Zombie Battle: Part One: Outbreak

By Jacqueline Druga

A meteor streaks across the sky above a small Peruvian village, landing in a field not far from it. Mesmerized, the unsuspecting villager race to investigate this phenomenon. Their curiosity exposes them to a virus seeping from the celestial body and within hours they are deathly ill.

Health officials from around the world, race to the site of the outbreak. When they arrive they learn that not only is the virus highly contagious and deadly, but it doesn’t stop after the victim has died. The virus reanimates its victims turning them into the unimaginable . . . zombies.

Zombie Battle is a five part series that chronicles the worldwide war against the undead. Part One: The Outbreak, details the start of it all and how the infection escapes its secluded beginnings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GreatOne AS
• Release date: Feb 7, 2011

Book preview

ZOMBIE BATTLE

PART ONE: The Outbreak

By

Jacqueline Druga

ZOMBIE BATTLE - PART ONE: OUTBREAK

By Jacqueline Druga

Copyright 2011 by Jacqueline Druga.

Published by GreatoneAS at Smashwords

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This story is dedicated to all of my children and their undying (No pun intended) love of zombies.

CHAPTER ONE

May 2nd

Carancus, Puno, Peru

It streaked across the heavens. Green and bright, as if God Himself used a fluorescent marker and created a colorful slash mark against the star sparkled clear night sky. It didn’t make a sound, not at first.

Carlos Linderas was a simple man. He lived a modest life with only the focus of raising his young son. But on that night he focused on something else. Whatever it was that fell from the sky. He saw it. He was sitting by the window of his two room home, sewing, when he caught glimpse. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, a shooting star, meteor, anything, but he was certain it landed with an impact. First the thunderous sound, then the vibration. It rocked his stance and then his inner being when he heard the rain of debris against his tin roof.

His six year old son, Juan sat on the floor and looked up.

Carlos bolted to the door. Stay put, he said with a point.

But Papa… Juan stood.

Stay. I’ll be back.

Even though it was only he and his son, Carlos didn’t think much about leaving his small child alone. Not in their village, everyone watched out for everyone.

Apparently, everyone also watched the thing fall from the sky. Carlos and a few dozen others hurried to the landing site.

They had no clue how far away it was, it had to be close.

Some left on foot, others by truck. Not many drove there, not many owned vehicles.

A man named Ben led the way and a pack of others on foot. Ben was strong, fit and fast. He also owned one of the vehicles, so it was no surprise he was first to leave.

Carlos partnered up with Mr. Lund for the discovery journey, an old man who lived a few houses down. The conversation was nil in their quick pace to where the object had landed. The pace slowed down the closer they drew, Carlos attributed that Mr. Lund’s age. He wheezed heavily, catching his breath often.

The tail light’s of Ben’s truck glowed in a weird fog, they trudged only a half of a mile to the impact. There was a weird smell the closer they got, not pungent or strong, just odd. It tickled Carlos’ nose. He couldn’t tell if it was the odor or dust.

Ben was calling out for people to hurry.

Carlos looked at Mr. Lund who waved him to ‘go on’. He left the old man, half bent over, holding on to his knees, catching his physical bearings.

Ben stood on a huge mound of dirt several yards head of his truck.

Hurry, Ben said. Look before it goes.

Carlos did. An object, rock like, had fallen into the earth creating a crater 100 feet around and at least twenty feet deep. At first, Carlos thought Ben was insane. Go anywhere? Where would the object go? Then he saw the reason for Ben’s concern. The rock, cracked and distorted, leaked a clear fluid. Water like, boiling, rapidly it filled the crater, burying the rock beneath the flowing liquid.

Maybe it hit a well, Carlos suggested.

No, it’s coming from the rock, Ben retorted.

As if the rock would do something magical, the forty some people watched, watched the crater slowly fill up.

Another villager commented that someone had to call for help, and she ran back down toward the village for authorities.

But Carlos remained.

It wasn’t long, though, that he started to feel badly. His head hurt, eyes, watered, nose burned and stomach turned.

He didn’t want to come across as weak and refrained from saying anything until Ben turned his head and squeezed between his eyes.

Are you OK? Carlos asked.

Ben shook his head. No, my head hurts.

Mine, too. Carlos whispered as if he were telling a secret.

His voice carried in the darkness, and a few others responded with their same symptoms.

‘This is crazy,’ Carlos thought. ‘One person’s illness is becoming another’s. It has to be all in our minds.’

Perhaps for the others it was, but Carlos knew his