“Lisa!”
It was Dave’s voice.
“Yes!”
Gunfire sounded again, and she heard some rounds ricocheting off the walls within the room, others hitting thick, wet things that fell hard to the ground. Now two guns fired simultaneously, then silence.
And the sound of Flex’s voice saying, “Here, you rotted fuck! Take this shit!”
The sound of spray bottles was almost comical. Like someone was aggressively cleaning windows. Very aggressively.
Hissing, popping sounds, then Dave’s voice.
“Watch out, Flex!”
“What the –”
“Duck!”
Gunfire again, ripping through the door just above Lisa’s head. She ducked down, and screamed.
“Lisa!”
The knob turned in her hand, and she felt someone pulling on
the door
.
“The doorstop, Dave!” she cried. “Lift it!”
“I gotcha,” said Dave. He lifted the stop and pulled back the door.
Lisa fell into his arms, tears of joy flooding from her eyes.
“We’re here, sis. We got you.” He held her tight in his arms and stroked her hair.
She knew he had her. She had never been more grateful.
“She okay?” asked Flex.
“I think so. Sis? You alright
?
”
Lisa breathed for a moment before answering. She raised her face to look at Flex and Dave through the light now filtering in through the door and the bullet holes.
“Get me out of here, okay? Did you find Serena and the guys?”
“Let us worry about that,” said Flex. “Dave, help her. I’ll lead the way out.”
*****
Chapter Six
Charlie ran into the converted RV laboratory, and closed the door behind her. She had a bottle of Urushiol in her hands, but it was for the ratz, mostly, because apparently it was near useless against their two captives.
“Good,” said Hemp. “We’ve got some work to do. I want us both to put on some thicker gloves. I’m not sure we can trust them anymore.”
“Has it gone that far, babe?” asked Charlie. She looked over at them and made a mental note. Neither had looked at her when she
had come
in, and there was no gnashing or aggression. “They look pretty docile to me.”
“Just in case, Charlie. I need to get one of them on that
autopsy
table there. I suppose we’ll just try the old way.”
“Ugh. Fucking autopsy table. Is that why it’s got the big
sink at the end
?”
“Yes. To catch the blood.”
“Yuck.
The old way? So we just walk them over
?
”
“I’ll do it
. You
just
be ready. Don’t touch a weapon, just have one nearby. If the need arises, I’ll drop
clear
and you kill her.”
“This is like Christmas,” said Charlie, smiling.
“I’ll kill the shit out of her if she makes one false move.”
“It’s serious, Charlie.”
“It’s been serious as hell since the zombies showed up. I think you know I know that. C’mon. Let’s do this.”
“Sorry,” said Hemp. “Can’t help but worry about you.”
“Same here, but we’re careful. Let’s just
keep being
careful. So
,
thick gloves. Hit me.”
Hemp opened a drawer and withdrew two pairs of thicker, cloth gloves. Then he pulled out more nitrile gloves.
“Put the nitrile gloves on first. The
cloth
ones over
them
.
Then put on a mask, too.
”
They put on their gloves, then slipped on lab coats.
Charlie found a mask and put it on, but did not pull it down yet.
W
ithout hesitation, Hemp walked
to
the cage, opened the door and walked inside.
“Careful, baby
,
”
said Charlie, pulling down the mask.
“Of course,” said Hemp.
Charlie watched him put a hand on
Blue Eyes
’ arm and pull. She staggered with him and did not resist, but Red Dress followed a few seconds later.
“Uh, Charlie,” said Hemp. “Would you mind pushing back Red Dress while I get her out of here?”
“No problem,” she said
, her voice muffled. A
pprehension struck her. What if this connection was now so established that Red Dress would not be separated? What if one was the master and one was the slave? Charlie decided she’d watched too much S&M porno and dismissed it.
As Hemp led
Blue Eyes
out, Charlie stepped inside and put one hand on Red Dress’s shoulder. She stopped, her eyes watching the other one.
Charlie, every nerve on edge stepped quickly away from the female zombie and closed and latched the door. She
decided not to share with
Hemp how frightened she
’
d been for that brief moment.
The unknown really was a bitch. And right now there was again, way too much new news that raised a lot of questions.
“Help me with her please, Charlie,” said Hemp.
Charlie wa
lked over, took one more glance
back at Red Dress
standing in the cage
, and took
Blue Eyes
by the arm. “Which way
do you want her
?”
Hemp pointed. “
This U-shaped device is for the head
.”
As they attempted to lift her slightly up onto the table, Charlie swore she felt resistance.
“Stop,” said Hemp, obviously feeling it too. “The table’s hydraulic. Turn that lever there anti-clockwise.”
Charlie smiled, despite the situation. “It’s counter-clockwise in the good ol’
USA
, baby.”
She turned the lever and then pressed down on the table. It dropped six inches or so.
“That ought to do it,” said Hemp.
They backed the zombie up to the table and pressed down
on her shoulders
. She
leaned back against the table and t
hey moved her around gently, resting her back and head
in the cradle mounted to the table. Together, they straightened out her legs.
She was wearing standard prison blues. Navy pants, and light blue, button down shirt.
“What’s next?” asked Charlie.
“We need to undress her. But half at a time, and I want the other half restrained in case she thinks it’s threatening.”
“If she thinks it’s threatening, then I’ll
show
her threatening, babe.”
Hemp just looked at her
as he slowly lifted the wide, nylon strap and wrapped it over her knees. As
he did this,
Charlie
repeated the process with the ankle strap. They both moved to the other side of the table and lifted the other end of the restraints, securing the buckles snugly
.
“Okay, that works. Let’s remove her blouse.”
“In prison, I’m pretty sure they’re just shirts,” said Charlie. “Probably not a lot of girly-girl talk going on. Just bitch talk.”
“You’re probably right.” Hemp began undoing the buttons and Charlie slapped his hand.
“I’ll do this. I can’t bear to watch you undress another woman.”
Hemp
laughed and
stepped aside
, waving
a hand
toward
the zombie. “Be my guest.”
“Why do you need her naked
, anyway
?”
she asked, as she undid the remaining buttons and opened the shirt. She
still
wore a bra. Probably prison rules. It was filthy, just a plain, white cotton with shitty support.
“Hand me those scissors,” said Charlie.
“Just tear it, Charlie.
They may
see
the scissors
as a weapon.”
“I do
not
like having to worry about their reaction,” said Charlie. “Fuck it
, let’s just pull her up
.”
Charlie
and Hemp lifted her torso
up so she was
in a sitting position
,
sliding
the shirt off her arms
. Charlie
then unhooked the bra at the front clasp and slid it off as well.
“Her skin’s pretty preserved,” said Hemp. “Not much flexibility, but not too many lesions.”
Her breasts were medium-sized and pustule-riddled, the nipples black and shriveled.
“
Decent tits, but s
he still stinks
,
”
acknowledged Charlie.
“
She’s dead, Charlie. She’s decomposing very slowly, but she is rotting. And to answer your question, I need her naked b
ecause
modesty is no longer a concern for her, and I might see something that triggers an idea. For now,
we’re going to cut the crown
from
her skull, and possibly more, depending on what I find. Can you handle it?”
“I’ll let you know
,” said Charlie. She wasn’t actually sure she
could
handle that. It was one thing shooting them and watching them go down for the last time. It was another thing completely to watch them get cut open little by little. She was hardened by this time, but that would be like torture if it was done to a living human being.
“Will she feel any pain, babe?”
“
I believe their pain nerves are part of what is no longer alive
,” said Hemp.
“So I don’t think so. They’ve never been very vocal
when
dying
.”
Charlie shrugged. “I’ll turn my head if it gets too much.
“Okay, Charlie,” said Hemp.
“Hey
,” said Charlie. “How come I call you baby and babe
and honey, and you call me Charlie?”
“Because you’re my wife and I love the sound of your name,” said Hemp, looking
briefly
into her eyes.
“Don’t think I don’t love the sound of your name,” said Charlie. “I do. But you’re my baby and you’re my honey and you’re my sweetie. Sometimes you’re other stuff.”
“I love it, Charlie. You call me what makes you feel
good, and that’s what I’ll do. Now let’s get her pants off.”
“Buzzkill.”
They reversed the restraints, with one on her chest and another on her stomach just above her pants. Hemp unbuttoned them, and lowered the zipper, and Charlie moved down to her feet and yanked the pant legs hard. They slid off fairly easily.”
“Panties, too?” asked Charlie.
“All of it, Charlie.”
“I’ll be watching you.”
“Don’t bother,” said Hemp.
Charlie enjoyed the banter with him. It made her feel as though all was right in a world where nearly everything was wrong. She slid the panties down, revealing a fairly intact vagina, void of hair.
“I won’t even ask,” she said, gathering up the clothes and dropping them into a metal wastebasket.
“Charlie,” whispered Hemp.
“What?”
“Look
at this
.”
“Where?”
“At her stomach, Charlie. It’s moving.”
Charlie didn’t see it. “Are you . . . oh, my God. It is,” she gasped. “Is it . . . like Jenni
fer
?”
Hemp shook his head.
“She’s pregnant, right?”
“No, Charlie. She was pregnant. She and the baby are dead now.
With Jennifer, only her baby turned. Jenny didn’t.
”
“But
Blue Eyes
isn’t really dead
, Hemp.”
“You’re calling me Hemp.”
“This is serious.”
“
Touché,” said Hemp. He lay a hand over the belly, and nodded to Charlie when he felt the movement inside.
“Does that have anything to do with the reason you’re examining her?”
“Depends on whether that one is also pregnant.”
Hemp looked at Red Dress, who stood as still as a
wooden
cigar store Indian in the center of her small prison, her eyes
appearing to be
looking toward them, but
likely
,
gazing
beyond them.