Dead Hunger II: The Gem Cardoza Chronicle (5 page)

He pushed the button again.  “Max, we’ll come for you.  You helped us big time, and we owe you.”

“I can’t say we don’t need you,” he said.  “Cynthia and Taylor are still here, and they’re fine.  The other group you sent picked up one of the buses, so I think they’re set.  At least they were about a week ago.”

“That’s good news.  Listen, Max.  We’re at my house in Lula, but we’re pretty certain there’s a trail leading to us now, so we’re gonna have to bug out.  If you want, you can join us or we can drop you somewhere else.”

We didn’t need more people to worry about, but we couldn’t leave them, either.  That we knew.  Plus,
Taylor
could be a good friend to Trina, and she could use a distraction.

Max’s voice came back over the radio.  “We appreciate it.  When do you think you’ll be here?”

“We’re going to need a few hours to prepare here, get all our supplies loaded.  Gather anything you think we can use, and that includes more lab supplies.  I don’t think we can have enough test equipment.”

He released the talk button.  “Hemp, anything you can think of?”

Hemp shook his head.  “Max will know.  He’s a smart chap.”

“Okay,” Flex said holding the button.  “We’ll radio you before we leave.  Hang tight, okay, friend?”

“We will.  Thanks to all of you.  And thank Professor Chatsworth for me, too.”

Flex held up the mic with the button depressed.

Hemp called “You just did, my friend.  We’ll see you soon.”

*****

As we scurried around the house packing and gathering supplies, the rain continued its onslaught.  It wasn’t making our daunting task any easier, because Flex didn’t have sidewalks leading to the yard – just stepping stones, and they were a one-at-a-time proposition.  You either had to stand at the far end and wait for the oncoming traffic to pass, or someone was stepping into mud somewhere in the middle.

I held a shitty, undersized umbrella over my head as Hemp and Flex brainstormed on our needs.

“We’ve got a rear camera on the lab, but unfortunately all it’s going to pick up is the trailer,” said Hemp, looking at the rig.  “Flex, do we have time for you to mount and wire up a couple of these cameras to cover our blind spots?”

“Sure,” he said.  “I’ll go grab a couple of spares from the house.   I got a small LCD monitor I can mount in the cockpit.”

“Good deal,” Hemp said.

Charlie walked up pulling an old Radio Flyer wagon filled with boxes of canned goods and other food from the house.
  She was soaked to the skin.

“I think we’re putting all that stuff in the workshop trailer,” I said.

“I got it,” said Hemp.

Flex gave me a quick peck on the cheek and
ran
toward the house.

Hemp took the wagon handle from Charlie and pulled it up the ramp of our rolling workshop.  He unloaded the boxes as we tried to stay out of the rain.

“Ah, you’ve brought the coffee machine, I see,” he said, smiling down at Charlie.  “Any tea?”

“Two boxes,” Charlie said, smiling back.  “We’ll grab more down the road.”

He chuckled and loaded it.

“If I can find something I’m going to put additional seals on the door to the back room in the lab,” he said, after he finished loading the last wagon full of food. 

“Yeah, it’d be nice to be able to go in without worrying about getting knocked out,” I said.  “Fuckin’ zombies.  I know you need them, but I sure wish you didn’t.”

Hemp nodded agreement.  “Me too, Gem.  I wanted to get more of that testing done here, but it doesn’t look like time’s on our side.  I’m wondering if we shouldn’t try to find either a military base or maybe some other fortified building we can set up in.  Perhaps one with a large bay so we can pull all the vehicles inside.  A warehouse or something.”

Flex walked over carrying two cameras and a small monitor under his arm. 

“I heard what you were saying,” he said.  “I agree.  But I think we need to set up on the outskirts of some larger city, so we still have access to a lot of merchandise and supplies, just not so close that we’re an easy target.”

Hemp stopped and smiled.  “Flex, I’ve got a crazy idea, but it might help us if we go venturing out for supplies and the like.”

“I’m up for crazy.  Whatcha got?”

Hemp laughed, as though his idea was just a bit beyond crazy. 

“You know the technology behind noise-canceling headphones?”

“Yeah, I think so.  Whatever comes through them is broken down and the frequency reversed so the noise is cancelled out.  Like adding 10, and then subtracting 10.  Result is zero.”

Hemp nodded.  “Yep, put very simply, that’s what it’s like.  Well, I’ve got an idea – just in the working phases – of something that will do the same thing for scent.   My working name is a BSN.”

“BSN?” I asked.

“Brain Scent Neutralizer.”

“Fuck off,” I said.

“No, really.”

“So,” Flex said, grinning.  “You think you can actually build something we wear that neutralizes the odor of our brain?”

“I do, yes.  We have a device that analyzes chemical compounds, which is what gave me the idea.  Also, there are other devices out there, such as carbon monoxide monitors and other chemical sniffers that essentially work the same way.”

“So what will it be?  Like a helmet?”

Hemp smiled.  “Exactly, Gem!  You see, the brain has an odor, as does anything.  Clearly a fresh brain has an odor these things are tuned to smell.  The scent may present itself as we exhale, through our ears, eyes, any opening to the skull.  I imagine a fart might contain some elements of our brain scent too, but it might be sufficiently masked by the odor of feces accompanying it.”

“You’re fucking disgusting,” I said.

“
That
was bullshit,” Hemp said.  “I was having some fun with you with that last bit.”

“But the device is possible, right?  This could be real?” Flex asked.

“In theory, it’s possible.  I might need nothing more than a Radio Shack, a sporting goods store, and a Tractor Supply for the safety gear and filtration.”

“So we could be aromatically invisible to them,” I said.  “That would be awesome.  They can’t hear for shit, so we could essentially sneak up on them no matter which way the wind was blowing.”

“Yes,” Hemp said.  “But they’ll have to run on batteries, so there will be a time limit for each trip out.  I don’t want anyone to get caught short.  Maybe I’ll put a small meter gauge on each one so you can monitor it.”

“You go, boy,” Flex said.

“I plan on going, boy,” Hemp said.  “And with my zombie couple in there, I’ll have test subjects.  I just need to get settled somewhere so I can start this research.”

We all got back to work.

The rain continued.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Flex had six spare five-pound propane tanks in the garage, so he showed Charlie and me how to connect them to the main tank to refill them.  Two were already full, so we filled the other four and dropped them in our Radio Flyer for transport to the mobile lab. 

As we loaded up the last one, Hemp said, “I think that’s enough weight.  Pulling the trailer, we’re going to be pushing it.”

“
You’ve got the turbo on there, so you should be okay, don’t you think?”

“
Probably, but w
e’ll take it day by day.  Either way I need the lab, so worse case we’ll just lighten the trailer load if we have to.  Pick up materials as we go.”

“
Your call
,” I said.

Hemp left to help Flex load up some of the last items and Charlie watched him walking away, a smile on her lips.

“Yeah, he’s got a cute butt,” I said.

“Indeed he does,” she said.

“You about ready?”

Charlie nodded.  “All our crossbows, weapons, ammo, and all Trina’s stuff is packed and loaded.  We’re going to have to do some shopping for me – especially since we won’t have the washing facilities anymore.”

I laughed.  “For you I’m thinking a skateboard shop will have your style.  Maybe a tattoo place.”

“Or a Hard Rock Café,” she said.  “Maybe I could pick up Hemp something there, too.  He looks good in black.”

“We’ll have to put a washboard and some large buckets and detergent on the list,” I said.  “Just because the world’s gone to shit doesn’t mean we have to start stinking like zombies.”

“Right,” said Charlie.  “So I guess we’re about ready?”

Trina walked up with some DVDs in her hand.  “Can we take these?  The videos of me and Jess and mommy and daddy?”

I knelt down beside her.  “Absolutely, baby.  I’ll go in and get you a DVD player to play them on.  I’m glad you showed them to us.  Do you want any other movies?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I don’t think so.  I’ve watched all of them a lot.  But I want to see everyone again, so just these are okay.”

“Okay
,
T
rini.  Go get in the car and wait for me.  The one with the gun on top.  I think we’re almost ready to leave.”

We’d been keeping a close eye on the tree line, and so far nothing else had presented itself.  We were relieved, but had no illusions it was safe to stick around.  Flex had made it pretty clear that he wasn’t comfortable there anymore.

I walked over to where he and Hemp loaded up the last supplies and took his hand.

“Baby, are you ready to say good bye to the homestead?”

“I’m hoping I can come back here someday.  Wouldn’t be a bad place for us and Trina.”

“And the dogs,” I said.

“We can’t forget them,” said Flex.

“You got this from here, Flex?” Hemp asked.

Flex nodded.  “Yeah.  I guess make one more round through the house and make sure we didn’t forget anything.”

“Hey, Hemp, would you grab the DVD player for Trina?”

“Sure thing,” he said, trotting off.

“Now you,” I said to Flex.  “It sucks to have to take separate cars.”

I jumped into his arms and he caught me.

“Oh, here we go again!” he said, laughing.

I kissed his cheeks and neck, nuzzling him for a few moments.  He kissed me back.  I’d done this before, so Flex expected it.  I never doubted he’d catch me, even if it meant he had to drop whatever he was holding to do it.  I wasn’t much of a load for his strength, and I knew it, so it was a regular thing with me.  I dug the shit out of the feeling of being completely in his arms.

“And again and again,” I said.  “If I thought we had time, I’d take you in that house and make you work me over for an hour or two.  We have no idea when we’re going to have comfortable accommodations again.”

“You’re right about that,” he said, turning his arm to look at his watch.  “You sure we don’t have time?”

“I’m afraid it’s a pipe dream,” I said
.

“Very funny,” said Flex.

I smiled.  “Anyway,
I’d guess Max and his crew are wondering where we are by now.”

“He’ll understand o
nce he hears what we went through.  I hate this feeling of tentativeness.  Not knowing where the hell we’re going or what we’ll find out there.  I’m not usually this way, but I feel anxious
or something
.” 

He planted one more kiss in the middle of my forehead and swung me back down on my feet.

Hemp came out of the house with a small carry pistol we’d forgotten and the DVD player
, along with some other things I couldn’t quite make out
.  He started to put them both in the trunk of the Crown Vic, then paused and slipped the Ruger .380 into his pocket.  It was an awesome little gun that weighed under nine ounces, but could do some damage with the right rounds.  Another weapon from our Tallahassee PD shopping spree.

Flex slapped me playfully on the ass.  I immediately thought about taking him inside again, but he ruined the mood.

“Okay, I guess that’s it,” he said.  “Let’s head to the CDC and grab Max, Cynthia and Taylor.  And going with Hemp’s idea, when we’re there we’ll recon a place where we’re close to a larger town.  We can set up shop on the outskirts if we can find a nice slab or block building with bay doors for the lab and trailer to be parked inside.”

“I’m down for all of it,” I said.  “But you know what they say: We make plans and God laughs.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Flex said.  “But since you found me and we’re both uninfected, I have to believe there’s a plan for us one way or the other.”

“You romantic bastard, you.” 

I jumped back into his arms and he caught me again with an exaggerated grunt, smiling big.