Busted Flush

There was a wicked grin on her face at that. Her sharp white teeth shone. “Are you trying to convince me that you’re ‘street’ by saying ‘shit’? That’s fucking hysterical.” One of the zombie dogs growled at me.

I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. I’d had virtually no sleep since Harriet hit, and here I was having to cajole this . . . this brat. “Look, I don’t care what you think about me,” I said. “You’ve got people here who are in danger. You know, live people. Why don’t you ask them if they’ll evacuate?”

She leaned forward. “I don’t fucking tell my people what to do,” she snarled. “I already fucking asked them if they wanted to leave, and the ones who did were gone yesterday.”

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Well, why didn’t anyone tell us?”

She leaned back and smiled. “Guess they didn’t feel like they could fucking trust you. And it’s really not you fuckers’ business, now. Is it?”

I wanted to smack her. She was so smug. So sure she knew everything and was in complete control. She was going to get someone killed. “Okay,” I said. “I see that you’re way ahead of us. But can’t you imagine a situation where things could get dire here?”

She shrugged. “I s’ppose.”

The wind picked up outside. We didn’t have a lot of time to chitchat about it. “Do you have provisions and water for your people if they’re stuck here for a week, maybe two?”

She glared at me and leaned forward in her chair. “I’m not fucking stupid. We have a larder. And anything we need, one of my children can fetch it for us.”

“While I admit that your zombies are handy,” I said, dropping my voice, “even they have limitations.”

“Bitch, you have no idea what their limitations are.” She snorted. “You fuckers have it easy. Show up at a place and take all the fucking glory.”

Oh, crap, not this tired song again.

“I know it appears that way,” I said. “But things often aren’t what they seem.”

I had to remind myself that her life had been really hard. She’d been on the street for years. Her mother was dead and there was no father. Shitty as my parents had been, at least they’d been there. Until they, you know, stole all my money and skipped the country.

My cell phone rang. It was Bugsy. “I gotta take this,” I said.

Hoodoo Mama waved her hand in an imperious manner.

“This is Michelle,” I said.

“Any luck?” he asked.

“Not so much.”

“You should try to charm her.”

I glanced at Hoodoo Mama and I noticed a piece of the wallpaper behind her was peeling off the wall.

“Uhm, that’s really not going to happen,” I said in my dubious voice. “Then I hate to say this, but if you can’t get her people out of there, you need to get out yourself. The outer edge of Isaiah has made landfall.”

I looked at Hoodoo Mama and her zombies. And I thought about the people she still had here. And that she was too young to know what she was getting herself into.

“I’m going to stay here,” I sighed. “Help out if I can.”

“What the fuck?” Hoodoo Mama said, jumping from her chair. “I didn’t invite you, bitch.”

I wagged a finger at her. “Where’s that famous Southern hospitality?”

“Are you insane?” Bugsy said. There was static on the line.

I turned and walked out of the living room.

“Look,” I said. “She’s practically a kid. There are people here who she’s supposed to be taking care of. I can’t just leave her here alone. This might be a way to show her we’re more than just a PR stunt. Maybe make her trust us.”

“Well, we’re all practically kids, Michelle,” Bugsy said.

I had a flash of fire and smelled the burning flesh again. I slumped against the wall. “I know,” I replied.

There was a long silence. I thought maybe we’d lost our signal. “Be careful, Michelle,” Bugsy said.

“You bet.”

The line went dead. I hoped it was just Bugsy hanging up and not the cell tower going down.

I went back into the living room. Hoodoo Mama glared at me. “And what the fuck do you think you’re doing? You fat dumb fucker.”

I guess I could have been offended. But I was fat at the moment. Holy Roller had taken care of that. And there was no doubt that what I had just done was really dumb.

I went and flopped down on the ratty couch, dropping my emergency goodie bag on the floor. “I think I’m fucking staying here and fucking helping you, whether you fucking want me to or not.”

The zombies leaned in toward me in a threatening manner. I stretched out as best I could and closed my eyes for a nap. I couldn’t help but smile.

Zombies. I hated them, but they couldn’t do a damn thing to me.

“Wake up.”

I was on a cool beach. The lake spread out before me. But the water would be cold when I jumped in.

“Wake up, you fat bitch.”

I opened one eye. Hoodoo Mama was crouched next to me. My back ached from sleeping on her ratty couch.

“Well, a happy good morning to you, too,” I said.

“It ain’t morning yet,” she replied. She pushed her shock of bright red hair out of her eyes. “We’ve got a problem.”

“We?” I sat up. We were alone in the living room. No zombies—yay.

“There are some people trapped in a building in the Ware house District.”