The Dead Hunger Series: Books 1 through 5 (18 page)

Hemp came back on.  “Perfect, Flex.  Don’t forget the electrodes and cables – everything.  Is it on a cart?”

“It is,” I said.

“Bring the whole thing. 
You don’t know what’s important and what’s not, so we can avoid you choosing to leave something behind that I might need.  And grab a second monitor if you can find one.”

I said to Gem and Charlie, “This is it.  What we came for.  So let’s get it unplugged, wrapped up and ready to move.”

I returned my attention back to the walkie as Gem and Charlie started preparing the machine.  “Anything else I can grab?  Stuff we might need?”

“I
t wouldn’t hurt to have pain meds and as much alcohol, bandages, gauze, you know – basic first aid stuff as you can carry,” said Hemp.  “There’s some in the lab, but not enough for my taste.”

Hemp was right. 
I had a small supply at the house, but this was a brand new, scary-as-shit world.  We had no idea of the ratio between infecteds and uninfecteds, so it was feasible that hospitals could get emptied out of medications and first aid supplies.  Drug stores abounded, but summer heat, fires, anything could destroy them or at the very least, degrade the quality.  Hemp might know how to prolong the life of medications – some sort of storage method. 

Luckily we had no diabetics among us – no need for regular injections or life-sustaining medications. 
Problems like that might serve to destroy another chunk of the remaining human population, but not from our group, anyway.

Gem and Charlie had
the machine all ready, and we pushed for the door again.  As we made our way back by the zombie with the arrow through his brain, I looked at Charlie and said, “Damned nice work, kid.”

“Kid,” she muttered.  “Been hearing that shit all my life.  I’m twenty-
six.”

Stopping off at two exam rooms along the way, we gathered the other supplies Hemp suggested.  We didn’t have any more encoun
ters with the living dead, and while Gem and I were happy as shit about that, I think Charlie was a tad disappointed.

I think she loved that crossbow, and if the truth be known, I wanted to see her use it.  I didn’t know at that time how often I’d get to see that.

We still had to go back out into the world, and it was kind of eerie, the lack of the creatures, or life of any kind.  The dogs had begun teaming up, and we’d seen a couple of small packs of them on the way to the hospital, but for the most part, the local animals were nocturnal, and well-hidden in daylight hours.  Lula’s population at last census in 2009 was just under 2,500.

Overall, I
really couldn’t have picked a better location to live in a situation like this; small town means fewer people, and that means fewer of
them
. 

Fewer of
us
, too.

Gem seemed to voice my thoughts.  “I wonder if they’re holed up in another meat locker like the last group
we found,” she said.  “With a food stock.”

“I still don’t know what that’s about or how they had the organizational skills to pu
t it together,” I said.  “They’re single-minded, so far as I can tell.  Cracking heads and eating food.  I don’t think they can fire generators or work a thermostat.”

“
Maybe not, but like the scariest fucking squirrels on the planet, they seem to like to forage and stock up a bunch of fresh brains in case of hard times.”

The drive back to
the house was uneventful.  We saw a group of around ten infecteds lumbering around about two blocks from the hospital, but they didn’t seem to have a particular direction in mind, and were utterly disorganized.

I pulled the car over and we all stared in their direction for a while.  The light breeze was blowing in our faces, so we knew they could not catch wind of us.  I imagined them close up, their hopeless jaws and teeth chewing on food that was not yet there to sustain them.

“Is that how it starts?” I asked aloud.

Gem shook her head and looked at Charlie.

“Maybe,” said Charlie.  “They turn into these things, wander aimlessly for a while, and then they begin to learn from their kind.  Just like us, they learn those things they gotta do to survive.”

“Shit,” I said.  “The punk rocker crossbow girl is waxing philosophical.”

“I want to kill them.”

“Not this time,” I said.  I want to get you back to my place.”

Gem put an arm across Charlie’s shoulder.  “Babe, now I
know
we’re going to get along just fine.”

*****

We returned to my house, showed Charlie how to access the gate and lock it again, and drove in.  Hemp sat in a glider-rocker on the front porch with Trina looking more miniature than usual in the large Adirondack chair beside him.  She was drinking a juice box of lemonade, and he was drinking a beer.

When we drove up he stood
and made his way to the Suburban, Trina following close behind.

“Hood’s a mess,” said Hemp.  “Close call?”

“Yeah, I have to talk to you about the no-kill spot.  We might need a roof mount on this one, too,” Gem said, dropping out of the cab followed by Charlie, who got out of the passenger side rear door.

“Hey,” she said, extending her right hand, but without releasing her crossbow, which was still gripped in her left.

“So you’re the girl named Charlie,” said Hemp, taking her hand.  He then pulled her in for a hug and she didn’t resist.

He spoke into her ear, but loud enough for me and Gem to hear, “I’m Hemp.  And I’ve gotten just a bit more touchy-feely since I met these two.  I appreciate living, breathing humans all the more, so please, excuse my invasion of your personal space, but I am truly happy to meet you.”

After Hemp pulled back and let her go, Charlie said, “It’s nice to meet you too, Hemp.  Gem and Flex say you’re a good guy, and from first impressions, I get that, too.  Now who’s this?” she asked, smiling at Trina.

“That little one is my niece Trina,” I said.

“What’s that?” Trina asked, pointing to the muck on the hood.

“It’s paint,” said Charlie.  Then she
knelt down and put the crossbow down in the dirt.  She dusted her hands off and put them on Trina’s shoulders.  “You are such a little beauty,” she said, smiling.

“Mommy says I’m a princess,” Trina beamed.  “My doggie just had puppies!”

“You’re kidding me!” Charlie said, her eyes wide.  “How many?”

“Like a hundred,” Trina said.  “Wanna come see?  They’re inside.”

“A hundred puppies!” said Charlie, smiling up at the rest of us.  She raised her eyebrows as if to ask if she could go with Trina.

We all nodded.

She stood and Trina put her hand in Charlie’s without hesitation and led her toward the house.

Hemp picked up the crossbow.  “Nice one,” he said.  “Can she use it?”

“Shit yes, she can use it,” answered Gem.  “I’m looking forward to having her show
me
how to use it.”

Hemp spread his hands apart.  “Well, let’s take a look at that EEG!  I appreciate that you brought a pretty girl home with you, but that is, after all, why you left in the first place.”

“You’re right, pal.  But one thing – she’s twenty-six, so you might want to treat her more like a woman than a girl.  I think she’d appreciate it.”

I noticed a slight smile touch Hemp’s lips at that moment.  It seems that came as good news.

We helped Hemp carry the equipment to the mobile lab.  He put on a gas mask, checked on Jamie, and came back in the front area of the motor home.

“She’s okay,
but decomposition is continuing.  I don’t know if it’s different when they’re getting regular food, but it’s not pretty, Flex.”

“Should we feed her something?” I asked. 
“Hemp, she’s basically been without anything at all to eat since I put her in that plastic.  No matter what she is, she must be starving.”

Gem took my hand in hers as we waited for an answer.

Hemp thought a long time before answering.  “Flex, I don’t know what she feels or doesn’t feel.  I know she is not alive in the typical sense.  She has no heartbeat.  With the EEG I intend to learn more about her brainwave activity, but for now, under restraint, she’s not exhibiting any signs of pain or suffering.”

I nodded slowly.  “Okay. 
But as for my question of food.  Would trying to feed her something alter any of your planned tests?  Would it hurt anything?”

“I don’t really know,” Hemp answered.  “The eye vapor or mist we discovered seems to be minimal.  Her eyes are not very obscured, which means this vapor, whatever it is
, is quite low.  If feeding her increases this, that actually might be a good thing; I need to gather some sort of sample to analyze.”

It all made good sense to me.  His professional way of explaining the scientific side to me did help me set aside
my emotions somewhat.

“So I hate to keep going back to this, but if we do feed her,
what
do we feed her?”

Hemp put up a finger and nodded.  “
I set a few small snares in the woods today after I worked on the antenna, so I might be able to come up with the brains or flesh of a rabbit or squirrel by morning.  I can do an analysis of her condition before and after.  You know, see if there’s any change at all.”

“Wear protection around her,” Gem said.  “We don’t need you passing out again.”

“I have been, and I will,” Hemp said.  “Been there, done that, as they say.  Gem, about the physical touch aspect of it.  You had to actually touch me before I awakened, correct?”

Gem nodded quickly.  “
Yes, but as I told you earlier, even that didn’t work right away.  But yes, it was the same as with the other people we found.  Once we touched them, they awoke fairly easily; but it’s as though they were content to sleep indefinitely until awakened.  I’m only glad it was us who woke them instead of
them
.”

I paced away from him and stared at the first aid supplies I’
d dropped on the counter as I awaited Hemp’s thoughts.

“So perhaps it’s more of a light coma rather than a sleep,” he said.  “I might have to purposely expose myself to it with the EEG connected to me to see exactly what it does to my brain.”

“Bullshit,” Gem and I said in unison.

“I’m afraid it is very important, especially if this is
one of the methods they use to subdue their victims.”

“You’ve already been exposed once,” I said.  “We know it doesn’t kill you, but we don’t know if the effect is the same the second time.  So it’ll be my turn if we try it.”

“Flex,” Gem said, grabbing my arm.  “Let’s just assume this is how it works and figure out how to deal with it.  I don’t want you to do that!”

“Sorry, babe.  I don’t have a choice.  I’ll be fine.  Hemp was, and he is.”

Gem shook her head.  “I don’t know how it’ll help anything.”

“Kind of like sulking,” I said.  “I don’t know how it’ll help anything
either, especially when I’ve made my decision.”

Gem said nothing, but went to the door and left the motor home.  I waited for her to look back, but she didn’t.

And I knew it was only because she loved and cared for me, but I still felt empty standing there without her and her worried face.

“It’s a plan.  See if you catch anything tomorrow.  If you do, we’ll feed her and see if the vapor returns.  If it does, I’m your man.”

Hemp nodded.  “Speaking of food, I’m hungry.  Why don’t we have an early dinner today.”

I agreed.  I was famished.

And I needed some Gem time.  I couldn’t stand it when that woman was upset with me.  Just like old times.  I loved the shit out of her, and I think I’d do almost anything to make her happy.  Almost.  But this was so important that she’d have to just come around.

We went in the house and brainstormed over the menu for those of us who had broader tastes than flesh and brains.

*****

Over the next day we set up the larger snares using Hemps uncanny knowledge of physics and counterweight.  It was ingenious. 
We’d gone out to a local gym to gather the necessities that we’d been unable to get the previous trip out, and now had twenty of the plastic-coated, 20 lb barbell weights, and we’d also been able to secure some 50 lb braided fishing line.  We had enough materials to construct around 10 large snares capable of capturing a man or woman.  Using a small weight initially, we tossed the line over a heavy tree branch near the most likely courses of access to my property.

It sounds easier than it was.  Many of the
tree branches weren’t heavy enough to support the weight, but eventually, we located enough strategically located trees to get the job done.

Once the line was over the branches, we tied two of the 20 lb weights to each one, and pulled the weights up about 10 feet.  Once in the air, the natural friction created between the cord and the branch itself made it easier than I would have thought to hold it up there.  Hemp suggested a 20 lb monofilament fishing line as our tripwire, and that was secured between two moderately heavy sticks stuck into the ground.  A large slip-loop was placed on the ground around the tripwire, and when completed, we tested it by using a log that weighed around
80 lbs and about the thickness of a man’s leg.