Dead Hunger IV: Evolution (39 page)

“Okay, Kev.  We’ll get you out of there, but for now do your best to save your energy.”

“Got it, Hemp.”

Hemp crawled out of the dumpster and hid behind it so the advancing zombies didn’t have a clear view of him.

Hemp looked up.  Flex stood poised on the edge, alternately looking at the dumpster below and behind him.

“Flex,
I cleared it
!” he called.  “Jump feet first
on the right side.
  And hurry!  More are coming, mate.”

“Dude, I was just waitin’ for
your go
!”

With that, F
lex leapt from the roof and made it cleanly into the dumpster.  A thud, and Flex’s face emerged.
  He looked down.

“How you holdin’ up, bud?”

“I’m holdin
g
.”

“We can outrun them
, Flex
,” said Hemp.  “Jump out,
quick
!”

Flex
did, then stopped, looking at Reeves inside.
  “What about Kev?”

“Close the bloody lid, and we’ll get the truck!”

They nodded to one another, and each of them
scrambled
behind the bin and flipped the
heavy duty, plastic
lids
closed
.

“Hang tight, Kev!” shouted Flex
, slapping the bin with his hand
.  “We’ll be back for you in one second!”

Hemp ran alongside Flex.  They did their best to get the attention of the creatures moving around the building, now up to around twenty.  The zombies on the roof stood on the edge and looked down at them, but did not jump. 

Eventually they were no longer peering over the edge.

Hemp knew where they were going.  They were moving back toward the hatch.  They had learned how to use a ladder and they knew how to get safely off the roof.

The truck was within ten feet.  Flex ran to the driver’s side door and jumped in.  Hemp did the same just as Flex fired the engine.

Hemp swung the machine gun around and turned the sight on the GPS screen.  Corn Silk was too low to the ground to nail with the top-mount gun, but Flex stopped the car beside her.  He pulled his 9mm out and fired four shots into her head.

She twitched and convulsed, then fell still.  He drove on.

They reached the
horde
at the dumpster in another six seconds.  They were gathered around the metal box, but turned toward the truck when it roared to within feet of them.

But now something about them was different, Hemp thought.  Somehow less focused.  They milled rather than walked with any intention or purpose, just as they had always done. 

Was this because Corn Silk was dead?

“
Turn
the truck
around
, Flex!” shouted Hemp.

“Why?”

“
Just do it, and g
ive me your knife.”

“Hemp, we’ve got to get to Kev!”

“Flex,
go back to the one you just killed and
give me your knife.  I need a big one.”

Flex stared at him for a second, then
punched the truck around, stopping beside the dead zombie.  He
reached ben
eath the seat of the truck and
withdrew a large dagger with a curved blade and a brass hilt. 

“Jesus, where did you get this?”

“On a shopping run.  Hurry.”

“Keep an eye out and cover me,” said Hemp, jumping out of the truck and running to where Corn Silk lay.  He gripped her hair in his hand and pulled her head up.  He placed the knife to her throat and turned his head toward Flex.

He watched Flex’s eyes widen in disbelief as he sawed back and forth until he felt the
cervical vertebrae separate, and he sliced through the last bit of skin before exiting her flesh.

“Shit goes in back!” said Flex.  “Hurry, Hemp.”

Hemp ran back to the truck, lifted the toneau cover and dropped the head inside.  He jumped back in the truck and Flex hit the gas.

“
Fuck, Hemp, this is beginning to be a habit with you. 
Why did you need that?”

“Look at them, Flex.  They’re not as organized now.  She was controlling them, I believe.  But we don’t have much time.  It’s a feeling.”

Hemp replaced the magazine on his H&K.  Flex rolled up to the dumpster and Hemp swung the weapon out the window.

“Don’t fire!” said Flex.  “Too close.  It might
punch through
the dumpster and hit Kev.”

Flex
spun
the wheel and
hit the gas
.  The cow catcher mounted to the front of the truck caught and flung several of the
walkers
away, and as he passed the dumpster, he swung it back around and sideswiped the bin
.

This took out several more of the creatures
who
had previously been
trying to lift the plastic lids and get to where Kev lay hidden
, but now just seemed to wander aimlessly
.  This was m
ore proof that they had been under
Corn Silk’s
control.  With the WAT-6 in
their
systems, they did not sense
they
were a food source. 

She
told them that
was the case
. 

She told them to attack.

Flex had disabled several, and as he turned, he saw the creatures that had been on the roof now coming around both far corners of the building. 

And they had a new leader.

This woman also looked well-preserved.  She had dark hair that hung down in ringlets.  She walked in the front center of the group, somehow
less jerky; slower yet precise
.

Her eyes glowed red in the closing darkness, and those with her matched her speed.

Hemp was
relieved
he had Corn Silk’s head.  He had to
analyze
her brain.
  If it was even possible, she seemed to have more abilities than either Red Dress or
Blue Eyes
.

Flex yelled out the window.  “Kev, do your best to get to your feet!  Grin and bear it, but get your ass into a standing position if you want to live through this shit!”

Flex continued to circle the dumpster, running down as many zombies as he could hit.  Where Hemp could get a clean shot, he took it.

Hemp watched, and saw the left lid of the dumpster move up, then close again.  Then it lifted and kept on lifting until it flipped over.

Reeves stood there, his expression pinched, and one hand holding his ribcage.

Hemp jumped over the seat into the back and unrolled the driver’s side window.

“Flex!” said Hemp.  “
Pull up right beside
the dumpster.  Right next to it.
  I’ll pull
him
through the window.”

“Got it,” said Flex, and he cranked around and pulled up beside where Kev stood.  He moved a few more inches forward, and Kev held out his arms.

“Grit your teeth, Kev,” said Hemp, grabbing
him
.  He pulled him over the narrow sill and Kev assisted with his knees as they got on top of the dumpster rim.  Before Kev’s feet were completely inside, Flex gassed it and jammed toward the parking lot exit.

“What about
… no zombie left … alive?” asked Reeves, panting and wheezing.

“I’m just glad
we’re
alive,” said Flex.  “
Policy’s
on hold for now.”

Reeves nodded, closing his eyes.

Hemp reached into his pocket and withdrew the water bottle.  W
ithin, the vapor glowed crimson.  His mind turned to Corn Silk’s head, now rolling around in the truck bed behind them.

One or the other had better help him devise a new strategy to stop this … what was
the word
?

And then he realized what it was.

It was
evolution
.

****

Chapter Twelve

Gem
kept the headlights off as she
led the two-car caravan with Louis at the wheel
in the
Pontiac
behind them.  
Emma
and
Eddie rode along in the
Crown Vic
, and Ian and
Mason rode with Louis.
 

After some convincing, Charlie agreed to let Bunsen ride in the other car to ease up the congestion in the front seat of the Ford.

The girls together took the space of a single person, and there was plenty of room for them and the two young adults
in the back seat
.
  To their relief, neither had awoken when Eddie and
Emma
slid in beside them,
nudging
their slight, little girl bodies toward the center
of the seat
.

Gem was not certain just how customized the interior of
the
Crown Vic was, because she’d never driven one besides this fortified CDC model.  She was fairly certain the front bench seat was custom, though.  It was the only reason Slider – who was no longer anywhere near puppy-sized – could ride up front with Gem and Charlie.

Gem drove agonizingly slow.  It was a speed she had not intended to
become intimately familiar with
until she was in her nineties, and even then she had a feeling she’d still be a lead foot
ed old lady
.

But for now, they had a purpose, and it was ever so important.
 
In the back seat, 
Emma
and Eddie took turns with a
12 volt,
two million candlepower
spotlight, shining it on the shrubs and in the street on either side of the car as it inched its way forward.

An identical spotlight was in use in the GTO.  If
any clue to where the horde had gone
were to be found in the moonless night, the light might reveal it.

Every now and then Gem looked down at the lighter plug
, currently occupied with the power plug for the spotlight
.  Damned thing only
served to remind
her
that she
hadn’t had a cigarette in months
.

Damned baby
, she thought, smiling
.
  She enjoyed it when her mind turned to the baby growing inside of her.  Most of the time
, anyway
.  Sometimes the thoughts were frightening, but she had grown to trust Dr. Scofield, and he assured her all was well.

As much as she needed him to assure her, Doc was willing. 
Gem knew Charlie appreciated it, too.  The Doc was a
truly good man.

Ian’s
voice
interrupted the silent search
.   “Hey Gem, do you mind turning that gun away from us?  It’s making Louis nervous.  He doesn’t
even
have a
driver’s
license.”

Charlie smiled and picked up the radio.  “I’m on the g
un, b
ut right now I’m using it as a camera.  I need to make sure you guys are okay.”

“Don’t shoot,” said
Ian
.

“Never,” said Charlie.
  “And Louis?”

“Yes?”

“I hereby grant you your license. 
You should receive it
in the mail in four to six weeks.”

“Nice,” said Louis.  “I’ll keep an eye out for it.”

“
Don’t waste your time,” said Gem.  “Instead,
k
eep an eye ou
t
for any signs that a large group passed this way.  We’ll go like three blocks.  If we don’t see anything, we’ll backtrack and take the next street over from the same point.”

“Good plan,” said Charlie.

They drove the three blocks and saw nothing.

“What are you looking for?”
Eddie asked
.

“W
e’re looking for clothing, shoes,
severed heads,
anything
,” said Gem.
 
“
This is an unkempt group,
and shit falls off ‘em now and then.
”