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

it?” said Charlie.  “Since this little switch.”
    “It’s not looking any worse,” said Dave.  “I think I’d feel pretty safe on a motorcycle on the highway about now.”
    “You’ve got time to work that out,” said Gem.  “Wait until the weather breaks.  Almost there.  Now, let’s do this shit.  I want to waddle my way back to a cozy couch.”
    “Me, mommy?” asked Trina. “I get to shoot?”
    Gem nodded.  “When we get out, stay close, and aim carefully.  Take your time and remember, they can’t smell you, and they won’t attack you any more than they’d attack one another.”
    “Okay.”  She turned to Taylor.  “Hear that, Tay?  They can’t smell us, so we just have to aim at them and shoot.”
    Taylor nodded.
    “Let’s go,” said Hemp, opening his door.  Charlie sat beside him, and slid out his door.  Dave had Trina on his lap, and Taylor sat in the front seat between Gem and Flex.
    They got out of the car, and the movement caught the zombies’ eyes.  They moved forward, but didn’t gnash or work themselves into a frenzy.  They drew closer than Flex liked, but he held his fire and kept an eye on Trina.
    She watched one zombie at a time, he noticed.  Singled one out, watched it, raised her weapon and sighted it, and hers was the first shot to ring out.
    The large, male zombie went down eight feet from her.  She looked up at Flex and nodded, satisfied.
    Her face , thought Flex.  She’s . . . being forced to grow up fast.  She’s seven years old, with steel in her spine and fucking rainbows in her heart.
    He turned back and followed her lead.  A man in a ragged, brown jacket and one shoe came toward him.  Not aggressive, just staggering.  He’s lower jaw had fallen away, so any meal he ate would be a scrape - fest, to be sure.
    Flex raised his Glock and took him down with a single shot.  A female behind him nearly ran.
    “Flex!” shouted Hemp.
    Scared the shit out of him.  “What?” he retorted, sharply.
    “Sorry to startle you, but did you see that zombie?  The woman?”
    “What the hell is with you and female zombies lately, buddy?”
    “It’s not that they’re female, Flex.  It’s how they’re responding.  They’re aware, I tell you.”
    “I’ll try to keep an eye out for it, Hemp, but I gotta be honest.  I just want ‘em all dead as hell.”
    “Go at it, friend,” he said.
    Flex did.  One by one, he blew more brains out of rotting skulls.  Taylor was off to his left, and she had raised her weapon for what Flex believed was the first time.  She walked forward about five steps, and Flex saw Gem hesitate, then stop firing.
    Trina took out two more.  Her face held no indication of pleasure.  She was as serious as the proverbial heart attack.
    Taylor approached what was formerly a girl of perhaps seventeen.  She had thin strands of brown hair clinging to her head, and Flex was surprised to see the remnant of a red ribbon still clipped to it.
    As though in a trance, Taylor drew to within four feet of the teenaged rotter, who stopped and seemed to stare blankly through her. Taylor held the gun up, steady and true, then squeezed the trigger. She cl osed her eyes as the weapon discharged. 
    The zombie girl dropped to her knees, then folded backward, landing on the grass with a dull thump.
    Taylor stood there for a moment, staring down at the thing’s body. Her eyes moved to the gun in her hand.
 
    “You okay, Tay?” asked Flex, softly.
    The eight-year-old said nothing. She bent down, put the gun on the ground, and walked back to the truck. She opened the door and got in the back seat.
    Taylor stared straight ahead. She hadn’t closed the door, so Flex did it for her.
    He would have to talk to Charlie about it. She had been occupied behind the truck and had not seen any of it.
    Taylor was still adjusting. 
    She’d be turning nine in two more months. Of course she was adjusting.
    They finished with the present group fifteen minutes