Ultimate Undead Collection: The Zombie Apocalypse Best Sellers Boxed Set (10 Books)

by Joe McKinney

  Cade had no way of knowing if Brook would be able to access her voice mail or if his message would reach her at all. The instructors at Fort Benning always expected their pupils to have a backup plan. For redundancy’s sake he also composed a lengthy text message.

  I haven’t heard from you and I couldn’t get through to your mom and dad’s phone… busy signal only? Be careful! There’s definitely a pandemic! Get to Fort Bragg ASAP and contact Captain Mike Desantos 910-555-5555. He knows me from the Sandbox. Just refer to me as “Wyatt.” Desantos is a good man and in the loop. At all costs stress the need to contact him or send him a message if they fail to allow you a face-to-face meeting. He will let you inside the wire. Love Cade.

  Wyatt was Cade’s nickname in the teams, the name derived from his prowess with a pistol. During training he held top score on many of the shooting drills. He also more than lived up to the name in combat.

  All operators were given their nickname by their peers. Mike had been a member since the early days; his name came from the amount of time he had spent behind enemy lines in “Indian” country, so they started calling him “Cowboy.”

  Mike was Cade’s commander and team leader in the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force for short. During the last deployment in Afghanistan they had seen a lot of combat together, and trusted each other with their lives.

  During one particularly intense engagement they were about to be overrun by a much larger force of insurgents and Taliban. They had been forced to call in “danger close” artillery fire, and the rounds impacted all around and nearly on top of their position. A-10 Thunderbolts, heavily armored, slow moving, ground attack jets, the ground soldier’s best friend, rolled in time after time making gun runs. The nose-mounted Vulcan cannons spit lead, decimating scores of enemy in the process. In the middle of the fighting, each man had vowed that should either one of them die the survivor would look after the other’s family.

  Mike Desantos’s phone went to voice mail after the first ring. Cade left a concise message detailing his wife’s and daughter’s situation and asked him to be on the lookout for them.

  Chapter 8

  Day 2 - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

  Harrison and Peggy Mortenson had lived next to Brook’s childhood home in the subdivision since 1960. They were nonstop news junkies and had been up most of the night, witnessing the contagion spread worldwide.

  It was now apparent to Brook why her dad had committed the unspeakable act upon her mother. She also feared for her brother and the other workers still at the hospital.

  “My phone has been acting up and I haven’t heard from my husband since yesterday. This is the first I’ve heard about the contagion that’s going around,” Brook said to Peggy worriedly.

  Harrison interjected and told Brook about how the infection occurred and what happened as a result. He added as an afterthought, “The President has issued a declaration of martial law. We are in a world of hurt.”

  Armed with this new information, Brook came to the realization that nobody would be coming to investigate what had just happened at her parents’ house, and she surmised the coroner wouldn’t be coming for the bodies either.

  She turned to Raven. “I have to go back and get my phone so I can try to get ahold of your dad. I want you to come with me.”

  Shaking her head vigorously from side to side, Raven said, “No way Mom.” She bit her bottom lip nervously. “Please don’t make me.” She wouldn’t budge, and wanted no part of going back to Grandma’s house.

  Considering the horrors she had witnessed there minutes ago, Brook didn’t force the issue. She reluctantly left her daughter with the Mortensons and went back to her childhood home one last time.

  The door was ajar and the house smelled like gunpowder and death. Moving slowly into the kitchen, she could see her mom’s feet clad in the pink slippers she had given her last Christmas. Out of the corner of her eye Brook detected movement. She looked closer; her mom’s foot jerked.

  Brook crept around the island and retrieved the shotgun from the bench in the breakfast nook. The ghoul sensed her arrival. The bloody remains that was once her loving mom flopped over onto its stomach and proceeded to crawl towards her, bodily fluids leaving a slick trail along the floor. Her undead mom slowly pursued her into the living room, leaving her no choice.

  Remembering what Harrison had told her earlier, she aimed directly for the head. Brook closed her eyes for a second, said a little prayer and thought, It’s not you anymore, Mom. I love you and I’m sorry I have to do this.

  She pulled the trigger and the shotgun roared. The second random shell she had inserted happened to be a slug; the round ruptured her mom’s head, peppering the hallway with brain matter, hair and bone fragments. She started sobbing as the realization that both of her parents were now dead suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. She still had her daughter, that much she knew. She sent silent prayers out to her husband Cade, whom she missed terribly.

  Brook ran up the stairs two at a time and went into her old room. Her phone was in her carry-on, where it had been since she last talked to Cade. Bag in hand, she went downstairs heading for the door.

  Raven had run from the neighbors’ house when she heard the shotgun report and was tentatively peering into the open front door when Brook descended the stairs. At the first sight of her mom, Raven ran and jumped into her arms. Brook sat on the porch swing comforting Raven; she held her and stroked her hair for a few minutes. Then she sent Raven back to the Mortensons’ and watched to be sure she made it safely.

  It took a few seconds of rooting around in her bag, but she finally found her phone and powered it on. It chimed several times letting her know she had missed calls and there were messages waiting for her. She sat on the porch reading the text message from Cade. Her head started spinning at the thought of what was happening everywhere else in the world. The voicemail from Cade drove the severity of their situation home; the tone of his voice on the message said it all. She would surely heed his advice because when it came to questions about their family’s security, she never questioned his wisdom. Brook thought, As soon as we get the Cadillac loaded up we’d better set out for Fort Bragg.

  She stood and went back into the house. Standing in the kitchen, Brook stared at her dad’s lifeless form. She heard his voice in her head. “Brooklyn, you get going now, take Raven and get to safety.” Of course it was only her subconscious talking, but she took it to heart.

  Brook called her brother Carl. She tried both his cell and the hospital land line but had no luck reaching him. Next, she dialed Cade’s cell and listened to it ring. After the third ring he picked up.

  Chapter 9

  Day 2 - Southeast Portland

  While the kids ate, Cade closed all of the blinds and double checked the windows and doors, making sure all were locked. The undead didn’t know they were in the house and Cade wanted to keep it that way.

  Cade once again turned his attention to the local news. Two anchors were mourning their fellow reporter’s demise that had been broadcast on live television the day before. Thankfully they refrained from showing the bloody spectacle again.

  President Odero put on the full court press and declared martial law nationwide. FEMA issued recommendations that doomed millions. They urged the United States population to stay home and tend to their sick and wounded. The most disturbing information that Cade had to process was a graphic simulating the nationwide spread of the infection. It revealed an ever expanding zone indicated in red, which radiated inland from the Eastern Seaboard and spread north from Mexico. Despite the new border crackdown, the entire state of California was awash in red. The South and Southwest looked less impacted and the Northwest and Central Rockies weren’t hit as hard… yet. The next graphic was unfathomable. A fast spreading, time lapsed representation of the contagion’s impact worldwide filled the screen. There were very few locations on Earth not ravaged during the first two days of the global outbreak. A
s he watched the news, he had no clue that a thousand miles away his in-laws were dying.

  Cade had no immediate family in Portland; both of his parents had died years ago. Chuck and Madeline were very close and had been married for fifty-five years when they both suddenly died of natural causes barely a month apart. Chuck passed first. He died peacefully in his sleep. Madeline was devastated and died of natural causes--probably of a broken heart--twenty-eight days later. Cade inherited the house he grew up in.

  His parents had been happily married for twenty-seven years before Cade came along. He was not in their plans, but he was the best thing that had ever happened to them. Their proudest moment was when Cade joined the army at the age of twenty: Eleven Bravo. Light infantry was his MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) when he enlisted. He excelled during basic training and loved service life so much that he went through Ranger school, served with the 75th Ranger Regiment and then later went on to Special Forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia.

  Mike Desantos recruited Cade for the Delta Force. For the next couple of years he had some top-secret missions where he found himself “down range,” the soldier’s term for being on the receiving end of enemy fire. Cade gave better than he got.

  When he met Brook, it was love at first sight. She was a nurse near Fort Lewis when he was stationed there with the 1st Special Forces Group. It was 1999. They were soon married and Raven was born shortly thereafter.

  Being an operator was his life, and when those nineteen shit bags dropped the Twin Towers it became a crusade. He believed in the war against terror so wholeheartedly that he had “INFIDEL” tattooed in Old English lettering across his back.

  Cade did everything his superiors asked of him, sacrificing anniversaries, birthdays, he even missed Raven’s first words and steps while he was hunting terrorists.

  Soon after the new President took office and the crusade had lost its luster for the American people, Cade decided to hang up his spurs. It was a slap in the face to all of the people in uniform fighting for their country when the President and his new administration decreed that terrorist acts be called “man-made catastrophes.” It was the final straw for Cade when the White House staff started omitting the word “terrorist” in official communications.

  Choosing to leave his unit and not re-up was the hardest decision Cade had ever made. A lot of career shooters were also taking this route and then going to work for Blackwater or Triple Canopy, providing private security in the Sandbox.

  Cade chose instead to immerse himself in family life.

  Chapter 10

  Day 2 - Southeast Portland

  Cade’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He extracted it and, seeing Brook’s name and number on the display, he answered it immediately. Sobbing on the other end of the line was indeed his wife Brook. She began recounting everything that had happened to her in the last twenty minutes. Towards the end of her story, Cade cut her off and asked, “If my memory serves me, your parents live on a cul-de-sac, right?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “So?”

  Not knowing how long he would have a signal, he told Brook to just listen. “It’s a good thing they do. If Myrtle Beach is anything like Portland those things will be all over the surface streets. Get as many shells for the shotgun as possible. Grab some food and water from the house and take the Escalade and get Raven and yourself to Bragg. Stay away from big public places, especially hospitals or triage centers. The National Guard and FEMA will try to limit your travel. If they give you any problems tell them where you are going and whom you seek. Explain your relationship with me as a last resort. Remember to go around popular major routes. Do not pick up anybody, and give Rave a hug for me. I’ll meet up with you at Bragg. See you soon, I love you.”

  “Finished yet?” Brook said jokingly.

  “Just the pertinent facts, ma’am!” he fired back. Then all business aside, voice wavering, Cade said, “You guys be careful, and I really do mean it, I love you. See you soon.”

  Just then the connection was lost and replaced with the hiss of static.

  There had been no time and no reason to tell Brook about Ted and Lisa, their neighbors from around the block. She had enough on her plate and Cade didn’t want to muddy the waters any further.

  *****

  Brook was sitting on the neighbors’ sofa and taking this all in when her brother skidded to a stop outside. He left his car running and sprinted into his parents’ home.

  By the time Brook walked out onto the lawn Carl had already been inside and seen his parents; he was on hands and knees hurling in the grass. When Carl finally stopped and wiped a trembling hand across his mouth, they met each other’s gaze. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked exhausted. He looked at the shotgun Brook held and said, “I’m sorry you had to do it, Sis. Before I saw Mom and Dad in there I thought I could never convince you what went on at the hospital. It was a hell house. I’ll never forget last night.” Breathing in deeply, he continued. “Earlier this morning I had a moment of clarity and remembered the bite that Dad got. I tried to call here; I only got a recording. Shortly after, people in the Emergency Room started screaming.” Carl paused, wiping his nose with his shirt sleeve. “I hid in a closet for over three hours until the wailing stopped. I finally decided to run for it. By then, everyone on the wing was either dead or a walking corpse. I drove here as fast as I could,” he gasped, eyes red-rimmed and teary.

  As Raven joined them, Brook hugged her little girl and big brother close to her.

  Chapter 11

  Day 2 - Southeast Portland

  Ike and Leo were still mesmerized by the images on TV; they couldn’t turn it off. It was like being in a car going by a fatal wreck and seeing the telltale yellow tarp, you are compelled to steal a look. Such was the draw here. They aired the Pioneer Square footage yet again, the attack at the hospital and a reporter getting ambushed by a mob of undead at an outdoor triage center. The international footage was few and far between. What they did show mirrored the horrors they faced here in the United States. As time wore on governments worldwide began to hide the extent of the outbreak. Even FEMA started a looping video message on all of the channels warning of the contagion and imploring people to shelter in place.

  Leo and Ike watched the news for an hour and tried to piece together what had happened to their parents.

  Their mom had been a janitor in a high-rise office building downtown, working the swing shift. She must have gotten infected downtown or at her job, turned undead sometime after she arrived home and attacked their dad when he came downstairs all dressed up for church. Unfortunately they would never really know what happened. They were very fortunate Leo had gotten them out of their house alive, and truly blessed that Cade came along when he did.

  Cade had talked Leo and Ike out of going home to bury their parents. It was a noble thing to do but with all of the undead walking the streets, it wouldn’t be safe.

  Leo told Cade that most of their extended family lived in Georgia and Louisiana. Cade suggested they go with him and they could look for their family members together. The brothers had no other family in Portland so there was little hesitation. Leo made the executive decision for himself and his brother. “We will go, but can you teach us to shoot a gun so we can defend ourselves?”

  After giving it some thought, Cade answered, “I’ll teach you guys the safety part first. If you can grasp that... then, yes.”

  The silver Toyota Sequoia should serve them well on their cross country trek. With the third row seat folded out of the way, there was plenty of room for the supplies they intended on taking.

  Chapter 12

  Day 2 - Southeast Portland

  Rawley had himself quite a fan club. From his vantage point in Raven’s bedroom on the second floor, Cade could see at least twenty walkers around the front and sides of his neighbor’s house across the street. One of the putrid creatures was on the porch pawing at the door.

  It looked like Rawley had shored up his big pictu
re window. The bottom of the sofa was visible through the glass. Fortunately the narrow basement windows were too small for the ghouls to fit through, and the windows on the sides of the house were well above ground level.

  Cade couldn’t remember what Rawley’s backyard looked like, even though he’d been to a few barbecues there. He did remember that Rawley’s hickory smoked beef ribs were awesome.

  Over the years he had proven to be a pretty nice fellow. He played guitar and looked the part. His long hair was dyed black and he had full sleeve tattoos on both arms. Rawley occasionally toured with a rock band, which meant that a lot of different girls came and went from his house. Cade knew these were the perks of the lifestyle, and as far as he knew Rawley didn’t have an exclusive woman living with him.

  It looked as if his plan of circling the wagons with his guitar and supplies wasn’t going to work. Rawley had been a little careless and let the walkers see him taking things in the front door.

  The undead’s senses didn’t seem that adversely affected. Their movement suffered a little and their speed was usually about halved, but some were faster and some were slower.

  The lone zombie on the porch had lost its infatuation with the door and started banging on the big plate window. The glass shattered with a loud report, drawing the attention of other walkers in the vicinity.

  What happened next was the last thing Cade had anticipated. The front door opened and Rawley emerged with an SKS assault rifle, pregnant with a fifty round drum magazine. It was the type of rifle the two bank robbers used to outgun the police in North Hollywood in the early nineties. Rawley dispatched the one on his porch with two well-placed shots to the head. Flesh and brain matter splattered his welcome mat. Carefully aimed bullets cut down more walkers on the bottom stairs leading to the porch.