by Kady Monroe
He retrieved his tablet from the drawer again and brought up his personal data on the remaining carriers. Anderson’s ten would soon deplete. Four would deploy soon, all unaware of the small implant within their body. Right now the carriers occupied a separate part of the complex under the impression they had safety until the virus raging above, died out. Then they would be part of a search and rescue team to recover other survivors and take them to a protected facility. Not true of course. But in the meantime, they were well looked after, had full bellies and were in perfect health. Dopes, the man thought. Speaking of dopes, he smirked when his thoughts turned to Anderson’s disapproval. What would he think if he knew about the others?
He brought up his personal list of carriers. Two thousand extras reserved in the UK after the main assault began, and approximately the same in over one hundred and ninety other locations on the planet. Unfortunately, his UK stock had dwindled down to two hundred and ten still alive, the rest having gotten themselves killed in one way or another. The first two hundred were expendable anytime he wished, however, the other ten would be activated only when the number of survivors left dwindled to a manageable amount, and would be grateful to take any help they could get. He would be their saviour, their king or emperor, although he wouldn’t publicly say so. But if someone else gave him the title, well then… However, the ten, he kept them close, troublemakers in waiting who’s time of dispatch was a pleasure he anticipated.
Analysing the data of the other carrier numbers, he pondered on activating them all now, but decided to think on it for a little while. Instead he looked to see if any of the trackers pointed to his pawns in the Nottingham camp. He grinned when two dots came up. Who they were, didn’t concern him. Male, female, young or old. They were just numbers to use in the game. He selected the relevant options, entered a security code and set a timer countdown to activate the two carriers at 2 am. They would do more damage if they turned in the early hours of the morning when their camp-mates were asleep. Maximum impact. It was just a pity he couldn’t watch the outcome. He would love to see the look on survivors’ faces wondering what happened. If the person who turned wasn’t bitten, then how did they catch the virus? The confusion and worry would devastate them since they could no longer guarantee how safe it was to be with other people. One minute they were fine, and the next they could turn on their friends.
It was safe to say that he, James Hugh Lambert, hated humanity.
He checked the data for the rest of Europe. They hadn’t done so well, but Italy still contained numerous survivors. He brought up his carriers screen for the country. Sixty-three of his remained. He activated a random ten and set a timer for another ten to turn the day after. For a while he continued to play God with his numbers around the world. Finally coming back to the ones in the United Kingdom. He didn’t want to use those too soon, but his finger itched to press the activation button. However, a knock at the door interrupted his desire.
The husky voice of Charlotte called out to him,
“Honey, open the door.”
He locked the tablet away and pressed the door unlock. As soon as the light switched to green, his companion entered. A buxom blonde in her twenties sat herself down on the edge of the desk and leaned over it towards him,
“I’m lonely, aren’t you coming to bed?” she purred, smiling at him.
He knew every move in the act she played each night. He played along too as this particular game worked well for both of them. She got security and protection, he got whatever his heart or body desired from her. She pleased him well, and for the moment he was happy to continue the arrangement.
Telling her he would be along in a minute, he sent her back to their quarters. Once alone again, he squeezed himself out from behind the desk and walked to the door.
Before turning the lights off, he glanced back at his desk.
Two hundred, he thought, two hundred harbingers of death. Maybe tomorrow he would send some of them into action.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kady Monroe lives in East Central Scotland, UK. She was born and bred there, and although she has lived in other places, Geneva and London, she always returned home to familiar ground. As well as writing, she enjoys reading various genres of fiction, mixed media art, journaling, and walking in the countryside with her dog.
This is the second novel in the Dead End series, with one more book scheduled for 2018 to complete the trilogy. Since Zombie fiction is one of her favourite genres, it’s not surprising that the story she wrote revolves around that theme.
Kady wished to write a story that featured ordinary British people, with no special skills and very limited access to high power weapons, such as guns. These characters must do the best with what they have available.
Thank you for purchasing this title.
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If you would like news of the next instalment of the Dead End series or other projects to come in the future, you can follow Kady on Twitter.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
I do hope you enjoyed reading book two of Dead End. Most of the locations in the story are real, but I may have used a little artistic licence on the layout of some towns mentioned.
There are also a couple of places which are fictional. Jenny’s home town of Lillington and Matt’s father’s town of Harrow Bay were created for this story.
Dead End Surviving is written in British English. So if you normally read American English, you might find some punctuation and spelling differences in the text. Such as, Tyres, Travelling, and Storey (building levels) are a few I know I used in the novel.
The conversation about cheese came about because of a dare, which stated the words The reactor is full of cheese, should be used in the story. I have to say I enjoyed including that little conversation between Hayden and Amar. Thank you to Quisitor for setting the dare.
Book three of the Dead End series is due to be published in the Spring of 2018.
https://twitter.com/Kady_Monroe_1
