Hungry Dead: Episode 1 (The Zombie Apocalypse Series)

By Steven Hill

When the corpses of the recently dead began returning to life, the world slept. The military, the police, the doctors and nurses and countless other people and organizations in place to deal with crises are the first victims, leaving humanity without its first line of defense.

The Hungry Dead series follows the stories of five people whose lives touch as they try to fight back against, to find refuge from, and to survive the onslaught of the living dead.

In this episode:

Anna - A young woman down on her luck, trying to find her place in the world, returns home to make amends with her estranged parents.

Gabe - Anna's younger brother who still lives at home, a sarcastic and directionless young man waiting for life to come to him.

Both wake up into a nightmare when the dead crash in through the front door in the middle of the night.

New episodes will appear at a rate of one or two per month, so check back regularly! There will be a total of six episodes in the first season, all reasonably priced.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven Hill
• Release date: May 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301624553

Steven Hill

Steven Hill is Director of the Political Reform Program for the New America Foundation and author of 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy and other books on politics. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Salon.com, TheNation, International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, Prospect, and many other publications and websites.

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Hungry Dead: Episode 1

Steven T. G. Hill

Published by Steven T. G. Hill at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Steven T. G. Hill

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Anna cleared the dishes from the table. Her dad had given her a confused look when she'd volunteered. Had it been a mistake? She'd never been the sort to do household chores before. Would they know something was up?

Thanks, her mom, Michelle, said, stretching her arms above her head. John, her father, stood behind her, cupping her elbows and letting his hands slide down to her ribs.

Can you two keep your hands off each other? Gabe said. He'd already abandoned the table and had turned on the Xbox. Flashes of light from the fake gunfire strobed into the dining room through the doorway to the den.

Aren't you getting too old for games? Anna said, annoyed at the sound of gunfire. She never had liked video games very much, nor the hold they seemed to have on her younger brother. He was twenty years old, why was he still playing them? She put all of the silverware on one plate, then piled all the other plates beneath that one.

Aren't you too old to come home? Gabe said.

Anna nearly dropped the dishes. They tinkled against one another alarmingly in her hands as she jerked to a stop, one foot on the linoleum of the kitchen floor, the other on the polished hardwood of the dining room.

Shit, she thought. She'd hoped her parents would be a glass or two deeper into their wine before she broached the subject of staying.

What? Michelle said, What does he mean, Anna? Are you coming home?

The chair squeaked back against the floor as her mother stood.

Getting the dishes rinsed seemed like the most important task in the world at the moment. Anna rushed into the kitchen, turning the tap on full. The long, chrome neck of the tap hissed as hot water splashed off the dishes. Someone, her dad Anna thought, said something. Thankfully, she couldn't make it out over the noise.

The hot water scalded her hands, but it brought her attention away from the moment.

Then her mother turned the tap off and put her hand on Anna's shoulder. Anna faced her. Her mother seemed to have shrunk a little somehow over the last year. Anna had always remembered them as being of a height. Now, neither of them wearing any shoes, Anna was clearly an inch or two taller. The gray in her mother's hair was like little silver veins in her otherwise dark curls.

What's wrong? Michelle said.

Anna wiped at her eyes with the heel of her palm. It came away wet. She swallowed against the ball of phlegm that had formed in her throat. Why