Dead Hunger III: The Chatsworth Chronicles (13 page)

“We don’t know who the hell you –” the man started.

Flex moved toward him in a flash, and a split-second later his hands were locked on Jacko’s weapon.

Jacko’s words caught in his throat as Flex towered over him.  It wasn’t that Flex was
that
big, it’s just that Jacko was about 5’9”. 

Flex put his
face an inch from Jacko’s, and I knew the man could feel Flex’s breath with every word he spoke
.

“Don’t you have enough fucking enemies in this world,
pal?
  ‘Cause believe me, you don’t want to add us to that list.”

Jacko’s fingers slowly released the MP5, and Flex  stepped away from him, holding the weapon.  Then Flex nodded at him and held the weapon toward the man.

Jacko took it, an unreadable expression on his face, and it was over.

Flex had w
on the staring contest.

“
We were talking about Gem getting bitten.  Yes, she was.  Almost her entire thumb taken off. 
I
immediately soaked the wound in
a
special solution
we’ve come up with.  I believe it’s what stopped the infection from taking her.  Look.  Do you have someone in charge?  Is it one of you?”

“We kind of split duties, but I’d say Kevin Reeves is the guy you’re looking for.  He used to be the mayor of
Concord
, and people like him.  Got a good head on his shoulders.”

“Do you have radio communication with him?” asked Gem.

“We do.”

“If you don’t mind,” Flex said, “
W
ill you call him and get approval for us to come in?  We’ve got women and children who could use some rest in a place they feel safe.”

“They seem like good folks,” said Dan.  He held out his hand and shook each of ours.
  “The guy you haven’t met yet is Larry.”

Larry held out his hand, and Whit followed suit, along with the others.   All immediate introductions had been made for the moment.  Their
names aren’t important now. There were too many for me to hold onto as I wrote this anyway, so suffice it to say the only one in the group I would consider a problem was Jacko.

As Whit clicked off his radio, having gained approval from Mayor Reeves to allow us into town, I had a funny feeling that Flex would ultimately end up shoving that MP5 up Mr. Jacko’s ass.  And quite possibly beating him with it afterward.

We got back into our caravan, notified the others of our success, and we moved forward to downtown
Concord
,
New Hampshire
.

With granite beneath our wheels.

****

The roads into
Concord
were clear and passable.  It was easy to see why.  There were many, many broken down vehicles
on the side of the road, but you could see drag marks or tire marks where they’d either been winched or pushed out of the roadway.

Sooner the better, because once the tires all went flat, the job would be far more difficult.

As we got to the main entrance to town, we saw that they’d gotten creative with the unused cars.   Wherever there was a narrow spot in the road, they’d used a crane or some other equipment to stack cars one on top of another, blocking off all but enough room for one vehicle to pass.  They’d made sure it would accommodate a large semi rig, so gave it roughly twelve to thirteen feet across. 

It looked like after the first car was placed, they nearly dropped the next car down, to create an indentation that fit together like a puzzle, creating a more stable stack.  The bottom car had bare rims on it, making the space beneath it almost impassable.

Likewise, they dropped the third car in the stack, and made a roughly ten to twelve foot
tall
barrier on each side of their gateway into town.

“Smart,” I said.  “I can’t wait to sit and ask these folks some questions.  Under 50%, Charlie.  It’s more than I could’ve hoped for.”

“What’s the population here again?  Before, I mean?”

“Around 46,000.”

“What about diggers?”

“Getting out is the problem.  If there’s lots of rock on top of them, they might be trapped.”

“Wouldn’t you fucking think the coffin would stop them?”

“Remember,” I said.  “Baby, they’ve got nothing but time and determination once they’ve awakened.”

“Zombie patience.  They’ve got Job beat to shit, I bet.”

I laughed.  Charlie coming up with Biblical references seemed out of character, but what the hell did I know.  “We’d talked about a wide variety of things, but for some reason had avoided religion.

“They’re not armed,” I said in amazement.

“Wow,” said Charlie.  “It’s like . . . almost like it didn’t happen at all here.”

Everyone turned to see our vehicles as we drove behind the Jeep Cherokee with Dan, Janine and Whit inside. Jacko and
Larry had stayed behind to guard the road.

Some of them waved and smiled. 

The radio clicked on.  It was Dave Gammon, and we could hear the joy in his voice.

“You see these damned people smiling?” he said.  “For Christ’s sake, they’re waving at us, guys.”

I clicked the button, but Charlie grabbed the radio and pulled my hand toward her.  “I know, right?  It’s like the old days, like in a neighborhood.”

“Seems almost too good to be true,” said Gem, who had obviously been listening in.  “I wonder if they’ve noticed anything strange about their rats.”

“Fuck.  I’d almost forgotten them,” said Charlie.

“I did too, for a second
,” said Gem.  “Fucknuts
!
 
I brought it up to remind myself.  Hemp?   Any
ideas
?”

I didn’t have any idea
s or thoughts or anything else,
for that matter.  I still wasn’t positive they were what we might call zombie rats.  Pe
r
haps they’d been affected in another way; not as severe, but enough to cause some sort of brain damage.

“I’ll need to get them in my lab.  Do some tests.  I think they’re the perfect subjects for a maze.”

“Cool!” said Charlie.  “I’ll help you build it.”

I had the wide window slid back on my side of the cockpit, and my arm out.  My arm was literally getting
tired from waving at people.

We crossed a bridge over a waterway, then under an underpass.

The jeep pulle
d up to
N
orth
Main Street
and turned left.  A building with a gold dome that
almost exactly like
any other s
tate building built
around
the 1800s emerged on the right side.  We could make out the dome and part of the structure, but
just
as we
had seen
at each major artery into the city, stacks of cars three high had been arranged around the perimeter of the building.  I guess I understood it well enough.  You had these rusting hulks all over the city
, so you m
ight as well use them.

My radio clicked, and I heard Whit’s voice.  “Just in here, ladies and gentlemen.  Mr. Reeve’s expecting you.”

“What about the governor?” I asked.  “Doesn’t he live here?”

“Passed,” said Whit.  “His wife shot him in the head.”

“Before or after this mess?”

I heard Whit chuckle softly before he answered.  “After.  But
,
just after.  I’m not so sure she was telling the truth, but she said he’d turned.”

Two cars blocking our entry were fired up and driven backward until we could enter the compound – because that’s what it was.  Another man directed us into an area close to the front of the building and underneath some trees.  We passed a few statues that I couldn’t identify, mainly because at that point I was so damned tired, I just wanted to put that motorhome in park and call the trip
over with
.

Before we got out, Charlie took my arm.  The three ladies had been extremely quiet all the way there, and I kind of understood what everyone was feeling.

“What, babe?”

“This is what I kind of hoped for since they found me in the hospital.  A place where life is still going on and people don’t seem scared.”

“But?”

“But,” said Kimberly, “I think she wants to say we no longer know who to trust.”

“We need to go,” I said.

“Babe,” said Charlie.  “Kim’s right.  I know you.  I love and trust you and Flex and Gem.  All of you.  I’ve even already begun to like and trust some of the people we picked up at the church, like these three.  But
Pete
and
Rory
– look what they did.  We didn’t expect it, and we lost a vehicle and supplies.  We’re lucky Todd didn’t get hurt.  I worry these people are going to take what we’ve got and . . . I don’t know.  Kill us or kick us out of this safe zone.”

“Or you could just be a tad paranoid.”

“I admit, that could be it.”

“We’ll watch each other’s backs,” said Vikki, her red hair tangled and
mussed from sleep.

“Of course we will,” said Kim.  “Jasmine?”

“
Victoria
,” she said.

“Jesus, Jazz
,” said Kimberly, frustrated.
 
“
I
have
to remember to call you
Victoria
now?  For the rest of your life?”

“You’ll get used to it
,
”
smiled
Victoria
, formerly Jasmine.

The radio clicked again.  It was Dan’s voice.

“C’mon everyone.  And leave your weapons in the vehicles, of you don’t mind.”

Victoria
smiled at her sisters.  “Saved by the bell.”

“I don’t fucking like it,” said Charlie.  “We’re locking this thing up tight.  All the outer compartments, too.  Until I trust.”

“Okay.  Until you trust,” I said.

The ladies all checked their faces in the bathroom mirror while I waited by the door.

I had the nine ounce Ruger .38
0
Auto in my front pocket as we stepped out of the motorhome and into our new community.

For now.

****

I was somewhat surprised they didn’t search us before allowing us in, but with the substantial display of firepower we had demonstrated, both mounted on our vehicles and briefly, in the motorhome, I supposed we didn’t seem to be the types to carry peashooters.

But believe me, they were well-armed, and there was seemingly little danger of the walking dead here.  So I supposed they were armed against aggressive humans.

“Sorry for all the guns,” said Whit, reading my thoughts.  “But we have had some crazies try to take out Mr. Reeves, and people rely on him too much to have him gone.

“Wow,” said Gem.  “The power’s even on.”

“Excellent generator system in this building,” said Dan Cox.  “Runs everything – not just select equipment and lighting.  It’s nice.  Not like this in other parts of town if you don’t have a generator of your own.”

Trina walked beside her, holding her new mommy’s hand.  Cynthia Preston was next to them, and
Taylor
was holding Trina’s other hand.  Flex walked behind, and I could see his head turning side-to-side, scanning everywhere in case this was not what it seemed – and what it seemed
to be
was still not all that clear.

A man came out, looking entirely different than, I think, any of us expected.  He wore a flannel shirt, je
ans and a baseball cap with a Boston Bruins logo.

“Welcome to
Concord
,” he said, holding out his hand.  “I’m Kevin Reeves.  Used to be the mayor of this place.”

Flex shook it.  “I’m Flex Sheridan.   This is our
tough little
band of survivors.”

“You don’t look the worse for wear,” said Reeves.  “Where were you when all this hit?”

“We were all in different places,” said Gem, holding out her hand in introduction.  “I’m Gem Cardoza. 
I s
tarted out in
south
Florida
.”

“Weather
might be a bit frigid for you
,” said Reeves.  “Leaves are gone already, and winter’s coming.”

“It’ll t
ake some getting used to,” I said.  “But if this turns out to be the safest place in the country, we’re going to do just that.”

“Can we talk?” asked Flex.  “Somewhere these folks can sit down and take a load off?”

“We have a cafeteria,” said Reeves.  “More like a break room, but there’s still some chips and candy bars and even cold sodas.  All the machines are open.  They can fill up on junk food.”