Dead Chaos

By April Brookshire

Zombies plague the apocalyptic landscape, insatiable and wreaking havoc on the remaining uninfected. Settlements desperately hold out, fighting for the last remnants of civilization while striving for a return to normalcy.

At twenty years old, I should be worrying about final exams and where I’m going for spring break. Instead, I’m sharpening blades and loading guns.

My family chooses to make its home away from the settlements, deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We raid stores across the state, gathering supplies which we in turn trade to the settlements.

It’s a simple, but dangerous, existence and biters haunt us every step of the way.

Lucky for us, I have a secret . . . I’m a necromancer.

My name is Anya Donovan and this is my survival story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: April Brookshire
• Release date: Aug 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301238798

April Brookshire

Author of romance and urban fantasy. Her works include the Young Assassins series, Beware of Bad Boy series and Dead Chaos series. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.

Book preview

DEAD CHAOS

Book 1 of the Dead Chaos series

Ryan & April Brookshire

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 by Ryan & April Brookshire

ISBN-13: 978-1301238798

All right reserved

www.aprilbrookshire.net

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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CHAPTER ONE

Do you think only the white trash zombies congregate at K-Mart? Alexi asked quietly while peering through his binoculars at the scene across the street.

I held back a smile as not to encourage him, but couldn’t resist teasing him. Oh yeah, the high class ones prefer Target.

Shut up you two, Viktor ordered the both of us, clearly annoyed.

True to character, Alexi always bended the rules and simply lowered his voice to a whisper. I’m telling you guys, we should hit up Walmart. The pickings are better.

There are too many of them there. We’d be the pickings, Viktor responded while pulling out his billhook machete.

I can put out that many, I informed my older brother. Although, this was something he well knew.

Viktor shook his head, frowning in thought. Not worth the risk, Anya. Better to hit this place first.

Our dad and Viktor had already decided on the K-Mart in this town, so that was the way it’d be. They lead and the rest of us minions followed. Five years older than me, Viktor’s opinion mattered more to our dad than mine and Alexi’s.

Even if I was considered the talent in the family.

I couldn’t blame my dad when it came to my brother Alexi, though. Alexi was seventeen going on seven. The only reason Alexi sat on this roof with us instead of a few blocks over where Kyle, Justin and my dad were about to start the fireworks was because Viktor was on a recent mission to toughen our younger brother up. Alexi had guts in spades. It was his lack of brains that was worrisome.

Viktor stared intently at his watch. Three, two, one. The explosion from the west lit the sky brighter than the rising sun in the opposite direction. My dad, Kyle and Justin would be circling around to meet us here, having now provided the distraction.

Our gazes drifted back to the K-Mart parking lot. It worked as expected. Like a flock of birds, the dead headed toward the smoky sky. From our rooftop perch my brothers and I patiently, and not so patiently in Alexi’s case, waited for the zombie herd to clear out. It was slow moving, comparable to watching a group of toddlers waddle in a race. Partially brain dead or not, zombies were competitive when it came to dinner time. The first-come, first-served saying came to mind. The early bird gets the intestine. I’d even seen one zombie unintentionally maim another to feast first. If only they’d start eating each other, life would be much easier.

The biters who’d been least damaged before death were at the front of the pack. Alpha zombies were what we’d nicknamed them, the ones you had to most watch out for. Then there were the stragglers, the ones who’d been gnawed on before they’d died and turned undead cannibal. Missing limbs or massive amounts of flesh and muscle resulted in the cripples. Looking through my binoculars, I saw an infected male down in the middle of the parking lot trying to stand up. Hard to do when you’re armless. Another zombie with the opposite problem was desperately trying to catch up to the herd, dragging her legless body along on two arms.

I could almost imagine her saying, Wait up, guys!

Like the freaking Special Olympics down there, Alexi commented with a chuckle.

I bit back my own laugh. "You’re just wrong, Alexi. Then to Viktor, I said, Told you dropping him on his head would have lifelong effects."

Like usual, Viktor took the high road.

And . . . we’re good to go, Viktor announced confidently as legless rounded the corner of a building.

I followed Viktor and Alexi down the service ladder, leaping past the last few rungs onto the pavement. Before we set out to conquer K-Mart, we each readied with a weapon in hand. Along with handguns strapped at his ribs and thighs, Viktor carried a billhook machete in his right hand.

Search and destroy, bitches, Alexi boasted. His shotgun was strapped to his back along with a modified Louisville slugger. Modified, as in he’d driven large nails through it and sheathed it in an aluminum pipe when not in use. Gripped in both hands, he carried a katana sword. He always did love Leonardo from the Ninja Turtles as a kid. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started wearing a blue bandana.

Along with handguns strapped onto both thighs, I always had with me my trusty tactical tomahawk. Removing the nylon sheath, I admired the black axe head on one side and spike on the other. A lady never leaves home without it.

It took almost five minutes to get to the broken out K-Mart entrance. Viktor tended to be overly cautious when it came to raids, secret weapon or not. Now that the zombies were cleared out, what remained was a parking lot with faded yellow paint dividing the spaces, littered with stray debris. The lone tumbleweed near the store entrance added just the right touch of desolation.

As we passed by armless, he began making a guttural sound and attempted rolling our way. The going was slow, to say the least. Alexi couldn’t help himself. He stopped five feet away from the zombie, crouching down and enticing it with his living flesh. Here, boy, come and get it.

Viktor grabbed Alexi by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to his feet.

It made me sad that human beings were reduced to this state. If you died, you become mindless and obsessed with eating live flesh. If you didn’t die, you fought every day not to become one of the mindless. We were luckier than most, though, because we had me.

The moaning coming from inside the store warned us of the remaining stragglers. They’d be spread throughout the large store, but all within my radius. I’d also be taking out the undead in nearby buildings.

Okay, secret weapon, Alexi murmured. Time to drop ‘em.

I began to chant.

Stop fooling around, Anya, and get on with it, Viktor demanded in that superior tone big brothers tended to master.

Fine, I gritted out. If you asked me, the chanting added a certain mystique to my abilities, gibberish or not. Really, only a few moments of concentration and visualization did the trick. I didn’t know why I was able to do it or where it came from.

Connecting with the undead I felt around me, I let the feelings of despair and emptiness gather. The very essence of death. Using their aura, I turned it back on the infected, releasing a wave of energy which incapacitated them.

Done.

You sure? Viktor asked.

I gave him a condescending look. Do you hear any moaning or crashing about? Yeah, being a necromancer tended to come in handy during a zombie apocalypse. Viktor was already giving me his back and entering the store. You’re welcome! I called out to him.

You know what the moaning reminds me of? Alexi asked me with a twinkle in his green eyes.

Um, ravenous zombies?

Nope. From the way Alexi was having trouble holding back his laughter, I knew the immaturity level of his next words would rate highly. The sounds Viktor makes from his and Melanie’s room at night when they think everyone is asleep.

Busting up laughing, I held a hand over my mouth to muffle it. As Viktor glared at us over his shoulder, I told Alexi, That’s so gross!

Alexi’s smile was sly in response. Not when it’s Melanie that’s-

A kick to his shin ended that conversation. I didn’t know what was worse, my little brother talking about sex or my little sister mooning over cute boys. Maturity couldn’t come fast enough for those two. Unfortunately, in Alexi’s case it may never come.

We had only the sunlight filtering in through the front of the store to light our way. The three of us each grabbed a shopping cart. I grabbed a different one when my first choice was squeaky and went about the serious business of shoplifting.

I encountered an out of commission corpse on aisle three. Its small size made me avoid closer inspection. You never get used to seeing children like that. Pushing my cart around it, I cleared out all the honey, white rice, powdered milk and other items that thankfully lasted forever. Oh, how I wish cereal never expired, especially the sweet kind. A year after the world ended, I learned a hard lesson from eating expired food. Alexi was right there with me, sick all night. Thank god that when we got our hands on the right ingredients we could still make pizza.

After finishing up in grocery, I went to the health and beauty section for the item number one on my little sister’s list. Tampons. She’d just gotten her first period and was acting like the biggest diva over it. While there, I also loaded up on toothbrushes, toothpaste and an abundance of hygiene items I’d be tossing everyone’s way. The mostly empty condom section let me know Viktor had already been through here. Or maybe in wishful thinking, Alexi stocked up. Either way . . . disgusting.

Along with a couple more corpses, I ran into Kyle on aisle nineteen. My boyfriend had been with my dad and Justin when the explosion went off, but grabbed a cart and joined us in our shopping spree. His cart was loaded with flashlights, lanterns and apparently the store’s entire stock of batteries.

After a quick peck on my cheek, Kyle pointed to the corpses on the linoleum floor. Good job, babe.

I shrugged as if it were no big deal, which was kind of true at this point. The guys should be finishing up. Ready to meet them up front?

Sure, but can we stop and grab me a new pair of shoes? Kyle’s current pair of hiking boots was looking a little worn out.

Okay, but don’t you want to wait until we go to a good store? K-Mart shoes will probably give you blisters.

It’ll be good to have a backup pair, just in case we don’t make it to any better stores for awhile.

Thinking this was maybe a good idea, I grabbed an assortment of shoes for the rest of our small group. My little sister’s feet were still growing, so I grabbed a half-size up from last time.

By now, our dad and Justin should be on the same rooftop perch we’d occupied before, waiting for us to signal them to come pick us up. When we got to the front of the store, Viktor and Alexi were already bagging their loot. Kyle helped me bag mine first, then we did his, double bagging the heavier items. I got two more kisses in the process and annoyed looks from my two brothers.

Viktor was the one to step out into the parking lot and wave for pickup. My dad and Justin would drive the truck and Suburban over for us to load up. After six years and lots of experience, both good and bad, we had the routine down to perfection.

At the sound of approaching vehicles, Viktor’s head whipped to the side and he backed into the store. His vehement, "Shit," alarmed the rest of us.

What is it? Kyle grabbed Viktor’s arm to get his attention.

Strangers, he told us with a grim look. Two fast approaching trucks entering the east entrance to the parking lot.

We saw what he was talking about when a newer and an older truck with rusted Texas plates screeched to a halt in the handicapped parking area. I only got a good view of one of the drivers, a scuzzy-looking, bearded white guy. However, I could just make out a passenger sitting next to him. It looked like the other truck also held two men. Hopefully, they wouldn’t cause us any trouble, but history told a different story.

Maybe they don’t know we’re here, Alexi whispered.

Doubtful, Viktor answered. They were probably scoping us out while we were scoping out the store. Or they heard the explosion and that’s how they found us.

From our position, one truck was parked diagonally alongside the other. The men filed out of the pickups so they were between the two vehicles, using them as shields. Which put us at a disadvantage. My dad and Justin wouldn’t have a clear shot of them with their sniper rifles and we were in the same predicament.

"Throw down your weapons and come out