by Scott Lee
ZOMBIE OFF
By Scott Lee
Copyright 2014 Scott Lee
Introduction
This is the first book in ZOMBIE OFF series. Although you could certainly read this as a stand-alone novel, it would be much better if you read the prequel first, ZOMBIE OFF - The Beginning. It will give you more insight into the story line, although it is not a necessary read for this series.
The introduction of ZOMBIE OFF was a godsend for the survivors in the outskirts of Philadelphia. For Connor, it made things easier. Known as The Seeker, he’s the one person in the safe zone that you go to when no one else can help. Now, he faces his toughest mission yet - a trip into the city where over 750,000 flesh hungry zombies await. Even with ZOMBIE OFF, things can go wrong. But no level of planning could have prepared him for the events to come. Thrust into a madman’s psychotic plot, Connor soon finds himself in a fight for his life as he and his friends struggle to survive . . . and keep alive the hope of mankind.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Other Fine Books by Scott Lee;
ZOMBIE OFF - The Beginning
(a prequel short story)
ZOMBIE OFF 2 – REVELATION
ZOMBIE OFF 3 - LEGION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost I want to thank my best friend on this planet, Doug Ward, without whom I would likely have never written this book. If not for his constant pushing for me to pen my ideas, I’d likely still be sitting with just a few notes in a leather journal. I’d also like to thank Keely Mager, Paul Marchwinski, Steven Llewllyn, Alexandra Gradwell and Adam Lock, the great students of Springdale High School who graciously posed for the cover of this book. Great job!
Finally, I’d like to thank my many friends and family for the wonderful support they gave me through the months of writing. Your words of encouragement did not fall on deaf ears. Last, but certainly not least, thanks to my wife Chris for supporting me through this adventure and listening to my endless talk about preparing for the upcoming zombie apocalypse.
CHAPTER 1
ZOMBIE OFF. The savior of mankind. One would have thought that the invention of a product that masks the human scent from zombies would be the catalyst that turns the tide of the zombie apocalypse. Well, one would be mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, it very well could have been . . . had it not been invented by a psychotic, power hungry man named Abe Morrow.
Six months into the zombie outbreak and the humans were losing. Losing badly. Governments were pouring all their resources into a cure or a vaccine for the zombie plague, not knowing if it was even a virus or disease at all! But Abe Morrow had a different vision. Working for a large chemical/pharmaceutical plant, Abe spent the better part of a year refining a spray formula that, when applied to bare skin, would mask the “human scent”, thus allowing a person to literally walk safely amongst the zombies. However, there was a catch. Actually, a few catches.
First of all, the product only worked on exposed human skin. Spraying it on clothing did absolutely no good. In addition, the more skin that was covered, the better your protection and the better you’d be masked from the undead. Furthermore, you needed to keep your skin exposed to the open air. Covering it with clothing minimized its effectiveness and left you at the mercy of the undead. And the undead have no mercy.
Second, sweating was bad. It was found that sweat disrupted the formula and broke down the masking ability of ZOMBIE OFF. So if you got yourself into a stressful situation with a horde of zombies, you better try to stay calm, because the moment you started to perspire, the party was over and you were zombie fodder.
Third, it wasn’t waterproof. So make sure you check the forecast before you use it, because getting caught in a rainstorm could be the end of you.
Finally, it only masked your scent. By using it, you were hidden from the zombie’s primary means of discovering you, which was smell. But the undead had other ways of detecting you, like sudden movement. Although you could calmly and slowly walk among the dead, the second you started to run, the dead would know you’re there. And at that point it didn’t matter how much ZOMBIE OFF you were wearing, because the undead would follow the movement and swarm to it, no matter what. And let’s not forget sound. Loud noises attract zombies like moths to a flame. ZOMBIE OFF won’t help you at all if you trip over that metal garbage can with 20 zombies milling about you.
So yes, ZOMBIE OFF was a breakthrough for surviving the undead, just so long as you stayed calm, didn’t sweat, didn’t run, didn’t make noise, and didn’t get wet. But all of these conditions could easily be met and executed during a supply run, allowing a well-disciplined group to easily complete their mission without casualties. It was the undisciplined ones that didn’t fare so well. It only took one brief moment of panic to alert the nearby zombies of your presence. Just one brief moment of losing your focus and the entire party could die. Or worse, rise again.
Yes, ZOMBIE OFF could have been the turning point . . . but it wasn’t. Thanks to Abe Morrow. Abe was always pretty much a prick. His coworkers despised him, and what friends he did have were on the same jerk level he was. He even drove a BMW, and he fit the stereotype to a T. He was the type to cut you off in traffic and give you the finger for getting in his way. He’d never stop for a person in a crosswalk and would never hold the door for a lady (or man, for that matter). Yep, Abe was the definition of asshole. So it only figures that when the world was at stake, a guy like Morrow would be the one to come up with ZOMBIE OFF.
Once the discovery was made, Abe quickly shielded his find from all but those closest to him. In other words, his circle of asshole friends. With the chemical plant and its back up power systems (the plant had generators and a massive bank of solar panels), he was able to start producing cases of ZOMBIE OFF spray cans with no one taking much notice. Since most of the attention was being focused on a cure or vaccine, Abe’s division went more or less unnoticed by the surviving staff. With a plant of that size, he easily produced thousands of cans of ZOMBIE OFF without raising an eyebrow. This was due, in part, to the fact that his friends also worked at the plant, and made sure no one stumbled upon their discovery.
So, while the world was dying, and rising again as undead, Abe Morrow was amassing a warehouse full of ZOMBIE OFF, and for the right price, you could get yourself a can or two.
Abe Morrow only cared about two things - wealth and power. Zombie apocalypse? Didn’t matter. It was just a golden opportunity to solidify himself as the most powerful man on earth. And with his discovery of ZOMBIE OFF, he had all but guaranteed that, just as long as the zombie apocalypse didn’t end. If he played his cards right, he’d have world leaders eating out of his hands when everything was all said and done.
Understanding that the zombies were the key to his future, Abe Morrow decided he had to take action. The possibility of another division of Chemcorp finding a cure, or creating a vaccine, was always there. His fellow scientists were good. Too good. If they created a cure or vaccine, then all of his plans would go up in smoke. And that possibility was unacceptable. He needed to make sure that neither was ever discovered, and the only way to do that was to eliminate the threat, so to speak. Fueled by greed and power, Abe Morrow hatched a plan.
Morrow wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. He wasn’t the type to be bothered with the messy aspects of dispatching a threat to his master plan of world domination. His objective was simple. Let the zombies into the research wing of Chemcor
p.
By now Morrow had built a sizeable group of loyal followers. His security team recruited smaller bands of marauders who were more than happy to enjoy the luxuries of the Chemcorp facility over the struggles of day-to-day survival. These people were willing to do whatever Morrow asked of them (so long as they stayed under his protective wing) and they quickly replaced the Chemcorp security members who refused to join Abe’s cause.
Outside the gates, large groups of zombies would occasionally build up, requiring a security team to go out and dispatch them. Morrow’s men would be the ones to head to the fence, but they weren’t going to be killing the zombies this time. Instead, they would be catching them. Using a small cargo truck, the men would lure the zombies inside, using themselves as bait. The inside of the truck was modified to form a cattle shoot that led to the back of the truck before reversing direction to the side access door. The cattle shoot had high walls to minimize the danger to the bait as they lured the undead to the back of the truck. Once a sufficient number of zombies were inside, the bait would exit via the side door, and all the doors would be closed.
From there the team would drive the zombies to the main entrance of the research wing, back the truck up to the doors, and let them in. Again, one of Morrows men would bait the zombies, leading them to where the top scientists and their staff were working. This member would be wearing ZOMBIE OFF under their jumpsuit, so that once they had guided the zombies to their destination, they would simply round a corner, strip down to their underwear, stand motionless in a corner, and wait for an opportunity to lock the doors and walk away.
The plan went off without a hitch.
Abe Morrow sat in his office, watching the video monitors that his men had rigged up for him months before. They were linked into the security cameras so he could watch and observe anything that was going on within the Chemcorp complex. There was no sound associated with the cameras, and for this he was thankful. He didn’t particularly want to hear the screams of the dying. The video was enough.
On screen was a scene of true horror. Lab workers ran for their lives, desperately trying to avoid the undead mob that had descended upon them. A young female worker attempted to make a break for the main lab door and tripped on an overturned chair. Sprawling face first onto the floor, the poor girl was instantly pounced upon by one of the undead. It bit deeply into her neck, tearing flesh and tendons and severing her carotid artery in the process. Blood sprayed from the wound, soaking the floor around her as the zombie repeatedly tore into the young girls neck with animal ferocity. The girl’s struggles soon faded and her body went limp as the zombie continued to dine.
Another fleeing worker slipped on the young girls blood and dropped to the floor as he sought the safety of the hallway. Within seconds the hungry zombie abandoned his current meal for a fresh, live one. Morrow could see the man was screaming as he held his arm up to fend off the abomination. The zombie grabbed the arm and tore hungrily into the flesh, ripping out a large chunk of the man’s arms in the process. Desperate to escape, the man pushed at the creature with his other hand, hoping to dislodge it, but his efforts were in vain as the zombie bit down hard on the man’s hand, severing his fingers. The feeding frenzy was on as the zombie dove at the man’s shoulder, ripping muscle and tendon from his body. Behind this bloody carnage, the zombie never noticed as the young girl rose from the floor, adding to the undead ranks.
Morrow sat back in his chair as scene, after bloody scene, unfolded in front of him. A slight smile crossed his face as he watched one of the lead scientists fall in the arms of two hungry undead. His white lab coat was a crimson red in mere seconds as the zombies ripped the man apart.
Satisfied that his plan was a success, Morrow switched off the monitors and instructed his security team to seal off the wing. The zombies might be useful later on for either experiments or for added security against intrusion into his operation.
Getting up from his chair, Morrow walked to the window and looked out over the landscape. In the distance, he could see small forms staggering about the hillside. He took a bottle of scotch from the tray on the table and poured himself a drink. Looking back out the window, Morrow smiled and raised the glass.
“To the zombie apocalypse,” he said aloud.
