Brady left the house, going out through the front door and heading to the next house on the street. He repeated the process of sending his former neighbors to a second death two more times before it got too dark for him to see. There were sixteen more homes he had to take care of, but Brady knew it would have to wait until the next day. He also knew he’d be sleeping with the gun under his pillow tonight.
He headed home, intending to turn in for the night, but froze the second he stepped onto his front lawn and caught sight of Kristine’s grave. That was when a horrible epiphany hit him. The same fate had probably befallen his wife. There was no reason to think she hadn’t turned as well, only she was buried under four feet of dirt. Was she down there, trying to claw her way out? Would she be able to?
The thought sent a shudder through Brady’s body, shaking him to the core. His stomach twisted and jumped up, and he found himself bent over and retching into the grass. Puking up everything he’d had to eat and drink that day.
When he was done, he collapsed on the ground next to his wife’s grave, laying his hand on the fresh dirt as he tried to decide what to do. Brady knew he should dig her up and put her out of her misery, but thinking about doing it nearly paralyzed him. He couldn’t face it. Not tonight. Not after the shock of what had just happened. He would wait. Would take care of it tomorrow after he’d had a little rest.
Brady dragged himself inside and up the stairs to his room, crawling into bed with his clothes still on. He was still holding the gun when he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke the next morning, his gaze landed on the gun, and right away he said a silent prayer of thanks that he hadn’t shot himself in his sleep. Then the day before came screaming back and he was on his feet, moving downstairs and to the front window with so much speed an onlooker might have thought he was being chased.
Outside, the streets were still empty, but knew it was bound to be short-lived. He had to get moving. There was a lot of work to do, and the longer he put it off, the more at risk he’d be. After living through a virus that had wiped out most of the population, the last thing he wanted was to end up as a zombie snack.
He stumbled outside, squinting from the early morning light, and his eyes once again landed on his wife’s grave. The shovel was still next to it, and he briefly considered taking care of the problem right away, but still couldn’t bring himself to do it. The act was just too final and grotesque to stomach this early in the morning. So he went down the street and took care of his neighbors instead.
One by one Brady put them out of their misery, sneaking into the homes through unlocked doors, shooting them in the head before moving to the next house. Not all of his neighbors had to be taken out, though. He found an older couple on the other side of the gated community laid out side by side on their bed, bullet holes in both their heads and the gun still clutched in the man’s lifeless hand. Brady pried the weapon free, then covered both of them with a blanket. Even though his stomach lurched at the thought of doing something so extreme, he almost couldn’t blame them for making such a drastic decision. Especially now.
The next house was even worse, though. Inside he found a woman bent over the body of her husband, chewing on his arm the way a dog might gnaw on a bone. She didn’t look up when Brady came in, and she still hadn’t turned when he pulled the trigger. She never saw the bullet coming.
By the time Brady had put an end to all of his neighbors, he was exhausted. He dragged himself home, but for a reason he couldn't explain, found it impossible to go inside. Instead he went to his wife’s grave, intent on doing what he knew needed to be done. Only, he couldn’t. He’d been able to put everyone in the neighborhood out of their misery, but for some reason he couldn’t do the same for her. It hurt, thinking about having to put a bullet in her head, and the fact that he was too weak to do it made him feel like more of a failure than anything else that had happened in his life. He loved Kristine, and leaving her like that was cruel, but Brady didn’t know if he was strong enough to do anything about it.
When he woke the next morning, he went outside with the intention of taking care of Kristine, but had managed to scoop up only one shovelful of dirt before tremors started in his body, making it too difficult to stand let alone dig.
“I should bury everyone,” he said, uncertain if he was talking to his wife or to himself.
He wasn’t sure where the idea had come from, but the second the words were out, he knew it was the right thing to do.
He found a place on the other side of the community that was perfect. The ground was flat and shaded by a huge oak tree that sat just on the other side of the fence, and there was enough open space that he’d be able to dig a couple dozen holes and still have room. It would take a long time to get it all done, but since he didn’t have anything else to occupy his day, he didn’t care.
He spent the next three days digging. One hole after the other, four feet deep and four feet long. He dug until his arms ached and the callouses on his hands turned to blisters. Still, he kept digging. Ignoring the pain in his body, but even more than that, grateful that it overshadowed the pain in his chest.
Every night when he went home, he paused next to Kristine. He hadn’t moved more than that one shovelful of dirt, and the more time that passed, the less he wanted to. The thought of her being down there, possibly moving around and covered in dirt, hurt him. But it also brought an odd sense of comfort to him that was impossible to ignore.
“I’ve finished digging the holes,” he said, staring down at the dirt. “Tomorrow I’ll start moving the bodies. It’s going to be a rough job. It’s been a few days and they’re going to stink, but it needs to be done. I can’t just leave them there.”
Kristine didn’t answer, but Brady could picture her smile, which made him feel better.
The next day he went about the business of dragging the bodies from the homes. He found a mower in his neighbor’s garage that had a trailer attached to it, which made hauling the bodies easier. He worked from sun up to sun down, picking up where he’d left off the next morning and the morning after that. When night rolled around he’d return home and talk to Kristine, telling her about his day before going to bed. Having her there was a comfort, even if it horrified him to acknowledge it.
By the time he finished burying the bodies, Brady had accepted the truth. He couldn’t bring himself to dig his wife up. He liked having her there, but tried hard not to think about how insane that made him. His life had never been easy, but no matter what adversity he’d faced, he’d always felt like he’d come out of it stronger.
Until now.
The End
Thanks for reading The Oklahoma Wastelands Series. If you enjoyed this book, please consider taking a moment to leave a review on Amazon. Also, be sure to check out my many other zombie apocalypse novels.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, let me take the time to thank my readers for begging for more zombies. If you hadn’t, I don’t know if I would have written this series, and it was so much fun to create.
It’s over, I know it sucks and I know people are going to be bummed. I hadn’t really planned for it to be the final book, I’m not much of a plotter to be honest, but as the plot developed I realized it was a very natural place to stop. Does that mean we’ve seen the last of these characters? Of course not. It just means that the Kellan and Regan’s part has come to an end. Anything can happen, as we all know from reading the Broken World and Twisted series, and there is so much more of the country to explore and so many new characters to create, so keep your eyes peeled!
Once again, I need to extend a huge thanks not only to the state of Oklahoma, but also the cities of Altus, Duke, and Mangum, as well as the Quartz Mountain Resort at Lake Altus-Lugert, The Holy City, and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. I was able to witness the beauty of this state both during and after the drought, and even though it wasn’t my favorite place to live, I will never forget my time there. I hope I did a good job
of portraying the area!
A big thanks goes to Jan Strohecker for once again being that first critical set of eyes. I know I couldn’t put out such polished books without dedicated people like you, and it’s both nice and flattering to have readers who are so passionate about the stories I write. Thank you also to Laura Johnsen, Carey Monroe, and Mary Jones for being early readers. I really wanted to get some readers who have been to the area to give the novel a onceover before publication, and all three of these ladies have either lived in or still live in Altus, which was perfect! Thanks also to Courtnee McGrew, Karen Atkinson, and Julie Dewey for reading through in search of typos. Your enthusiasm is amazing!
I also want to give a shout out to Lori Whitwam, my amazing editor, and Amber Garcia, whose PR skills know no limits. Thanks for working with me and being so amazing at everything you do!
Another big thank you has to go to Dean Samed at NeoStock Photos for the amazing stock photos. It’s so hard to find stock images with women holding weapons where they aren’t dressed sexy, or even worse, completely naked. I found this group thanks the suggestions of some really amazingly supportive Indie authors, and it’s been amazing. Not just for the stock images, but for the Photoshop tutorials. I love designing my own covers not just because it’s cheaper, but because it’s fun, and thanks to NeoStock, my skills are getting so much better!
Last but not least, my family. While I loved writing this book, it was a struggle in the beginning because I kept comparing it to Broken World and wondering how the fans would react. My husband, as always, was helpful and encouraging, while my kids did their best to stay out of my way so I could finish by my deadline. Thanks for being so supportive!
Also by Kate L. Mary
The Broken World Series
Broken World
Shattered World
Mad World
Lost World
New World
Forgotten World
Silent World
Broken Stories
The Twisted Series
Twisted World
Twisted Mind
Twisted Memories
Twisted Fate
The Oklahoma Wastelands Series
The Loudest Silence
The Brightest Darkness
The Sweetest Torment
The Far Series
Far from Home
Far from Safe
Zombie Apocalypse Love Story Novellas
More than Survival
Fighting for a Future
Playing the Odds
The Key to Survival
The Things We Cannot Change
Surviving the Storm
No Looking Back
Finding A Future
The Blood Will Dry
Collision
Tribe of Daughters
The Book of David
The Outliers Saga
Outliers
Uprising
Retribution
When We Were Human
Alone: A Zombie Novel
The Moonchild Series
Moonchild
Liberation
Redemption
The College of Charleston Series
The List
No Regrets
Moving On
Letting Go
Anthologies
Prep for Doom
Gone with the Dead
7 Sins of the Apocalypse
Undead Worlds 3
About the Author
Kate L. Mary is an award-winning author of Adult, New Adult, and Young Adult fiction, ranging from Post-apocalyptic tales of the undead to Speculative Fiction and Contemporary Romance. Her YA book, When We Were Human, was a 2015 Children's Moonbeam Book Awards Silver Medal winner for Young Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi Fiction, and a 2016 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal winner for Young Adult Science Fiction. Her book Outliers was a Top 10 Finalist in the 2018 Author Academy Awards for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction, a Finalist in the 2018 Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and the First Place Winner in the 2018 Kindle Book Awards for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction. Her post-apocalyptic novel, Tribe of Daughters, was an Honorable Mention in the 2018 SPR Book Awards, a Bronze Medal Winner in the 2019 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards for Science Fiction, and a Semi-Finalist in the 2019 Kindle Book Awards for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction.
Before starting her writing career, Kate was a stay-at-home-mom for over ten years to four amazing kids - two boys, two girls - and the wife of an Air Force pilot. Her family moved around quite a bit during their eleven years of active duty, and she’s gotten to experience many different parts of the country, and it isn't uncommon to find some of the places she’s lived as the setting for her books. She’s lived in Georgia (When We Were Human), Mississippi, South Carolina (The College of Charleston Series), California (Broken World), and Oklahoma (The Loudest Silence), but has recently returned to the Dayton, Ohio area (The Blood Will Dry, Collision). Military life has had its up and downs, but Kate has made some pretty incredible friends along the way who have been amazingly supportive of her writing. She loves zombies (especially The Walking Dead), Coffee, Wine, and Daryl Dixon.
For more information about Kate, check out her website: www.KateLMary.com
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The Oklahoma Wastelands Series Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 87
