“Right
there, Flex. Those buildings.”
“Okay,” said Flex. “
Let’s park and walk. You got the WAT-6, right?”
Dave patted his shirt pocket. “Holy fuck.”
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s a holy fuck, Flex. Look at ‘em all.”
“I see ‘em.”
It was impossible not to. Unless there was a zombie early bird dinner special going on somewhere in the large, metal building directly behind the cars, they had smelled and tracked down Lisa.
The radio clicked. “Dave?”
“Yeah, Lisa. What is it? I think we’re here.”
As
Flex and Dave
watched,
the searching, clawing
fingers
of the monsters
found
purchase
, and the metal door
was pulled open
wide. The single-minded mag
got men and women flooded in
. There had to be sixty or seventy of them. Most had no shoes on, as if their walk, whether it began underground or simply covered miles of highway, had worn them away.
Flex opened his door and checked his watch. “We’re good for a while,”
he said
. “Let’s go get your sister.”
*****
Hemp paced back and forth, and Gem tried to think of anything she could to calm him.
They’d hadn’t heard from Flex and Dave, but they’d been out in the crazy world more than enough for everyone to be comfortable with their safety. Plus, they had WAT-6.
“What does it look like out there?” asked Hemp, getting up and peering out the window. “Pretty clear. Good.”
“I’m ready to strap on Suzi-Q, go find everyone, and get their asses back
in this fucking house
,” said Gem. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go out again.”
“Not out, Gem,” said Hemp. “I need to get back in
that
lab and try to figure out what in the bloody hell is going on with those females. Something is changing.”
“It’s true, Gem,” said Charlie. “
They’re connecting or something. It’s weird and scary.”
“How so?” asked Gem.
“That’s what we have to find out,” said Hemp. “Gem, my concern is greater than I think anyone would realize – even Charlie.”
“Well, tell us then,” said Charlie. “What are you thinking?’
Hemp paced back and forth. Gem watched him, uncomfortable. This wasn’t like him at all. He was thoughtful, structured and methodical. Nothing really threw him for a loop or appeared insurmountable to Hemphill Chatsworth.
Hemp stopped, took a deep breath and let it out. He looked up at the women. “The WAT-6 makes us invisible to these creatures, not visually, but whatever olfactory methods they use are thwarted by it.”
“Yeah, whatever you just said, I think we knew that,” said Gem.
“So what if they recognized us as food without the olfactory input?”
“You mean, just saw us and knew we were food?”
“That is exactly what I mean,” said Hemp.
“That would render WAT-6 useless,” said Charlie. “Hemp. This isn’t happening, is it?”
Hemp shook his head, then stopped. He shrugged.
“I don’t know, but unless I learn how far this advanced brain ability or connectivity between them works and what is causing it, I never will.”
“What’s the next step?” asked Gem. “How do you get beyond where you are now?”
“I operate.”
“On what?”
“I have to open up their skulls. Look at their brains.”
“Well, slap my ass and call me Charlie,” said Charlie. “That sounds like some freaky shit. Let’s go.”
“I’m serious, sweetheart,” said Hemp.
“So am I, darling,” said Charlie.
“Go. I’m going to go up and get the girls. Meanwhile, I’ll stay on the radio.”
Gem checked her watch
, agitated
. “It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours. I need them back here.”
“Hemp, I’m running up to say hi to the girls. I’ll meet you in the lab.”
“Be careful on the way over, Charlie
,” said Hemp. “
You’ve got three more hours of protection – if all is as it should be.”
“Let’s assume it is, but I’ll be extra careful anyway,” said Charlie.
“I need a fresh bottle of urushiol,” said Hemp.
“Lined up on the fireplace mantle,” said Gem, pointing.
Hemp walked over and grabbed two of them. “I’ll see you over there, babe. Take care, Gem. Let us know right away when you get hold of Flex and Dave.”
“Will do, Hemp. Good luck. I hope you’re wrong as hell.”
Hemp looked up at Gem as she stood on the stairs, looking down. “Me, too, Gem. I’ve never wanted to be mistaken more than right now.”
When Hemp closed the door, Gem looked at Charlie and took her hand as
they
ascended
the stairs.
“Charlie, do you get the feeling that nothing is as it was?”
Gem let go of Charlie’s hand and used it instead to pull along the banister railing as she climbed. She reached the top of the stairs and stopped. “You know, C? We wanted to stay here. Have our babies and … shit. Was it a stupid dream? Delusional?”
“I have no delusions, Gem,” said Charlie. “You are my family and the day I’d leave you or let you go anyplace without me is the day I don’t want to live anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Gem.
“I’m talking about the same thing, Gem. You’re saying that
Concord
was supposed to be our safe harbor, and it’s not turning out to be that way. This place had an advantage in that
the gas was trapped under the granite and
many of its residents didn’t turn. But if every fucking zombie in the surrounding states is heading this way, then I’m heading out. And I’m not leaving without my family.”
“Gunpoint won’t be necessary,” said Gem. “I might have to use one on Flex, but for me, no.”
“Good. Now let’s go see our kids.”
Gem pulled Charlie into her arms and held her tightly. Their stomachs pushed together, and Gem was pretty certain that the babies just kicked one another.
“Did you feel that?”
“I did!”
“Their first fight.”
“It was a tie.”
“Agreed,” said Gem.
The door was open, and the g
irls were lying on their backs on two beds, staring up at the ceiling. Trina’s head turned when the women walked into the room.
“Hi, Mommy. Hi, Charlie,” said Trina. “Is it dinnertime?”
“Not yet,” said Gem. “Just checkin’ on you.”
“We’re fine,” said
Taylor
. “It was kind of a scary morning.”
“It was,” said Charlie. “But not that scary. We’ve got protections. Better than anyone else in the whole world.”
“Thanks to Uncle Hemp?” asked Trina.
“Exactly,” said Gem.
Charlie sat on
Taylor
’s bed and she sat up and smiled at her. “You look tired, Mommy.”
Charlie put a hand to her heart and smiled at
Taylor
. “Oh,
Tay
,” she said.
“What?”
“When you call me that … it breaks my heart.”
Concern filled
Taylor
’s face. “Why?”
“Because I loved your mommy so much,
Taylor
. And I know you did, too.”
Taylor
nodded. “I did. But Charlie, you’re my mommy now, because I asked you and you said yes. You and daddy said yes.”
“I know, but …”
“I told you I wanted you to take care of me, and I wanted to live with you and daddy.”
Charlie took
Taylor
by the face with both hands and pulled her cheek against her own. She kissed her cheeks, her forehead and nuzzled her nose. “I never thought I could feel this way,
Tay
. I love you like
I’m going to love this little one. Every bit as much.”
Taylor
’s eyes were squeezed closed, and on her lips was a smile.
Gem watched, smiling. Unconsciously, she had pulled Trina into her
arms, and just held her there until Trina pulled back and looked into her eyes.
“Is anything wrong, mommy?”
Gem shook her head. “No. It’s right. Really right.”
“You’d tell me, right? I mean I know stuff is wrong, with the ratz and the zombies and stuff, but you’d let me know if it was wronger, right?”
“More wrong, I think,” said Gem.
“It’s more wrong?”
“No, that’s the right way to say it. Not wronger.”
“I’m not worried about fucking English right now, mommy. I’m worried about you.”
Gem smiled and nodded. “I know. And yes, you’ll be the first to know if there’s a problem.”
“I think a snack sounds good. Do we have any Twinkies left?”
“You liked the last ones you had?” asked Gem.
“Yeah, they tasted good. Just like always.”
“Thank God for preservatives,” said Charlie. “You guys have your Twinkie fix and I’ll take two to go over to the lab.” Charlie gave Taylor another squeeze and stood, then walked over to Trina.
“Hug time for me,” she said.
Trina jumped up and stood on the bed, wrapping her arms around Charlie’s neck. “I love you, Charlie.”
“I love you more,” she said into Trina’s neck.
“
That’s crazy talk,” said Trina.
“Twinkie race!” shouted Gem, running out of the room and for the stairs. Trina and Taylor hit the ground running, and bolted past Gem, flying over the steps as they passed her.
By the time Gem and Charlie got to the bottom, they heard the wrinkling of Twinkie packages.
Charlie stuffed two in her pockets, grabbed another urushiol bottle and said good bye to the other girls.
*****
Lisa sat, her back to the wall. She couldn’t believe it. They’d had full magazines all around her in the car, and she’d gotten out of the truck with just what was in her gun. She had expected to get out for just a few minutes while they found a Jeep with a full battery charge. The oncoming horde wasn’t expected, though it might have been.
That was her fault.
She looked at the ear plugs on the floor by her legs. That was her fault, too. She’d had them in because the gunfire was rattling her brain. The fluorescent yellow plugs muffled the sound when right beside her, and blocked out distant noises.
Like people calling to her. Telling her to stop.
She popped the magazine. There was one round in there, and one in the chamber. Not near enough. The urushiol bottle was near empty.
A crash came in the distance, followed by several more.
She pushed the button. “Dave, Flex!”
“We hear you, sis,” said Dave. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes,” she whispered, though she had been told the zombies couldn’t hear.
“What was it?”
“Look,” said Dave. “We’re making our way in. See if you can get somewhere up high or something. Somewhere they can’t get.”
Despite her fear of making noise, a rat scurried nearby and Lisa sprayed two quick sprays of the urushiol and screamed at the same time.
“What? Lisa? You okay?” said Dave, frantic.
“Yeah, sorry. I just saw a rat.”
“Okay, can you get somewhere safe? Fast?”
“Why, Dave … what the hell
was
that
noise
?”
“
It was the sound of a
shitload of them
getting
inside
the building
. Are you deep
inside
or close to the entrance?”
“I walked about five minutes when I got in. It’s a big building.”
“Get on the second floor or a catwalk or something. Get where you can see them before they can see you.”
“Okay. Hurry, Davey. Please. I’m scared.”
“I know,” said Dave. “We’re coming.”
Lisa clipped the radio back on her jeans and stood. Her legs were cramped, and took a few seconds to regain flexibility.
Light filtered in through some gaps in the building, but just where was not clear. There were no windows that she noticed. No skylights that she’d seen. Lisa walked, ever conscious of the shuffling advancement of the unseen horde.
She wanted them to
remain unseen
and nowhere near her.
Lisa hurri
ed faster, away from the sounds of the
advancing,
ashen
creatures following her scent
. Their
distant
moans were eerily haunting, and she could almost
envision
the odor drifting from he
r body, like a jet stream lingering behind a
plane
that has long departed from the sky, a beacon, drawing the dead, hungry masses to her.