Dead Evolution: The Second Dark Age

By Brita Woolums and Larry Buhr Jr.

It is 2016, four years after the apocalypse that robbed Alexia McQuillan and her son, Hawk, of their happy lives. After her husband, David, contracts a deadly virus that transforms him into a violent zombie intent on killing her, Alexia is forced to make an unimaginable choice. Now, with her husband dead and their safety in jeopardy, Alexia and Hawk must embark on a dangerous journey across Americas wasteland in search of other survivors.

As they travel east, Alexia and Hawk must learn how to survive while battling voracious zombies and escaping ruthless renegades. The two must keep hidden or risk being turned into mindless, brain-eating creatures themselves. Meanwhile, Lucas Kruczek and his daughter, Leah, mourn the loss of their loved ones while building a fortress around their city. Forced to live under the strict rule of a fugitive from another planet, father and daughter make many alliesincluding Alexia, Hawk, and Sydney, a little girl forced to grow up fast or die young.

In this science fiction adventure, Alexia and her newfound group of friends must team with a clever zombie hunter, a spiritualist intent on protecting mankind, and an innovative scientist to battle a war against a deadly virus that threatens to destroy Earths population.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475940398

Brita Woolums

BRITA WOOLUMS AND LARRY BUHR JR. both live in Iowa with their families, where Brita is hard at work on the sequel to her first book, Shallow Water. Brita and Larry plan to partner on future writing projects together. Dead Evolution is the first book in an anticipated series.

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Copyright © Brita Woolums and Larry Buhr Jr.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-4038-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4039-8 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4040-4 (dj)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914439

iUniverse rev. date: 08/23/2012

To our lost loved ones, Joseph David Buhr

and Timothy Joseph Russell.

We can rest knowing that they

will not become zombies

and eat us.

Contents

Preface

1 Memories

2 Tough Decisions

3 Commune of the Undead

4 The Memorial

5 Arenatown

6 Dead Gladiolas

7 New Friendships

8 Undead Visions

9 Bob Zombie

10 Stansssleeeyys Nottsss Herreess

11 White Zombie

12 Market of Doom

13 Reunion

14 Strange Behavior

15 A Holiday to Remember

16 Hives

17 Crazed Voices

18 Loss of Innocence

19 The Siege

20 Dead End…?

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

A Dead City

by Clark Ashton Smith

The twilight reigns above the fallen noon

Within an ancient land, whose after-time

Lies like a shadow o’er its ruined prime.

Like rising mist the night increases soon

Round shattered palaces, ere yet the moon

On mute, unsentried walls and turrets climb,

And touch with whiteness of sepulchral rime

The desert where a city’s bones are strewn.

She comes at last; unburied, thick, they show

In all the hoary nakedness of stone.

From out a shadow like the lips of Death

Issues a wind, that through the stillness blown,

Cries like a prophet’s ghost with wailing breath

The weirds of finished and forgotten woe.

Preface

Brita Woolums

The journey through writing Dead Evolution: The Second Dark Age has been a very challenging but yet exciting one. This was the first book I decided to write with a coauthor who just so happened to be one of my great friends, Larry Buhr Jr. After getting my first book, Shallow Water, published, I have continued to work on its sequel, Torrential Rain, in my spare time along with writing this first book of a potential zombie book series.

Through the development of Dead Evolution: The Second Dark Age, I have experienced many changes in my life that have had a significant impact on my writing. For one, in May 2011, my dad passed away due to an accidental drowning. To deal with my dad’s passing, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary, so I went skydiving for the first time, which really gave me a different perspective on the world. Also, since my dad’s passing, my mom and I have grown a lot closer, which has been a positive change in my life, considering before his death we hadn’t spoken to each other in two to four years.

In the past year especially, I feel like I have grown as an author. Through taking on writing this horror novel, I feel like I have branched out and discovered new territory for my writing.

In my writing, I feel like a lot of my influences have come from my own personal life as well as watching others’ lives. Many of mine and Larry’s friends’ input and creative ideas have also proven to be quite useful. For this book in particular, some of my biggest influences were some that may not be what you would have normally thought, like the TV shows: Stargate SG-1, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Trek. I also would like to add that my wonderful husband, Josh (being a hardcore supernatural zombie fan), contributed some great ideas to the book as well. Some other big influences that I had with writing this book that you most likely would have normally have thought of, were the movies: Night of the Living Dead, Redneck Zombies, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, and Zombieland. Additionally, Max Brooks’ book, The Zombie Survival Guide, was a helpful resource to look at that gave me some ideas to think about as I was in the process of writing this book with Larry. Lastly, the TV show, The Walking Dead, and the TV documentary, Zombies: A Living History, both have proven to be some good influences for me with writing a book in the zombie genre as well.

Larry Buhr Jr.

The year was 2010. I, Larry Buhr Jr., had just lost my younger brother Joe who had been very close to me. His death devastated my family in May. The loss of my brother had put me into a depression where I had begun to feel that there would never be anyway out. The next several months were surreal. The world seemed dark and bleak. It was October when Brita Woolums and I had met up to catch up on things in our lives, when the first idea of writing a book together was brought up. Brita and I had become friends through working together five years earlier, and had maintained contact ever since. I remembered Brita being very excited when we met in October because of her recent publication of her first novel titled, Shallow Water. In talking, we discussed what had been going on in our lives. Brita talked about her book and I talked about Joe. At some point in our conversation, we talked about the idea of writing a book together. At this point in my life, zombies had become a weird way for me to cope with the loss of my brother Joe. I remember jokingly mentioning that I had wanted to write a book.

What kinda book? Brita had asked in a serious tone.

Zombies of course! I had jested.

Let’s do it then! she had excitedly replied in a dedicated tone of voice.

For the first time since my brother’s death, I felt that there was a ray of hope for me. In the discussion about the prospect of writing a book, I felt positive energy in the air that night.

Starting to take notes on book ideas, we discussed meeting times and made commitments with starting and finishing the book. Since that fateful night, we have been working on our novel, which you are in the process of reading.

My influences in the zombie genre stretch back into my childhood and watching: ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s horror films. The progression of the zombie genre overall has affected my appreciation for zombies. Even one of my all-time favorite games that I play, Magic: The Gathering, has zombies in it. Max Brooks’ books, World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide, seemed to be very influential for me as well. In addition, the following TV shows have had a significant impact on my writing: Scooby-Doo, Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt, The Walking Dead, Dr. Who, and the TV documentary, Zombies: A Living History. The following movies gave me some good ideas for characters: Alien, The Ice Pirates, 28 Days Later, Resident Evil, Pumpkinhead, and Redneck Zombies. One movie in particular that has also greatly affected my style of writing was, Creepshow. Through its wild short stories all compiled into one, it helped give me an understanding of different ways to address the viewer, or in my case, the reader.

Authors’ thoughts on book

Over the course of writing this novel, we discussed and researched many ideas on zombies. The amount of time and energy that we have put into this book has been immense. We even had the conversation with friends on the subject. Nowadays, the zombie genre is a diverse subculture of fans all who have different viewpoints on what is or on what classifies a zombie as a zombie. After research, we decided that zombies should be broken down into four main categories:

Voodoo (Haitian and African beliefs)

Supernatural (demon possession, resurrection, curse, etc…)

Biological (parasite, viral, etc…)

Sci-Fi (chemical, technology, radiation from space, etc…)

Through our creative process, there have been many influences from outside sources that reflect each of our categories of zombies.

First, the 1988 movie of The Serpent and the Rainbow, inspired by writer Wade Davis, shows a far different perspective on zombies. Characterized as a horror/thriller, this movie is a modern day film that touches on the whole voodoo aspect of the zombies. Visually, it was extraordinary, and even how it touched on the possible origin of zombies was amazing.

Second, the 1987 movie of Evil Dead 2, directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, touches on the supernatural aspect of zombies and demon possession. This American action, horror film, involves the main character, Ash Williams, who while taking a trip with his girlfriend, decides to play a tape made from an archeology professor and unknowingly unleashes a recorded incantation of an evil force. Like in our book, where Lucas Kruczek struggles with being possessed by a foreign alternate personality, Ash’s character in Evil Dead 2 struggles with being briefly possessed by a demon who is on the hunt for him after having to bury his girlfriend of whom he had to decapitate after she was possessed. Being pitted against hell, Ash’s character must figure out how to defeat the evil powers around him that continue to grow.

Third, the 2002 movie of 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle, represents the biological aspect and type of zombies. As in our book where the contagious zombie virus spreads due to the impact of an infected meteorite, in the movie, 28 Days Later, a society breaks down due to the spreading of an extremely contagious virus nicknamed rage that makes people go into a state of constant anger and feeling of want to attack. The British action, horror film, much like in our book, focuses around four survivors and their struggle with the destruction of their lives and of their society.

Lastly, the 1985 movie of Return of the Living Dead, written and directed by Dan O’Bannon, touches on the whole chemical aspect and type of zombies. As in our book where survivors struggle to deal with brain-hungry zombies that eat brains to gain knowledge, in the movie, Return of the Living Dead, a group of brain-hungry zombies haunt the earth after they were accidentally released into a town due to an army misappropriation of their zombie canisters. This great American, zombie horror film spawned four sequels due to its popularity in the world, with its most realistic zombies.

Overall, there were three movies in particular that influenced the both of us and our writing in the zombie genre: Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and Evil Dead 2. All three movies exhibited: excellent gore, fantastic plots, and thrilling horror, throughout. By far, these three movies were our favorites, as they proved to be the most helpful with our descriptions of zombies and of the ultimate terror unleashed on the earth. Starting with the outbreak of the virus and then continuing on with the panic and the fright developed in many, being created by the creepy, disgusting, and constantly evolving creatures, these three movies really displayed the spirit of the natural horror presented in the zombie genre.

Furthermore, we would like to recognize George A. Romero for giving birth to the zombie genre as a whole. Nicknamed the "Godfather of all Zombies," Romero has been best known for his spine-tingling, horror films dealing with the idea of a zombie apocalypse on society as we know it. Being a great influence, Romero has impacted our writing greatly in the different ways that we portray zombies and has shown us some great stories that can come from zombie fantasy.

Every day, we are constantly reminded that the world is on the brink of destruction. To quote REM, "It’s the end of the world as we know it." It really depends though philosophically how each individual portrays the end of the world. Just in the last ten years alone, our world has advanced tremendously in both technology and science. When you think about it, almost everyone nowadays has an electronic device on them. Maybe that’s how the world will end, when we stop being human and become something else, possibly trans-human, or maybe even a zombie, or possibly our species will regress into barbarianism again. What is the next step for humanity anyways, short of putting computers into our bodies? Nobody knows for sure. Everyone just speculates.

The fear of the possibility of not being in control of one’s self or body at some point in time haunts all of our minds. What if a zombie apocalypse was to occur? Would you be living? Would you be dead? Would you remember your loved ones? How would you survive? Endless questions fill our minds and constantly plague the zombie genre as a whole. Humans overall seem afraid of the future and what it may bring and yet in the back of our minds, we crave the change that time brings. We fear the unknown but yet we explore it.

In the case that a zombie outbreak was to occur, our book emphasizes on the evolution of the world as we would see it and how it would be potentially plunged into a second Dark Age; with the collapse of the Roman Empire on a global scale, being the start of the first Dark Age. Not only would our society regress, but everyone would have to fend for themselves and survival would be of the fittest and of the smartest alone. People would need to rely on their basic instincts and technology would no longer be needed or used. We would be forced to scavenge our land for goods. It would be a battle of survival. No longer would anyone be able to be trusted. As seen in the movies in the, Mad Max Series, the world’s addiction to modern day gladiators would continue, but instead of people battling against each other in fun sports like: football, hockey, soccer, etc… our society would regress to young warriors as in the Roman times battling against: each other, animals, or in our case, zombies, all battling to the death just to entertain the masses. Furthermore, our government would collapse and laws would be no longer. Crime would increase and so would the disgusting abuse of our children by important and influential trusted people.

Last Note from Authors

As we continue to write together within the subject of zombies and plan on writing a sequel to Dead Evolution: The Second Dark Age, we also plan to further analyze the zombie genre as a whole, in a book that we are currently in the process of doing research for titled, Everything You Need to Know about Zombies but Don’t Give a S**T! We look forward to breaking down every aspect of zombies and we hope everyone will enjoy reading it.

1

Memories

Alexia

I remember back when my life was simple, when my husband David and I had first gotten together, and when my son, Hawk, was first born. These were the good days when I was able to go to work, come home, and live my life as normally as I possibly could. I got along well in life and had minimal fears, apart from the normal worries about money and the sometimes occurring worries about my job.

The town I had lived in was a small town just outside of Reno, Nevada called, Winnemucca. It was the perfect town where everybody knew your name and where everybody was always happy to see you. The population in Humboldt County was 7,174. Winnemucca was always known as the city by Battle Mountain. Thousands of oaks, pines, and evergreens, covered the beautiful lands that layered the landscape on all sides of the nearby mountains. The crisp, clean air had always been so pleasant to my nose. All in all, we had moved to Winnemucca to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Now is the afterlife. The year is 2016, four years after the apocalypse. It was weird. Who would have believed that 2012 would really be the end? Looking out of the crack of my boarded up window, I remembered back.

For me, Alexia McQuillan, it had started with the death of my husband of fifteen years. He had disappeared at dusk on a warm spring night in search for our son, Hawk, who had gotten mad and stormed out of the house. Hours later Hawk had returned home after calming himself down in some hideout that he had found outside, but David had not returned to the house with him. It wasn’t until the next morning that David had come home and his arms had been all scratched up. When I had asked him what had happened, he had just grunted and went to take a bath.

That night and the following two nights, he had been complaining of having a high temperature. He had to put a new shirt on every three hours, then it became every hour, and quickly it became every half hour, because he had been sweating so badly. When I had asked him if he was okay, he had just continued to grunt at me. I had told him to drink more water, but it didn’t seem to help. Nothing did. Another hour passed and he had collapsed on the bed. Slowly spreading to the rest of his limbs, his head, and last of all, his chest, the open gashes on his arms had begun to ooze with a greenish brownish liquid that reeked of moldy flesh. As I had tried to get near him, the heat had made it too unbearable for me to touch him.

Another day had passed and David had started to reek much worse than before. On the fifth day of his progressing, seemingly incurable illness, David had been unable to move, speak, or hardly breathe. He had seemed almost dead. The oozing green, mysterious slime had spread to occupy most of the space around him in his bed. I could hardly look at him anymore without crying.

After fifteen years, my husband and I had grown so close together that I couldn’t bear to see him like this. I had tried my best to keep checking up on him but after a while, I could hardly make myself look at him anymore, even if it was to just check on him.

I had kept Hawk from seeing his father in such a state as well even though he had kept asking me questions upon questions. I just couldn’t talk to him about it. I knew it would’ve only been mentally scarring for even a fourteen-year-old to have to see the slow death of his father.

David’s face had turned to a greenish looking hue with slime coating his every crevice. The sweat and ooze combined had seemed to form a deathly mixture of toxins which were taking over what life he had. His stomach had started to appear as if it was slowly inflating and pulsating abnormally and his fingertips had looked as if they were transforming into points, similar to little daggers. It had seemed like his flesh was rotting off of his bones.

It was on the seventh day of David’s illness that I had to do the most horrible, unimaginable thing. I remembered it as a day of a lot of crying and of rocking myself back and forth on the carpet and of Hawk trying to comfort me.

I had been downstairs throwing my mind inside of a book, trying to get away from reality as best as I thought possible, when I had heard some heavy, dragging footsteps nearing me from behind.

Hawk? Is that you? I had called out into the dry air, still not lifting my eyes from my current page.

No answer.

More heavy footsteps pounded closer behind me. Hawk, whatcha doin’ hun? I had called out mindlessly again.

Still, no answer.

Just as I had lifted my head to look up, I had seen a form in the hallway. David, is that you? I had called out in peeked interest.

He had let out an unnatural moan and then had made a lunge at me with his large arms.

Dashing out of my chair with my book falling fast to the ground, I dodged him, but he kept lunging towards me. I had started screaming at him, "David, what are you doing? David! David! David! Listen to me David! What are you doing? This isn’t you! David you have to fight it! David!!!"

Standing, he had looked as if he had died and come back to life. The slime that had once covered his body had seemed to subside, just leaving behind a residue of dark brownish green, oily, malodorous skin that coated his body and oozed out of him like oozing warts. Parts of his skin had looked as if it was falling off to reveal his bones. His eyes had sunken back into his head, revealing part of his skull, and had a strangely glazed, with a reddish hue, cataract look to them. By the looks of it, the hair atop his morbid skull had appeared as if he had been dead for years, only revealing a scattering of hairs. And his fingers had resembled giant claws, while his toes had also seemed to grow long, oozing claws, which had grown out of his bone. With clothes hanging limp on his shoulders all slashed and soiled, David had turned from my groom to my worst nightmare.

Lunging at me again with his large, rotting-like arms, he revealed his vicious looking claws.

I had dodged him once again, now bawling out, "David! What the hell?! It’s me, Alexia, your wife!"

He had lumbered at me moaning all of the way out into the garage with his arms extended the entire time, as if he had been going to try and grab me.

Why was he acting like this? What was happening? Why would he want to hurt me? My mind had popped out a million questions, but none of which that I could honestly answer. "Ahhhhh! I had screamed at the top of my lungs as fear gripped me. Somebody help! David why?!"

David had dived towards me and I stumbled down to the hard concrete floor. My head had crashed against a nearby chair on the way down, causing extreme shooting pain across my skull. I had squealed out in agony and had reached my short arms back behind me, scaling the smooth concrete, trying to grab anything nearby. My fingers had reached and finally latched onto a crowbar. I had pulled it with all of my strength in front of me just as my mad husband had been encroaching on me trying to claw at my chest. His claws had hit the crowbar which had rested in my hands just inches away from my chest. Reaching his hands up in the air again, he had prepared to drive his oozing claws into my unscathed chest. I had stopped him just inches from me and with all my strength I had pushed him back just enough to wedge my foot in between us, to roll sideways, and to leap to my feet. I had lifted the crowbar above my head and in one swift sweep had slammed the steel beam down on his head. A loud crack had rang out in the dry air as David’s head had splintered before my chartreuse eyes. As he had fallen to the floor, I had struck him once again with another blow to his already bloody head, making him collapse limp on his stomach on the cold concrete. His neck had oozing blood out all over the surrounding pavement right in front of my bare feet. Spackled with blood, the color of an unripe green tomato, my toes, sweatpants, and sweatshirt, had taken the brunt of my attack.

It had been over. I had stood looking at what I had done in shock, worry, and sadness all in one. My mind had been overwhelmed with a tornado of feelings that I couldn’t handle. I had dropped to the floor landing on my knees, crying profusely.

Being the daughter of a Marine, I had always been my daddy’s little soldier. I always thanked God for giving me such a father who was so strong and powerful, and who had taught me the art of fighting. Because of my father’s encouragement, I had gotten a black belt in karate and for someone as petite as me, that was a great feat. I was grateful that I was as knowledgeable in survival as I was. It had certainly paid off by getting me out of a lot of difficult situations in the past.

Noticing the pounding feeling in my skull, I felt to see if there was any damage. I had sat motionless just staring for what felt like hours. It wasn’t until my son Hawk had come home and had seen what had happened that I had been jolted back to reality. At first, he had freaked out to see his father dead on the garage floor with the blood everywhere. However, after I had told him what had happened, he had seemed a bit relieved to know that his father was now out of his agony.

It’s how he would’ve wanted it, Mom, Hawk had said trying to reassure me, rubbing my back.

However, I had not felt reassured.

Now looking back out the crack in the boarded up window, I tried to stop thinking about the past. As I started crying again, I relived the thoughts of my husband’s death of which I was still unsure whether to blame myself or not.

What was that? I jerked around paranoid next to my peephole out into the real world.

What’s wrong Mom? What is it? I heard Hawk rustle and mumble out to me from the floor, after just waking up. Everything all right?

Yeah, I guess so, I said still looking around, worrying about any sound that I heard, even if it was just the wind blowing the trees in the spring air.

Hawk fell back down resuming a sleeping state.

I started cranking my portable AM/FM radio to see if there had been any updates of anymore attacks. Only silence followed. For me though, that was a relief.

Neither Hawk nor I had seen any other people in three years. After escaping several attacks in Winnemucca, it seemed like the world had been in chaos around us. These strange, undead creatures had begun attacking anyone in sight and so we had left by car to escape to the mountains. Unfortunately, all of the gas stations had been overthrown, so we had only got so far up the Nevada Independence Mountains and then had to continue on foot, hiking for almost a week. Making camps in trees, and hiding deep in forests, Hawk and I had hardly slept. It wasn’t until we made it to this deserted cabin high up in the Independence Mountains, that we had begun to feel somewhat safe. But for me, I was always in a constant state of paranoia. Always watching. Always listening. The cabin had looked deserted and yet full of everything we needed except for more wood to get the fireplace going. It not only had a good store of supplies inside, but it also had what only looked to be a garden in the process out in back. After studying a great deal about edible plants, I felt confident that I could salvage any meal. The wooden abode seemed like it was a hunter’s cabin.

We gathered wood once a day during the daylight, while we watched nervously for predators. The two of us had grown so close and dependent upon each other for survival. We both had lost someone very close to us and we both knew what the other was feeling.

Hawk had taken the role of the strong, unworried, optimistic one, where I had assumed the role of the strong, terrified, paranoid one. However together, as mother and son, we were a team.

"What’s that?" I whispered, peering out of the cracks in the wooden boarded window.

Hawk woke up and crawled his way over to where I was sitting on a hardwood bench, What is it, Mom?

Do you see anything? I asked anxiously as I reminded my son of the constant threat in the outside world.

I don’t know, he replied groggily, still half asleep. It’s no use worrying yourself mad though. Here Mom, I’ll make you some tea to help calm your nerves.

Minutes passed and Hawk returned with some tea. I took the metal cup from my son’s steady hands and held it close to my chest, only taking sips every once and a while.

Mom? Hawk spoke quietly looking at me searching for answers. Whatcha thinkin’ about?

The past, I answered, staring out of the cracks in the boarded window. Then taking another small sip of tea, I reflected on how lucky we were to have had made it to where we were.

Do you see anything, Mom? Hawk asked while staring out blankly into the dark room.

No.

Do you think anything’s near?

I don’t know.

It seems ungodly quiet.

I know.

It wasn’t more than three months ago that I had woken up at dawn and cranked the radio to see if there was any news. Unfortunately, there had been a crackling of voices that came through along with a bunch of fuzzy static. The voices of both men and women had been speaking in fear and had told of how the city of Reno, Nevada had been compromised and currently had several troops of these creatures—whatever they were—working together occupying the city, murdering many, and changing many innocent humans into their kind, by either clawing them or biting them. After observations had been made from close examinations and from watching these creatures develop from humans, it had been explained on the radio that people who had been bitten had become more powerful zombies than people who had just been clawed. Apparently, there had been some very dedicated citizens who had taken it upon themselves to report the situation to anyone who would listen, even if it had been extremely dangerous and life threatening.

The dead had risen.

I still didn’t know what was going on; it was all happening so suddenly. People had begun to transform and had gotten real ugly. To add insult to injury, they had started acting violently and going crazy. The whole state of Nevada was panicking and the whole city of Reno seemed to fall apart in just a couple of days. I wished it was all a dream, but instead it had sadly become my reality.

It had sounded as though the zombies were working together in packs similar to wolves, where there were the minion soldier zombies who did all of the work and the hierarchy powerful zombies who took the position of power among all of them. All in all the concept of a more advanced species of beings taking over my world had been hard to swallow.

Coming out of my thoughts, I looked across the room to my son and felt a bit of happiness come over me that we had been able to stay away from danger for this long. On the other hand though, I was very superstitious and hoped to God that I being happy wouldn’t lead to us being attacked. With my luck though, I was unsure.

Outside of our boarded up cabin, the spring season was underway. It was a time of growth, renewal, and new lives being born. Birdfoot Violets, Dutchman Britches, and Snowy Orchis’, were only a few of my favorite mountainside wildflowers. However, birds were not chirping, but trees were blooming, and wild flowers were budding in our area, where rain seemed more prevalent during this time of year. I spent several sleepless nights just tossing and turning on the mattress pad that was my bed, while thunder and lightning crashed out into the night sky overhead.

It was on this particular night that the worst news came to us. The sad part, we had finally calmed down as much as we possibly could after three years of living in this seemingly deserted place.

Hawk already decided to call it a night and had lain down on the gray sleeping pad, which he had deemed his own.

As much as I tried to stay awake, my eyes would not listen as they kept on drooping. I decided to make one last routine check of any news to be heard on our tiny crank radio.

"Crrrrrr! Caaassshhh!" The radio’s static was overwhelming.

However, just as I was about to turn it off I heard the strangest thing. "Heeelllppp! Pleeaassee Heeelllppp!" A young female voice echoed through my eardrums.

Eager to find out what had happened, I turned up the volume, the static became more intense.

The girl’s voice cried out over my radio again in segments, now giving me more information in bits and pieces, like a puzzle to put together only in words. "Dead people—caaassshhh—attacking—crrrrrr—taking over—crrrrrr—Elko—caaassshh—Nevada—caasshh—taking over—crrrrrr, caaassshhh."

I cranked harder and faster now, but only static followed. My heart pounded as I began sweating with terror. What were we to do? Where were we to go? North? South? East? West? My hands shook violently as I continued to crank the static radio for nothing but support. For thirty minutes, I continued shaking, sweating, and cranking, until my hand just fell off of the radio, limp from the stress I had just been subjected to. As I just stared out in no particular direction, my mind felt numb. Knowing that Hawk and I would have to abandon our dwelling of three years in the dark of night, I pondered where to go.

What had happened to my life? Did I really deserve this strife? And to what end would this last? I thought, searching my brain for answers but found none. I wondered if it was all a dream. I slapped myself twice, just to make sure it wasn’t. Passing out from weariness, I took rest before our long journey.

As the sun began its ascent into the sky, I awoke making a scant breakfast of jerky and of some vegetables from the garden.

Hawk, wake up hun! We gotta go soon! I spoke with urgency.

What? What, Mom? But why? Where are we going? Hawk asked, seeming truly bewildered and shocked.

Away.

"What? Away where? We’ve been fine living here! You know as well as I do that there are those creatures out there! Why risk it? Are you crazy?" Hawk vented with his voice escalating in anger.

Listen to me! I turned around and snapped. "Before you go all nuts on me, listen! Okay?"

Fine! What? Hawk demanded, crossing his arms.

I was cranking our radio last night and I heard a girl. Hawk, she was screaming with terror. I could not bear to tell the story back in words to my son. Horrible images just kept popping into my head as if I was reliving the girl’s panic as my own. My eyes started to overflow with tears that I could not hold back. It was terrible, Hawk! She said how the dead people were attacking and taking over Elko, Nevada. And look! Look at our map, Hawk! I scuffled through some newspapers on the cabin’s kitchen table to find our map. Yes, there it is! Look Hawk! Elko, Nevada, there it is, right below the Independence Mountains. That’s where we are Hawk! That’s where we are! I burst out crying profusely and dropping to the cabin’s wood floor with the map escaping my fingertips.

Mom, it’s okay. Stop crying, please. We’re gonna be okay. Who knows if those things will even find us, you know. We’ve been here for what, three years now? They could’ve attacked before but they didn’t. So why now?

"Even find us! Even find us! Are you crazy? You know they will!" I howled out in panic and concern.

Okay, okay, so we go and look out over the mountains to see if we can see anything.

I stood up wiping my eyes, which had now turned red from all of my crying and rubbing of my eyelids. What?

We go out hunting to see if we can see anything, Hawk repeated calmly.

Okay, and if—

—let’s just go hunting first before we worry about ifs. Okay, Mom?

Okay, I repeated, finishing wiping my eyes with my sleeve. Let’s go now then.

Okay Mom, Hawk agreed.

But wait, let me get some stuff together first. I hoped to God that Hawk was right, but there was a part of me that strongly believed that we would need to be ready to go any day now. I hurried beginning to pack some essentials. Guns, ammo, food supplies, I tried to pack efficient but light. Flinging open the cupboards, I found minimal medical supplies, but they would suffice. Shoving all of the goods into a couple of old green backpacks, I tried to harness my will and strength to get ready to explore a new life.

Mom, what are you doing?

We need to be ready to go at any time, Hawk. Just help me quick, please. I looked at my son with begging eyes.

Fine, Hawk deflated, giving into my worries.

It wasn’t until late morning that we set out with our hunting gear, which consisted of one handgun, one bow, one club, and one crossbow with six arrows. I always carried the gun and the club, and Hawk always carried the crossbow and arrows; the other bow was used just if needed. We both carried knives. A few squirrels leaped across our path, but we had—or at least I had—brought our hunting supplies for defense this time instead of for hunting, so I let them scurry past us. Then several rabbits sprinted by us as well. After a good half hour of hiking to the edge of the mountainside, we neared the place where we had once come to look out in search for approaching food. Deer galloped around us in fright along with all of the other animals.

Wow, it’s a good day to hunt. Don’t you think Mom? Just look at all of the animals that we’re seeing.

I slowly walked to the edge of the mountainside, taking my place hiding behind a large gray boulder. My mouth dropped open in shock as I spoke to my naïve son. Hawk, those animals aren’t just sprinting around for fun. They’re sprinting in panic and fear, for what’s coming in our direction. Look! I pointed my finger down the mountainside.

"Oh my god!" Hawk howled out.

"Shhhhhhhhhhh! I whispered. Get down!"

Hoards of the undead creatures were crawling up the lower part of the mountainside, about ten miles from us. By the way they spanned the mountainside taking sauntering steps towards our location; they looked as if they were on a mission to take over the mountain.

"Look at them all, Mom! What do we do?" Hawk asked, crouching next to me, whispering back.

"We get the hell out of here, like I said in the first place! I continued, too scared to cry. Come on! Hawk let’s go! Now!"

"Do you think they saw us or smelt us?" Hawk continued questioning worried.

"Whether they saw us or not, I don’t know. But, I do know that the wind is in our favor and that they most likely didn’t smell us."

"Where do we go? Which direction?" Hawk asked worried.

"Let’s head back to the cabin and grab supplies for a long trek."

"I hope we can stay ahead of them Mom."

"Me too!" I answered, trying to be optimistic, even though it was extremely difficult.

We quickly journeyed back together to the cabin to try and get our stuff and get out before we were spotted.

Throwing together a few more supplies into our packs, Hawk and I tried to hurry.

I called out to Hawk, Almost ready yet hun?

Yeppers, Mom!

I gazed out of the open door and noticed it standing on the edge of the clearing. It was encroaching near us.

Then we heard it moan.

2

Tough Decisions

Lucas

As I gazed out across the night landscape, the moon was full. The night skies were dark and dreary, bringing only sadness into my heart. My weary eyes spanned the horizon for more of the wretched undead creatures. I thanked God for the hardcore survivalist personality that He had bestowed upon me. Placing my hand on my face, I thought about all that had happened.

I remember back it was in the year 2012 that all had come to pass. My wife, Laura, my daughter, Leah, and myself Lucas Kruczek, had all been watching the news on one seemingly calm late morning. We had gotten up early to get ready to pack for our annual trip to northern Minnesota for a quiet three-day weekend on the lake. Unfortunately, we had ended up canceling our trip due to the serious news report.

At just around 1:30 AM this morning, what appeared to be a giant meteor dazzled many South Carolina residents. Many said it sounded like a super sonic boom in their backyard. One kid said, quote, The lights were amazing. And the loud roar in the sky made me think that the moon might have been exploding. It was awesome!

The meteor exploded over Kershaw killing thousands potentially millions beneath its impact. We are still however unsure of any specific numbers. Officials are presently blocking off as much of the impact site as they can until further investigation.

This fiery ball of light was witnessed by hundreds, as it swept the skies leaving behind immense debris scattered everywhere. Dr. Hunter Flatsworth a well-known scientist and studier of astrophysics, who works for the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in North Carolina, joins us tonight from ChapelHill, North Carolina. Welcome, Hunter. Thank you for joining us this evening.

Hi there. Yes, thanks for having me.

So can you explain a bit about what happened in Kershaw, South Carolina and what your thoughts are?

What people saw was most likely a piece off of an asteroid, an irregularly shaped rock that orbits the Sun. As we are in the process of examining some of the pieces of debris from the asteroid, we will be trying to determine its origin and if it causes any potential risks to life on earth. So far after examination, we’ve discovered that the meteor was considered to be a dense asteroid with a hollow core.

Okay, and so how big was the span of the meteor’s impact?

It was said to have exploded weighing way over a thousand tons. It was roughly sixty yards long in diameter and by the looks of its devastation, it is said to have exploded right before hitting earth. Meaning, it basically exploded right above the ground. The scattering of debris was found as far as miles away from the site of impact. There was even debris found up mountainsides, which gives us an indication that it exploded right before reaching the ground on earth, other than exploding on impact. Otherwise, debris would have not as likely traveled so far up mountainsides.

Really? So how can that be?

Well, when the asteroid exploded, it basically splintered into several million pieces upon contact and since those pieces were moving at such a high velocity, they basically used the ground as a trampoline when they finally did hit after being exploded and bounced off of earth, flying in all different directions, traveling far away from the site of impact. After examination, the debris and damage spans roughly one thousand square miles from the site of impact. And with the several thousand that have already been reported dead, with many more reports to come, this disaster has sent the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and even parts of Florida, Kentucky, and Alabama, into a state of panic. Myrtle Beach and Lancaster, two of the largest cities in South Carolina—with fifty to seventy thousand people in their populations—have been flattened, being with some of the worst damage already reported. Trees have been uprooted. Houses have been crushed to pieces. Cars have been flipped several times and totaled. All of the damage seems to have been flung out away from the meteor’s point of impact. We’ve been up all night examining the wreckage and it’s already being said that the devastation is already a thousand times worse than when Hiroshima, Japan was hit by the first atomic bomb during World War II.

Really?

Yeah, with all of the damage already reported, it seems to be more similar to four or five mega atomic bombs. And that doesn’t leave out the aftershock that’s being felt across the country, including the shaking of houses, trees, and wind chimes.

The asteroid was said to have had a greenish glow to it as it soared over the horizon. Why is that?

Yes, most of South Carolina’s affected areas seem to be coated with a greenish dust. Some who witnessed and still lived through the explosion say that when the asteroid exploded, the debris fell from the sky appearing like a green haze. It’s almost like everything’s been dusted with a green mist.

Okay, one last thing, so are these pieces of meteor or asteroid as you call them, are they safe for people to touch?

Most likely, yes, but we along with several scientists and astrophysicists are in the process of examining them and so for the moment I would say to wait until people go start trying to grab souvenirs.

Ha ha, okay well Dr. Hunter Flatsworth it has been great having you here today. Thank you for your time.

Okay, yes, well, thank you for having me.

Alright, well, so weather service officials in Kershaw received numerous reports of the so-called fireball heading from southeast to northwest over Kershaw, Lancaster, and Chesterfield counties. Civilian Olivia Ackridge states all other meteor showers in the past don’t even compare to this enormous display of lights in the night sky and even though it was amazing to see, it was definitely not worth all of the damage it caused.

"Oh my God! Mom, Dad, so what do we do now?" Leah had cried out in shock.

We wait, I spoke deflating, while still staring off into the direction of our television.

Yeah, hun. There’s not really much we can do to help from the boonies of Titonka, Iowa. I mean we’re not going to fly out there. You know what I mean, dear? Laura had answered in the most calming of all voices.

Yeah. I know Mom. I just thought—

—I know Leah.

I had further remained silent.

Twenty-four hours had passed and I had found myself in a sort of déjà-vu, by the fact that I had been once again watching the late morning news with my wife and daughter. This, however, had been the day in which I had started to feel remorse for those who had to experience such disasters in the world.

We join you again for our daily national news report. Many are still feeling the effects from the asteroid that hit Kershaw, South Carolina, along with several other major cities. Basically destroying the state of South Carolina, the dense asteroid’s crater spans sixty meters of the earth. The damage created from the asteroid spans over a thousand square miles in diameter around the now demolished cities of Kershaw and Lancaster.

Reporter Nicholas McGavin is currently joining us live from Kershaw, South Carolina, or what remains of the demolished city.

"Thank you Marissa. Yes, I am here now in what used to be downtown Kershaw, South Carolina. As you can see the