Drake Halberd and the Veil of the Dead

By D.J. Kowalenko

Treasure hunter and adventurer Drake Halberd just wants to relax. But when he arrives in Cosmic City hoping for a respite from his frenzied life, he is unwittingly thrust into an adventure like no other. A deadly virus is spreading, zombies are wreaking havoc, and food is scarce. How could things possibly get any worse? Drake is about to find out.

As packs of zombies chew on dead people in the mall, Drake and his friendsSullivan, Emma, and Jacobhead for the government survival bunker. Joined by seventeen-year old twins and their father, the band of adventurers soon find themselves stuck facing a ruthless zombie army, hostile military forces, and psychopathic survivors. In the midst of a shootout with soldiers, Drake falls into a deep hole and finds himself in a tunnel system ravaged by acid-spitting zombies. Finally pulled to safety by futuristic warriors, Drake thinks he has survivedonly to encounter something much worse than he could ever have imagined.

In this exciting action-adventure story, Drake engages a battle not only to survive, but also to find a cure for the zombie virusbefore humanity is wiped out forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475947977

D.J. Kowalenko

D. J. Kowalenko grew up in rural Alberta, where he spent his time playing video games and using his imagination to create art; he still lives in Canada today. He is the author of Drake Halberd and the Veil of the Dead. This is his second novel.

Book preview

Drake Halberd and the

Veil of the Dead

a novel

D. J. KOWALENKO

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Drake Halberd and the Veil of the Dead

Copyright © 2012 by D. J. Kowalenko

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4796-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-4797-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012916340

iUniverse rev. date: 9/4/2012

Contents

Intro

Chapter 1: Outbreak

Chapter 2: Lockdown

Chapter 3: Survivors

Chapter 4: Burn Out

Chapter 5: Tunnels

Chapter 6: Ascension

Chapter 7: The Cure

Chapter 8: Bitten

Chapter 9: The Darkness

Chapter 10: The Key

Epilogue

Biography

Intro

The security guard clicked on his flashlight after the power went out. He walked down the hall and stopped when he heard strange banging, like someone pounding on a door. He turned around and went downstairs, to the basement. The door to the furnace room shook, like someone trapped down there was smashing on the door.

Who’s there? the guard called. But there was no answer. He tried again, but there was once again no answer, just more banging. So he pulled out his keys and opened the door, keeping his flashlight and Taser with him.

What the hell? he grumbled in shock. Behind the door stood several grotesque, slightly rotting people, wearing mall uniforms and hissing. Foamy blood spewed from their deformed mouths. Their eyes were rolled back in their heads, and they stood with a crippled posture. He let out a blood-curdling scream as they lunged at him, biting and tearing at his body like flesh-hungry animals.

Chapter 1: Outbreak

The city streets were packed, the busy clusters of people all headed in different directions, making the poor traffic cop’s job that much harder. Among those people stood a certain individual, wearing a khaki green short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans and putting on a brown leather jacket. Drake Halberd brought his hand through his black hair, scratching his head. He hadn’t been to this city before, and he figured it was a good place for a vacation. But vacations are supposed to be relaxing, he thought as he wondered where to go. The wind blew, flinging some papers off of the street and smacking him in the face with a flyer, showing the new building complex project, Cosmic City. It was a massive building consisting of a multiplex cinema, apartment rooms, a shopping mall, and a hospital, among other things. It seemed like a decent place to spend his vacation.

When he arrived, it was just like he’d thought: the exterior was three times the size of every other building in the city, and it had a massive dome-like roof that made the place even more towering. By the mere size and shape alone, it looked like it cost millions of times more than any paycheque Drake had ever seen. And Drake was still on the outside. He opened the doors and then looked around. The place was large and roomy, but somehow it was still packed. There were plenty of sights, but the one that drew Drake the most right now, like a magnet, was the food court. There was every kind of food you could possibly eat. Drake had never seen a food court this big; fifty, maybe even sixty vendors covered the walls