Free Dead Hunger II: The Gem Cardoza Chronicle by Eric A. Shelman Page A

cars in it anyway, so chances were that almost all of the rooms were the same.
    “Stand back,” I said, waiting until they moved away.  I fired the Uzi at the door jamb, and when I was done, the door stood three inches open.  I kicked it the rest of the way and we went inside.
    To our relief there was a pass-through door on each side.  This room was set up to be the center room for three that could be shared.
    Hemp was smiling.  “Okay, we barricade this shot-up door from the inside and just keep the other two exterior doors locked.  We can go from room to room without going outside and there’s only one way in that we have to worry about.”
    Using the same tool he’d used on the fuel pump, some sort of paperclip looking thing, Hemp picked the locks to both connected rooms.  Flex had to kick in two of the pass-through doors because the inside ones locked on the other side.  Still, once we got in, there was n o stench, no zombies.  Both rooms were vacant.
    Flex grabbed a wooden chair and propped it under the doorknob.  Using the hotel pen, he marked the floor where the chair’s feet rested, then pulled the chair out again.  He removed his pocket knife and poked it through the linoleum flooring, cutting out two rough-edged holes.
    Max grabbed the chair when Flex finished cutting and put it back in place.  The feet sat down inside the holes so the chair wouldn’t slide out if someone pushed hard on the door.
    “Done this before, Flex?” asked Max.
    “I think this shit up on the fly,” he said, smiling.
    Hemp nodded approvingly, but said nothing.  He looked at Charlie and held his hand out.  She smiled and went to him, and they took the north side room.
    “Night, all,” he said.  “Let’s see if we can sleep in.”  The door closed with a soft click.
    “Cynthia, do you mid sharing a room with Max and the girls?  Take that room there, and we’ll stay in the middle.”
    “Not at all,” she said.  “Max, you mind?”
    Max laughed.  “We spent over a month together in a small lab on cots, Cyn.  I think we’re okay.  Is it at least a king bed?”
    “It is,” she said.
    “Then we’re good.  Night, Gem.  Flex.  She held Taylor in her arms, and Trina walked like a little tired zombie herself behind them into the room.  Cynthia held a battery powered lantern that illuminated the room well.  She closed the door behind her.
    I looked at Flex and went to him, wrapping my arms around his waist.  I rested my head against his chest and felt the tension drain from my muscles all at once, and for the first time all day.
    “I love you, Gem,” he said.  “And I don’t think I can go right to sleep.”
    “Want another smoke?” I asked him.
    “Give me a reason?”
    “Absolutely,” I said.  “Get out of those clothes.   They’re a mess.”
    Flex laughed softly and pulled his shirt off.  He may have been in his early forties , but all this work was really toning him up.  It wasn’t quite a six-pack, but I could definitely count three or four 12-ouncers.
    I slid my jeans off, pulled the bedspread back and fluffed the pillows.  I pulled my tee shirt over my head and unhooked my bra.  They joined our other clothing on the floor.  Looking at Flex pulling off his jeans, I really wasn’t thinking how disheveled I’d be looking the next day in those bunched, wrinkled clothes, and fuck if we were going to get our clothes from the cars.
    I crawled into bed and dropped the pack of smokes on the nightstand.  I slid between the sheets and pulled them back.  Flex slid in, too.
    And his arms were around me, rubbing the smooth skin of my stomach, sliding over my breasts and behind my neck.  He lowered his face to my belly, kissing me softly there, working his way up until our mouths came together and our tongues explored one another. 
    I felt his excitement growing, and I moved my hand down to meet him, no longer able to contain myself.  He kissed up and down my neck, behind my ears, his