Dead Hunger IV: Evolution by Eric A. Shelman Page A

know what’s behind them.  Analyze the situation very quickly before you shoot, but then shoot if necessary.”
    “Like at the range, mommy!  With the good guys and bad guys.”
    “Taylor, how about you?  Do you feel okay?”
    Taylor said nothing, but she nodded.  Hemp came over and knelt beside her.
    “You’re a great marksman,” he said.  “I’ve seen you with that weapon.  You’re even better than you know.”
    “I’m not nervous,” she said.  “I have to do it sometime.”
    “Yes, you do.  We’ll be right there, and we’ll have our eyes on you.  I want a bottle of urushiol hanging from both your belts, too.  Got it?”
    “Got it,” said Taylor .  Trina nodded.
    Gem and Hemp stood up.  The girls organized their little cotton fanny packs stuffed with full magazines.
    “Let’s go see about our young friends,” said Hemp.  “Charlie, lead the way.”
    “I’ve filled all the bottles,” she said.  “We’re ready to go.”
    “Let’s pile in Flex’s truck,” said Gem.  “I don’t want to walk all the way.”
    “We can use the AK on top,” said Flex.  “It’s like a family outing.”  He still wasn’t smiling.
    They went.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
     
     
     
    Flex drove slowly, and Gem used the AK on top of his truck to take out only the zombies near enough to the truck to take direct hits using the GPS screen sight. 
    “There are too many damned houses around here for this gun,” she said.  “I’m afraid of sending a round into somebody inside.”
    “You’re angling down for the most part, Gem,” said Hemp.  “Trajectory doesn’t support your concern.”
    “ Trajectory doesn’t support your concern ,” she said with a mock British accent , and took out two more off to the right side of the truck.  They wobbled, almost headless, then flopped to the asphalt.
    “Crap,” said Flex.  He looked up the street and saw forty to fifty of the zombies, clustered around the house the kids had moved into.
    Because of the large number of dead creatures, Flex assumed they had been firing on them from inside the house, using some weapon or another.  Could’ve been the .22.  Very accurate, but you’d need a dead-on brain shot.
    “Try them on the radio again,” said Hemp. 
    Charlie pushed the button.  “Sixteen, right?”
    “Yes.  One-six,” said Hemp.
    “Jimmy, you there?  Come in, Jimmy.”
    “Charlie?” the voice answered.
    “Jimmy!  Yes, it’s Charlie.  We’re outside.  Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, but everyone’s pretty freaked out in here.”
    Flex shook his head.  Of course they were.  They had been in Concord since the onset of the zombie apocalypse, and had not had an enormous number to deal with before now.
    “What’s with all these zombies?” asked Jimmy.
    “They’re drawn to Concord,” said Charlie.  “We smell good.”
    “ I guess we smell be tter than them,” Jimmy said.  “You guys want to come in?”
    “Give me the radio, would you?” said Flex.
    Charlie handed it to him.
    “Hey, Jim.  We came to clear them for you.  I know you’re short on weapons, and so does Hemp.  It was his and Charlie’s idea.”
    “Well, have at it,” said Jimmy.  “We’re out of WAT-6, so if you’re on it, we’ll just say in here for now.  Some of the rats are sneaking in.”
    “Spray them.  I assume you’ve got plenty of urushiol?”
    “Hell yes,” said Jimmy.  “ We’ve filled our water cannons with it.  That’s how we killed the ones you see out there.”
    Flex looked again at the bodies.  Had he really paid attention, he would’ve noticed they weren’t blood i ed, just melted.
    “ Give us some time, and we’ll be in,” said Flex, before clicking off.   He turned to Dave, who hadn’t said a word all the way there.
    “You okay, Dave?  Awfully quiet.”
    “I’m thinking,” he said.  “About Lisa.  About California.  And a lot about Serena, too.”
    “Cali’s looking more attractive now, isn’t