Dead Hunger III: The Chatsworth Chronicles (16 page)

Bunsen, Slider and Rabbit wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Not anywhere far, anyway.  Because Rabbit was named after Trina’s older sister, Jesse, we couldn’t part with her.  Dave and Lisa took her as their own.

Of course Slider and Bunsen lived with us in the big house, because they belonged to Gem and Charlie and there was never a question.

If I’m being honest, it was a relief to be down to just the two animals in the house.  They kept one another company without seeming to fill any room they were in with over-the-top energy, as they could tend to do when all together.

Todd also decided to join us, and in a bit of a surprise, he and Cynthia
told us they had decided
to take the home on the opposite corner from ours.  He was a good guy
,
a
nd a doctor.  A bit older than her – I’d guess twelve years or so – but you could see the connection between the two instantly.

And he was clearly fond of Taylor, who laughed a lot when she was around him.  That’s a good thing.

Children should laugh.

As for Cynthia and Todd, i
n this wild world, we all needed a little love. 
I sure as hell didn’t take it for granted – not at all.  Charlie was the most important thing in this entire world to me, and I’d fight to the death to protect her. 

At the drop of a hat.

And so here we were.  In
Concord
,
New Hampshire
.  A place where I’d guessed we’d be a bit safer, and we’d have numbers on our side. 

Turns out we do
and we don’
t.  They’d already done the hard work.  We just had to ultimately clear them from the rest of the
United States
.

And if that weren’t enough, we were bordered by
Canada
and
Mexico
.

I don’t even want to run the numbers.  It’s far too depressing.

One country at a time. 

One day at a time.

****

We settled in.  We didn’t have much in the way of possessions, and many of the sleeping bags and quite a few of the guns had been in the back of Flex’s truck. 

Which brings me to
Rory
and
Pete
.  I had a nagging suspicion – right from the moment I first began interacting with them – that something about them wasn’t quite right.

I wanted to get our Ham radio set up right away.  It was
the only
way to keep up on survivors around the country, but
I had other reasons.

The strong
interest expressed
by the two strange men
in
Ham radio
communication
led me to believe it might be beneficial to keep an ear on those airwaves. 

Perhaps I could warn others away from t
hem if they popped up somewhere.  I had a feeling they wouldn’
t, because of their brazen move on the highway.

We had a new Yaesu FT-950 radio in the box, and another Kenwood handheld that I could use when I was on the move and had time to check into it.  It was our connection to anyone left alive, and if they were within a few thousand miles, we might be able to pick them up.

Charlie and Gem were getting a room fixed up for Trina, and it was coming along nicely.  It was on the second floor, and for some reason that I couldn’t fathom, the little girl loved going up stairs.  It was all well and good, though, because Charlie and I had a bedroom on the first floor and Flex and Gem’s room was upstairs, too, just down the hall from Trina’s. 

The women had
found some red paint in the garage, along with a can of white, and with a little mixing, they made a hotter shade of pink that sent Trina into what
I can only describe as fuckety-
shit land.  I don’t know how
it’s possible for
a child
to
spin around as fast as she
did, at the same time hurling excited
profanity like a
whirling
dervish
with T
o
ure
t
ts Syndrome.  I will say, however, that
it was the hardest I’d laughed since the zombie apocalypse set upon the world.

Old habits die hard, and I sat on the porch in one of four old wooden rocking chairs, cradling my H&K.  It felt safe enough here, but I’d looked at some maps and wasn’t all too comfortable with what hadn’t yet been addressed by the remaining inhabitants of
Concord
.

They had the water
running
, which was a greater blessing than I could possibly express.  Flex was upstairs in the shower, and thanks to functioning
natural
gas, we had hot water.  It was almost like the old days.

You don’t know how much you miss hot showers until they’re gone.

Ten minutes later, Flex walked out with Slider at his heels.  Bunsen was already knocked out on the wood porch beside me.  I had my feet up on the railing, and looked up at Flex and he came out, toweling off his hair, which Gem had just cut that morning.

He sat in the rocker beside mine and likewise, put his boots up on the railing.

“How’d it feel?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes and smiled.  “You really gotta ask?  Fuckin’ amazing.  I almost fell asleep in there.”

I smiled.  He didn’t have his shirt on yet, but his K-7
that had been
strapped over his shoulder
when he walked out was now resting in his lap
.  Just like me, he might never feel completely
secure without it
again.

“Hey, Flex.  I was looking at the cemeteries in town, and I’m not real thrilled.  They’re huge.”

“How many?” asked Flex.

“There’s a combo
,” I said.  “
Blossom Hill
and
Calvary
.  Together they have thousands of bodies, but many would be beyond reanimation.  Place has been around since the 1800s.
  There are still several hundred newer graves that we need to be concerned ab
out.
”

“Small favors,” said Flex.  “We need more urushiol, don’t we,” he said.

“Yes, we do
.
  I figured you and I could get on it tomorrow.  Go down to th
at brewery Kev told us about. 
Charlie wants to go with us, I think.  For some reason she wants to pick out the cage for the rats.”

“Have you gone into the basement yet?” asked Flex.

“No.  Why?”

“
The rats. 
Wondering if we have any
in there
.  And what state they’re in.”

“Jesus, Flex,” I said.  “
There’s still so much to do.  I do need a specimen, and I need it fast, but o
ut of sight and out of my mind for the moment.  The
door to the basement is
closed and I don’t
really
want to encounter them until I have what I need to contain them.
”

“Tomorrow, then?”

“First thing,” I said.  “
Tonight I’m setting up the Ham
radio
and doing some monitoring.  I want to see if I pick up anything from our friends,
Rory
and
Pete
.”

“If those are their real names, which I doubt.”

“I know their voices.  I never forget a voice.  Did you know that about me?”

Flex laughed.  “No, Hemp.  But it doesn’t matter, because you’re kind of a mental Superman to me.  If there’s some shit I wanna know, I’m coming to you.”

“If they’re communicating on the Ham, I’ll find them.  Pisses me off about the truck.”

“
Pisses
you
off,
” said Flex.  “That’s truck number two I lost.  Hey, while we’re out, let’s hit a car lot.  Is stuff free here, or are people all trying to earn a living still?”

“I’m pretty sure the car lots are closed,
Flex.”

“Hope the Chevy dealer has a nice pick’m-up for me.”

“Fucking John Waynes,” I said.

“Ah,” said Flex.  “I see Trina’s rubbing off on you.”  He smiled.

“Yeah, it’s
her
who’s rubbing off.  Hey, I’m going up for a shower, then I’ll be at the Ham.  Come on up if you want.  Spare bedroom between yours and Trina’s.”

“Got it,” he said.  “But this is nice.  If you see Gem, send her out, would you?”

****

To my surprise, I wasn’t joined by only Flex, but by everyone.

The room was large – around fifteen by fifteen, and there was a writing table, twin beds, another small desk, and two occasional chairs.  Crown molding adorned the uppermost edges of the walls, and plush, thickly padded carpeting made any surface comfortable, as was evidenced by the snores coming from Bunsen.  Flex and Gem sat in the chairs, and she was sprawled out at their feet.

Dave and Lisa had scooted onto one of the twin beds and leaned against the wall, and were immediately utilized as body pillows by Slider, who stared up at Lisa and batted her arm whenever she stopped petting him.

Gem had spoiled him.  No doubt.

I was seated at the writing table, and Todd and Cynthia had taken the other twin bed.  Charlie sat on the end of that one near me as I dialed in the Ham.

The girls had come in carrying a deck of cards, and sat at the only remaining chairs, at the desk.  Trina dealt, and the first move was
Taylor
’s.

I didn’t hear what
Taylor
asked Trina, because she had her cards against her mouth, but Trina must have, because she
bit her lower lip and peeled through her cards.

“Fuck off
!
” she said.

Gem
jumped to her feet a
s though startled from a nap, stared at the girl and said, “Trina!”

Bunsen was up on her feet in an instant, on guard.

Trina jolted, clearly surprised by Gem’s sharp tone.  “What,
M
ommy?  What’s wrong?”

Bunsen looked at Gem, clearly wanting to know the same thing.

“Unless you want me to retract your permission to express yourself using any words you feel fit the moment, then I suggest you not use it against your family.  Expression, not aggression, Trina.”

“We’re playing a game,
M
ommy!”

“What game?”

“It’s called Fuck Off.”

Despite herself, Gem smiled, teeth and all.  She tried to hide it, but it was too late.

Trina smiled.  Everyone was smiling, but so far nobody laughed out loud.

Taylor
was pan faced.  I think she was waiting to see how the whole thing played out.

“I’ve never heard of a game called
Fuck Off
, Trina.  Did this game have another name at one point?”

“Yes, mommy, it was called Go Fish.”

Now we laughed. 

Gem sat back in her chair and
rested
her forehead in her hand
s
, shaking her head.  I could see her broad smile and even feel her embarrassment. 

“I knew what was going on,” said Flex, laughing, “but I had to see how you were going to deal with it.  Fucking priceless.”

The Ham crackled.

“
CQ
Seekers, CQ Seekers, CQ Seekers
.”

I looked at Flex.
 
“What the hell
are they saying
?” he asked.

“CQ is the general call for communication, I believe.  Normally used when you just want anyone who hears you to answer.  I’m not sure what the second word is they’re saying, but that would be the transmitting operator’s handle.”

“I think they’re saying seekers,” said Dave.

The crackling static continued.

“
Foxtrot – oscar – romeo – tango – romeo – echo – sierra – sierra.  We read
,
Seekers
.”

“
That spells Fortress,” I said.  “
I recognize the first voice,
and
against the odds, it sounds like
Pete
.”

“Pretty fuzzy,” said Charlie.  “You sure?”

“No,” I said.  “Maybe wishful thinking.”

“What does it mean?” asked Dave.  “Are they nearby?”

“No way of knowing,” I said.  “They could literally be a thousand miles away or a block.”

“That’s helpful,” said Charlie.