Dead Hunger: The Flex Sheridan Chronicle (32 page)

“Ready, Flex?”

“No,” I said.  “Not really.”

He looked at me.  “Flex, I’ll film the experiment.  I have two small video cameras that came stocked in the lab.  Let me set one up, run the feeding test, and if you feel you can handle it, we’ll watch it together later.  But if it does work, I’m going to want to test the eye vapor on you right away, just in case it dissipates over time.”

“Sounds good,” I said.  “Perfect.  Thanks, Hemp.”

I went back to the house.  As I walked the short distance, I saw Charlie coming
along the path toward me.  On her way to the lab
.  I stopped as she reached me.

“Hey,” she said.  “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” I said.  “You going inside the lab?”

“I thought I would.”

“Good,” I said.  “I really don’t want him doing this by himself.  He’s got a few gas masks.  Wear one.”

“Absolutely.”

She held her crossbow in her left hand and a Coca Cola in her right, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail.  She was wearing a set of scrubs
, one of many
we pilfered from
the
hospital.
  I realized, since she’d showered and gotten cleaned up, that she was quite an attractive young woman
– even in the baggy outfit
.

I knew that Hemp had noticed, too.  He’d been showing her around the lab, a
nd she’d taken a clear interest in his work, and I wasn’t so sure she hadn’t taken an interest in him, too.  I hoped she had.  In the short time we’d known her – just over a day – both Gem and I had grown to like her a lot.

I watched her continue toward the mobile lab, then waited until she’d rapped gently on the door and gone inside.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

I was wiring up a perimeter camera to the entry fence with Gem standing guard with Suzi.  Well, not so much standing
guard.  Really she w
as sitting in a folding lawn chair,
slowly scanning the area outside our little compound for intruders.

We had a nice long run of cable on this camera, the farthest from the house – but
we had plenty of wire
, and when I
pushed
the
shiny new connectors
on
to the terminals, the red light blinked on.  This was not a panning camera, so I directed its wide-angle view down the gravel road so as not to miss anything
or anyone
taking the path of least resistance.
  It allowed a view of the drive itself, and an
area of about 25 feet on either side, though it was virtually impassable beyond the drive
.

The eye shine would show up a glowing white on the black and white monitors, but that would be like
nickel
-sized fireflies flitting around.  It would be hard to miss on any camera.

I’d considered electrifying the fence, but the
generator
was under enough load, and I wasn’t even sure how electricity would affect these creatures.  Chalk it up to watching too much TV, but I’d have liked to do it
anyway
.

As I was packing up my small toolbox, the Crown Vic came barreling down the gravel drive, the idle gun locked into forward position and Hemp and Charlie’s faces staring excitedly through the windshield.  We didn’t see Trina at first, but she was there, sitting between Charlie’s legs, smiling at the bumpy ride.

The car stopped and they got out. 

“It worked!” Hemp shouted as he approached us.

“Yes, it did,” Charlie said.  “Like immediately.”

“What did?” Trina said.  “What worked?”

Hemp tousled her hair.  “Just an experiment Uncle Hemp’s working on, that’s all.”

“The food, meager as it was, seemed to allow the stuff to regenerate,” said Charlie.  “We had masks on, and we’re lucky we did.”

“So it’s time?” I asked.  I could feel Gem’s eyes on me as she stood, the Uzi slung over her shoulder.  She’d begun to accept what I was going to do, but clearly didn’t want to discuss it.  She folded the lawn chair and
went to the Suburban, opened the
rear door and put it inside.

“
It’s time, my friend
,” he said.  “I was able to capture a sample of the vapor, too.  It’s somewhat viscous, slightly thicker than the air, but I’ve determined where it originates.”

Gem looked interested now.  “Where, Hemp?” she asked.

Charlie was actually smiling.  “From the tear ducts,” she said.  “It spray
s
from the
tear ducts, almost like one of those water
miste
rs
.”

Hemp added,
  “When it’s not in use, it still leaks out, coating the eye, which is what gives them the glow we see.  It’s kind of phosphorescent.  Glow-in-the-dark.”

I considered it for a moment.  “Any tests you can do to determine the makeup of it?”

“There are some chemical analysis devices in the lab that should be able to break it down, but as for how long it’ll take, I have no clue.  While it’s obviously organic, it’s not something we have in our bodies, unless of course it’s created in part by the decomposition of the body itself.”

“This shit gets curiouser and curiouser,” I said.  “I’m done here.  We might as well
get
this over with
.”

Hemp and Charlie got back in the Crown Vic, Trina in tow.   I got in the Suburban, but Gem stood outside and stared at me through the open side window.

“I think I’ll walk back.”

“This is important,” I said. 
I stared at her for a long time, saw the sadness in her eyes, and nodded.

“I’ll be okay, baby.  You know that in your heart.”

“If you knew my heart, you wouldn’t do this.”

Anger overtook me unexpectedly.

“You know what?  Get the fuck in the truck
, babe
.  You’re worried I might die or something, right?  If that’s the case, then I’m not going to let you walk back, lose the minute or so of time with me, and live to regret it the rest of your life.  I fucking love you and whether
you’re mad at me or not does nothing to change that fact.  So get in.”

“You’re so sexy when you tell me how it is,” she said, a smile forming on her mouth. 

She got in, put her hand on my leg, and I put the Chevy in gear. 

I drove like I was 90 years old.  Time with my Gem was more important than ever.

When I pulled up and parked, the other three were
already standing outside
the Ford.  Charlie, with Trina’s hand in hers, walked directly up to Gem.

“You want to go in while he does this?”

Gem
shook her head
.  “I
fucking love that man, Charlie.  I’d try to kill her or rip her head off or something if I saw her doing anything to him, so no.  I’ll stay with Trina, you video this, and I’ll see if I can bring myself to watch it later.

“Language,” Trina said, glaring at Gem.

Charlie smiled and took Gem’s hand.  “I
get it, and yes, of course I’ll be there and if something goes wrong, I’ll put an arrow in her head myself
.”

“Good.” 
Gem
turned to Hemp, who was unlocking the lab door.

“Film it,” she said.  “And don’t leave anything out!”

Hemp winked a
t her and smiled.  “Absolutely, Miss Cardoza. 
We can watch it later over popcorn.”

I could see his light attitude set Gem’s mind at ease.  She laughed at the
formality he’d used
and
came to me.

“Last chance to get out of it,” she said.

I shook my head.

“You know me better,” I said.

“Shit yes, I do.  Wish I didn’t.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said.  “The actual process should be quick.  Then you can dote over me while I’m out.”

“Try and stop me.”

I put my hand behind her neck and pulled her to me, kissing her mouth and then resting my cheek against hers. 
The warm smoothness made me want to linger there, to nuzzle her, breathe in her sweetness, but I pulled away, gave her a quick peck on the forehead, and put one last squeeze on her hand before turning and walking up the steps and into the lab.

Hemp had placed a second gurney beside the one on which Jamie lay.  The strapping of her extremities had been reworked to secure her well, but none of the straps du
g into her ever-thinning skin.  I stood there a moment looking down at this thing that was
once
my sister.

Her right eye, while still exhibiting the gaseous vapor layer over it, had caved into her head.  The tear duct was not part of
the disintegrating eye itself
, so was not affected
, but the glowing vapor just lay
in a thicker pool there
.                

“Decomposition is bad.  Getting worse,
”
I said.  I felt like I was stalling, just making conversation, but the smell was
foul and putrid – too disgusting to ignore
.

“The masks are becoming a necessity just to be inside the room with her,” Hemp said.  “After a few more tests, Flex, I don’t know how long –
”

“I know,” I interrupted.  I knew what he meant, and I had come around – almost.  I’d almost come around, and come to the realization that my sister had to be put to rest.

And then we’d have to find some way to tell little Trina that she would never see her mommy again.

*****

“Okay, Flex, I want you to talk to me while whatever is happening takes place.  Don’t stop talking.”

“Until I pass out, right?”

The many EEG electrodes were plugged into the machine, trailing like spaghetti to the rubber skull cap I wore.

“If you can keep talking after, then do so,” he said.

Charlie smiled at this, her mask tight on her face.  Hemp’s mask was off for now,
and I wasn’t getting one
.  I was on the gurney, but Hemp had rolled it about five feet away from Jamie’s until we were ready.

“Okay,” I said.  “
Roll me over.  I’m ready.”

Charlie moved to the two cameras and pushed the buttons.  Red lights shone on each.

“We’re filming,” she announced.
  “EEG machine recording.”

“Good,” Hemp said.  “Sure you’re ready?”

“Yes.  Go,” I said.

Hemp had loosened the strap on Jamie’s head so that she could turn it.  Her neck was still restrained, so there was no fear she could move far enough to get at me. 

Hemp strapped his mask on and pulled the rubber straps tight.  He pushed my gurney slowly beside Jamie’s, and I lay there, our heads side by side. 

I turned to face her.

And she turned to face me.  The mist in her eyes glowed in the dimmed light, which Hemp had said might help to calm her and me.

“Jamie,” I said.  “I love you, and I always will.  You’re my sister first and what
. . .
you’ve
become
second.”

Her teeth gnashed again, the newfound strength from her meager food intake bringing her back to her previous hungry self. But now it was worse, as the skin around her mouth was almost entirely gone, and her tongue was blistered and black.  I felt like I was going to throw up.

“I feel nauseous,” I said.  “But I don’t know if it’s because . . . because . . . I don’t know . . . “

“Flex?  Are you okay?” 

Hemp’s muffled voice through his mask, but faint.

I felt weak, and my arms felt as though they were rubber.  I couldn’t lift them.  And I realized I couldn’t move my legs.
  It was hard to breath.  I wanted to turn my head away, but my neck wouldn’t work either.

“Paralyzed,” I muttered. 

And that was the last thing I remember.

I woke up late the next morning to Gem’s hands on my shoulders, her palm lightly slapping my face
.  My body felt heavy, my head ached.  But within ten minutes, I felt as though none of it happened, except that I was starving.

And not for brains.  I smelled bacon and eggs.

Gem was sitting on the edge of the gurney next to me, but I was now inside the house.  They’d roll
ed me over while I was out. 
I tried to sit up, but Gem held me down.