Life After the Undead
Book One
by Pembroke Sinclair
by Pembroke Sinclair
Genre: YA Horror
Publisher: eTreasures Publishing
ISBN: ISBN-10: 1937809013
ISBN-13: 978-1937809010
Number of pages: 356
Cover Artist: Jerrod Brown
Available at:
Blurb:
The world has come to an end. It doesn’t go out with a bang, or even a whimper. It goes out in an orgy of blood and the dead rising from their graves to feast on living flesh. As democracy crumples and the world melts into anarchy, five families in the U.S. rise to protect the survivors.
The undead hate a humid environment, so they are migrating westward to escape its deteriorating effects. The survivors are constructing a wall in North Platte to keep the zombie threat to the west, while tyranny rules among the humans to the east.
Capable but naïve Krista is 15 when the first attacks occur, and she loses her family and barely escapes with her life. She makes her way to the wall and begins a new life. But, as the undead threat grows and dictators brainwash those she cares about, Krista must fight not only to survive but also to defend everything she holds dear—her country, her freedom, and ultimately those she loves.
CHAPTER 1
I
will never understand peoples’ fascination with the apocalypse. Why would you
waste so much time and energy worrying about something you can’t change?
Besides, most of the time, it never comes to fruition anyway. Remember Y2K?
What a hullabaloo that was. Peo
Then,
there was the whole 2012 scare. This one was supposedly based on ancient
prediction, so you know it was reliable. Are you kidding? Even the Mayans
didn’t believe their own ancestors‟ “vision.”
What happened was there had been a tablet that had the Mayan calendar carved
into it. The end was broken and faded, so no one knew what it said. Our
culture, being the pessimistic lot that we are, automatically assumed it was an
end-of-the-world warning. But, again, nothing happened on December 21, 2012.
Christmas came and went, and I think everyone, everywhere, even the skeptics,
had a little something more to be thankful for. Life went on as usual, and all
those doomsayers faded into obscurity.
The
day the world did end was pretty nondescript. By that I mean there was no
nuclear explosion or asteroid or monumental natural disaster. There weren’t
even any horseman or plagues to announce the end was coming. The world ended
fairly quietly. I couldn’t even give you a date because it happened at
different times depending on where you were. It was never predicted, and I’m
sure a scenario that no one even considered. Who really thinks the dead are
going to rise from the grave and destroy the majority of the population? No one
but Hollywood, and we all know those are just movies. But that is exactly what
happened. Those of us that survived were left wide-eyed, mouth agape, trying to
figure out what to do next.
There
were a few who were able to pull their heads out and organize those left
behind. They made sure the populace had food, shelter, and protection. They
were saviors, the United States’ heroes. Life wouldn’t have gone on without
them, and it was pretty difficult those first few years after the zompocalypse.
Sometimes
it’s difficult for me to remember what life was like before the rise of the
undead. I was a teenager, though I hesitate to say normal. I wasn’t deformed or
anything, but my classmates thought I was strange. I had a fascination with the
dark, the macabre, but I wasn’t a Goth or Emo. I read books and magazines about
serial killers. I didn’t idolize them or want to be like them—hell no—but I was
fascinated with how evil and black a human’s soul could get.
I
wanted to be a psychologist and work with the criminally insane, maybe figure
out why they did what they did. Apparently, when you’re 15, your friends think
you’re weird if you have desires to help someone other than yourself. While
they were worried about becoming popular and getting the right boyfriend, I was
trying to figure out how to make society better.
Of
course, those dreams will never come true. Society doesn’t exist. Everything I
once held dear is gone. I lost my parents to the horde, like a lot of kids.
Unlike some of the others, mine weren’t taken by surprise or in some freak
accident; they were taken because of their own stupidity. Some days I miss them
a lot, but others I believe they got what they deserved. I might sound callous
and uncaring, but what about them? Why would they abandon their 15 year old
daughter? It used to keep me up at night, trying to find the answer to that
question, but I’ve given up asking it. No reason wasting time on things that
could’ve or should’ve been.
As
I stare out the passenger side window of the semi, I’m reminded how bleak the
future has become. The truck rolls down a once heavily traveled highway that
has been reduced to a cracked trail. Gas stations and towns dotting the
landscape have been abandoned and are crumpling into the weeds that are taking
them over. There are a few areas that still resemble pre-zombie destruction,
and these are the military outposts set up along the road, used for protection
and refueling. I use the term “military” loosely because there is no formal
military anymore. It’s a rag-tag group of men and women who were lucky enough to
get guns. I chuckle to myself. It’s been two years since I was last out in the
world, and a lot has changed since then. I still remember the day the zombies
attacked. It’s as clear as if it happened yesterday.
Death to the Undead
Book 2
by Pembroke Sinclair
Genre: YA horror
Publisher: eTreasures Publishing
ISBN-10: 1937809226
ISBN-13:
978-1937809225
Number of
pages: 286
Cover Artist: Jerrod Brown
Available at:
Blurb:
The battle that
began in Life After the Undead continues.
Zombies changed her
life completely...
Tough teenager
Krista escaped to the safety of Florida after her parents were killed by the
zombie horde. She united with General Liet, a distant cousin, and moved with
him to North Platte to help build a wall to keep the zombies in the West.
Krista fell in love with Quinn, a survivor and fighter from the zombie-infested
wildlands of the West, and together they freed the garrison at North Platte
from the power-hungry Liet.
But zombies aren’t
the only enemy they have to face...
Now, North Platte
is free, but Liet was not the only one using the zombie apocalypse to control
their people. Florida is ruled by five ruthless Families, who use intimidation
and the threat of the zombie horde to coerce their populace. Krista and Quinn
hatch a desperate plan to run guns into the state and help the people revolt.
Krista and Quinn, labeled as rebels run for their lives when the Families
attack North Platte. The Families want them captured, the zombies want to eat
them, and other survivors want them dead. Caught in between powerful forces,
they must survive long enough to devise a new plan and put it into action, all
while trying to solidify their new relationship and trying not to self-destruct
in the meantime.
CHAPTER 1
“Rome wasn’t built in a
day.” God, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that cliché. Dad was
particularly fond of it when I had issues with homework or a dilemma in my
personal life. I knew what his point was. He was telling me to be patient, to
let things progress the way they were supposed to. But, I wasn’t good at that.
I never had a lot of patience. I imagined my Dad reiterating the cliché after
the North Platte takeover, wondering what he would think of what I’d done. What
we’d done. We liberated Nebraska, but we still had a long road ahead of us. I
knew Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I was pretty sure the zombies could
destroy it in one.
I stood in the guard
tower, overlooking the field. My body pressed against the railing. Corpses still
littered the ground, but there weren’t as many as when I first came to North
Platte. The crews had done a great job of cleaning up, though there was little
they could do about the atrocious smell.
The sun sank beneath the
horizon, casting hues of orange, pink, and purple onto the silhouettes of the
undead. A bullet was chambered into a gun behind me. Quinn had been sitting in
a chair behind me in the tower the whole time.
“Quinn, what happened to
your parents?” I turned so I faced him.
Quinn rested the butt of
his gun on the deck and wrapped his arms around the barrel. He sighed. “My mom
died about seven years ago from cancer. I don’t know what happened to my dad.”
I furrowed my brow.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, when we heard
about the first zombie attacks, Dad wanted to help. Most of the neighbors lived
within a few miles, so it didn’t take too long for him to move them onto the
ranch. One morning, him and a few of the others decided to venture a little
further, see who else might need some help, and he never came back.”
My stomach felt queasy.
I averted my gaze to the floor, then glanced back at Quinn. “Did you go look
for him?”
Quinn shook his head.
“He told me not to. He said no matter what happens, I was to stay at the ranch
and take care of the people.”
“Yeah, but you must have
been curious what happened to him.”
Quinn nodded and stood
from his chair. “Of course, but I did as I was told.” He shouldered the rifle
and lined up his sights. He fired.
I moved so I stood next
to him. “Do you think he’s out there somewhere?”
Quinn glanced at me.
“Probably. But I doubt he’s anything like I remember.”
“Doesn’t that make you
sad?”
He returned his
attention to the sight. “Every day. But there’s nothing I can do to change it
now.” He fired another round.
I slumped against the
rail. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I averted my gaze back to the field. I
rubbed my sore shoulder. A breeze picked up, bringing a chill and the smoke
from the funeral pyre. I wrinkled my nose.
“We need to do something
about that.”
Quinn straightened.
“Like what?”
I shrugged the good
shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe we could put a building around it. It might help
contain some of the smoke and smell.”
Quinn nodded. “You
should suggest it at the next meeting.”
I opened my mouth to
speak, but the sound of footsteps on the stairs interrupted me. It was Pam. She
still wore her old guard uniform, a relic from Liet’s reign, but it was obvious
whose side she was on. Thank goodness she was on our side. She trained me; I
knew how tough and skilled she was. It would’ve been a battle to take her down.
“Krista,” Pam said.
“There’s someone who needs to see you.”
I pushed myself away
from the rail. “Who?”
Pam motioned toward the
courthouse. “I think it’s best if you just head over there.”
I looked at Quinn, who
shrugged, then the three of us headed to the courthouse.
My stomach fluttered as
I pushed opened the door. Visions of Mrs. Johnson’s bodyguard flooded my mind,
and I didn’t think I could stand another visit like that. I held my breath as I
opened the door. The person stood at the end of the room, her head down as she
chewed on her thumb nail. Excitement rose in my chest and relief loosened my
shoulders. A smile crossed my lips. I held out my good arm and hurried across
the room. Normally, I wasn’t one for hugs, but anyone besides guards from
Florida in the office was a welcome relief.
“Tanya! What are you
doing here?”
Tanya looked up. She
balled her hand into a fist and swung it over her head. I flinched, and the
blow hit me on the bicep. Tanya lunged forward, flailing her arms. I crouched
and covered my head. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so shocked, I froze.
I couldn’t react. Several more hits landed on my back and head before someone
pulled Tanya away.
“How could you?” Tanya
yelled. “HOW COULD YOU?” She kicked and caught me on the knee.
Pain radiated through my
leg, and I rubbed at the minor injury. Anger replaced the shock. Who did she
think she was coming into my courtroom and attacking me?
“What are you talking
about?” I tried to keep my emotions in check, common sense told me I needed to
know what was going on.
“Don’t play dumb with me! You know what you
did.” She jerked her arms out of Quinn and Pam’s grasp.
Really? Was she mad that
we liberated Nebraska before we helped Florida? I didn’t think it was a big
deal, but I guess it upset her.
“I’m sorry, Tanya. We
had to move quickly. We had to set the people of North Platte free.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I’m not talking about the attack.”
I stared at her for a
moment. “Then what are you talking about?”
“You sent zombies down
in the truck of supplies! You figured if you couldn’t overthrow The Families,
you’d overrun the state with the undead!” Tanya yelled, then attempted to
attack again. Pam and Quinn restrained her and stared at me.
I picked myself off the
floor, staring at Tanya wide eyed. Zombies in the truck? What? When? Why would
I have done that? I hate those things! I would have to get pretty close to put
those in the truck, and I wasn’t willing to do that. But someone must have. Who
would be stupid and conniving enough to do that?
“Tanya, honestly, I have
no idea what you are talking about. Maybe you should fill us in on some
details.”
Tanya snarled. “The
truck showed up a few weeks ago, with Mrs. Johnson’s bodyguard behind the
wheel. He said it had come from North Platte, and I assumed it had another
shipment of guns. As usual, I was going to wait until night to collect the
weapons. My father took the vehicle to the storage yard, like he always did. I
was done working at the coffee shop, so I decided to see what you guys sent. I
stood at the chain link fence, watching the guys work, when I heard my father
scream from the trailer. The others ran to see what was going on, and a zombie
lurched out of the vehicle. They ran.”
Tanya continued her
story, and I pictured the whole scenario in my mind. She was a bit lacking on
details, so I filled in the blanks with my own imagination. It wasn’t hard,
especially when you’ve seen as many zombies as I have. There were three
creatures, buried under crates. Two men, newly turned with just the slightest
hint of yellowed skin. Their clothes were dirty but not yet torn. The third, a
woman, she had been a zombie for a while. Her stringy blonde hair was knotted,
caked in mud, and falling out of her head, only wisps remained on the bottom
and right side. Her clothes had almost completely decayed, tatters of a floral
print dress clung to her the bones exposed in her chest and legs. Her gray,
wrinkled skin looked like leather. They hid in the shadows, hard to see, and
for some reason, they didn’t moan like the others when food was near. The
workers didn’t know they were there and had unloaded almost the entire truck.
They were almost finished when the attack started. Tanya ran through the gate,
making her way to the back of the truck, just in time to see her father beating
one of the creatures with a tire iron. The third one was still pinned behind a
crate. Her breath caught as she watched the creature’s mouth snap for her dad.
Her dad panted with exhaustion. He leaned against the side of the truck for
support. Blood, brain matter, and bits of skull were everywhere, and the smell
was overpowering. Tanya was about to climb in, find out if her dad was all
right, but he told her to stop. He collapsed onto the floor, sliding down the
wall. He cradled his hand. The zombie had bitten him.
Tanya set her jaw. “The
other one that got out of the truck attacked several of the workers before it
was put down. I don’t know how many of them got bit, but within a few days, we
had an epidemic on our hands. They got it under control, but thirty people got
infected.”
Pam and Quinn released
her, and she pointed a finger in my direction.
“You just couldn’t wait,
could you? You just had to make all of us pay.”
My throat felt tight and
a knot developed in my stomach. I swallowed hard. “What happened to your dad?”
Tanya snarled. “Instead
of waiting for the plague to take its toll, he took care of himself.”
I lowered my gaze to the
floor. My stomach lurched, bile rose into my throat. I took several deep
breaths, but the feeling never abated.
“I’m sorry, Tanya.” I
looked into her face. “I really, truly am. But I did not put zombies in the
back of the truck. Why would I harm the people I’m trying to help?”
Tanya shook her head and
opened her mouth to speak.
“Think about it,” Quinn
interrupted her. “The Families were afraid of losing control. They knew about
the rebellion here in North Platte, and they knew the people would soon hear
about it. They had to do something to ensure the people wouldn’t revolt, so
they planted zombies.”
Tanya stared at him for
a moment, letting the information sink in. “Maybe,” she spoke softly.
I stepped closer to her.
“Tanya, please, you have to believe us, we would never do anything like that.
Smuggle guns to kill the regime, yeah, but we wouldn’t infect Florida with
zombies.”
Tanya took a deep
breath. “Maybe.”
“Didn’t Bill and Kyle
tell you what was going on?” Quinn asked.
Tanya faced him. “They
did.”
“What happened to them?”
She took a deep breath
and averted her gaze to the floor. “After the attack and my dad’s suicide,
guards, um, did random house searches and they were arrested.”
Pam’s, Quinn’s, and my
eyes grew wide.
“What?” Quinn glanced
from Tanya to me. “Arrested? Why?”
“They were outsiders.”
she responded. “I guess they felt they were a threat to The Families and
Florida.”
“Did they find out about
the guns?” I stammered out the question.
Tanya looked at me. “No.
Those are still safe.”
“How did you get here?” Pam
chimed in.
“After everything calmed
down, I took the boat Bill and Kyle came in on and found their vehicle in
Texas. I made my way up here to you.”
“Do you know what
happened to them?” Worry coated Quinn’s eyes.
“I’m sure they’re not
dead. I’m sure The Families kept them for interrogation.”
Quinn rubbed his hand
over his mouth, staring at me. “What are we going to do? Everything is ruined.
I told you we had to attack simultaneously.”
Confusion and anger
coursed through my body. “It’s a moot point now. We’ll figure it out. It’ll be
fine.” What did he expect me to do? I couldn’t change the past.
The room was silent for
a long moment. The group glanced at each other out of the corners’ of their
eyes, then averted their gazes to the floor. My head spun. When we first took
over North Platte and found out there had been a spy, I felt like I was losing
control then, but after Tanya arrived, I knew I lost my grip. An all-out attack
on Florida was out of the question. They would know what was coming. Plus, we
were grossly outnumbered by Floridian soldiers. Despite the tragic nature of
the event, a zombie attack wasn’t a half bad idea. It would keep the soldiers
busy long enough for our people to get in and take control. There would be some
collateral damage, but in the long run, it would lead to the liberation of the
people of Florida.
I shook the idea out of
my head. How could I even think of that? There were innocent people down there.
Children. It wouldn’t work. Besides, three zombies had already done enough
damage. I couldn’t believe Tanya thought we sent the attack.
Quinn grabbed my arm and
directed me away from Tanya and Pam.
“We’ve got to evacuate
the city.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you see what’s
going on? Florida sent men up here to investigate what happened. They planted
zombies in the back of the truck and blamed it on us. They are trying to rally
the masses against us.”
“Yeah? So what else is
new?”
“The people they sent
here were the dregs of society. They were causing problems in Florida. They are
still causing problems. This is the perfect excuse to wipe us off the planet.”
My stomach knotted. The
color drained from my face. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew Quinn was
right. They were probably on their way to level the city.
“There are two thousand
and eleven people in North Platte.” I couldn’t raise my voice over a whisper.
“Where are they going to go?”
Quinn pinched the bridge
of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and shook his head. “I don’t know.
All I know is they can’t stay here.”
“What about Liet? What
are we going to do with him?”
Quinn didn’t have the
opportunity to answer.
“Everything all right
over there?” Pam asked.
We faced her.
“No. I don’t think it
is,” Quinn responded.
“Well, maybe you’d like
to fill the rest of us in.”
Quinn glanced at me for
a second, then back at Pam. “I think you need to call a town meeting.”
“For what?”
“Just do it!” I didn’t
mean to yell at her, but I had no control over my emotions. The room spun and
breathing was difficult, it just slipped out.
Pam hurried out of the
room, and I sank to my knees. I lowered my head and closed my eyes. I felt
light-headed and nauseous. I couldn’t believe it was this hard. It wasn’t
supposed to be this hard. I felt Quinn’s hand on my back.
“You all right?”
I looked up at him.
“I’ll be fine. Just give me a second.”
Tanya moved so she stood
in front of me. Her knees popped as she knelt down.
“What are we going to do
now? Everything has been ruined.” She lowered her gaze. “I ruined it. I can’t
believe I was so stupid to believe you would have sent zombies!”
I took a deep breath and
stared at her face for several moments. Anger clenched my chest. I wanted to
tell her it was her fault, that she should have known we would never do
anything so devious, but it wouldn’t get us anywhere. Her eyes were red rimmed
and her shoulders slumped forward. She probably didn’t stop traveling until she
made it to the city. Rage kept her moving. Her desire to see me dead or maimed
fueled her journey. After she found out the truth, rage was replaced with sheer
exhaustion. Sadly, her journey wasn’t even close to being over.
Besides, I wasn’t mad at
her, I was angry at the universe. I was upset that my luck had run out. The
same rage that kept her moving was going to have to sustain me. We still had a
job to do, we just had to rethink it.
“You didn’t ruin it,” I
told her. “You were just reacting to a situation you thought we created. It’s
understandable.”
She placed her hands on
the floor and leaned forward. “I want to help you fix it. Please tell me what I
can do.”
“First of all, we’ve got
to get the people to safety. Then, we’re going to disappear.”
“And go where?”
“The only place we have
left. The West.”
I
write fiction under the pen name Pembroke Sinclair, and I have had several
short stories published. My story,
“Sohei,” was named one of the Best Stories of 2008 by The Cynic Online
Magazine. I have novellas and a short
story collection forthcoming from Musa Publishing and eTreasures
Publishing. I have two novels, Coming
from Nowhere (adult, sci fi) and Life After the Undead (YA, horror), that are
available from eTreasures Publishing, as well as Death to the Undead (YA,
sequel to Life After the Undead), which is forthcoming. Life After the Undead was a Top Ten Finisher
in the Preditors and Editors Reader’s Poll in the YA category and the cover art
category.
Under
my real name, from March 2008 to January 2011, I wrote scientific articles for
Western Farmer-Stockman. I have a
nonfiction book, Life Lessons from Slasher Films, scheduled for release in July
2012 from Scarecrow Publishing (an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield).
I
have my Master’s in English, and I am a freelance content editor for Musa
Publishing, as well as a former content and line editor for eTreasures
Publishing.
Connect with Pembrook here:
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