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
Except that’s not what happened.
The knife was suddenly gone from Trash’s hand and it struck the tree and buried itself in the bark, quivering with the impact. Trash himself seemed to leap into the air, twisting and turning. He hit the tree just inches below the knife, slamming shoulders and the back of his head into it.
The old man stepped back and let him fall.
Dahlia managed to pull her pistol out, even as her oxygen starved lungs clawed in a single breath. She raised the pistol and pointed it at him.
The man stopped. He looked at the gun. Then he reached up and removed his balaclava, revealing a weathered face and graying hair. His eyes were calm, without trace of fear or surprise. He did not look at the gun. Instead he looked directly into Dahlia’s eyes.
“The day is going badly for you, little sister,” he said. “You are not as good at this as you think. I’m going to give you a chance.”
The gun trembled in Dahlia’s hand.
“You can listen,” said the old man. “You can run away. Or you can die.”
“I . . . I have the gun,” wheezed Dahlia. “I . . . ”
He shook his head, the way a teacher would during a difficult lesson. Patient, but not infinitely so.
“Listen, run, or die,” he repeated. “Those are the only three possible outcomes. Take a moment. Make a careful choice.”
— 9 —: THE WARRIOR WOMAN
— 9 —
THE WARRIOR WOMAN
“Drop the knife or I’ll shoot.”
Rachael considered her options, hyper aware of the gun pressed against her back. She didn’t think she’d be able to get the drop on him with her dagger or jump to the side fast enough before he pulled the trigger. She needed to put them off guard first, make them think she’d surrendered.
“Drop it.”
Opening her hand slowly, she obeyed the command., the Elven dagger hitting the dirt path with a soft thump. Other than that, she stayed perfectly still, eyes trained on Alice and Jason, who both watched her intently, ready to go for their weapons on her signal.
She counted at least ten people. Didn’t mean there weren’t more out there. Most of them carried machetes or axes or hammers; only the guy behind her had a firearm.
Scratch that. A man carrying a shotgun stepped into her line of sight.
Overall, Rachael had never been great at math—her grades at school had only been average—but she was good at calculating combat situations, thanks to LARPing. Larger numbers of enemies didn’t necessarily mean a disadvantage, but it did mean they needed to work smarter.