Dead Hunger IV: Evolution (28 page)

The zombie stare. 
It was something that Charlie found strangely fascinating, because in Hemp’s earlier experiments, it had been
difficult
to
be near
them
or conduct experiments on them
because of their
extreme
hunger. 
The relentless attempts to advance on humans, the gnashing of teeth, the sheer need for the food
the zombies craved,
just feet
away from them
.

Not to mention t
he vapor that would knock you out cold
.  It was their primary offensive tool that allowed th
em to catch what they hunted.

They once needed t
o wear
gas masks just to be near them; just to run their experiments that had yielded so much information.

Now it was possible to see them in their native
condition
, so to speak.
 
But Charlie was pretty sure their native
condition
was to be eating human flesh.  When they were not eating, they were no doubt craving the only thing that drove them.

This was not that expression.  This creature detected no food sources.  This monster on the table was in …
mourning
.

“I … I was hugging her
,
”
said Lisa.

Charlie nodded.  “Yeah.  You were.”

Her eyes grew desperate.  “Why?”  She turned to
get answers from the all-knowing
Hemp.

Hemp continued to stare at
Blue Eyes
as he spoke: 
“There is a communion of sorts happening, Lisa.  Somehow, the vapor you inhaled permeated your system.  How, I don’t know.  What exactly it affected, I don’t know either.”

“But why was I hugging her?”

“I think it was a command by Red Dr
ess,”
said Charlie,
stepping
aside. 
Lisa looked into the acrylic cage and gasped at the ravaged face and head of the dead creature.

“Oh, my God!”

“I killed her,” said Charlie.  “
She was making some
weird sound
, and you said something. 
I thought she
was … well,
controlling
you.  So
I killed her.  I didn’t like what
I believe
she was making you do.”

Lisa started to cry.  “I need to get out of here,” she said.  “Is Gem still in the house?”

“She told me she was going to sit on the porch with the girls and shoot any zombies who passed by,” said Hemp.  “I haven’t heard any gunfire, so I’m not sure if she was joking or not.  But she should be there.”

“Can
I
go?”
she asked.

“
Yes
,
” said Hemp softly.
“
Charlie’s going t
o take you back in the house. 
Charlie,
when you get her settled,
come back ou
t when you’re done, would you?  We need to talk.”

Charlie looked at Hemp and nodded.  “I know.”

As she walked Lisa back to the house,
Charlie
wondered if there were any words for the emotions that had guided her actions.

In her heart, she knew she had to try to find them.

*****

Chapter Nine

“
Did you hear?  Did you hear what Lisa
mumbled
?”

“I couldn’t hear a thing,” said Hemp.  I noticed the throat vibration, but no.  Nothing else.”

“Lisa said two words.  Comfort Ann.”

“Ann?” asked Hemp.  “Are you sure?”

“I heard it.”

“I believe you,” said Hemp.

He
rushed to the wasteba
s
ket and pulled out the bundle of shredded clothing they had removed from the former prisoner.  He located the shirt and turned the collar inside out.

“There’s a name
sewn in the collar
,” said Hemp.  “It says A. Carson.”

“Ann,” said Charlie.

“
Are you sure about what you heard?
”
asked
Hemp, looking at the creature once more.

“I am,” she said.  “Very.”

Hemp paced back and forth, occasionally looking at
Blue Eyes
on the table.  “I need to figure out why Lisa would have been affected and Dave wouldn’t have.  It can’t be genetics, because they’re siblings.”

“Half-siblings,” said Charlie.  “Would that matter?”

“I can’t see it making much of a difference,” said Hemp.  “It’s got to be gender-related, but as far as you know, Lisa’s not pregnant, right?”’

Charlie shook her head.  “No.  She’d have told me and Gem.”

“Well, according to their stories, they both took the same blast of vapor.”

Charlie walked to stand beside Hemp.  “Babe, you said this was estrogen-related, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“What happens to estrogen levels
as a woman’s period ends
?  It goes up, right?”

“
It increases through the period
,” said Hemp.  “
Keeps climbing right on through, then plummets when ovulation begins.  Why?”

“Because I think Lisa had just finished her period.  The week before she was complaining about heavy flow.”

Hemp rubbed his chin in thought.  “You might have something,” he said.  “Good, Charlie.  If her estrogen levels were
far higher than normal
when she was exposed, it might explain why Dave didn’t experience any physical effects
and she did
.”

Charlie smiled.  “That’s why you keep me around,” she said.

“Among other things.  Now let’s talk about why you killed Red Dress without bothering to consult with me.”

She shrugged.  “I was pissed,” she said.  “
I was pissed because there was a connection between
the zombie and Lisa
there shouldn’t have been.  I didn’t like Red Dress fucking with
her
like that.”

“Charlie,” said Hemp.  “I’m not confused
as to why you did it, but don’t you understand that this telepathy or whatever it was
has to be investigated?”

Charlie tipped her head toward
Blue Eyes
, who was still strapped on the autopsy table.  “We still have her, babe.  I’m sorry.”

“As they say
,” said Hemp, “it takes two to T
ango.  We need another.”

“We’ll just go back to that building where they saw all of them last night.”

Hemp shook his head.  “Dave and Flex were going to stop by there on the way to the State House.  I don’t know that any will still be alive to capture.”

“Radio them,” said Charlie.  “Ask if they went there.”

The banquet hall that Lisa and Dave had described was about a block away.  The State House was only a few blocks beyond it, which is why they chose the homes they did.  In fact, they only went as far as they had to get out of the lower-end homes near the government buildings and into a nicer neighborhood.

Hemp pulled the radio from his lab coat pocket and pushed the button.  “Flex, Dave?  Do you read?”

He released the button and waited.  Nothing.

Hemp tried again.

“Hey, Hemp.”

It was Gem’s voice.

“Hi, Gem.  I’m trying to get the boys.”

“He radioed about half an hour ago,” said Gem.  “They’re at the girls’ bar.”

“Why?”

“Meeting.  It’s close to the brewery, so the figured it was as good as anyplace.  They haven’t had much luck getting people to turn out.”

“People are scared to leave their homes,” said Hemp, knowing very well that was the reason.

“Hey,” said Gem.  “What happened to Lisa?”

“Where is she?” asked Hemp.

“Upstairs.  Taking a nap.
  Girl just got up a bit ago.”

“We’ll tell you later, but suffice it to say she was doing a bit of what Star Trek’s Mr. Spock might say was mind melding with the zombies.”

“Holy fuck.”

“Exactly, Gem.  Look, we have a lot to do.  If you hear from them again, let us know, would you?  I need to know about the zombies in the hall.”

“Sounds like a fucked up teen sitcom.”

Hemp smiled as Charlie shook her head and did the same, despite the tension.

“You’re one of a kind, Gem.”

“That’s why you love me,” she said.  “I’ll let them know if I hear.  Keep your radio on and you’ll hear too.”

“Got it.”

He released the talk button and stared at Charlie.

“What, babe?”

“Charlie, there are so many things going round my mind, that I don’t know where to begin.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“I was never mad.  You know that.”

“But I reacted.  The shit I always do.”

“It’s you.  You can’t be anyone else, and I wouldn’t want you to.  I don’t know if what you did was a good thing or a bad thing.”

“But you said you needed her, so it was a bad thing, right?”

Hemp shrugged and walked up to
Blue Eyes
and looked down.  “Lisa was being controlled somehow.  That is dangerous, no matter how I try to look at it.  It means that Red Dress was
psychically connected to her
somehow
.”

“So why didn’t you do something?”

“I’m sorry.  I’m a scientist, and the sheer fascination of something of that nature sends me to another place where I sometimes forget the risks and analyze the here and now.  I sometimes forget about consequences.”

“’Cause you’re fuckin’ smart,” said Charlie.  “You know you’d take the risk to discover something important like that, and you don’t consider that others might not be as willing.  It might be a flaw, but it’s how you’re so good at figuring things out.”

“You’re right, but there’s no excuse,” said Hemp.  “I hope there are no long-term effects to Lisa’s mind.”

Charlie stared at him, her big eyes shaded by a furrowed brow.  “Could there be, baby?”

“I don’t know the nature of the connection, so the answer is I don’t know.”

“Fuck.”

“That’s it?” asked Hemp.

“What are we doing next?  Why are we in here?”

Hemp looked again at
Blue Eyes
.  “Put on some music.  I want to cut off her head.”

Now Charlie’s eyes narrowed, something Hemp fully expected.  The left corner of her mouth turned up in a mischievous smile.  “Are you bullshitting me?”

Hemp shook his head.  He had been considering it for some time.

“No, I’m serious.  Their heads don’t die when they’re severed.  We know that from long ago.”

“Didn’t Flex call them bowling balls with teeth?”

Hemp smiled at the memory.  “Yes, he did.  He told the group at the 7-Eleven that.  But for that reason, if I want to keep
Blue Eyes
here, there is no reaso
n I need her to be a full body.  It just gives her the potential to be dangerous.”

“I think we need a little … hmm.   Jethro Tull.  Aqualung.”

“Do the honors,” said Hemp.  He walked to the drawer containing his tray of surgical equipment, opened it, and removed the stainless tray.

Charlie removed the Aqualung CD from its plastic
jewel case
and popped it in the player.  She used the remote to start the disc.

As the opening guitar of Aqualung floated across the RV, Hemp continued sorting through the various scalp
els and other cutting devices.

Charlie turned the radio
to face them
and her hand
knocked into
a three liter glass bottle
, causing it to topple
to the floor
with
a shattering crash.

Blue Eyes
flinched, her eyes looking toward them.

Hemp
spoke to Charlie, his eyes fixed on the female zombie
.  “Did you see that, Charlie?
  Did she hear that?
”

Charlie hit the stop button
on the
CD player
. “
Yes,” she said, her voice soft.  “Shit.”