Dead Hunger IV: Evolution (30 page)

*****

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’ place
s
.”

“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
i
f
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 ma
p.  “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-6?”

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

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

“Around four o’clock.”

“Around?”

“Okay, four ten.”

“Take it at four,” said Flex.  “And even if you can’t get through, try to radio us when you’re there.  With the antennas Hemp installed here, we might be able to get you.”

“We might stop and try to find more food along the way,” said Charlie.  “Running low at the house.”

“Fuck this,” said
Flex
.  “Dave, would you go
with them
?”

“Dude,
two pregnant chicks?  T
hat car will be so jammed with estrogen, I’ll suffocate!”

“Hilarious.”

“Yeah, I’ll go,” said Dave
, smiling.  “How
are
you set on gas?” he asked Gem.

“We’re at about a quarter of a tank,” said Gem.  “Got the pump in my trunk, though.”

“We’ll take care of that while we’re out, too,” he said.  “See, Flex?  This is a very important trip.  Gas, food, guns and ammo.  Sounds like
Ted Nugent’s
shopping list.”

“I’d feel better if
Ted
was along for the ride.  Be careful and hurry back here.”

“
When we get back, have me assigned to
whatever team you got going out to hunt for them,” said Dave.  “I might need a can of chili, but after that, I’ll be good for a few hours of zombie hunting.”

Flex watched his wife and a good portion of his family leave, and he realized how much they meant to him for the thousandth time. 

“Gem!” he called, and ran after them.  He caught up with them just outside.

“What, Flexy?”

He put his arms around her and kissed her lips.  “I love you, Gem.”

“I know that, baby,” she said, sliding her arms around his waist.  “I love the shit outta you, too.”

Flex
Sheridan
stood there and watched them pile into the Crown Vic, and didn’t go back inside until their tail lights disappeared from view.

*****

The road was eerily empty.  No more incoming zombies, at least not on this particular highway.   Gem drove the car with the expertise Dave had come to expect, swerving at speed around the stalled and crashed vehicles. 

Most of the cars had already been gone through by the scouts from
Concord
.  Many of them once contained live walkers, but not any longer.  They had been killed, hauled out and burned in enormous piles, the assistance of backhoes necessary on several occasions.

And yet, Dave thoug
ht, there were always more.  An
endless supply of the reanimated dead
, many of which once believed all they had was a terrible headache.  Little did they know that headache was the harbinger of a new path; a new dead life.

“Almost there,” said Gem.  “We’ve gone nine miles.”

“Good,” said Charlie.  “I love shopping.”

“I know,” said Dave.  “I’ve become somewhat of a gun collector.  I totally dig when I come across something cool and unique.”

“Like your Bond guns?” asked Charlie, smiling.

Dave returned the smile and nodded.  Looking at Charlie reminded him
of the relationship he was so desperate to get started with Serena.  She
was with the
sisters
at the bar, and he wanted to ask her to go with them, but there wasn’t a valid reason – only that he dug her. 
Not good enough, he knew. 
Better she stay behind where she was sure to be safe
anyway
.

“I wonder where the hell they all are,” asked Gem.  “The women.”

“They went from the hordes
we never expected to see
in
Concord
to
completely fucking
absent,” said Charlie.  “Makes me nervous.  Out of sight, always on my mind.”

“
That awkward moment when you’re singing Willie Nelson and Gem plows into a damned zombie,” said Dave, bracing himself.

Gem had sped up and Dave saw why.  A male of the new species was crawling across the road, one arm and one leg missing.  His right arm clawed the pavement and his left knee made the next move. 

“Fucker’s seen some battle,” said Gem, squinting her eyes as the cow catcher on the front of the Ford came to within three feet.

Dave got a look at the speedometer.  They were doing fifty miles an hour.

The catcher hooked him under the waist and threw him sideways like a rag doll, his one remaining arm and leg ripping from his torso, the three parts splitting up like a clay pigeon at the mercy of a crack shot.

“Gem one, zombie fuck, zero!” she said, then laughed.  “Damn, I missed this.  Remind me never to let pregnancy keep me indoors again.”

“I love the shit out of this car,” said Dave.  “Thank God I got to drive it in Vermont,” he said.  “It may have been my only chance.”

“I know,” smiled Gem.  “It does kick ass.  Best thing I’ve gotten since this crap started.
  Hey, I think we’re here.”

“Hope they have arrows,” said Charlie.

“Well,
to quote AC/DC,
hell’s bells,” said Dave.  “Riley’s Guns.”

“Somewhere in a nondescript building on the edge of town,” said Gem.  “Hope they’re full of inventory.”

They parked the car and got out. 

All three of them scanned the surrounding area and found nothing moving.

“I keep forgetting about the WAT-6,” said Dave.  “You’d think I’d get overconfident and not worry about them at all anymore, but man, they creep the crap outta me.  Even when they can’t smell you.”

“Yeah,” said Charlie.  “And it’s probably a good idea that we never get too comfortable
anyway
.”

They walked around to the street entrance and climbed the five steps to the door.  They’d all brought their handguns for easy handling.  Even Charlie, who had init
ially reached for her crossbow,
thought better of it.

Dave loved her attachment to that weapon.  And damn, even pregnant, she was smokin’ hot when she drew back on that thing, her eyes focused on her prey.