Expired Judgement: Rise of the Zombie

By Tim Hatke

George Mercer was a single hard working father with weekend visitation rights to his son. Little did he know his typical day would change that Thursday morning. A day that was usually filled with some type of home improvement job as a contractor was now becoming a series of unforeseen circumstances.

Follow the series of events through the eyes of an ordinary man as the world around him evolves. A world no longer controlled by man but by monsters. Monsters of our former selves that won't stop devouring until all that we love around us is gone.

As the days pass and lives are lost will the real monsters turn out to be ourselves and the decisions we don't trust others to make? With things happening so quickly will there be enough time for George to escape this nightmare or will he become Expired Judgement?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475974270

Tim Hatke

Born in Lafayette, Indiana sometime in the 80's at a hospital that is no longer in commission. Tim grew up on every horror movie that you could possible see in the 70's & 80's. This desensitized him towards various aspects of life that would make most quiver and squirm at things. Keeping the entertainment industry of horror movies as a favorite pastime, it was 1998 when he began wondering more about the entertainment process of writing and film. It was then that Tim read his first horror book and from there he became obsessed. Some of the movies he watched were great, but the message was limited by the visuals and sounds on the screen. On the other hand he believes reading a book can open up so many more possibilities in your imagination. It is there, where you can see things in your own perspective and only be limited by your capacity to create. This is why Tim got into writing, he enjoys creating something for others to read and try to understand his perception on the subject. Tim is a 2006 graduate from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. After graduating he partook in the fifty plus hour work weeks to make money to get by for five years before deciding to pursue his dream. Then in 2013 he accomplished his first publication, Expired Judgement: Rise of the Zombie. He continues to write part time making his living as a financial consultant helping others with money, but Tim's true passion lies in his writing. Tim is a perfectionist and strives for nothing but the best in his writings. So now he hopes to write the next paragraph in his life by one day becoming a best selling author. He will continue to write despite what others say, if not for the entertainment then to create an attractive bookend for your shelf!

Book preview

Expired

Judgement

Rise of the Zombie

Tim Hatke

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Expired Judgement

Rise of the Zombie

Copyright © 2013 by Tim Hatke.

Cover Art Designed by Michael Bouwkamp.

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: 978-1-4759-7426-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-7427-0 (ebk)

iUniverse rev. date: 02/18/2013

CONTENTS

Preface

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

Afterthought

This book is dedicated to Lauren and Raelynn.

I wouldn’t have been able to complete this without the love and support they provided me to finish something I was very passionate about doing.

Thank you and I love you both!

Preface

For those who don’t know me I am a huge horror fan and nerd to all that is zombies. I enjoy a good book or movie on zombies when I have time. The Return of the Living Dead was the first zombie movie I ever saw when I was four years old (got to love grandma, she new what I liked and didn’t tell mom and dad). I guess you could say I was pretty much raised by the living dead.

From that point in my childhood, I went on to read and see everything associated with zombies because I was fascinated by the idea. Zombies are us when we die. The theories on the creation of zombies vary, but I find the most believable theory to be that of a virus transforming the human race into the undead.

Expired Judgment began in 2006 while I was attending school at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. I don’t recall what would be considered day one when I first wrote the words down in a notebook between classes that day, but I remember it started out as an advertisement. I was thinking if I wrote a book, how I would summarize it to sell to the public and make them interested. That’s where my journey began.

The passage I wrote that day I later incorporated into the book as I got further into writing it. It was when I wrote that passage that I thought, why stop there? I started to write more and more on the idea. Before I knew it I had about seven chapters wrote. I never dreamed the words I wrote down would eventually become a book. At that time I thought all the writing was a waste and would lead nowhere so I stopped. Three years went by where I did nothing on the book except wonder why I had ever started it. I went back to watching movies and reading books.

One day I was watching a zombie movie that was by no means entertaining so I shut it off. I had gotten less than twenty minutes time into the movie and I asked myself why. Why weren’t movies like the classics I use to watch as a kid? Was it because I wasn’t a child anymore? Did I no longer enjoy the idea of zombies?

I kept thinking about questions like this for the next several days and couldn’t remember ever seeing a book for some of the movies I had seen. I went back to the credits in some movies and confirmed there was no mention of a book. I was upset at the lack of effort and thought being put into these movies. They were being made with low budgets, thrown together on what looked to be hand held cameras, following a poorly written script. It was all to make a quick buck off of using the name zombie or living dead somehow arranged in the title to make a dollar off of you and me.

Motivated by my disappointments, I picked back up on writing one day in 2010 and slowly started on the book again. I didn’t have a purpose in mind. I simply wrote to entertain myself with the story I created. I had fun with it and asked what I would do in a zombie apocalypse? Then I wrote down my thoughts, edited them, and typed them up.

I got about three fourths of the way completed when again I stopped. I decided to re-read what I had created and determined that it wasn’t much different from any other story told out there. I wanted my work to be unique, true to my belief, so I started over (you can read at the end of the book about my thought process on choices I made, however, read the book first because there are spoilers). I re-wrote the book using the same characters I created and focused more on what everyone skipped over in their stories.

I focused on the initial outbreak and the events that would unfold from a zombie apocalypse. So often the stories we are told begin with the world already encompassed with the undead. We don’t get all of the background, but instead follow the story of a group of people running around shooting zombies up to kill them and find a cure. Do we even know if there is a cure?

Don’t misunderstand me. This book has a group of people struggling to make decisions that involve being around the undead. However, my story starts with the initial zombie that leads to the development of the zombie epidemic. I didn’t focus on the why did this happen, but instead the how. My story concentrates on the events that occur before a large scale zombie apocalypse begins. This was the main thought I had in mind as I went back to re-write the book.

Finally the day came where I was complete. I needed to create a title for the book. I didn’t want to be like those I mentioned before; the ones who incorporated zombie or living dead into the title to gain extra attention from those people out there. I wanted to create something that was either loved or hated since I was essentially not telling the traditional zombie story. I kept those words from the main title, but I still decide to incorporate the word zombie in the subtitle. In the end I decided the word zombie helped to market the book from an unknown author. Plus it’s what the book is about. All that was left then was the main title.

I chose Expired Judgement in the end. To me the title tells the story of the book and of our everyday life. No matter what it may be when you do something judgement is passed by first impression or by something you’ve done or heard. Once judgement has passed it becomes very difficult to change your opinion towards someone. It’s at that point in time I would say you have reached expired judgement. A decision has been made and you have to live with it. In the end that is what Expired Judgement is about. It is a story of the undead during a zombie apocalypse, but it is also a story about the choices we, the human race, make. Choices we have to live by everyday after we’ve made them whether they are right or wrong.

Expired Judgement is my first publication and I hope you enjoy!

Special Acknowledgement

Letha Bowsman

Frank Hatke Jr.

Kristen Boyer

Eric Edward Johnson

Frank Hatke Sr.

Regina Hatke

Frank Wuerbach

Brown Bag Comics

Brad Dancer

Chris Parthun

Jeff Parthun Sr.

Shaun Frost

Stacey Neff

Michael Bouwkamp

Thank you for providing support by backing this project monetarily, socially, or physically. People like you make things like this happen!

It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in our future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.

—Edger Allan Poe

I

They wanted to interview me to find out the true story behind Norwood. It was a show very similar to 60 Minutes called Exposed. They told me they wanted to uncover all the secrets behind what the government was covering up on national television and I agreed. It was bad enough that even the Center for Disease Control was reporting nothing viral was happening in Norwood. There was something and if it wasn’t viral its occurrence was difficult to explain. I believe Norwood was just the beginning. Everyone is entitled to the truth and who better to tell them than me.

The studio had five cameras arranged in the room. Three were in the middle one for me, one for her, and one between the both of those to focus on us together. The other two cameras stood at the edge of the set to capture our body posture.

There were two chairs and a table between them with a light brown coffee table in front of all that. The table between the chairs had a vase of flowers on it that eased the mood of the room. The room was set up to look like someone’s living room. Maybe mine, as if she were my guest visiting me in my home.

I sat in the chair and was told we’d be on in five and she’d be out in three. After I refused a cup of coffee I was given a bottle of water. I picked the bottle up and thought about what type of questions she might ask me. As I went to take a drink I saw the brand on the label was local so I placed it back on the table. I didn’t know if she would ask me why I did that, but I wanted her to. I also hoped she would ask me to start from the beginning of Norwood. If she did I would tell her everything that happened, but I was positive she would ask various questions that made me look impertinent.

She came out dressed very concealed; business appropriate in a black and white suit maybe not to distract me or the viewers from the interview. I’d seen her before it all happened. She was beautiful and had a body that would get any teenager hard. Long blond hair, blue eyes, legs that ran into a perfectly round ass, two breasts that sat perkily under a firm jaw, and her body was covered in a soft golden skin that smelled like lavender. A playboy model with a descent job best described her as she approached me.

George, I’m going to ask you several questions. Just let it all out and don’t hesitate to hold back by any means. Let the people know how you feel.

Okay.

Voices from behind the cameras began to speak.

Five, four, three-

He showed two and one on his fingers then pointed to her.

Good evening America. Elizabeth Parker, here to reveal the truth behind Norwood. Tonight our guest is George Mercer, a survivor, of the deadly accident that has destroyed Norwood. George was a resident of Norwood and states he was there before the so-called event that we’ve been seeing on the news took place. Tonight, George has agreed to come on the show and uncover the truth behind Norwood. George, I would like to start off by saying how deeply sorry I am for your loss and what you have had to go through. It is just so awful.

It wasn’t until she had started to talk that the memories began to come back to me so vividly. My hands trembled as my heart beat faster. It was one of those things I didn’t prefer to talk about. Where usual tendencies would cause me to change the subject, but tonight I couldn’t. The nervousness could be heard in my voice as I first spoke, having faint jitters.

Thank you. It was horrible, Elizabeth. There are some things I want to forget but can’t. Everyone should know the truth though, and I’m here to tell you that I don’t believe this is over yet.

Why?

It’s too difficult to contain! A bite or a fluid transfer from an infected host and you will become infected in time.

So what you’re saying is zombies exist?

I guess if that’s what you prefer to call them. I’ve encountered them firsthand and witnessed an unexplainable monstrosity in Norwood.

Tears glistened from the stage lights and began to run down my cheeks.

Take your time, George.

I’m sorry. I’ve lost so much that I love.

Was there someone close to you?

Yes.

I’m sorry. Why don’t you tell us what you know about the virus, the re-animation of the deceased, and how it got into Norwood?

I don’t know the answers to your question. I wish I did, but I haven’t been able to uncover any further details yet.

Well, tell us what you can about your experience?

This was the opportunity I was seeking.

Alright, I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.

II

I awoke and looked over at the clock it was 3:34 A.M. This wasn’t the first time I’ve awakened in the middle of the night. For the past week I’ve been having difficulty sleeping which was nothing unusual. I think it’s partially stress related to work. I’ve been running behind on a project and the homeowner has been all over my ass about it. Tonight was different from the other nights.

I felt a craving for something sweet. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to find the last piece of leftover chocolate cake from my son’s birthday. Since my divorce I see him every other weekend. I told her I didn’t want a custody battle, but when do women ever listen? I grabbed a fancy silver fork from the drawer, one of the few things I got out of the divorce. It goes along with forty-seven other pieces to make a nice little set. Priceless, she said. I say they might as well be put to use because we never used them before.

Mother fuckers!

The banging of my trash cans being thrown against the house outside startled me. I looked out the window into the darkness. I was able to make out at least a dozen dark figures most likely defacing the neighbor’s house with eggs and toilet paper again, but I had never cared much for my neighbor anyways. My thought was if it didn’t involve me then there was no use in me getting involved.

I had made my way back to bed and pulled the sheets down to crawl back in. The noise from outside became louder and sounded like the kids may have moved on to my house. Again I approached the window from my room and noticed a couple of them were running towards the front of my house. I rushed to the front door and insured that it was locked. Then I looked through the peep hole of the door. What I saw was unimaginable at the time.

There was a man, but not just any man. His body was falling apart. His nose was gone. It was replaced with a crusted layer of blood that scabbed over his face. His eyes were black but appeared to glow white when the porch light reflected off of them. His clothing was torn as though he had just been mugged. As he turned around to leave my door I could see my sidewalk right through a hole in his chest cavity. This was some kind of creature that walked right out of a horror movie.

Tonight wasn’t my night to die. I ran to my gun case and grabbed my Mossberg 500. It was a gun that no matter what your experience was you just had to get close enough to pull the trigger.

A brief moment of silence was followed by unbearable screams from within my neighbors’ house. It sounded as though my neighbor and his family were taking their last dying breaths. I couldn’t do much about it now.

I’m not sure whether it was the fear of dying, the thought that my neighbors might already be dead, or the fact that I didn’t like them anyway that stopped me from going out to help. Maybe a little bit of the three, but I had to do something. I reached for the phone and dialed 911. I don’t know for sure, but I do believe this was one of the first reports the authorities received about the creatures’ madness.

911 emergency.

They’re dead! They’re all dead!

Who sir?

All of them!

Sir, can you confirm your address?

"Yes, it’s 2214