The Dead Hunger Series: Books 1 through 5 (136 page)

The house and land nearby was abandoned – not a soul, living or dead, and none of the living dead nearby.  Deer were plentiful, and firewood appeared to have been stacked up for a multi-year supply.

The dogs had plenty of room to run, and one day a Sheltie wandered up, looking hungry and starved for attention, too.  His eyes were blue, so they named him Sky.

Shortly after the birth of Flex Maxwell, when everyone was relaxing in what had become a more and more common night of peace, Dave and Serena came in to speak to the group. 

Dave had put on weight from all the venison, but kept his hair and beard long – maybe just so he’d still look like Dave.  He and Serena had become as close a couple as any of them, and Gem loved that.  Dave deserved all the love he could get, and Serena got it right back from him.  Gem often thought of how she’d misjudged him when they first met, and it still made her feel bad.

“We need to talk to you guys,” he said.

Everyone looked up, expectantly. 

“No you don’t,” said Gem.  “Not really.  We know it’s time.”

Dave nodded and put his arm around Serena, who stood beside him.  She slipped her arm around him.

“It’s that awkward moment when you’re about to make a big announcement and everybody already knows what you’re going to say,” he said with a smile.

“You’ve only been talking about your uncle for months,” said Charlie.  “I knew it was only a matter of time until you had to go.”

Dave smiled at Charlie and walked to where she lay reclined on the couch.  Her belly was as high and ripe as a championship watermelon, and she was ready to deliver her baby any day.

“Would you mind?” asked Dave.  “One last time?”

Serena smiled at him and sat on the arm of the couch.

“Not at all,” said Charlie.  She lifted her shirt, exposing her protruding belly button.  “She’s moving right now.”

“
He’s
moving,” said Hemp.

Dave knelt down and put both of his open palms on her stomach, and rested them there.  He looked at Charlie’s face as he waited. 

“Wow.  There it is,” he whispered, his face beaming.  “God I love the feel of life beneath my hands.”

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” said Charlie.  “But I’m ready to get it out of me.  This one likes to play at night.”

Dave’s eyes glistened, and he sat back and swiped at his tears with his shirt.  “Charlie, Charlie,” he said.  “Hey Hemp … how did you and I get so lucky?”

“Flex is lucky, too, you bastard,” said Gem.

“Goes without saying, Gem,” said Dave, smiling at her.

“When do you leave?” asked Flex.

“Tomorrow morning,” he said.  “We’re taking that old pickup that was here, and we’re picking up bikes at the first Harley store.”

“Perfect,” said Charlie, her own eyes welling up.  “You’ll write?”

“US Mail went out of business,” said Dave.  “Fucked up organization anyway.  It was just a matter of time.”

Charlie stood and walked up to Dave.  She held open her arms, and he stepped into them, accepting her gentle kiss on the cheek.  When she was done embracing him, she pulled Serena in for more of the same.

“I’ll miss you, Charlie,” said Serena.  “I’ll miss all of you.”

“Take care of him, Serena.   He’s kinda helpless.”

“We have to get to bed.  We’ll do this goodbye thing again in the morning,” said Dave.

Everyone said good night and they walked slowly upstairs.

*****

The next morning, when Gem got up to make coffee on the propane stove, she pulled back the kitchen curtains and saw the old Ford truck was gone.  She looked by the door and saw that Dave and Serena’s gear was gone, too.

The quiet tears came, and didn’t stop until she heard little Flex in his crib, telling her he had awoken from his latest two-hour slumber.  She thought of Charlie, whose water could be breaking before coffee, and wondered if little Flexy was destined to have a brother or a sister … they were all family, after all.

A smile touched her lips at her son’s strong lungs, and she began to hum Elton John’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” as she lifted him from his crib.  The song would forever remind her of their new beginning after marrying in that little green church.  When she, Trina and Flex all sang it together.  Wow, did she feel the love.

So it wasn’t new, this feeling of contentment.  It had had its trials and tribulations, and nothing was certain still. 

As for the Lion King anthem, Trina loved it, and it always seemed to put a smile on everyone’s faces and hope in their hearts.

If it didn’t, then fuck ‘em if they couldn’t take a joke.

She held up her little boy and gazed into little Flex’s bright, brown eyes.  She kissed him gently and nuzzled his face with her nose.

She didn’t hear him approach, but she sank into Flex’s strong arms as they wrapped around her waist from behind, and she turned her face up to kiss him.

He then leaned forward and kissed the top of his son’s head.  “Elton again,” he said.  “Good call.”

“It fits,” she said, pulling the curtain aside.  “But some of the love left early this morning.”

“I’ve got a feeling they’ll be back someday,” said Flex.  “Mr. and Mrs. Gammon, I’ll bet.”

“You are so fucking mushy,” she said.

“You make me mushy.”

Gem started singing the song softly, and dancing with her baby in her arms, and Flex put his arms around them and danced and sang along.  A few minutes into their makeshift waltz, Trina’s voice joined theirs, and Gem looked down to see the little blonde’s tired, smiling face looking up at them as she held onto each of their arms and danced along.

I fucking love this family,
thought Gem, and she wanted to explode with happiness. 

Smiling and crying at the same time, her voice broke, but she kept singing with her husband and daughter as they moved across the floor together.  Gem’s tears of joy melded with her tears of sorrow as she thanked God for the blessings of her beautiful family, while at the same time realizing how much she would miss Dave and Serena – her family that had traveled on.

Yes, Elton.  Yes, God.  I feel the love.  More strongly than I ever have in my life.

And while it had only been thirteen months since the world went mad, that solid, powerful love had once again returned beauty to all of their lives.

And it was illustrated in that very moment.

THE END

Dead Hunger V

The Road To California

By Eric A. Shelman

Dead Hunger
V: The Road To California

is a work of fiction by

Eric A. Shelman

All characters contained herein are fictional, and all similarities to actual persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental, except of course, where characters are based on real people, but the personalities and relationships are mostly fiction.

No portion of this text may be copied or duplicated without author or publisher written permission, except for use in professional reviews.

©2013 Dolphin Moon Publishing

(Print Version)

ISBN 978-
0-9891416-0-4

Cover Art By Gary McCluskey

W

hen writing a series, an author relies on his readers to want to follow his characters.  That makes it extraordinarily risky to do what this book has done.

While Dave Gammon has been with the story since Dead Hunger II: The Gem Cardoza Chronicle, he has not developed into what people might see as a leader.  Dave, with his awkward moment jokes, could be seen as reliable and caring – but a hero?  Not necessarily.

So to let Dave take the reins in a book series wh
ere Flex, Gem, Hemp and Charlie – four very strong personalities – have dominated, is obviously a risk.  And while I wasn’t sure when I began, I have decided that Dave is up to the task, in my opinion.

When I first began this book, even I had to fully investigate who Dave
Gammon was.  I had to know his motivations for leaving his established life with Serena to take a risky journey across the country to find an uncle he could not be sure was even alive.  I had to create Serena’s back story, which you will we fully learn in this book,
and
I had to figure out who his Uncle Bug had become and why Dave would risk so much to seek him out.  I also had to come up with some people to join Dave and Serena, the first of whom is an old friend of ours, Nelson Moore.  He comes quite a long way in this book, too – which is the longest of the series.  That surprised me, because in concept, I wasn’t sure if I could come up with enough “moments” to carry this book over 400 pages.

Well, I think
I achieved that.  As the reader and the most important piece of this puzzle, I hope you agree.  It’s been quite a ride so far, and we have one more to go: Dead Hunger VI: Homecoming.  I hope you’re in for the whole ride, and it is also my great hope that I haven’t let you down along the way.  A book series is only as good as each entry, and I’ve always wanted to make sure you wanted to grab that next book.  If you’re reading this, I succeeded.  Thanks.

All that said, I hope you enjoy Dead Hunger V: The Road To California. 

It’s that awkward moment when you realize nobody’s listening, so you kind of just drift off and fade out …

*****

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Thanks to my brother Don Shelman and his wife, Marion Shelman.  Both brought up some great points, and Don helped tremendously with the wrap-up of the book.  I’d also like to thank Sharon Berget, who is a Facebook friend and Dead Hunger fan.  She found a ton of typos and some continuity issues.  Thank YOU!  I always have to thank Megan Sweetness (not sure if that is her REAL name) who is also a Facebook friend, a DH fan and a good beta reader – she came up with an important character inconsistency that needed addressing.  Thank YOU, Megan!  You guys rock.