Chapters (91)
- Author’s Foreword
- Part One: Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight
- DURING THE OUTBREAK
- — 2 —
- — 3 —
- — 4 —
- — 5 —
- — 6 —
- — 7 —
- — 8 —
- — 9 —
- — 10 —
- — 11 —
- — 12 —
- — 13 —
- — 14 —
- — 15 —
- — 16 —
- — 17 —
- Part Two: Fat Girl with a knife
- DURING THE OUTBREAK
- — 1 —
- — 2 —
- — 3 —
- — 4 —
- — 5 —
- — 6 —
- — 7 —
- — 8 —
- Part Three: Orc Night
- — 1 —
- — 2 —
- — 3 —
- — 4 —
- — 5 —
- — 6 —
- Part Four: Still of Night
- — 1 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 2 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 3 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 4 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 5 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 6 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 7 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 8 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 9 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 10 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 11 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 12 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 13 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 14 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 15 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 16 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 17 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 18 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 19 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 20 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 21 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 22 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 23 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 24 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 25 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 26 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 27 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 28 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 29 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 30 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 31 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 32 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 33 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 34 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
- — 35 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
- — 36 —: HAPPY VALLEY
- — 37 —: THE SOLDIER AND THE DOG
- — 38 —: THE SIEGE OF HAPPY VALLEY
- — 39 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN, THE SOLDIER, AND THE DOG
- — 40 —: THE SIEGE OF HAPPY VALLEY
- — 41 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN, THE SOLDIER, AND THE DOG
- — 42 —: HAPPY VALLEY
- — 43 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN, THE SOLDIER, AND THE DOG
- — 44 —: HAPPY VALLEY
- — 45 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN, THE SOLDIER, AND THE DOG
- — 46 —: HAPPY VALLEY
- — 47 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN, THE SOLDIER, AND THE DOG
- — 48 —: THE SIEGE OF HAPPY VALLEY
- — 49 —: THE WAR
- EPILOGUE
- — 1 —
- — 2 —
- — 3 —
- The Zombie Apocalypse Chronology
I holstered my pistol. “No. I’ve been studying and practicing my whole life. I stole this from a dojo in Hagerstown. It’s a good sword. New, but top quality.”
He licked his lips, winced at the taste, turned and spat. There were ghosts in his eyes. “Would it be fast?”
It was such a hard question to ask. And to answer. He was a soldier, though. A warrior. It was one warrior asking that question of another warrior.
“Yes.”
“And you’re good?”
“I’m better than that.”
He didn’t ask if it would hurt. He was already hurt. This was going to end hurt, and he knew it.
“Let me pray first, okay?”
“Sure.”
He studied me. “Do you believe in God?”
I shook my head. “I really don’t know.”
Abdul nodded. He looked around to decide which direction was east, knelt, prayed. I moved away and cleaned my sword with water from my canteen. I did not pray, but I nodded to the sword as if it could understand.
Abdul finished. He used his own canteen to wash his hands. Thoroughly. And he dried them on the only clean part of his jacket. I came over and he held out his hand. He was infected but his hand wasn’t cut, he wasn’t bleeding. I shook his hand and we smiled at one another. Then he stepped back and began praying again in Arabic.
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”
I’m good with languages. I knew the prayer. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.
There was a flash of silver fire in the sunlight and then the silence seemed to stretch on forever.
I cleaned my sword, put it away, sat down by the tree and did nothing at all until it was time to dig the grave.
— 8 —: DAHLIA AND THE PACK
— 8 —
DAHLIA AND THE PACK
Dahlia liked to be able to move like a ninja. It was much better than the way she used to move, which was more like a sick bear or a beached whale. A little unfair, she knew, but self-loathing was a hard habit to shake.
Nowadays, with all the practice of surviving out here, with actual things that want to kill you, every day was like a video game. Or VR. Or something. Seeing firsthand what happened to people who couldn’t move quietly was a pretty good incentive program. She’d seen cops and soldiers get eaten because they made too much noise and drew too much attention.
So, for her it was ninja style.