The Dead Hunger Series: Books 1 through 5 (64 page)

Likewise, they dropped the third car in the stack, and made a roughly ten to twelve foot tall barrier on each side of their gateway into town.

“Smart,” I said.  “I can’t wait to sit and ask these folks some questions.  Under 50%, Charlie.  It’s more than I could’ve hoped for.”

“What’s the population here again?  Before, I mean?”

“Around 46,000.”

“What about diggers?”

“Getting out is the problem.  If there’s lots of rock on top of them, they might be trapped.”

“Wouldn’t you fucking think the coffin would stop them?”

“Remember,” I said.  “Baby, they’ve got nothing but time and determination once they’ve awakened.”

“Zombie patience.  They’ve got Job beat to shit, I bet.”

I laughed.  Charlie coming up with Biblical references seemed out of character, but what the hell did I know.  “We’d talked about a wide variety of things, but for some reason had avoided religion.

“They’re not armed,” I said in amazement.

“Wow,” said Charlie.  “It’s like . . . almost like it didn’t happen at all here.”

Everyone turned to see our vehicles as we drove behind the Jeep Cherokee with Dan, Janine and Whit inside. Jacko and Larry had stayed behind to guard the road.

Some of them waved and smiled. 

The radio clicked on.  It was Dave Gammon, and we could hear the joy in his voice.

“You see these damned people smiling?” he said.  “For Christ’s sake, they’re waving at us, guys.”

I clicked the button, but Charlie grabbed the radio and pulled my hand toward her.  “I know, right?  It’s like the old days, like in a neighborhood.”

“Seems almost too good to be true,” said Gem, who had obviously been listening in.  “I wonder if they’ve noticed anything strange about their rats.”

“Fuck.  I’d almost forgotten them,” said Charlie.

“I did too, for a second,” said Gem.  “Fucknuts!  I brought it up to remind myself.  Hemp?   Any ideas?”

I didn’t have any ideas or thoughts or anything else, for that matter.  I still wasn’t positive they were what we might call zombie rats.  Perhaps they’d been affected in another way; not as severe, but enough to cause some sort of brain damage.

“I’ll need to get them in my lab.  Do some tests.  I think they’re the perfect subjects for a maze.”

“Cool!” said Charlie.  “I’ll help you build it.”

I had the wide window slid back on my side of the cockpit, and my arm out.  My arm was literally getting tired from waving at people.

We crossed a bridge over a waterway, then under an underpass.

The jeep pulled up to
North Main Street and turned left.  A building with a gold dome that almost exactly like any other state building built around the 1800s emerged on the right side.  We could make out the dome and part of the structure, but just as we had seen at each major artery into the city, stacks of cars three high had been arranged around the perimeter of the building.  I guess I understood it well enough.  You had these rusting hulks all over the city, so you might as well use them.

My radio clicked, and I heard Whit’s voice.  “Just in here, ladies and gentlemen.  Mr. Reeve’s expecting you.”

“What about the governor?” I asked.  “Doesn’t he live here?”

“Passed,” said Whit.  “His wife shot him in the head.”

“Before or after this mess?”

I heard Whit chuckle softly before he answered.  “After.  But, just after.  I’m not so sure she was telling the truth, but she said he’d turned.”

Two cars blocking our entry were fired up and driven backward until we could enter the compound – because that’s what it was.  Another man directed us into an area close to the front of the building and underneath some trees.  We passed a few statues that I couldn’t identify, mainly because at that point I was so damned tired, I just wanted to put that motorhome in park and call the trip over with.

Before we got out, Charlie took my arm.  The three ladies had been extremely quiet all the way there, and I kind of understood what everyone was feeling.

“What, babe?”

“This is what I kind of hoped for since they found me in the hospital.  A place where life is still going on and people don’t seem scared.”

“But?”

“But,” said Kimberly, “I think she wants to say we no longer know who to trust.”

“We need to go,” I said.

“Babe,” said Charlie.  “Kim’s right.  I know you.  I love and trust you and Flex and Gem.  All of you.  I’ve even already begun to like and trust some of the people we picked up at the church, like these three.  But Pete and Rory – look what they did.  We didn’t expect it, and we lost a vehicle and supplies.  We’re lucky Todd didn’t get hurt.  I worry these people are going to take what we’ve got and . . . I don’t know.  Kill us or kick us out of this safe zone.”

“Or you could just be a tad paranoid.”

“I admit, that could be it.”

“We’ll watch each other’s backs,” said Vikki, her red hair tangled and mussed from sleep.

“Of course we will,” said Kim.  “Jasmine?”

“Victoria,” she said.

“Jesus, Jazz,” said Kimberly, frustrated.  “I have to remember to call you
Victoria
now?  For the rest of your life?”

“You’ll get used to it,” smiled
Victoria, formerly Jasmine.

The radio clicked again.  It was Dan’s voice.

“C’mon everyone.  And leave your weapons in the vehicles, of you don’t mind.”

Victoria
smiled at her sisters.  “Saved by the bell.”

“I don’t fucking like it,” said Charlie.  “We’re locking this thing up tight.  All the outer compartments, too.  Until I trust.”

“Okay.  Until you trust,” I said.

The ladies all checked their faces in the bathroom mirror while I waited by the door.

I had the nine ounce Ruger .380 Auto in my front pocket as we stepped out of the motorhome and into our new community.

For now.

****

I was somewhat surprised they didn’t search us before allowing us in, but with the substantial display of firepower we had demonstrated, both mounted on our vehicles and briefly, in the motorhome, I supposed we didn’t seem to be the types to carry peashooters.

But believe me, they were well-armed, and there was seemingly little danger of the walking dead here.  So I supposed they were armed against aggressive humans.

“Sorry for all the guns,” said Whit, reading my thoughts.  “But we have had some crazies try to take out Mr. Reeves, and people rely on him too much to have him gone.

“Wow,” said Gem.  “The power’s even on.”

“Excellent generator system in this building,” said Dan Cox.  “Runs everything – not just select equipment and lighting.  It’s nice.  Not like this in other parts of town if you don’t have a generator of your own.”

Trina walked beside her, holding her new mommy’s hand.  Cynthia Preston was next to them, and Taylor was holding Trina’s other hand.  Flex walked behind, and I could see his head turning side-to-side, scanning everywhere in case this was not what it seemed – and what it seemed to be was still not all that clear.

A man came out, looking entirely different than, I think, any of us expected.  He wore a flannel shirt, jeans and a baseball cap with a Boston Bruins logo.

“Welcome to Concord,” he said, holding out his hand.  “I’m Kevin Reeves.  Used to be the mayor of this place.”

Flex shook it.  “I’m Flex Sheridan.   This is our tough little band of survivors.”

“You don’t look the worse for wear,” said Reeves.  “Where were you when all this hit?”

“We were all in different places,” said Gem, holding out her hand in introduction.  “I’m Gem Cardoza.  I started out in south
Florida.”

“Weather might be a bit frigid for you,” said Reeves.  “Leaves are gone already, and winter’s coming.”

“It’ll take some getting used to,” I said.  “But if this turns out to be the safest place in the country, we’re going to do just that.”

“Can we talk?” asked Flex.  “Somewhere these folks can sit down and take a load off?”

“We have a cafeteria,” said Reeves.  “More like a break room, but there’s still some chips and candy bars and even cold sodas.  All the machines are open.  They can fill up on junk food.”

Trina’s feet were off the floor.  “No shit, mommy!  I can have a Snickers?”

“If there are Snickers,” said Gem, “and there are enough, yes, go right ahead.”

Reeves looked at Trina, then at us, his eyes wide.

“It’s a long story,” said Gem, a grin on her face.

Flex jumped in while I choked on my words. 

“If you don’t mind, just Hemp, Cynthia, Gem, Charlie, Dave and myself will go in.  Lisa, do you mind keeping an eye on the girls for us?”

She looked tired.  Shaking her head, she said, “No problem.  They’ve got some cards.  We’ll play.”

“Follow me, folks,” said Dan.  “I’ll lead you to sugar heaven.”

As they ran away, Trina smacked
Taylor on the arm and said excitedly, “Fuckin’ Snickers, Tay!”

I shook my head, but couldn’t help but smile.  Everyone waved as they followed Dan away.  Reeves led us into a large office on the west side of the building, where we all plopped down into brass-tacked, leather armchairs that gleamed, despite their obvious antique status.  Whit pulled up a chair on the side of Reeves’ desk.

“Good group,” said Reeves.  “How’s it been for you?”

“Tough,” said Gem.  “We kill ‘em and we kill ‘em and there are always more to kill.”

Reeves nodded.  “Have you learned anything?”

I spoke up.  “We’ve learned a lot.  We’re here because of what we learned.  Before we share it, however, I’d like to know what you’ve learned.  And let me start out by mentioning that I hold a degree in Epidemiology, and have worked for the CDC in some very high level scenarios.”

“Fair enough,” said Reeves.  “I can’t tell you the feeling I just got hearing that.  We’ve got a lot of people in Concord, but I can also tell you that the outlying areas are dangerous.  Infested, you might say.”

“There aren’t many places that aren’t dangerous, Mr. Reeves,” said Charlie.  “We put together a good family between the seven of us.  Our core group has not only kept us alive, it’s kept us sane.”

“Along with some Sex Pistols,” I added.  I tipped my head toward Charlie.  “For her, anyway.”

“You’re not going to believe this,” said Reeves.  He reached into his desk and pulled out an MP3 player.  He slid it over to Charlie.  “Check it out.”

She powered it up and put the buds in hear ears, then started bopping her head up and down, a smile as big as Texas on her lips. 

“Dude!” she yelled over the music only she could hear.  “No feelings, for anybody else!” she sang, and it echoed through the air of the enormous room.  She pulled off the ear buds and stared.

“You?”

“No,” he said.  “Not me.”  His face went from smiling to morose.  He powered down the MP3 player and put it back in the drawer.

“My daughter’s.  She gave it to me before she went to college.  Told me to hold onto it for her.  Said to listen to it whenever I missed her, and it would remind me not to miss her so much.”

I stared at him, saw the pain there.  I knew what had happened without hearing him say it.

“I’m not saying she’s one of them,” he said.  “I don’t know.  The moment we got word of what was going on, I tried to call her, but she never picked up her cell.”

“Where did she go to school?” asked Charlie.

“Georgia State,” he answered.

“We came from
Georgia,” said Flex.  “But Mr. Reeves, there are survivors everywhere.  Scattered, and in danger, but they’re there.  We ran into a few groups in Georgia.  She could be among them.”

“You can call me Mr. Reeves if you want, but Kev is fine, too.  I’m not so much the mayor anymore as a guy people trust.”

His hair was cropped short – not as short as Flex’s, but evenly, and it was salt and pepper black and gray.  He looked like he’d be as comfortable in a boat on a lake with a fishing rod in his hand as he would be sitting in the high-backed leather chair at the governor’s old desk signing a bill into law.

“I never wanted to run the place once the shit hit the fan.  Then everyone started coming to me, asking me what to do.  If people weren’t leaning on me so hard for leadership, I’d –”

“You’d go find your daughter,” said Gem.  “So would I.”

“If I’m honest, I might yet.  So here’s the deal.  We’ve been mostly on the defensive since this thing started.  We’ve seen power grids go down one by one, and while this particular area of New Hampshire doesn’t seem to be affected as much as other areas, we’ve had our converts.”

“Converts?  You mean people turning to zombies?” asked Cynthia.

“Exactly.  Zombies.”  He laughed, but he wasn’t smiling.  “It’s what they are, isn’t it?”

“How about your cemeteries?” asked Hemp.  “Are you seeing activity?”