It is 2016, four years after the apocalypse that robbed Alexia McQuillan and her son, Hawk, of their happy lives. After her husband, David, contracts a deadly virus that transforms him into a violent zombie intent on killing her, Alexia is forced to make an unimaginable choice. Now, with her husband dead and their safety in jeopardy, Alexia and Hawk must embark on a dangerous journey across America's wasteland in search of other survivors. As they travel east, Alexia and Hawk must learn how to survive while battling voracious zombies and escaping ruthless renegades. The two must keep hidden or risk being turned into mindless, brain-eating creatures themselves. Meanwhile, Lucas Kruczek and his daughter, Leah, mourn the loss of their loved ones while building a fortress around their city. Forced to live under the strict rule of a fugitive from another planet, father and daughter make many alliesincluding Alexia, Hawk, and Sydney, a little girl forced to grow up fast or die young. In this science fiction adventure, Alexia and her newfound group of friends must team with a clever zombie hunter, a spiritualist intent on protecting mankind, and an innovative scientist to battle a war against a deadly virus that threatens to destroy Earth's population.
DEAD EVOLUTION
THE SECOND DARK AGEBy Brita Woolums Larry Buhr JR.iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Brita Woolums and Larry Buhr Jr.
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4759-4038-1Contents
Preface.................................................xi1. Memories.............................................12. Tough Decisions......................................153. Commune of the Undead................................434. The Memorial.........................................915. Arenatown............................................1096. Dead Gladiolas.......................................1497. New Friendships......................................1718. Undead Visions.......................................1899. Bob Zombie...........................................22510. Stansssleeeyys Nottsss Herreess.....................24711. White Zombie........................................28412. Market of Doom......................................31513. Reunion.............................................37014. Strange Behavior....................................39215. A Holiday to Remember...............................40516. Hives...............................................43117. Crazed Voices.......................................45518. Loss of Innocence...................................47619. The Siege...........................................50620. Dead End ...?.......................................526Epilogue................................................553Acknowledgements........................................555
Chapter One
Memories
"Alexia"
I REMEMBER BACK WHEN my life was simple, when my husband David and I had first gotten together, and when my son, Hawk, was first born. These were the good days when I was able to go to work, come home, and live my life as normally as I possibly could. I got along well in life and had minimal fears, apart from the normal worries about money and the sometimes occurring worries about my job.
The town I had lived in was a small town just outside of Reno, Nevada called, Winnemucca. It was the perfect town where everybody knew your name and where everybody was always happy to see you. The population in Humboldt County was 7,174. Winnemucca was always known as the city by Battle Mountain. Thousands of oaks, pines, and evergreens, covered the beautiful lands that layered the landscape on all sides of the nearby mountains. The crisp, clean air had always been so pleasant to my nose. All in all, we had moved to Winnemucca to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Now is the afterlife. The year is 2016, four years after the apocalypse. It was weird. Who would have believed that 2012 would really be the end? Looking out of the crack of my boarded up window, I remembered back.
For me, Alexia McQuillan, it had started with the death of my husband of fifteen years. He had disappeared at dusk on a warm spring night in search for our son, Hawk, who had gotten mad and stormed out of the house. Hours later Hawk had returned home after calming himself down in some hideout that he had found outside, but David had not returned to the house with him. It wasn't until the next morning that David had come home and his arms had been all scratched up. When I had asked him what had happened, he had just grunted and went to take a bath.
That night and the following two nights, he had been complaining of having a high temperature. He had to put a new shirt on every three hours, then it became every hour, and quickly it became every half hour, because he had been sweating so badly. When I had asked him if he was okay, he had just continued to grunt at me. I had told him to drink more water, but it didn't seem to help. Nothing did. Another hour passed and he had collapsed on the bed. Slowly spreading to the rest of his limbs, his head, and last of all, his chest, the open gashes on his arms had begun to ooze with a greenish brownish liquid that reeked of moldy flesh. As I had tried to get near him, the heat had made it too unbearable for me to touch him.
Another day had passed and David had started to reek much worse than before. On the fifth day of his progressing, seemingly incurable illness, David had been unable to move, speak, or hardly breathe. He had seemed almost dead. The oozing green, mysterious slime had spread to occupy most of the space around him in his bed. I could hardly look at him anymore without crying.
After fifteen years, my husband and I had grown so close together that I couldn't bear to see him like this. I had tried my best to keep checking up on him but after a while, I could hardly make myself look at him anymore, even if it was to just check on him.
I had kept Hawk from seeing his father in such a state as well even though he had kept asking me questions upon questions. I just couldn't talk to him about it. I knew it would've only been mentally scarring for even a fourteen-year-old to have to see the slow death of his father.
David's face had turned to a greenish looking hue with slime coating his every crevice. The sweat and ooze combined had seemed to form a deathly mixture of toxins which were taking over what life he had. His stomach had started to appear as if it was slowly inflating and pulsating abnormally and his fingertips had looked as if they were transforming into points, similar to little daggers. It had seemed like his flesh was rotting off of his bones.
It was on the seventh day of David's illness that I had to do the most horrible, unimaginable thing. I remembered it as a day of a lot of crying and of rocking myself back and forth on the carpet and of Hawk trying to comfort me.
I had been downstairs throwing my mind inside of a book, trying to get away from reality as best as I thought possible, when I had heard some heavy, dragging footsteps nearing me from behind.
"Hawk? Is that you?" I had called out into the dry air, still not lifting my eyes from my current page.
No answer.
More heavy footsteps pounded closer behind me. "Hawk, whatcha doin' hun?" I had called out mindlessly again.
Still, no answer.
Just as I had lifted my head to look up, I had seen a form in the hallway. "David, is that you?" I had called out in peeked interest.
He had let out an unnatural moan and then had made a lunge at me with his large arms.
Dashing out of my chair with my book falling fast to the ground, I dodged him, but he kept lunging towards me. I had started screaming at him, "David, what are you doing? David! David! David! Listen to me David! What are you doing? This isn't you! David you have to fight it! David!!!"
Standing, he had looked as if he had died and come back to life. The slime that had once covered his body had seemed to subside, just leaving behind a residue of dark brownish green, oily, malodorous skin that coated his body and oozed out of him like oozing warts. Parts of his skin had looked as if it was falling off to reveal his bones. His eyes had sunken back into his head, revealing part of his skull, and had a strangely glazed, with a reddish hue, cataract look to them. By the looks of it, the hair atop his morbid skull had appeared as if he had been dead for years, only revealing a scattering of hairs. And his fingers had resembled giant claws, while his toes had also seemed to grow long, oozing claws, which had grown out of his bone. With clothes hanging limp on his shoulders all slashed and soiled, David had turned from my groom to my worst nightmare.
Lunging at me again with his large, rotting-like arms, he revealed his vicious looking claws.
I had dodged...
