Zombies! Episode 1: Shawn of the Dead

By Ivan Turner

Shawn Rudd is an almost average high school senior on his way to meet up with his secret lover when he encounters what appears to be a zombie. His reaction to this encounter will change the course of his life forever.

Detective Johan Stemmy and his partner are called in to investigate a strange murder. The victim's time of death predates the murder by several hours. As the word "zombie" begins to enter their vocabulary, Stemmy and his partner must begin to redefine their experience as homicide detectives and accept what simply cannot be.

Join these and other characters as they try to live their regular lives despite intrusion of zombies into the populace. With the rules of society altered forever, can society survive?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ivan Turner
• Release date: Sep 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452357942

Ivan Turner

A child of the movies, I was always consumed by fantastic stories told by others and translated into adventures to be retold by me through the action figure medium. As I grew older, I put the action figures away and moved into the realm of role playing. Though I never outgrew role playing, I certainly don't have the time for it anymore. Since I was eleven years old, I've been pouring almost every ounce of creative energy I have into writing.I graduated college in 1993 with a degree in computer science. I tried my hand at programming for a couple of years and found it pretty unsatisfying. I later became a partner at a comic book store, where I spent several years. Though it wasn't a financial success, the experience I gained from running the store and the people that I met (many of whom I'm still in touch with today) was priceless. After leaving the store, I settled into a career of teaching. I still teach at a public high school in New York. Ironically, I've picked up computer programming again, which is what I mostly teach.I've been writing the whole time.I released my first book electronically in 2010. Forty Leap was a turning point for me in both style and story building. The Book of Revelations, which was written earlier but released later, was sort of a midway point between the writer I was and the writer I've become. I experimented with a very odd style and a story that employed diverse characters and controversial situations.In September 2010, I released the first installment of Zombies! Zombies! has been a tremendous success for me that came very close to being made into a television series. Since Zombies!, I have written a five part miniseries called Castes and have been working on developing tabletops games, the first of which, ApocalypZe, was published in early 2014.Now, 6 years later, a 3rd Zombies! series is due to be released in September of 2016.

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Zombies! Episode 1 - Shawn of the Dead

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Copyright 2010 by Ivan Turner

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SHAWN was already packed and ready when the bell rang. Then he was out the door and heading for the staircase without looking back. It wasn't as if he didn't like Mr. Arrick or his class. There was something about classic literature that actually appealed to him. And learning it from a Scottish guy seemed to make it more real. But the school day was long and he had to be home before five o'clock, which gave him very little time to spend with Marcus.

Shawn thundered down the stairs before most of the other classrooms had spilled their occupants out into the hallways. That was the way he thought about it, the time of passing between classes. After eating so many students, the classrooms finally got sick and puked up the contents of their stomachs. That meant that everyone in the school, Shawn included, was just some disgusting vomitous chunk.

He needed to spend less time coming up with metaphors and more time thinking about Marcus.

At twenty three, Marcus was six years older than Shawn. That didn't really bother Shawn. He could do as he pleased. He wasn't sure how it would sit with his parents, though. Of course, the fact that he was dating a man would probably overshadow the age difference in their eyes. His mom would be okay with it, he knew. She was pretty open minded, having been taught the lessons of hatred as a child. But his dad would blow a gasket. My son?! A queer?!

Yeah, that wouldn't be so good.

On the Brooklyn streets at last, Shawn set a quick pace for the subway. It wouldn't do for him to be seen by his friends, some of which may have skipped their last class and waited. As it was, they would wonder what happened to him. If they caught up to him, he'd never be able to get away. A simple lie could go horribly wrong and he definitely couldn't tell them the truth. He had an image to maintain. One that kept him healthy.

Once out of sight of the school, he began to feel better. The train station was about six blocks away but it only took two blocks to clear the area of delis and pizza and Chinese places that the rest of the kids frequented. He was a regular at the pizza place and waved to the guy behind the counter as he passed. Shawn wondered if the guy owned the place. He wondered if his hopes fell when Shawn walked by without stopping in for a slice. Just how important was that two dollars and twenty five cents?

Three blocks from the school and three blocks from the train station and Shawn quickened his pace again. It was hot out, especially for a September day, but he'd be able to cool off in the air conditioned subway car. Of course, until then, he would boil in the sweltering station. He always missed the train by seconds. Granted, he only had to wait about three or four minutes for the next one, but that didn't do anything to dull the frustration he felt when he'd hit stairs and hear, Stand clear of the closing doors, please from the platform below.

Four blocks from the school and two blocks from the train station and he saw the zombie.

The sidewalk wasn't that busy but there was always traffic moving through the streets. As soon as the zombie came into view, Shawn