Zombies in Paradise (Love in the Age of Zombies Book 2) (19 page)

They walked around the side of the house and Kevin was immediately impressed. There were two commercial-sized greenhouses, the glass sparkling in the sun. Kevin saw indoor fans, outdoor louvers, and lighting equipment.

“I started off with this one,” Jake said, ushering Kevin inside. Kevin saw plants of all different sizes, from sprouts to full grown tomato plants. He saw seven or eight people working in pairs, taking care of the plants. The air was humid and smelled vegetative. “As I got better at it, I continued to expand.”

Kevin was taking a close look at the lights. “So you’re supplementing the light using LEDs?”

“Yeah, the Chip-On-Board LEDs. I started off with metal halide for vegetative growth and high pressure sodium for flowering and fruiting. When I switched to LEDs, I immediately saw a huge difference in the plants, and I got these COB lights not quite a year ago. They’re incredible. The LEDs are set to switch on whenever the lighting drops below a certain lumen level. So on a sunny day like this, they’re not on.” They continued to walk around, Jake proudly showing Kevin his equipment. Kevin asked a lot of questions, some of them simply out of courtesy. He was very familiar with the technology and equipment, although Jake was operating on a scale much bigger than what Kevin was used to. “  .  .  .  and the CO
2
level is automatically regulated as well.”

“How are you able to increase the CO
2
levels? Did you stockpile tanks of it before the Collapse?” Kevin asked.

Jake smiled. “That’s the sweet part of this deal. When I started running out of carbon dioxide, I went to see Brian and Rick at Stormcloud. Have you ever brewed beer?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been a homebrewer for years!”

“Ah, so you know what’s created during fermentation!”

“Of course! Alcohol and carbon dioxide! Are you saying you use the CO
2
Stormcloud generates from brewing?! That’s pretty cool!” For years Kevin had been letting his homebrew ferment in the grow room, taking advantage of the CO
2
from the plants essentially the same way Jake used it from tanks. “But how do you compress the gas into tanks?”

“That took us awhile to figure out, but we modified an air compressor and fed it straight carbon dioxide. We’re not able to get as high a PSI in the tanks as the liquid gas companies used to, but it works pretty well. Let me show you the other greenhouse.” They exited the greenhouse and entered the second, a mere twenty feet from the first. Immediately Kevin smelled a strong odor reminiscent of a skunk—but he knew better. In front of him were a hundred or so marijuana plants, divided into different sections. A half dozen people were tending the plants. Some sections were completely sealed off.

“Why are those sections sealed?”

“That’s the genetic lab. We have both male and female plants that we’re cross-breeding.” Jake replied.

“Lee told me you were a provider before the Collapse, but why are you still growing it? Surely there aren’t that many medical marijuana patients in a town the size of Frankfort!”

“There didn’t used to be. Not before the zombies. But once the dust settled and people got over their initial panic, they began to realize the bind they were in and how dependent they were on pharmaceuticals: all the folks on antidepressants and antianxiety drugs, people with chronic pain, epileptics, even people who were taking melatonin for sleep. When they figured out they couldn’t get a refill at the drug store next time they ran out, some of them were desperate enough to try marijuana, something they’d always fought against legalizing. Word got around that it worked for some people, so other folks tried it.”

“So you have a bunch of people walking around town stoned all the time?!” Kevin asked, somewhat surprised.

“A lot of the strains we grow are high in CBD and low in THC, so they’re only marginally psychoactive. You don’t get much of a buzz. You know what CBD is?” When Kevin shook his head no, Jake explained. “CBD is a chemical in marijuana that doesn’t make you high, but has a lot of health benefits. Before last October, research was being done in other countries to confirm reports of CBD’s affects on cancer, neuroinflammation, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, nausea, anxiety and schizophrenia.”

“A few people in town knew about those studies and suggested weed might help some people. When it became obvious that people were using it as medicine, the town council decided not to enforce any kind of prohibition. This was just, oh, three months or so ago. The Crescent Moon bakery even has a small section of marijuana edibles. And people have figured out ways to use the whole plant. Some folks in town are trying to make hemp clothing, and hemp paper is already available, although not much. Once regular paper ran out, people began to realize how much they needed it, especially with no electronic gadgets to record notes. Used hemp paper can be recycled to make new paper. We’re hopeful we can make hemp rope, since the hardware store ran out of plastic rope.”

“But to answer your question from earlier, no, Frankfort doesn’t have people walking around stoned all the time. Now and then you can tell when someone is using it, but you could tell when they were using prescription drugs, too. You know the biggest problem they’ve had with marijuana? Trying to decide whether to allow it in public. Right now they’re treating it like alcohol. They have an open container law; now they have an open joint law, too. You don’t get in trouble for having it or smoking it, but you get in trouble for using it in public. You can’t take a bottle of Jack Daniels to the library and drink it, and you can’t smoke a joint at the library, either.”

“There are still some people who are very vocal in their belief that, at best, marijuana bad and, at worst, it’s a sin. Many of those people are also very vocal in their belief that drinking is wrong. But already, people are much more casual about it. I guess now we’ll find out whether medical marijuana was really just an excuse to get stoned.”

They had been walking up and down the rows as he talked. Kevin had grown a couple of plants when Tammy was sick, and appreciated how healthy the plants were. It was interesting to see the differences between strains, too. Some were tall and lanky, others were short and dense. Some of them had a purple cast to the leaves and buds. But the smell was a bit overpowering and he started getting congested. Jake noticed and steered them back to the front, where they stepped out into the open air.

“Jake, I really appreciate you showing me around, but I’m on a mission to check out the Frankfort hospital and talk to the staff. I guess the bridge over Betsie Bay is barricaded, so I need to get back to my canoe. I left it on the beach.”

“You’re right, the bridge is a no-go, but you don’t need to take your canoe. We can take my boat. Michelle and I will drive you down to the dock and take you over ourselves.”

Kevin felt grateful. “Man, I’d really appreciate it. I’m anxious to get the skinny on the hospital and get back to my wife.” Even referencing Michelle made his heart ache.

“Let’s get down to the dock then,” Jake said, “I’ll pull the Tesla around.”

Kevin’s jaw dropped. Finding his voice, he said, “You have a Tesla?!”

“Of course! It’s a great machine. I’ve had it for a couple of years. With the power we generate, I keep the batteries charged all the time. I haven’t used gas in months! I’ll be right back. Why don’t you get Lee and meet me by the driveway?” He disappeared toward a freestanding garage on the other side of the house. Kevin headed back to the patio, where Lee was sweeping sand off the patio with a broom. She had her blouse on, but it was completely unbuttoned.

She smiled as she saw him and said “So how’d you like the grand tour?”

“It’s amazing! I can see why the city feels indebted to you. How does the city decide who gets the fresh vegetables?”

“The city has a lottery system. It seemed the only fair way. But the people who work in the greenhouse get more than those who don’t.”

Kevin was feeling awkward about their earlier encounter. “Lee, I hope you don’t feel insulted or anything. You’re really a beautiful woman and  .  .  .  ” She interrupted him with a wave of her hand.

“No big deal,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’m not offended. Still, we have a few minutes  .  .  .  would you like to do more than look?” As she said this, her hands returned to her blouse and opened it wide.

Kevin suspected she was only teasing him, and as much as he would have loved the chance to admire her mammary glands up close and personal, he said, “For a boob man like me, saying no is nigh unto impossible, but Jake sent me down here to get you. He offered to take me to Frankfort in your boat and wants you to come with me. To the driveway I mean,” he added hurriedly.

She laughed at that, and then walked over to the fountain and pulled out a Petoskey stone. She neglected to button her blouse, leaving Kevin to struggle with keeping his eyes off her very ample cleavage. When she brought the stone over to Kevin he examined it with an appreciative eye. It wasn’t the largest stone he’d seen, but it was an amazing specimen. The eyes were very dark, with a lighter ring around the edge. The rays emanating from the center were clearly defined, a beautiful sunburst of tan against a darker brown. The zig-zag borders of the cells themselves were nearly white, outlining each cell perfectly.

“This one’s my favorite because of how hard I had to work for it,” she said. “I found it in the early 1980s, before the zebra and quagga mussels took over. The water wasn’t clear like it is today. Back then you could only see thirty feet or so down; now you can see probably a hundred feet. I used to snorkel just out from the shore, looking for Petoskies. One day I found this one in about five feet of water. It was hard work digging it out, and I’d already found a handful of other ones, so I was carrying extra weight. But it was worth it.” As she said this, she took it in her hands, once again admiring it. “I hand-polished this one. Over eighteen hours of polishing, but it was so worth it!” She walked back and placed it among the other lovely stones in the fountain.

Again Kevin noted the strangeness of having a conversation about pretty fossils with a woman who was teasing him with her naked breasts. She seemed the not the least bit nonplussed, like nothing odd was happening. She caught him glancing at her breasts and smiled with a wink. Just then the Tesla came rolling up. The only sound it made was from the tires rolling over the gravel driveway. “Kevin, hop in front. Hon, you mind riding in the back?”

“No, not at all!” she replied cheerfully as they got into the car. Kevin looked around in wonder, never having seen a Tesla up close. Everything about it looked perfect and intelligent. Jake activated a Bluetooth switch on the steering column. “Hey, this is Jake, who’s on duty today?” he said.

“C’mon, Jake, you know Arthur hates it when you don’t follow the protocol!” said a voice in return.

“Fine, this is Juliet-Lima-three-eight Juliet Juliet in Elberta.” He released the switch and turned to Kevin. “The JL stands for Jake and Lee, the 38JJ is Lee’s bust size.”

A double-J cup size. My lord. A breast man’s heaven.

“Charley-echo-one-three in Frankfort on call. What’s your situation?”

“I’m headed over in a few minutes with a visitor.”

“You sure the visitor is clean? You know what happened last time!”

“It wasn’t last time, it was nearly three months ago, and you know it wasn’t my fault. But yes, I’m sure he’s clean.”

“I checked him out myself,” Lee said.

“Yeah, I’ll bet you did,” said the voice on the radio.

“We’re coming over on the boat. Be there in a few.”

“10-4. See you at the dock. Charley-echo-one-three out.”

“Cock-a-doodle-doo out.” Turning to Jake he said, “I hate military jargon shit,” touching the screen to turn off the radio. He began to explain. “We’re very careful to keep out anyone who might be a risk. All it would take is one zombie on the loose and the town could fall. We have patrols constantly monitoring the perimeter.”

“So you’re part of a military operation here?” Kevin asked, somewhat surprised. Jake took his eyes off the road long enough to give Kevin a hard look.

“Military? Do I look like a military kinda guy to you?!” he asked, genuinely offended. “No, I’m not stinkin’ military! But we have to have a system in place so everybody knows their job. After the dust settled, we assigned work to people. Every female has to volunteer just like the men. Most women prefer to spend time at the school or daycare, but some of them like to stand guard or patrol the streets alongside the men. Some of the guys didn’t like the idea of serving alongside women and didn’t take their job seriously until one guy fell asleep at his post. A zombie got past him, and the next thing we knew, three people got bit. One of them was the watchman’s sister.”

“What happened to the three who got bit?” Kevin asked, afraid to hear the answer.

“The hell do you
think
happened? They
turned
. We took them to the hospital, but there wasn’t anything they could do. ” Jake replied.

“So Frankfort really has a working hospital?” Kevin asked, his hopes soaring.

“I don’t know about the
working
part—it’s really just the ER. The rest of the hospital is empty and without power. There aren’t a whole lot of injuries in town since people quit driving. But people still have accidents, get sick, ladies still get pregnant.”