Dead Hunger IV: Evolution (4 page)

There was some scuttlebullshit about Trina being able to shoot other than .22 caliber weapons, but she could outshoot them all at this point, and in a police-style course where you had to choose whether or not to shoot, depending upon whether it was a good guy or a bad guy, she was perfect.  Seems her little mind worked fast, and she had become a crack shot. 

Hemp had to modify the trigger pull for her on a Ruger 9mm, but she could empty the magazine without a missed shot.
  Loading it was another story.  Her little fingers weren’t strong enough to push more than four rounds into the magazine, so she relied on the adults to provide her with full mags.  She had no issue ejecting and slamming a new one in.

Hell, it was l
ike she was a damned child shooting prodigy or something.
  Gem was a proud mama
, but the jealousy that was intrinsic to
the
seven-year-old being grandfathered in, remained
.
 

Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.
  That was Gem’s philosophy.  She’d never forget the day when Flex and Hemp were surrounded in the woods and Trina failed to hold her own in her own zombie fight.

That would not happen again.  Not on mommy’s watch.  Her little Trina would be like steel next time.

After all, there was no guarantee they’d always be in a place like
Concord
.  The weather sucked ass, and while not as bad as some spots, it was no
Miami
.  No
Georgia
.

Hell, Gem thought.  I could cut diamonds with these nipples some days.
  She wasn’t sure how long she could deal with it, especially after the warmth of the baby inside her was no longer keeping her toasty.

“So what the hell is that?” a voice said.  Flex appeared around the corner.

“What the hell is what?”

Flex walked in wearing jeans and black sweatshirt.  He stretched, throwing his arms out to the sides and arching his back.  Gem took the cue and slipped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

“Mmm,” she moaned.  “You smell good.”

“That’s just me,” said Flex.

“Bullshit!” said Trina.  “That’s
Marco
Polo.”

“Guilty!” said Flex, smiling.  He leaned over and kissed Trina’s pursed lips.  “
But it’s just Polo.” 

He turned to Gem.  “
How’s my girl this morning?”

“She’s pregnant
,” said Trina.
 
“
But I’m good.”

Flex laughed. 
“Damn, you’re funny for a little munchkin.”

“The
Yellow Brick Road
!” shouted Trina.

“It’s The Wizard of Oz,” said Gem. 

“Can we?”

“No, we can’t watch it now, baby,” said Gem.  “We’re skipping school and going to the range.”

“
Yippee
!” she screamed, and jumped out of her chair.

“
Yippee
what?” said
Taylor
, coming around the corner, Charlie and Hemp
trailing
behind her.

“We’re goin’ shooting!” she said.  “No school!”

“Cool!” said
Taylor
, a smile spreading over her tired face.

“Bad teacher,” said Charlie.  “Very bad.  I can’t wait.”

“
I don’t know,” said Hemp, shaking his head.  “
I a
m a great believer in education.”  He looked at Gem.  “
How is
Taylor
going to become a great scientist?”

“
I’m going to learn all that stuff from you,” said
Taylor
, hugging Hemp.

“Jesus,
Tay
,” said Gem.  “You have really learned how to work him, haven’t you?”

“I am
not
sure
what you mean by that,” said
Taylor
, smiling.  “I’m not sure I want to be a scientist anyway.”

Hemp and Charlie sat at the table, and
Taylor
sat in the chair beside Charlie.

“I’m not that hungry this morning, but damn those eggs smell good,” said Charlie.  “Thanks for cooking, Gem.”

“You can fit a couple in,” said Gem.  “Need ‘em for the little bundle.”

“Forget what I said,” said Charlie.  “The minute it was out of my mouth I realized it was bullshit.  Put me down for three.”

“What I’d give for a fucking cheese omelet,” said Hemp.

Gem turned, put her hands on her hips, and smiled.

Hemp looked at her and smiled back.

“What?”

“I’ve got a surprise,” said Gem.
  She held up a can.

“Cheese?” asked Charlie.  “No shit.”

“Canned cheese.  I have no idea what it tastes like.  It’
s called Bega Cheese.  Supposed to taste like cheddar.”

“I’m in,” said Flex.  “One three-egg cheese omelet.”

“Comin’ up,” said Gem.  “I take
it
I’m making four?”

“If you’re having one,” said Charlie.  “Awesome.”

Gem pulled out the biggest pan they had that would still fit on the burners, and made one giant omelet using a dozen eggs. 
Taylor
sat picking at her cereal, and Trina had put Charlie’s MP3 player on her ears, and was currently jamming to something that Gem knew was probably punk-rocky or metal.  It was impossible to tell with Trina’s young rhythm.  She wasn’t quite one with musical timing yet.

“I’m excited to go shooting,” said Charlie.  “I want to dial in that Parker.”

“My bow’s coming, too,” said Gem.  She’d wanted to get as proficient as Charlie was for a long while, but they’d been so busy settling in over the last couple of months that it just hadn’t been in the cards.

“By the way, this isn’t an announced training,” said Gem.  “It’s just gonna be us four girls today.”

“Cool beans!” said
Taylor
.  “Four girls and their
guns
.”

Charlie shook her head, smiling.  She took a big bite of her omelet, and with a big piece hanging out of her mouth, said in Taylor’s face, “You sure you’re not my kid?”

Taylor
laughed and leaned forward and bit the egg out of Charlie’s mouth. 
Everyone
else
got a laugh
too and to a number, they cherished those moments when the girls could just be kids.

They were all relieved to see that
Taylor
was
adapting so well, so soon after her mother’s death.  They’d had a very nice memorial for Todd and Cynthia, and
Taylor
had cried, but by the time the town had settled enough to have the service, nearly two weeks had passed.  She’d begun to cling to Charlie, and Gem was glad.  There was no better, no stronger role model. 

And Charlie loved the shit out of that kid.  Gem could see it in her eyes every time she looked at
Taylor
.

“I need a strong male, and
a female in good condition,” said Hemp, reaching into his pocket.  He put a wafer in front of himself and Flex.  “Eat up, friend.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” said Flex.  “But I hate the sleepy part.”

Hemp looked at his watch.  “Sooner we wake up, the sooner we go.”

“Hold on
,
”
said Flex.
  He pulled the radio from his belt.  “Dave, you there?”

“Yep.  Just finishing breakfast.”

“What
are
you having?”

“Pop tarts.”

“Pop tarts!” screamed Taylor and Trina together.

It was fucking ear-piercing.

“Okay.  Eat your wafer.  We’ll wake you up in a few minutes.”

“Roger,” said Dave.  “It’s that awkward moment when you’ve been dreaming about Serena and wake up to find you’re staring Flex Sheridan in the face.”

“
Hilarious,” said Flex.

“He is.  At least I
got
that one,” said Gem.

Flex looked at Hemp.  “Bottom’s up.  These things
taste like
crap
,”
he said
, popping the quarter-sized wafer in his mouth.

“Shit, Flexy, you could’ve finished your eggs first,” said Gem.
  “And this cheese
stuff
is pretty good
,” she added with her mouth full.
 

“They’re WAT-6,
Flex,
not Smarties,” said Hemp, popping his.

“I want Smarties!” said Trina.

“You want everything,” said Charlie.

Flex almost missed the exchange.  His
eyes rolled back, and his head bobbed.  Trina ran over to him and held him straight in his chair, but Gem knew Flex had become pretty good at nodding out after eating the wafers and strangely, keeping his balance.

Taylor
watched Hemp, and when his head dropped, she did the same.  Both girls watched the clock on the wall.  Three minutes later, they both nodded at each other.

Taylor
started lightly slapping Hemp in the face as Trina started slapping Flex.

“I love this part,” said Gem to Charlie, smiling.

“I know.  It’s cute, ain’t it?”

The men awoke groggily, then shook off the cobwebs. 

“Man,” said Flex.  “I’ll never get used to that.”

“I keep thinking we’ll eventually become resistant to that part of the process,” said Hemp.  “Not so far, I suppose.”  He looked at Taylor and Trina.  “Did you
girls
take care of us again?”

The
kids
nodded.

“Thanks,” said Flex.  “We owe you one.”

“You girls take spray with you.  Just in case,” said Hemp.

Gem didn’t have to ask
what he meant.  Urushiol spray.  The zombie melter
.  “
You know we always have it,” she said.  “
But do me a favor and give me a wafer.  I want the girls to
take
a half each.”

“Good idea,” said Flex.

They’d discovered that in a child under seventy pounds that half a wafer provided the same six-hour protection as a full wafer for an adult.  Body weight was everything.

“We get to be invisible,” sang Trina. 

“I love that.  I hope we get to use it,” said
Taylor
.

“Not a good thing to hope for,” said Charlie.  “I want you to have it just in case, but I’m hoping like hell you don’t need it.”

“I wanna need it,” said Trina.  “Then I can shoot ‘em and they won’t see me coming.”

Hemp shook his head, smiling.  “You ready, Flex?”

Flex picked up the last piece of omelet with his fingers and slurped it into his mouth.  “Let’s go,” he said.

“Give mama some sugar,” said Gem, her arms open.

“I’m the one who gets the sugar,” said Flex, going to her, planting a big kiss on her mouth.  “
You be extra careful out
there
now
, Gemina.”
  He patted her stomach, then her ass.

“You
too,
Cottonballs
,” she said, giving his butt a pat.

“
Cottonballs?” said Flex.  “How’s that a comeback?  It’s not even a real name.
”

“Neither is Flex, sweetie, but if you call me Gemina, that’s what I’m gonna call you, and I’ll t
ell everyone it’s your nickname
and that the reason is
an embarrassing
secret.”

“Which will accomplish what?”

“It will accomplish whatever reason people can come up with that you might be nicknamed Cottonballs.  I’ll be happy to let their imaginations do the work.”

“Holy shit you’re demented, baby,” said Flex.  “Guess that’s why I love you.”

“Get a room!” said Trina.

“I’m not sure you know what that means,” said
Taylor
, cocking her head.
  “I’m not sure
I
know what it means.”

Hemp and Charlie
laughed and
said their good-byes, and the boys kissed Taylor and Trina and headed out.

“Okay, I cooked, you clean,” said Gem. 

“Aww!” said the girls in unison.

“C’mon, dorks,” said Charlie.  “Gem
deserves a break.  Sooner we’re done, the sooner you’re tearing up targets.”

*****

Gem drove the Crown Vic, which the girls had washed the day before.  She always disarmed the gun when they did this, because while there wasn’t much chance of it going off, she would be horrified should something go wrong.  Better safe than sorry.