Dead Hunger II: The Gem Cardoza Chronicle (22 page)

As we played, Hemp and Charlie came and sat at the picnic table with us.  The girls sat at the other end putting the watercolors to use, and were busy explaining to one another what their pictures were supposed to be.

“I’m going to need another run out there,” said Hemp.  “I need more poison ivy.”

“What for?” asked Flex.

“I want to extract the oils, and in order to do it we’ll need some vodka and more plants.  I hate to go back to the cemetery, but it’s about the only place I’ve seen it in abundance.”

“Vodka we have,” I said.  “I made sure of that on our last run to the store.”

“Good,” said Hemp.  “Flex, you want to make the run with me?”

“Tomorrow morning good enough?”

“Fine with me,” said Hemp.  “Once I get the process underway I’d like to work with you, Gem.  Get that kinetic blade defense machine on paper.  Once we have it, I’ll start cutting the steel we need.”

It wasn’t the creative stuff I’d had in mind, but I loved seeing things go from nothing to something, and Hemp’s stuff was pretty cool.

“I want to take another of those AK-47s and mount one on top of the crew cab like the Crown Vic,” said Flex.  “So when you’re done with that, what do you think?”

“I’ve already got that design down,” said Hemp.  “Shouldn’t take long.”

“Cool.  So we make an early run tomorrow morning and git ‘er done,” said Flex.

“Get who done?” asked Hemp.

“Never mind,” said Flex laughing.  “You’re like the polar opposite of Larry the Cable Guy.”

“And I think I’m glad of it,” said Hemp, smiling.

“You are,” I added.

“Any sign of itching yet guys?”

We both looked at our wrists, and shrugged together.

“I thought you said it could take up to ten days or so,” said Flex. 

“Everybody reacts differently,” said Hemp. “If you’re very susceptible, you can show signs of a rash almost immediately.  Depends on your reaction to urushiol.”

“Speaking of that, what do you need the oils for?” I asked.

“I have some experiments in mind – some of the last with the infecteds we have.  It could be very important if you two prove to be immune to the poison, but I want to be ready just in case.”

“Are you giving the eye vapor any more thought?” asked Flex.  “Where it comes from?”

Hemp nodded.  “I can’t help but think it’s all tied together somehow.  As we discussed some time ago, I believe their awareness of its use is almost instinctive, but since that’s impossible to gauge, I’d really just like to find out what generates it.”

“Your analyzer finished with the sample from Jamie, right?  Spit out a breakdown?”

“It did,” said Hemp.  “But without a baseline or knowing what I’m looking for, some of the data can be ambiguous.  Now that I have urushiol in my sights, the data I’ve already collected might begin to make more sense.”

I made my last move and beat Flex at backgammon yet again.  He merely shrugged and put the pieces away, closing the case.

“No congratulations?” I asked.

“You only beat me by five that time.  You’re slipping.”

“Gem, I’d also like to design a deflector grill for both vehicles,” said Hemp.  “Picture the ones you’ll see on old steam locomotive engines.  Something that will sweep things – in this case bodies – off to the sides, away from the wheels.

“In case we run into another situation where we’ve got to run right through a gaggle of zombies,” I said.

“Gaggle?” said Flex.  “I’d think they’d be better described as a murder.”

“Murder, then,” said Hemp.  “But as Gem once said, if they could fly, then I think I’d even throw in the towel.”

“No shit,” I said.

“
Taylor
can’t say shit like we can,” Trina said.  “Or fuck or damn or anything.”
  Her cute little blue eyes twinkled.

“Well,” I said, patting
her
beautiful head.  “You seem to be saying all of those words less now.”

“They’re just words,” said Trina, matter-of-factly.  “I got lots of them.”

“That’s called a big vocabulary,” said Hemp.

“Vocalary,” said Trina.

“Close enough,” said Hemp.

“Okay, so the plan tomorrow is get out early, get our supplies and get back here.”

“Girls, let’s get you dressed for bed and say our good nights.”

“Shit, Gemmy,” said Trina.  “I’m not tired yet.”

“You will be once your head hits the pillow.  Now before you guys go, tell me what you painted.”

“Mine is my grandma,” said
Taylor
.  “She has blue hair.”

We all laughed as we looked at her picture.  The woman was discernible enough, wearing a long house dress and curly blue-grey hair.

“Is that you next to her?” I asked.

“Yes,” said
Taylor
.  “She was beautiful, and she told me stories all the time about when she was little, way before the internet and cell phones.”

Trina’s mouth f
ell open.  “Like now!  We don’t
have those things now!”

“That’s right.  You’re living like your grandmas did,” I said.  “So now you know more what it was like.”

“There’s nobody to call anyway, right?” asked
Taylor
.

I looked at Flex and Hemp.  Charlie spoke.

“Sure there is,” she said.  “I’m going to show you how to make your own phone that you can talk on from across this whole room.”

“Yeah?” asked Trina, excited.

“Yeah,” said Charlie.  “We’re gonna make them out of tin cans and string.”

“Wow,” said
Taylor
.  “Can we make them now?”

“No, like Gemmy said, it’s bedtime.”

I stood up.  “Okay, to bed.  And when you girls wake up in the morning I’m going to have a surprise ready.  And the sooner you go to bed, the sooner you wake up and get to make your phones.”

“Surprises rock,” said
Taylor
to Trina.  “Let’s go!”

They practically jumped up and ran to their room.  Taylor and Trina had insisted on sharing a room together, and they traded off between top and bottom bunks.  There was something about a climbing a ladder to go to sleep that kids just seemed to love.

We all smiled after them,
Taylor
’s red, curly locks bouncing, and Trina’s blonde hair, getting down nearly to her shoulder blades now, swinging from side-to-side as she ran alongside her new best friend.  With a quick, last wave, they ran into their room.

“What’s the surprise?” asked Flex.

“It’s Trina’s birthday tomorrow, Flexy,” I answered, punching him in the arm.

“Oh, my God,” he said.  “How the fuck did I forget that?”

“It’s a man thing,” I said.  “And the calendar seems to have gotten less important these days except to keep track of what kind of weather we’re in for.”

“Speaking of weather, it looks like rain again out there,” said Charlie.  “Sucks.”

We all knew why it sucked.  It sucked for the sole reason that the diggers would be making their way to the surface again if the ground became saturated enough.  More diggers meant more zombie congestion.

“I wonder how many of them are stuck two or three feet below the surface,” said Hemp.  “Waiting to break through.”

“Let’s hope the weather holds tonight,” said Flex.  “It’ll make our job at the cemetery easier.”

“I’ve got to make brownies,” I said.  “Birthday brownies for my Trini.  Bill had just enough butter and skim milk in the fridge.  It’s going to turn in a day or two, so I might as well use it up.  Then Flexy, you can help me make a card for her.”

“You’re the artist,” he said.

“Yes, but you’re my muse.”

“I know I am.  And why shouldn’t I be?”

I leaned toward him and put my mouth to his ear.

“I think the poison ivy made me horny,” I whispered.

“Almost everything makes me horny,” he whispered back.

I looked at my watch.  It was only just after 8:00.  It felt like 11:00.  That was just the new world, I suppose.   “I’ll hurry.”

I mixed the microwave brownies, had the generator and microwave fired up and the treats finished in less than an hour.  I used up the rest of the milk and butter, which were still fine, but approaching their last hours.

We worked on a little card using the watercolors.  I made a play on those stickers that you put on the back window of your cars, but with two men, three women, two little girls, 1 dog, five puppies, and four angels floating in the air above them. 

The angels were Trina’s mommy and daddy, her sister Jesse, and little Beaker – the one pup that didn’t make it.

Bright flowers abounded around the figures, and lots of hearts floated in the air with the angels – because Trina loved hearts.

Her 7
th
birthday should be special.  I’d grabbed a Farkle game from Michael’s, so that would be her little gift.  I made a mental note to get everyone’s birthday so I could add it to a calendar.

Just because the world had gone to shit didn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate the day of our births.

In fact, that very reason was why it was so important to celebrate the lives of those few lucky souls who had survived.

And we would. 

*****

CHAPTER
TWELVE

The next morning the girls were dead to the world – a term I hesitate to use nowadays, but that described the two perfectly.

I put a little birthday candle in the center of a brownie, and all the adults gathered together outside their door.  We also had a brownie for
Taylor
,
minus the
candle.

“Happy Birthday, Trina!” we all shouted, bursting into the room.  The little girls shot up out of bed, their blurry eyes having difficulty focusing.

“It’s . . . it’s my birthday?” said Trina.

“Yes, baby.  You’re seven years old today!”

Trina rubbed her eyes and slapped her hands on her knees.  “Shit!” she said.  “I forgot!”

“Well, baby,” said Flex, sitting on the bed beside her.  “That’s why you have us to remember the important things.  Bring it in, Gem!”

I carried in the two plates with brownies, Trina’s with the candle burning in the center.  I passed one to Taylor, who took it with a huge smile on her face.  Trina was just so excited I couldn’t keep one off mine, either.

“Oh, my gosh!” said Trina.  “Brownies, Taylor!”

“I know,” said
Taylor
, her mouth already full.

“I have to make a wish,” said Trina.  “I need to really think hard.”

I wanted to make some suggestions in case a 7-year-old’s wish pulled some weight with the powers that were, but I left the wish to her.  Turns out she did just fine.

“I wish for all of us to have a happy life and to meet friendly people.  And I wish for Uncle Flexy to marry Gemmy.”

She blew out the candles and we all clapped for her.

Flex looked at me, on his face a tender smile.  He leaned over and kissed Trina on the cheek even as she stuffed the first bite of brownie in.  He stood and walked up to me.

“What the hell is happening here?” asked Charlie.

“I think Trina’s going to get her wish,” said Hemp.

And Flex knelt down on one knee in front of me and took my hand.

Trina’s mouth fell open.  Brownie crumbs were readily visible both inside and outside of it.

“Gemina Maria Cardoza,” said Flex, his eyes looking directly into mine.  “I’ve known I loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you.  The first time I smelled your perfume, the first time I held your hand in mine, the first time I kissed you – all those times are some of the most important of my life.  I’ll never forget them.  None more than the first time I saw you again back in
Gainesville
, when my heart swelled again, and hope came back to me at a time when I was sure I was on the way to losing it forever.”

“Flex,” I said, squeezing his hand.  Tears came from my eyes, and I nervously looked around.  Everyone in the room was crying.  Even
Taylor
.

“I want you to be my wife, Gem.  I want us to spend every remaining moment we have on this earth together, and I want us to raise Trina as our own daughter.  I want us to be a family, and if you’re willing, I’d love to give her a brother or sister, too.  You are everything in the world to me, and I’ve never uttered any words with such great truth behind them.  I’m asking you to make me the happiest man in the world, Gem.  Say yes.”

I nodded briskly, unable to form a word.  My lip was quivering too badly, my heart swelled in my chest.  I dropped to my knees in front of him and threw my arms around him.