Undead War (Dead Guns Press)
Sarah hated the cities, with broken windows staring out at them like fleshless eyes in the heads of lunatics. Anything could be behind them. The shrieks of the infected haunted Sarah's dreams.
- 00:00, S. MacLeod
The Kaplan’s found a convenience store on the outskirts of a small town in Ohio. Dick abandoned the turnpikes as the rest stops became overrun with the flesh-eaters. If the bombings helped, the results were not obvious. The number of the monsters clearly grew every day.
-Tim Tobin, Head of the Family
We all saw things during The Rising that we'll never forget. No one emerged from it wholly unaffected. It was a plague, but not one spread in the normal manner. Even the natives in the mountains of Peru and on the African savanna weren't immune. They saw their dead walk, their mothers, fathers, sisters, daughters and sons ripped apart and eaten. We survived it, but we didn't make it through undisturbed. I still have nightmares, all these years later.
-The Rising, Joseph Rubas
That’s what these damn kids didn’t understand. Sure it was nasty business using the gimps as forced labor. We all know they used to be human. But the world's a different place. With so many people killed during the war, there just weren't enough of us left to do the work.
-Day’s Work, Matthew Howe
I was under a dogpile of maybe eight Ferals, laughing my ass off despite their stench, and carefully twisting one guy’s head from his shoulders. I couldn’t use my sledgehammer in such close quarters, and it really wasn’t very hard work, given the advanced state of my target’s decomposition. It kind of reminded me of working a drumstick off a turkey, from back when I used to eat food.
-Playing Alive , Richard A. Becker
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Cover art “Some Zombie Figures” property of Chris Harvey and used with permission via Shutterstock.com
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The anthology: Undead War contains works of fiction by various authors and are works of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Undead War
Tales of the Zombie Apocalypse
By Various Authors
Edited by
John L. Thompson
A Dead Guns Press Publication
List of the Dead
Forward
The Head of the Family - Tim Tobin…9
Armored Saint - John L. Thompson…18
The Rising - Joseph Rubas…49
Skirmish at the Barbecue Pit - Dave Fragments…66
Happy Anniversary – Paul Dick…75
May Day World - Kameryn James…82
Last Supper - Ryan Neil Falcone…91
Field Trip - Chris Limb…110
Rumors on the Wall - Matthew Wilson…122
At the Zombie SuperMax - Kenneth James Crist…127
Tell Me where He Lies - Greg McWhorter…130
There was a Before - M. Leon Smith…139
Day’s Work - Matthew Howe…144
Out of Juice - Cindy Rosmus…149
00:00 - Selene MacLeod…151
Guiding the General’s Daughter - Jordan Elizabeth Mierek.168
The Neighborhood Bar and Grill - Kenneth James Crist…173
A New Species of Undead - John X. Grey…178
Mad Money - Cindy Rosmus…189
Itch - T. Fox Dunham…191
The Scavenger - Matthew Wilson…203
Playing Alive - Richard A. Becker…208
Death Street - Gary Murphy…222
XMB3 - Essel Pratt…227
All Weather Biters - David S. Pointer…241
Ashes - Ginny Bowman and Shane DeMink…242
When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again - Paul Dick…251
Authors Section…258
Forward
When I think of the term ‘zombie’, I often think of the ’undead’ characters in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. I recall, with vivid memory, several scenes in which a creepy witch doctor known as Baron Samedi invaded the big screen with half his face painted white and practiced the dark art of voodoo. His maniacal laugh often gave me a few nightmares. For a five year old such as I was then, watching this film on the big screen was perhaps too much in seeing the dead revive to live again. Or so I thought they were dead and living again. As the years rolled on, I realized there was more to the history of zombies than what was being depicted on the big screen.
The term zombie has its origins in deep West Africa and often associated with the Haitian Creole (zonbi). A zombie is created and controlled by a tribal witch doctor, or bokor, and only he can control them. The purpose was usually for labor purposes but there were also darker means along the lines of revenge.
In modern times in Europe and the US continents, the zombie is often associated with an undead being that has come back to life to feed on the living and often used in most horror genres. It is regarded that the 1932 film, White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi, was the first zombie film made. George A. Romero’s film, Night of the Living Dead took it up a notch and kicked off the zombie phenomenon we currently have today. Today, we have the television show that is based on the graphic novel, the Walking Dead that has garnered, and rightfully so, many loyal and hardcore fans. Walking Dead is perhaps the first true to life apocalypse scenario that delves deep into the human element of man’s psychic and the deep horrors anyone one of us might have to endure if presented with the same situations and conditions. The show has enough characters suffering from severe cases of PTSD but there is the ever-present human condition of ’fight or flight’.
Today, on the literature side of this zombie craze, we have hundreds of different titles that have flooded the market. These range from the Rambo-type theme to the tragic and then on into the idea of romance but all have that single element of human survival at all costs.
Within this thick little tome, the writers within explore the human element side of the zombie apocalypse. Here, you will find many different characters involved in many different scenarios of the zombie apocalypse ranging from the lone wolf types, the timid, the strong, the family, Military, professional Mental Health therapists, mechanics, people from all walks of life, all seeking to survive the horrors of a zombie apocalypse. All the stories have the single driving element to survive, which is deeply engrained into our DNA code.
Tim Tobin’s tale, Head of the Family explains the tragic story of a young family on the run in a land filled with the undead and other ruthless elements of society that they encounter along their run to the Rockies. Often we have the horror stories with a humorous element. Dave Fragments tale, Skirmish at the Barbecue Pit, explains what some people would resort to using as weapons if suddenly faced with a zombie horde. If you really want a good chuckle, read Richard Becker’s story Playing Alive, a story told from a different point of perspective that would give the film ‘Warm Bodies’ a run for its money. Paul Dick gives a dark vision of preserving love during the apocalypse at all costs for a certain date and time in his wonderful but heart-wrenching story ‘Happy Anniversary’. I wish I could delve deeper into the true meaning of each of the stories within and give a detailed synopsis of each, but we’ll let you, the reader, decide and study the deeper value and just have a grand time. Within this anthology, there is a story for everyone that they can relate t
o in some fashion.
Lastly, I wish to thank all the contributors. Your stories made this anthology possible.
John L. Thompson
Editor, Undead War
The Head of the Family
Tim Tobin
Four-year old Andrea Kaplan twirled around and stomped her feet as her mom sang, “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round.” They had nicknamed her Andy. The child loved to dance when her mother sang to her. They were ready for a new song when Dick Kaplan rushed in and slammed the door so hard the glass rattled.
“Honey? What’s wrong?” Asked Liza.
“I just saw old man Carter going into his house.”
Liza chucked before she answered. “That’s impossible. Mr. Carter died two weeks ago.”
Dick stared at the Carter house for a long minute and then he locked the windows and the front door.
“Dick? What?” Asked Liza.
“Somebody is definitely moving around over there.”
“Maybe we should call the police,” she said. “There are crooks who read obits so they can rob empty houses.”
Liza gently put her hand on her husband and bent over the window and watched the outline of a man stumble through the supposedly empty house. A deep dread speared Liza’s heart.
When her dead neighbor lurched onto his front steps, Liza gasped in fright.
***
The coiffed blonde on CXX reported that the dead were rising from their graves all over the world. Terrified network anchors told of the dead attacking and eating living people. A sports announcer and his cameraman documented an attack on a high school football team. Their video was inappropriate for children and for adults.
The President declared Martial Law nationwide in an attempt to contain the outbreak.
***
Dick and Liza Kaplan nailed boards across every window in the house. Dick shoved the cupboard in front of the garage door. Their walk-in closet became the last zone of defense. They loaded it with baseball bats, fireplace tools, kitchen knives, and an antique sword.
They rigged the ropes to the bureau so they could pull it in front of the entrance from within the closet. They booby-trapped the entrance to the bedroom with tin cans and moved Andy’s big girl bed into their room.
Dick rummaged on the top shelf in the closet and found his old .38 revolver and a box of ammunition. Then he did the unthinkable with a small child in the house. He loaded the gun and strapped it to his hip. One of the last newscasts reported that the undead things could be killed by a shot to the head.
Little Andy cowered in terror and begged her mommy to sing to her.
“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” sang Liza over and over.
“Are you happy, Andy?”
“No, Mommy. I’m scared.”
Their home now a temporary fortress, Dick and Liza debated when to run. Running was a huge risk. The creatures were everywhere and seemed to appear in groups when people gathered. But their food, however, would run out sooner or later.
The SUV gas gauge measured about a half-tank and those final newscasts told of widespread gas shortages.
They still had lights and running water. The monotone of the Emergency Broadcast System replaced network and cable television. Andy amused herself by watching DVDs and looking at picture books.
***
Dick and Liza were sorting the few remaining canned goods and pouring water into empty bottles when Andy walked into the kitchen and asked, “Mommy, what’s a clear attack?”
“A clear attack? I don’t know, honey. Was that in a DVD?”
“No, Mommy. On TV.”
The Emergency Broadcast System, audio only, replaced network and cable television. Coiffed broadcasters no longer reported the widespread destruction. A monotone voice against a black screen took that job.
“A clear attack,” repeated Dick. “Clear? Nuclear? Oh my God!”
Dick and Liza tripped over each other getting to the den where a disembodied voice made the following announcement.
“In order to contain the epidemic, the President of the United States has ordered nuclear attacks on major population centers. Residents of the following cities are ordered to evacuate immediately: Washington, DC, New York, Boston, …”
The voice on the television stuttered, the lights blinked once, twice, and then power to the Kaplan residence failed. The house had no lights, no TV, no telephone, and no stove. Dick scrambled over toys, magazines and empty food containers to locate a hurricane lamp. When he turned it on, he found Andy wrapped in a ball on the floor sucking her thumb.
Liza collapsed next to Andy and cuddled her little girl.
Dick stood in the eerie light of the lamp and spoke as gently as he could.
“Liza, we have to leave. Now. That attack might come tonight or tomorrow morning. Our food will only last at most another week anyway. Our only chance is to get away from the blast and look for other survivors.”
Holding her four-year old, Liza struggled to her feet. “Let’s go,” she said.
They decided on the jeep rather than the SUV. The sturdy SUV would provide more protection from the flesh-eaters but the jeep could go cross-country. And the Emergency Broadcast System warned for days of blocked roads and highways.
Dick shoved the cupboard away from the garage door. He drew his pistol and listened at the door. There were no tell-tales grunts from the creatures. He yanked the door open and scanned the garage with his flashlight.
Holding his breath Dick stepped into the gloom. He circled the garage looking upwards to the rafters and down under the cars. He shone the light into the interior of the vehicles. Dick willed his heart rate to slow and called for Liza and Andy.
Liza strapped Andy into her booster while Dick loaded the coolers into the back of the jeep. Liza buckled herself into the seat and instinctively Dick went back to close and lock the door to the house.
“Think we’ll really be back?” asked Liza.
“No. No, I don’t,” replied Dick.
Dick checked the pistol again and put the jeep into reverse. He nodded to Liza who pressed a button on the remote control. The jeep was moving before the door opened completely. Dick immediately struck one of the staggering creatures and ran over it. The jeep rocketed backwards down the driveway and ran directly into an Army tank.
The impact crushed the rear of the jeep and blew both rear tires. Andy shrieked in pain or terror; there was no way to tell immediately. Liza’s airbag deployed and struck her face, blackening her left eye.
Dick’s torso crumbled against the steering wheel. His ribcage screamed at him but he could breathe. Maybe he thought, his ribs were just bruised, not broken. The noise seemed to attract a small herd and Dick emptied his pistol into a half-dozen snarling heads before he managed to close the garage door and reload.
Andy screamed and cried but Liza found no sign of serious injury. While Liza comforted the child, Dick started the SUV. As soon as Andy was in the SUV’s booster, Dick and Liza repeated the escape maneuver. This time Dick avoided the tank and stopped alongside the jeep. He jumped out and retrieved the cooler before any of the herd got close.
As he pulled away from the house Andy looked up at the tank and began to wheeze. A soldier hung out of the turret, his skeleton showing from where the things fed on him.
Instead of running full speed away from their former home, Dick drove carefully, avoiding abandoned cars and the things that hungered for their flesh.
***
For hours the Kaplan’s picked their way west across the northern suburbs, avoiding major roads. By daybreak they were on the turnpike with the sun in the rear view mirror. Mercifully only a few abandoned cars slowed them down.
They were elated to occasionally see other cars going in both directions. That meant others survived; that meant information, or at least rumors. The Kaplan’s told those heading east of the impending nuclear blasts and were astounded at how many continued on.
Close to Reading they ran into a group of people on foot at a rest stop. It was there that Dick Kaplan killed his first human.
A dozen rag-tag people surged towards the car when Dick pulled in. He hoped to find food and maybe even gas. Instead, a group of marauders tried to carjack the SUV. Unsuspecting at first, Dick rolled down the window to exchange information.
A large man wielding a knife stuck his head in the car told the family to get out. Dick began to protest when the man told him the world was now survival of the fittest. Dick raised the pistol from his lap and shot the man in the neck. The force of the bullet shoved the dying man backwards onto the pavement.
Dick roared towards the highway as a few scattered shots peppered the car. He looked back to see a large herd of the monsters surround the scavengers. The car slowed and Dick and Liza listened to the screaming for a few seconds before continuing west.
Andy stared out the window and sucked her thumb.
Dick told Liza to be on the lookout for any abandoned cars. During their escape from the city the SUV traveled over farms, meadows and dirt roads. The sounds coming from the undercarriage worried Dick the most.
Liza spotted a rest stop that yielded a car, gas and some food. The new car was a small Chevy with low mileage and gas in the tank. The devoured remains of the original owners laid next to it.
Liza nudged Dick and pointed to the eastern sky. White fluffy contrails followed an invisible plane.
“I’ll bet that’s a bomber,” said Dick. “And it also means there is still a government.”
Within moments the horizon turned white followed by a deep rumble that made their diaphragms vibrate. Slowly, a mushroom cloud rose tens of thousands of feet into the sky.
Philadelphia, the birthplace of freedom in America, was turned to dust in seconds.