The Zombie Chronicles 4: Emergence

By Mark Clodi

Nick is all alone, a situation he has no one to blame for but himself. Six years ago his father had left him and his sister, vowing to return to them...and he never had. But Bill had; remote and sullen at losing his best friend, Bill made little effort to raise his best friend's son, isolating himself with his new job: Being a soldier. Unhappy and left to his own devices Nick found himself in trouble at 16 and the lifetime exemption from the draft for his father’s sacrifice was all too quickly shattered in a world where jail time equated to serving time on the front lines in a prison company. However, larger things are at play; things set in motion that will shake the foundation of the world for a second time in less than a decade and it all begins with Nick.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Clodi
• Release date: Dec 7, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301037995

Mark Clodi

Mark Clodi (born March 30th, 1969) is the author of many zombie apocalypse novels and short stories. At an early age Mark was hooked on fantasy and the pulp fiction of the 'Golden Age of Science Fiction'. While moving around the mid-west with his parents he continued to feed his frenzied reading by buying fiction at yard sales and utilizing the local libraries. The thought of actually becoming a writer struck him at an early age, but he never followed through on his dream until he was much older and well established in his chosen career as a computer programmer. His writing started one day while trading emails back and forth with Mike Keleman, the co-author of his first book. They started assigning chapter numbers to the emails and the rest, as they say, is history.He lives in a small town smack-dab in the middle of Iowa (U.S.A.) tinkering with story ideas, knocking back the occasional rum and pondering his life choices.

Book preview

The Zombie Chronicles Book 4:

Emergence

by

Mark Clodi

A book set in the Zombie Chronicles universe.

Discover other titles in the Zombie Chronicles Universe at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/zombieman

Copyright © 2012 by Mark Clodi

First Edition: December 2012

Cover designed and © by Michael Picco, 2012

License Notes

No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means (electric, scanned, photocopied, recording or otherwise) without the prior written approval of the copyright holder and publisher of this book. This DRM-free book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. The distribution of this book without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author by purchasing this book. This book is distributed through smashwords.com

Books in the Zombie Chronicles Series

(Recommended reading order)

Collapse

TZC1: Outbreak

TZC2: Discovery

TZC3: Ascension

Undead Advantage

About a Woman

Cayo Elina

TZC4: Emergence

Table of contents, quick links:

Chapter 1

Chapter 5

Chapter 10

Chapter 15

Chapter 20

Chapter 25

Chapter 30

Chapter 35

Chapter 1

Your name? asked the man in uniform of the surly youth in front of him.

Nick.

Uh-huh. I see. You going to play me that way ‘Nick’?

What way? asked the youth with a sneer.

Alright, let’s see your ID.

I left it at home. The black haired young man kicked a rock off of the cracked sidewalk into the street.

Is that so? The uniformed man’s eyebrows rose appreciatively. Well, no hope for it, I’ll just have to let you go.

Really? This elicited a surprised cry of joy from the boy.

No, not really. I’ll run you into the station and you can call your mommy to come get you.

The youth shrugged and seemed to withdraw into himself once more. The soldier standing in front of him was perhaps twenty two and had the bars of a Corporal on his sleeve, upon seeing the young man’s reaction his look softened, Say son, what are you giving me a hard time for? Give me your name, show me your IDid and I’ll send you on your way. I’ll have to call your mom, you did some damage here, but you won’t get a record out of it.

My mom’s dead.

Then your father, I’m sure we can work something out so you make amends and stay clean. You don’t want to end up on a chain gang clearing fields for a month, do you?

Dad’s dead too.

The corporal shook his head, Tough break, kid. Not the first time I’ve heard that. How old are you anyway?

Nick stuck his hand in the back pocket of the dirty, faded blue jeans and dug out an old wallet, he fished around inside of it for his Government Issue identification card, which doubled as a ration card and handed it to the corporal. I’m sixteen.

The corporal looked over the ID card and then looked over the top of it at the youth before him, You give any thought to joining up Mister Nick Allmond?

No, the zombies got my mom, then they got my dad down in Florida but they won’t get me. Government says I don’t have to serve.

The corporal had a moment of clarity, he was busy remembering something from his training, a history of the early part of the zombie war and at once he realized where he was and who lived in this part of the country. His eyes widened and he handed the ID back to the boy, Nick, my name is Doug Henderson, you live over in Perry don’t you? With Captain Carson’s wife, Trisha?

Yeah.

What are you doing in Granger? You’re a little ways from home.

I don’t know, just thought I would come over here, mess around a little.

Was it a girl?

The boy’s glum expression and frown told Doug all he needed to know about that, Well don’t worry about it, there will be plenty of girls for people like you and me.

Not like her.

So you decided painting up the side of the school would ease your mind a little?

I didn’t want to break anything…I just wanted… I’m just… You gonna take me in or just call Trisha?

I’m thinking about it. Where’d you get the paint?

The shed over there. Nick pointed to a shed off the edge of the school property. The house on the same lot was run down and looked abandoned.

Let’s go see.

They marched back to the shed and Doug pulled a flashlight off of his belt to look around in the fading afternoon light. There were paint cans everywhere and several more of paint thinner and stripping chemicals.

C’mon, grab some of this stuff. Doug handed Nick a can of thinner and took one of old paint stripper for himself.

What are we doing?

We, and by ‘we’ I mean mostly you, are going to see if we can get that paint off the building before it dries.

Nick stared at the man for a moment, But, why?

You mean why ain’t I calling your mo…Mrs. Carson and getting you in trouble?

The boy nodded.

I ain’t calling Mrs. Carson because of who her husband is and who you are. But don’t think for a second you ain’t in trouble, boy. You understand me? Theft, vandalism, out past curfew…these are things that require punishment and I have the discretion to give it to you.

I’m not out past curfew. Nick protested.

You will be, boy, you will be. Now let’s go before my Sergeant shows up and decides I’m not giving you enough of a sentence.

The paint came off easily when it was hit by the paint thinner. Doug made the young man beg to borrow a couple of hoses from nearby houses to hose the whole mess off and when Nick was done the side of the building where the paint had been was sparkling clean, better than it had been before the boy started. When Nick finished, around ten that evening, the Corporal called him over and flashed his light on the part of the building where the paint had been.

No, this won’t do at all, Nick.

Nick stood staring at where the paint had been, there was not a trace left. It’s clean! It’s better than it was before!

I can see that and you have cleaned up your mess, but now you need to make amends to your fellow citizens. See how this section is cleaner than the rest of the building? It stands out and makes anyone who might walk by think that someone did a half-assed job cleaning the building. I think we need to get the whole building cleaned off so it matches.

Fuck that! Nick said, Just wait for the next dust storm to dirty it up a little!

The corporal leaned over and backhanded Nick, knocking him to the ground, seething he stood over the young man and shouted, Do not use that language! You will show some respect, I don’t care who your father was! Do you understand me?

Nick, shocked, propped himself up on his elbows and mutely nodded, afraid to do more than that.

Do you think I don’t have better things to do than nursemaid a spoiled, lovesick brat? There are people dying in this war and we no longer have time to coddle miscreants. Do you know how many men are up in the county jail right now, Mister Allmond?

Nick remained silent.

Doug raised his voice another octave and shouted, I asked you a question! Do not disrespect me by making me ask again!

No, I don’t know how many men are in the county jail! Nick shouted.

Zero, none, zip. There is no one in the county jail. Do you know why?

Bewildered, Nick shook his head, No. I don’t know why?

Because we ship them off to fight, do you want to go fight zombies like your old man Nick? Like your foster father?

No.

Of course you do! Travelling to see a girl twenty miles away, stealing and vandalizing property…these are the actions of someone who wants to die young.

Nick shook his head, So? Why do you care?

The corporal shook his own head and put his hands on his hips, You have no respect. You are an embarrassment to your father and your family. He turned and started to walk away.

Nick lay on the ground for a moment and then rose silently to his feet, his face locked in a furious grimace. He closed the distance to the corporal and tackled the man from behind, both went down in the schoolyard gravel and the fight was on.

A vehicle pulled into the schoolyard a few moments later and the headlights pooled onto the combatants, bathing them in a bright white light and causing the man on top to pause in administering the beating to the man he was sitting on top of.

Stop what you are doing! Roll over to one side and remain on the ground! We will shoot if you fail to comply.

Reluctantly Nick rolled off of Doug and onto the ground nearby, two soldiers came out from the vehicle and one cuffed Nick’s hands behind his back. The other examined Corporal Henderson, who smiled up weakly, but made no move to rise.

Well it looks like we have assault and battery, if not attempted murder. said the man bending over Henderson.

Chapter 2

The hospital was dark, it was well after lights out and they were down to a few nurses to care for the patients. On the third floor of the hospital there was some commotion, a group of soldiers were marching towards a lone room where Corporal Henderson lay. The nurse at the station marched in front of the tall black man in uniform, barring his way.

Visiting hours are over, you can’t come in here.

Sorry nurse… The officer glanced at her nametag, Gina. We have to speak to the soldier brought in, it is a matter of national security and I do have the authority to speak to him.

You’re talking about Doug Henderson, who got in that dust up in Granger. He’s sedated and probably sleeping. Uh… Gina struggled to read the man’s rank.

Lieutenant Colonel. The man supplied.

Lieutenant Colonel. I’m not sure if he would be able to give you much information right now. I know they have the young man responsible down at the jail…

This isn’t really a choice for me, Nurse Gina. I have superiors of my own to answer to and I need to at least see the man, even if I can’t speak with him.

Okay, follow me. Try to be as quiet as you can, there are other patients to consider.

The Lieutenant Colonel’s forehead wrinkled, I thought Henderson had a private room.

He does. Gina assured him, Kind of a pain too, we are fully bedded out right now and making him a single means we’ve had to triple up other patients. You’re man is in there, Colonel.

Lieutenant Colonel. He corrected. Thank you. I’ll keep it down. Sergeant, would you mind the door for us? The Lieutenant Colonel and two other men disappeared into the room, closing the door behind them.

Gina stood there for a moment, eyeing the young Sergeant, then turned away, realizing there was nothing else for her to do and refusing to stand in the hallway waiting for the men to return.

Inside the room Henderson was awake. When the dim light came on over his bed he sat up stiffly and tried to raise his hand in a salute to the figure in front of him.

At ease, Sergeant.

Corporal, sir.

The black man’s eyebrow rose slightly and he pulled out an envelope from which he removed a thin sheet of paper and a set of rank signifying chevrons, which he handed to the newest Sergeant in the army. Congratulations on the promotion, Sergeant. You did a good job out there with young Allmond.

Yes sir! Thank you, sir!

Now what can you tell me about our young mister Allmond?

He was fast, he was strong. If I hadn’t known any better I would say he was a tier two.

He broke two of your ribs with his bare hands and your left wrist. I am sorry about that. When I sent word down that I wanted this boy watched and incarcerated I didn’t mean for you to do such a thorough job.

I did as ordered sir, came down hard on him when he did something worth getting in trouble for, then tried to instill a little respect into him and then provoked him.

It worked. A little too well, if you ask me. What if I were to tell you this boy wasn’t a tier two? The tiers reflected the level of exposure, and power, normal humans gained from killing zombies. They only went to tier three and tier one covered ninety-five percent of those who had slain zombies in close combat.

Henderson shook his head, Not possible. He was way too fast. He would have killed me if the others hadn’t shown up when they did.

He almost killed you anyway. You’ll be recovering for months and might never be the same again.

I’m tier one, I’ll be walking out of here in three weeks, meaning no disrespect, sir.

The Lieutenant Colonel laughed, I like your spirit, Sergeant! We need more men like you in my command and I am going to take a personal interest in you.

That means more to me than this, Henderson raised the paper with his chevron on it, does. Not that I don’t appreciate the promotion too.

How was he mentally?

Nick, was surly, almost mean. I’ve seen many young men who went through losses like he has, no one with a father as famous as his, but a lot of others. He seems to stand out as worse than the rest.

He needs a focus for his anger, Doug, and I mean to give him one. While you are here I am assigning you a bodyguard. No, you’re not in any danger, the man I am leaving is just to help you out and, within reason to get you anything you need. As a personal favor I would like you to pass on to him anything else you can remember about the kid’s behavior, is that fair?

More than fair, sir!

Okay, I don’t need to tell you to keep quiet about this. Just recover and sign the papers I send to you in a week or so transferring you over to my command. Are we clear?

Yes sir, Lieutenant Colonel Draper, sir!

Draper smiled and shook Doug’s hand before he left. The nurse was pleased to see them go, but thought it was unusual for them to leave a bodyguard on her floor. In the deserted lobby of the hospital Draper turned to his assistants and said, We’ll hit the prison next, but I can’t go in there, the boy can’t know me or my name. So Sergeant Powers you will be in charge of explaining things to him. Don’t elaborate; don’t stray far from the script. If we do this right we’ll have the kid out from under Bill’s authority before he even knows he is missing.

I understand, sir. You can count on me.

Chapter 3

Nick was in a cell at the county jail, despite what Henderson had told him there were two other prisoners with him. All were in their street clothes, the resources to outfit prisoners in orange were gone along with the standard furniture and the world wide web.

The way Charlie, Nick’s creepy forty year old cell mate, described it, giving out free clothing would just encourage more people to commit crimes. Free clothes were free clothes. Nick merely shrugged and lay down on his bench. The night in jail passed slowly, Nick wasn’t having problems sleeping, he slept in a room at home with two younger boys who moaned, talked and snored all night long. What kept him up was worrying about what Trisha and Bill would think when they heard of his assault on the corporal. Finally, he realized that no amount of worry could change anything he had done, so he rolled over and fell into a troubled sleep.

Breakfast was a corn meal mush with half a pint of milk. He thought it was a decent amount of food until Charlie told him they only got fed twice a day. Both of them were dressed in their jeans and t-shirts, neither wore shoes, the jail policy was to take the prisoners shoes away from them, they didn’t tell Nick why.

I think they take our shoes to keep us from hanging ourselves. Charlie said. The whole shoe thing appeared to be of great interest to his cellmate. It was eight in the morning and the prisoners were in the common room with a television murmuring the news at them. Nick was hungry and irritated.

I don’t care. Nick said.

What?

I don’t care why they took our shoes. I want some quiet. Can you be quiet?

The older man backed away from Nick in the common area and approached the other man in the cell, whose name Nick hadn’t learned. The other man shifted his gaze from the television hanging on the wall to Charlie and simply stared at him. Charlie stopped talking and took a seat as far away from the other two prisoners as he could get.

Nick Allmond? shouted one of the jailers from the doorway, You have a visitor.

Hey, hey, what’s this? How come he gets special treatment, visiting hours are Saturday from noon to five! yelled Charlie in protest.

Shut it, Chuck. The guard said, C’mon Allmond, don’t keep us waiting.

The guard gestured for Nick to move ahead of him and gave him instructions on where to go. This was easy enough as most of the instructions consisted of following colored lines drawn on the floor of the hallway. The line Nick was following ended in a door and the guard behind spoke again, Your lawyer is in there. Go in and listen to what he has to say.

Nick opened the door and stepped into a small room with white walls and a window set high up in the far wall. The room had a simple folding table and four folding chairs, two of which were folded and leaning against the wall under the window. A manila folder lay on the table, along with a pen. The other two chairs were pulled up to the table and a young man in military fatigues stood up from one as Nick entered and shook his hand.

Nick Allmond? I’m David Powers and I am here to help you. Please sit down.

Who are you? The guard said you were my lawyer.

I’ve been in contact with the district attorney and he has authorized me to speak with you on his behalf. Please, sit. Sergeant Powers gestured again at the chair he hadn’t been sitting in.

Nick moved around the table and sat down, his face unreadable.

Nick, I have to level with you, you’re in trouble. Vandalism is small potatoes compared to assault, battery and attempted murder charges.

I wasn’t trying to kill him!

I know. I know that, things just got out of hand and…well, Doug is in the county hospital now with two broken ribs and a broken arm. Sergeant Powers leaned back in his chair and gave Nick a once over appraisal before letting out a low whistle, Honestly son, that is some impressive handiwork. Do you have any idea how much force is required to break a man’s ribs? I could use a man like you and you could use me.

What do you mean? You’re trying to get me to enlist. I can’t. My dad was…

Powers shut Nick off with curt motion of one hand. I know very well who your dad was. Do you think he’d be proud of you right now?

Fury sprang to Nick’s face, but he shook his head once.

No? Neither do I.

Did you know my dad?

Nick, I’m twenty two, so when your dad did his thing I was only your age. I never met the man. But I do admire him. He did what had to be done and I think, no, I know his blood runs in your veins. You have the same potential as he did, you don’t have to live in his shadow, you can make a good life of your own.

Still doesn’t change nuthin’. Nick said sullenly.

You can’t be conscripted. That’s what was arranged by the government. You get a free pass. But there isn’t nothing preventing you from enlisting on your own.

Why would I do that?

Why wouldn’t you?

Nick stared at David for a moment, not understanding.

What do you have ahead of you? Farming? Settling down with some country girl? Is that the life for you? If you want my opinion, it’s that they did you a disservice with this ‘gift’. You need a challenge, you need a chance to prove yourself and I’m going to give it to you.

Sergeant Powers opened the folder and took two documents out of it, he pointed at one of them, This one is a list of charges the district attorney has leveled against you. Normally you’d just get booted into the military as punishment, probably put on the front lines and be dead within six months unless you got your act together. But you’re a special case because of your dad, so here is what he was going to try and push through before I spoke with him. Under the modified laws of the existing Federal Government you are no longer a minor, not since your sixteenth birthday, which was, three months ago. So his initial offer was seven years on the attempted murder, six months on the assault and nine months on the battery. You’d be held at the only prison still operating, up in Cherokee and your sentence would be served concurrently with a suggestion by the D.A. that half of the sentence be deferred for good behavior. You’re looking at three and a half years in prison.

The reality of his situation hit Nick and he paled as his brain caught up to what David was telling him. Three and a half years?

Yeah, that’s not that long. Of course Cherokee only holds the mentally insane now. Like I said, any able-bodied people are in the military working off their anti-social behavior. Don’t look so sad, Nick. I told you I spoke to the D.A. and he is allowing me to present a different option to you. David pointed at the other document on the table, where he had carefully placed the pen.

Here is my deal. Enlist in the military. Make it through basic training. That’s it.

That’s it?

You won’t be let out of the military early, if that’s what you mean, we’ll keep you until things blow over, but wouldn’t you rather be firing a rifle than driving a tractor?

I’m not sure…

What would your father do?

Nick picked up the pen as he read over the documents, which surprised David a little, but after reading them, he signed.

Good man! You made the right choice, the choice that would make your father proud!

Nick gave David a weak smile as the Sergeant clapped him on the back.

Guard! David said in a loud voice.

The door was pulled open and the guard asked, Yeah?

I’ll be taking Nick with me when I leave, can you get his personal effects ready to go?

The guard looked at Nick for a moment, then at the Sergeant and nodded. I’ll see to it.

We’re leaving now? Nick asked.

No reason to delay, the next round of basic starts in two days, we’ll take care of you until then. Why don’t you wait here while I make a call to the D.A. to let him know what happened. David stepped into the corridor and shut the door behind him.

Reaching into his pocket David pulled out a cell phone and dialed Draper’s number.

Did he take it? Draper asked.

He signed. David answered.

Good job soldier. Get him out of there before anyone knows he is gone. I’ll call the District Attorney in the morning and let him know how this is going to play out.

He’ll be pissed. David said without thinking.

"No one likes it when someone falls off the pedestal they’ve been

Reviews for The Zombie Chronicles 4

[LenaSanchez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love this series hope this isn't the end of it :)