and we go at the problem until there’s no reason to be afraid anymore.”

“I got that,” said Charlie.

“You know why I’m frustrated right now?  Notice I didn’t say scared, I said frustrated.  It’s not the pregnant zombies, or this new girl power bullshit that’s going on.  I’m frustrated because my man is out there, possibly in danger, and I’m here babysitting.  So let’s get Kimberly over here, or Victoria, or Vikki.  I don’t give a shit which one, and we can have all three if they want, but I’m leaving the minute they walk in.”

“Fine,” said Charlie.  “You said earlier that you received a radio call from the bar.  Call them while I take this plate over to Hemp.”

“Okay.  Be ready to go if you’re going, Charlie.  I’m serious.  Why are you smiling?”

“Because you’re the shit,” said Charlie.  “
This
is the fucking Gem I met in the hospital that day, and
this
is the Gem I expect every time I see you.  Shit, I’d hug you right now if I weren’t holding this cake plate.  Get your ammo and Suzi Q ready to go.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And Gem?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m all about my crossbow today.  Get it out of my room, would you?”

“Of course.  ‘Cause that’s the Charlie
I
know.”

*****

Hemp was tired and agreed to watch Trina and Taylor, and even to go over some of their school lessons with them.  The formal schooling that had been put back into place in Concord was suspended for now, and it was up to each family to teach their own until things got back to normal.

If they ever did. 

“Just be careful out there.  Don’t make me come and save you,” said Hemp.

“Yeah, like last time?”

Hemp looked confused.  “What time?”

“Exactly my point,” said Charlie.  “There wasn’t a time.  We’re good.  When we get there we’ll see if one of the ladies can’t come over in case you need to get out of here a while or get some more work done in the lab.”

“Head’s off,” said Hemp.  “It was kind of fascinating. I didn’t have to worry about any sort of preservation, because nothing I could’ve done would have killed her.  Still, you know me – I was very careful to cauterize everything as I went.  Old habits and all.”

“Yeah,” said Charlie.  “I’d have probably opted for an axe or a chainsaw.”

“You realize how chainsaws operate, right?” asked Hemp.  “The blood and tissue would literally go everywhere.  Did you two take the WAT-5?  And have extra?”

“Yes, we’re both under the influence of your protective wafers, and about the chainsaw, you’re right.  I’ve seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  It might be a bit much.”

“Go,” said Hemp.  “Keep in touch if you can.  And be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Charlie, giving him a quick hug and kiss on the lips.  “and blah, blah, blah, etc. etc. etc.”

“They’re at the brewery right now,” said Gem.  “I understand they’ve finished another huge batch of urushiol.  They’re mixing it double strength.”

“Okay, babe.  Lock the door behind us.”

“Charlie, do me a favor,” said Hemp.  “Tell Kev I need to speak with him.  Tell him to radio me.”

*****

After getting the girls downstairs and explaining they’d be under Hemp’s supervision – and Lisa’s when she woke up – Gem and Charlie left the house, sprayed a few stray ratz, and got in the Crown Vic. 

The Crown Vic fired on the first turn, and Gem punched it out of the driveway and into the street.  Ratz didn’t bother to scurry out of the way, unaware of their fates as the Ford’s tires crushed their spines and tiny brains, stilling them for the final time.

“Street sweepers seem to have done the trick,” said Charlie.

Gem agreed.  The problem with the ratz, that had seemed so insurmountable, had been easier to deal with than expected.  Even residual urushiol oil, left on the asphalt after the water mix evaporated, was enough to turn their little feet into useless nubs. 

As many as fourteen people had been bitten by them, however.  Some turned, some did not.  Hemp hadn’t had time to figure that out yet, but if things would calm down a bit, Gem had no doubt he could get to the bottom of it.

“Call Flex, would you?” asked Gem.  “Tell them we’ll be there in five.”

“Gotcha,” said Charlie, pressing the button.  “Mr. Sheridan, do you read?”

“He doesn’t, but I do,” said Dave.  “Flex is over at the brewery.  I’m at the bar.”

“Hi, Dave,” said Charlie.  “What’s the situation?”

“There is no situation,” said Dave.  “That’s the problem.”

“Why is the lack of a situation a problem?” asked Charlie, who looked at Gem and shrugged.

“Because we can’t figure out where the hell they’ve all gone.”

“What?  The zombies?”

“Exactly.”

“Look. We’ll be there in … what, Gem?  Three minutes?”

“Yep.”

“Three minutes.  And yeah, we don’t see any either.  A couple of ratz earlier.  Isn’t this good news?”

“They’re not gone, Charlie,” said Dave.  “They’re hiding, we think.”

“Oh, that’s not good.”

“Exactly.  See you here.”

*****

“Are you sure?” asked Gem.  “That’s like a fucking alligator hiding.  They don’t have the logic to know they
need
to hide.”

“Which is what bugs me about this,” said Flex.  “There’s a shitload of ‘em out there somewhere,” he added.  “We need to find their hidin’ places.”

“What kind of logic do we use?” asked Dave.  “Same kind  we’d use as thinking, living people?”

Kev and Whit walked up and Gem and Charlie said their hellos.

“We’ve got a map on the wall over here, and we’ve marked off the buildings with substantial capacities for occupants,” said Reeves.  “Warehouses, banquet halls, big restaurants, places like that.  We can start there.”

“Yeah, but it could all be for naught if they’re just using residential homes or something,” added Whit.  “Just filling them up.  It was kind of our guess, though, after what Dave and Lisa saw that night, to assume they use the basic exterior size of the building to figure out if it’ll work for them.”

“Flex, do you read?”  It was Hemp’s voice coming through Flex’s radio.  He pulled it from his belt.

“Yeah, Hemp.  What’s up?”

“I need to talk with Kev for a minute.  You, too.  Go somewhere private for a few moments, would you?”

“You just pissed Gem and Charlie off,” said Flex, nudging Kev.

“Don’t forget me,” said Dave.  “I’m fuming over here.”

His smile said differently.

Flex and Kev stepped just outside the door.  No zombies accosted them, but they both held pistols just in case.

“You alone?”

“Yes,” said Kev.  “What is it?”

“I’ve got an idea about those eight black vans you have.  I believe you’ve been saving them for a special occasion.”

“You got a special occasion in mind?” asked Kev.

“I do, gentlemen.  I also have an idea about where we can try to collect our own hiders.”

“Hiders?”

“They’re hiding, aren’t they?  When they dig, they’re diggers.  They rot, so they’re rotters.  These bloody bastards hide.”

Hemp’s ideas were excellent.  Once back inside, Kev took the time to instruct his most trusted constituents on how to execute the plans.

*****

They walked over to the map.  The buildings were centralized in the industrial park, but there were probably sixty or more scattered around all the other parts of Concord.

Flex tapped the map.  “This is a big search area.  And what do we do when we find them?”

Dave shrugged.  “Kill ‘em?”

“Head shots then,” said Kev.  “Back to the old way.  If what Hemp says about urushiol not working on them anymore is true, then we go with bullets.  But that means we need more ammo.  Lots more.  Someone’s gonna have to leave town.”

“How far?” asked Dave.

“About 10 miles south on West River road there’s a place called Riley’s Sports that nobody here’s hit yet,” said Whit.  “We mark ‘em off on the map as we clear ‘em out, and that one hasn’t been touched yet.  They got a hell of a gun supply and good ammo, too.”

“How clear is the road?”

“It’s on the smaller side,” said Reeves.  “There might be some congestion.  I’d take Flex’s truck if he’ll give you the go-ahead.”

“We’ll go,” said Gem.  “We’ve got the Crown Vic and plenty of ammo to get us there.  Ten miles?  Should be a cakewalk.”

“Gem.”

“Flex?” she said.

“You’re pregnant.”

“Yes, which makes me even more fucking dangerous than usual.  Just ask Hemp.  I’m charged up with estrogen, and ready to explode on some zombie ass.”

“Think of Trina and Taylor.”

“I’m not having this conversation.  Here’s what’s happening.  We’re going ten miles down the road, and we’re coming ten miles back.  When we return, we’ll have a trunk load of ammunition and new guns.”

“I’ll watch her, Flex.  Got the tornado, you know.”

Flex sighed.  “Fine.  Gem, be fuckin’ careful, and Charlie, stay on the gun all the way there.  If you see anything, spin that bitch around and take it out.  Both of you on WAT-5?”

“Yep,” said Gem.  “Just before we left.”

“And in case time gets away from you, what time do you have to take more.”