Dead Hunger | Book 10 | The Remnants

by Shelman, Eric A.

  “Where they found Emma’s Rose?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who’s Emma?”

  “Might have been a book I read.”

  “Anyway, Movile was sealed for 5,000,000 years by thick clay, and was finally unearthed in the 1980s. Nothing got in or out. It contained an active ecosystem with more than 30 life forms, many of which have never been discovered anywhere else on earth.”

  “Your point?”

  “Some of it was just because it’s interesting, but my point is soil type. That’s why I want enough monitoring cylinders out there so we know what is happening in all types of earth. When we check one of them, we check all of them, just to be sure. Had we known the abnormals survived, we could have remained vigilant, not totally let down our guard.”

  “I like it when you get all sciencey.”

  “That’s not a word.”

  “Whatever,” she said playfully. Then: “I wonder if Kingman is okay. They were starting to take down all the barriers when we left.”

  “I’ve thought about them every minute since we experimented with the mice. I’ll radio them later tonight to check in. I just want to rest and think a bit more.”

  “I miss Doc Scofield. More than all of them, I think.”

  “Nelson’s grandfather is a special man, like his grandson,” said Hemp.

  Charlie laughed softly. “But less stoned.”

  “Yes, less stoned.”

  “If they’re in trouble, we have to tell him,” said Charlie, squeezing Hemp’s hand.

  “We know what will happen.”

  He felt her nodding against his arm. “It’s his choice.”

  “I’ll see if I can get Jim Cole on the radio. He’s usually monitoring.”

  *****

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Nelson didn’t wait for anyone else. The second he got back home, he fired up his battery bank and his portable Ham and began trying to get Kingman on the radio.

  It took him only six minutes before he heard Jim Cole’s voice come back.

  “Nelson? Is that you?”

  “Yeah, Jim?”

  “Correct. What’s up?”

  “Are you alright there?”

  “Uh … yes, we’re fine. Why?”

  “They’re back.”

  “Who’s back?”

  “The zombies, dude!”

  “What?”

  Nelson leaned back for a moment, staring at the radio. If they weren’t experiencing what they were in Georgia, it could be a regional phenomenon.

  “Jim, here’s what I need you to do,” he said. “Is that clear cylinder still mounted where Hemp put it?”

  “The one with the water?”

  “Yeah. Did you guys take it down?”

  “No way. It’s like a monument. Of bad days gone by. Empty though.”

  “I need you to fill it. Clean it first and fill it with clear water. How fast can you get that done?”

  “What’ll I tell people?”

  “Be honest. Tell them we’ve got something going on here, and to prepare themselves. Be ready and break out those old weapons. You lose anyone lately?”

  “What do you mean, lose anyone?”

  “Are any of your – wait – how’s my grampa?”

  “Doc’s fine! Saw him this morning, as a matter of fact. He was getting a cup of coffee.”

  “Good. If you talk to him, tell him I might come out there. But what I’m asking is if anyone has gone missing, or maybe left unexpectedly.”

  There was a pause on the line. “Nelson, foul play will happen, no matter what a society’s been through,” said Jim. “Yeah, we’ve had a few people disappear. But it’s been when they left Kingman and went out on scouting trips – supply runs. They just never came back.”

  “Did they take their stuff? Their belongings?”

  “I’m not talking about the people who moved. We expected them not to come back. No, these are people who just didn’t come back. We sent people out to find them, but they were all just gone.”

  “Like who?”

  “CJ, for one. You remember her? She played keyboards in our band. She went out to a library a couple of towns over with Giles Batchelor, and just never came back.”

  “Shit, he was in the band, too, right? Played guitar?”

  “Your memory blows my mind,” said Jim. “Yeah. Both of them. We searched for them for days.”

  “You got any hot springs around you?”

  “Not that I know of. Nelson, tell me what’s happening.”

  Nelson ran through everything he knew, and what he saw from the tree.

  “There are that many of them?” asked Jim. “How haven’t we seen them?”

  “I told you bro, they’re night dwellers now. They recharge during the daytime and go out hunting at night.”

  “So, if we just stay in at night, we’ll be okay? Does sunlight hurt them?”

  “Not that we know of. The Red-Eyes are still smart, though, and it looks like they still have some of their psychic abilities. They’re more like gangs now, fighting one another for turf.”

  “Which is fine by me,” said Jim. “Let ‘em kill one another. Shit. I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation.”

  “They kill one another, but they still eat us,” said Nelson. “Your missing people probably got caught out at night. Just tell everyone to stay alert and fill up your water monitor and really look at it. You might find a fine line of bubbles.”

  “Will people who die …” Jim didn’t finish. His voice trailed off.

  “Turn into zombies?” Nelson guessed.

  “Yeah.”

  “Hemp says the concentration still isn’t enough to do that. We still pierce the brain before we bury dead folks, but supposedly, the parts per million of gas in the oxygen doesn’t support the transformation yet.”

  “Yet.”

  “Dude, we’re all just figuring this out. The rotters have been cherry-picking towns, plucking people out. We’ve had a few go missing, too. We never made the connection.”

  “I don’t like that only the smart ones survived.”

  “Not just the smart ones. They can still change people with a bite, and they do. They still control a lot of males, and from what I saw, pretty much all of them were turned since the end in Kingman.”

  They talked for a bit longer before Jim said, “Nel, I gotta go. I’m sending your grampa over to call you, so stay near the radio."

  “Nah, tell him I’ll call him in the morning. Just to be safe, tell everyone in Kingman to stay inside at night.”

  “Will do. Hey, Nel?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Would you mind if I came there? Would anyone care? If the shit’s hitting the fan again, I know who I’d rather fight beside.”

  “I’m flattered, dude.”

  Jim laughed, then hesitated, his next words spoken cautiously. “Not you, Nel. Flex, Gem, Charlie, you know. The bad asses.”

  Nelson bristled. “You happen to remember my stars and my proficiency at throwing them, right?”

  Now Jim laughed harder. “Don’t you know when you’re being fucked with?”

  “You really wanna come here? Can you talk my gramps into coming with? Is he doing good enough to handle a thousand-mile drive?”

  “I’ll answer one at a time,” Cole said. “One, yes. I really want to come there. Two, I was tops in my debate class, so I could talk Wimpy into paying me for the burger Monday instead of Tuesday. Three, Doc Scofield hasn’t aged a day in five years, and all he talks about is how much he misses you.”

  “Aw, man. Okay. If you came, when would that happen?”

  “Just as soon as I service my truck and have it road ready. A week maybe.”

  “Okay, let’s see how things shake out until then. Check that water tube. If you don’t have a problem there, I’d rather Grampa Jim stay there.”

  “Good point. I might come anyway.”

  “Understood.”

  *****

&
nbsp; By the following morning, Max’s 1984 M1009 Blazer was packed and ready to go. The interior of the old, reliable diesel was enormous, and they brought plenty of weapons and ammunition, as well as a portable generator and some other equipment they thought might come in handy.

  “Early start,” said Flex. “Good. Feels weird bringin’ this Daewoo with me everywhere again.”

  “I missed Suzi,” said Gem. “Felt like an appendage was missing.”

  “Funny what you can get used to,” said Flex.

  “Get used to? We had to get used to not having weapons with us 24/7,” said Isis. “Since we were born, it’s been the norm.”

  “Which is sad,” said Gem. “Sadder yet is the fact that we’re back there.”

  “This might be a small uprising,” said Max. “I’m fairly sure all the Red-Eyes didn’t survive. Plus, considering they had to be pregnant when they turned to become what they are, there are way fewer of them to deal with than in the original apocalypse.”

  “That’s a real good point,” said Flex, climbing in the front passenger seat. Isis and Gem got in the back together, while Max drove.

  “Can’t believe I’m letting a 16-year-old drive me around,” said Flex.

  “You can walk, Uncle Flex. It’s my ride.”

  “Fuck that noise,” said Flex. “I’m a man of leisure these days.”

  “A regular Hugh Hefner,” said Gem. “Minus the harem.”

  “Don’t need a harem,” said Flex. “Got enough on my hands with you.”

  “So, Max and I were talking about this last night,” said Isis. “Once we get up near Demorest, we take the 105 West, which will lead us right into the Buck Shoals area. That’s where the private springs are.”

  “We’ve established none of us have ever been there, so we’ll have to play it by ear once we get there,” said Max. “With this clacking engine, we need to park well outside where the springs are and walk in.”

  “Which is why it’s important to get our asses there early,” said Gem. “If they’re night hunters, we don’t want to be out when they are.”

  Max pulled out of the main gates, and Flex said, “Hold up.”

  He hadn’t closed and locked the gates since their return, but now he wasn’t taking any chances. It wasn’t likely to stop anyone, but instinct drove him. He secured it and got back in.

  “Times they are a changin’,” he said.

  “What continues to bother me,” said Isis, “is the number in the horde Nelson and the others saw. Just as Max and I have experienced a resurgence in our telepathic abilities, so, clearly, have they. It is how they are drawing together.”

  “So even if it’s a relatively small resurgence of Red-Eyes,” added Max, “if they can put together sizable armies of them by calling others to join them, they can eventually overpower towns and cities of survivors.”

  Gem looked at everyone. “Do you think this is a process? Start by picking lone people out of populated areas while they build their forces? Then move in and wipe us out?”

  Isis looked Gem in the eyes. “In situations where there isn’t enough human population there is plenty of wildlife. Deer, wild hogs, you name it. Wild animals have made quite a comeback. Flesh is flesh, though the rotters prefer humans, they can build their strength other ways.”

  “I guess I picked a bad day to quit smokin’, said Flex, flipping down the sun visor to reveal a sealed pack of Marlboros.

  “How the hell did they get up there?” asked Max.

  “I put ‘em here.”

  “Don’t smoke in the car. Those things are almost 20 years old,” said Gem.

  “But …” said Flex.

  “But if you do, give me one.” Gem laughed and rolled down her window.

  “That’s my girl,” said Flex, tearing the cellophane off the pack. “Let’s get a head rush.”

  *****

  They arrived in thirty-four minutes, which was barely time for Flex and Gem to smoke two of the rancid Marlboros. But smoke them they did.

  Max and Isis rolled their windows down and continuously chastised the Sheridans for the second-hand smoke.

  “That shit’s a myth,” said Flex. “Take you years to die from rebreathed smoke.”

  “Yeah, what he said,” said Gem. “If neither of you have a smoker’s cough by the time we drive the 30-some-odd minutes back to Lula, we’ll know it’s all been a lie.”

  “Leave them in the car,” said Isis. “We don’t know if these smart bitches can link cigarette smoke with humans.”

  “I never thought of that,” said Gem.

  “She’s just trying to freak us the fuck out so we don’t have another,” said Flex. “How far we gotta walk to the springs?”

  The road wound around, taking sharp cutbacks, until they came around a corner and saw the tops of several structures.

  “This is Twin Rivers Resort,” said Max. “It’s close to the Soquee River, which intersects with the Chattahoochee. We’ll be taking a boat down river and we’re supposed to get out before we cross under the Duncan Bridge.”

  “Flex, the Chattahoochee!” shouted Gem. She sang, “Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, never knew how much that muddy water meant to me!”

  Flex finished up with, “… but I learned how to swim and I learned who I was, a lot about livin’ and a little ‘bout love!”

  Together, they sang, “A lot about livin’ and a little ‘bout love!”

  “Are you both finished?” asked Max.

  Flex looked at Gem and Gem looked at Flex. Then they both looked at Max and nodded.

  “Good,” he said. “Though that wasn’t half bad!”

  “Thanks, kiddo,” said Gem.

  Everyone laughed as Max pulled up to a large building. The foliage hadn’t been trimmed in quite some time, telling all of them it was unoccupied. Where cars once drove with relative regularity, weeds now sprung up from the middle of the rustic, gravel drive, and threatened to obscure it completely.

  “Where’s the water?”

  “The river?” asked Isis. “Should be that way. Down that wide trail there, between these buildings.”

  “How far?” asked Flex. “Kinda winded from the smokes.”

  “You haven’t even gotten out of the car yet,” said Max.

  “I’m fuckin’ with you, kid. How long have you known me?”

  “Too long,” said Max, shaking his head and coming to a stop. He put the old SUV in park and cut the engine.

  “Nice,” said Isis. “Silence.”

  They all slung their weapons and got out. Looking in all directions, listening for human sounds, they heard only the sound of the river rushing by to their south and the wind whistling through the tall trees that surrounded them.

  “What the hell are we doin’ in Lula?” asked Flex. “This is gorgeous. There any boats?”

  “The information in the tourist book said there are rentals down at the water. I guess some are still there.”

  “Yeah, after almost 20 years, it’ll be a miracle if they still float,” said Gem.

  “Fiberglass doesn’t erode,” said Isis. “Neither does plastic. We’ll find something. Let’s move. It’s 11:00 AM.”

  They gave the buildings a quick once-over to make sure nobody was inside who might sabotage their vehicle while they were away. Then they removed three full ammo cans from the rear of the Blazer, bringing them along.

  Inside each were additional magazines to go along with the spares tucked into their tactical vests. All were dressed in dark green or camouflage. If they utilized a tree the way Nelson, Koko and Dave Gammon had done, it might come in handy. There were plenty of trees around them now, but near the hot springs they had no idea.

  As they made their way the 400 feet or so down the overgrown trail toward the river, everyone watched the ground for burrows.

  They didn’t want to be caught by surprise by Red-Eyes waiting for the cover of night.

  As they walked toward the water, the noise grew louder until the trees broke and the
y saw the river. There was a slight area of rapids to the north, but they were heading south, and it looked fairly calm.

  As they exited the trees, a line of colorful Kayaks sat in a row, all secured by one nylon rope that somehow, hadn’t deteriorated. Flex went to pick it up and it fell apart in his hands.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” he said. “Too bad I’m too old for a kayak.”

  “It’s not that far,” said Max. “But it’s downstream, so we’ll probably have to hike back.”

  “At night?” asked Gem.

  “If we’re too late, we hole up in a cabin,” said Isis. “There are plenty of them scattered around here.”

  “Just flip me over when my kayak’s upside down,” said Gem.

  Flex laughed. “Don’t I always, sweetie?”

  They chose their boats. Flex got the blue one and Gem took the green. Yellow for Isis and camouflage for Max.

  The paddles were inside the boats.

  When they hit the first rapids, it was a comedy of errors.

  *****

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  When the radio lit up and the static kicked in, Nelson rolled out of bed and headed over. The crackling voice was Jim Cole.

  “Jim, what’s the story?”

  “Bubbles.”

  “How bad?”

  “Can’t see them from a foot away. Move right up to the glass, and there they are. A tiny stream. Are we sure it’s the gas?”

  “That’s all that leaks out of the ground, bro,” said Nel. “You bringing my gramps then?”

  “He’s right here.”

  “Give him the microphone, okay?”

  “Nel?”

  Just the warmth of the familiar voice sent waves of comfort washing over Nelson. “Grampa, sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while. How are you? You sound excellent.”

  “Well, I might use that word if I were twenty years younger, but we’ll just settle for good enough. What’s up, Nel?”

  “Didn’t Jim tell you?”

  “He said you should.”

  Nelson let out a sigh and started telling the story. He went through everything, from the scattered people disappearing from communities and what they had learned visiting Athens.