Apocalypse: Underwater City (A Dystopian Novella) PART 1 (The Hope Saga) (9 page)

“What I’m saying is that you need to be careful. Seemingly nice guys cannot always be trusted,” he said, glancing down at the growling Max.

I smiled. “Are
you
a nice guy?”

His face lit up, and he grinned again. “I suppose there’s only one way to find out.”

I took the bait and engaged him. “And, pray tell, how’s that?”

Suddenly, his gorgeous grin faded, and worry flashed across his features. He began to dart his eyes around from tree to tree, shrub to shrub, and he listened so intently that I could have sworn his ears perked up like a dog’s.

Max started to bark and snap at the air, but when I peered into the foliage and thick brush, I couldn’t see a thing. 

“They’re back,” he whispered, then pointed to Max. “Please keep him quiet.”

They?
I thought, worried that he was talking about more than one mountain lion. As he suggested, I patted Max’s head and tried my best to calm him, but it didn’t help.

Finally, Mr. Mysterious knelt down and petted Max. “Shh, boy.”

Much to my surprise, Max immediately quit barking.

The handsome stranger then placed his hand on my lower back and briskly led me in the direction of our house. He gently tapped Max’s head. “Go home.”

Obediently, Max bolted off.

When the house was in view, I glanced over my shoulder to thank my escort, but he was gone, as quickly and mysteriously as he’d shown up in the first place. I squinted and looked through the dark spaces between the trees, but he was nowhere in sight, as if he’d just vanished into thin air.
Who is he?
I wondered.
Where does he live? Gosh, I’m an idiot. I didn’t even get his name.
Shaking my head at my foolishness, I walked to the back door and opened it.

“There you are. What took so long, sweetheart?” my mom asked. “And I know you didn’t stay in the back yard like I told you to.”

I pointed in the direction of where I’d come from. “I saw a mountain lion.”

My dad immediately pulled me into a tight hug, then stepped back from me and began inspecting me from head to toe. “Are you okay?”

I sighed. “I’m fine, Dad. Max ran off, and I just—”

“You weren’t supposed to go in the woods,” he said firmly. 

“What was I supposed to do? I had to find Max.”

“You shouldn’t go out there alone. You could have hollered for me, and I would have gone with you.”

“It would’ve only taken a minute to get me or your dad,” my mom said.

“I didn’t know he was gonna go so deep into the woods, or I would have,” I said.

My dad’s brown gaze narrowed. “Are you sure it was a bobcat you saw?”

“Positive. I just took off running and—”

“Taylor,” my father pushed, “if that was a bobcat or mountain lion, its natural instinct would be to chase you. Never run. Just yell, shout, and make yourself look bigger.”

“Yeah, I know, but I panicked, I guess. Still, it didn’t chase me.”

“I don’t want you going out there alone again,” my mom said, as if I was five years old.

Dad handed me a plate with two slices of pizza on it. “Well, you’re safe now, so sit down and eat.”

I tried to calm my breathing. I didn’t have the guts to tell them I’d met a man in the woods and that he had saved me from the mountain lion. My stomach was tangled in knots. “Thanks, Dad, but I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll just go unpack a few boxes.”

“All right. I guess you have had quite a day,” Mom chimed in. “We’ll save your pizza, and you can just microwave it later if you get hungry.”

“Thanks.”

On my way upstairs, I glanced out the window but didn’t see anything unusual.

Later that night, when the moon began to shine and the crickets began to chirp and the wind began to whisper through the treetops, I thought about my mysterious stranger. The entire scene played out in my head over and over again in my dreams, and when I woke up the next morning, his beautiful face was on my mind. I had to find him, to see him again, if only once more, and to put a name to the beautiful face that I knew would linger in my mind for a long, long time.

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3 Sample Chapters from The Zombie Chronicles:

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The Zombie Chronicles

Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series

by

Chrissy Peebles

Copyright 2012 by Chrissy Peebles
http://www.chrissypeebles.blogspot.com

Cover design by:
Patrick Griffith

Edited by:
Autumn J. Conley

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
 The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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he Zombie Chronicles Book Trailer:
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Sample Chapter 1

One year earlier…

It had been a long day in July, with heat waves rampaging throughout
South Carolina. Even though nighttime had long fallen and the temperatures had cooled down noticeably, my shirt still stuck to my back. I wondered what good that shower had done that I’d taken before meeting Sherry.

A rush of wind blew through my hair as we rode to the top of the Ferris wheel and then stopped, hovering in midair. I breathed in, relaxed, and listened to the distant screams, music, and laughter echo below us. Sherry set down the stuffed pink pig I’d won for her in the ring toss and folded her hands in her lap, enjoying the silence. I dared a quick look at the stuffed animal, fighting with myself whether to be proud or sink into the ground. The guys back at school surely would’ve suggested the latter, but I didn’t care. Granted, it wasn’t the giant teddy bear I’d spent twenty bucks trying to win, but Sherry seemed happy with her little plush pink prize nonetheless. She squeezed my hand, and I smiled.

I rocked the cart back and forth with my legs.

“Hey! Stop it,” Sherry said, twining her fingers through my hair.

“But you told me you loved it when somebody shook the cart at the very top. And I do too. Love that adrenaline rush.”

She smiled and batted her lashes at me. Her whole demeanor screamed flirty, so I inched closer and wrapped my arm around her to pull her closer. “Do you want to play games or make out?” she whispered suggestively.

Her eyes sparkled like big onyxes as I gazed into them. We had liked each other for months, and we’d been shamelessly stealing glances at each other until I finally plucked up the courage to ask her out. It was our first big date, and I’d been dying to kiss her all night. “What do you think?” I asked with a smile.

She inclined her head as though in thought.

That same moment, a piercing scream echoed from below us. Forgetting our first intimate moment, I peered below into the darkness to the gathering mass.

“What’s going on down there?” Sherry asked.

“I dunno.” I squinted to get a better view, but the steel rods of the Ferris wheel blocked most of my view from where we were dangling. All I could make out were red and blue lights flashing in the distance, blinking in rhythm to the sound of blaring sirens. I leaned out until I could count five police cars speeding toward the midway.

“What’s happening?” Sherry asked again, this time more quietly, as though she was talking to herself.

I paid her no attention as I continued to scan the commotion below. A man tumbled to the ground. The same moment, a group of people pounced on him. From up above, they looked like they were attacking him with their bare arms and legs.

Sherri grabbed my shoulder and gave it a hard squeeze to get my attention. “Oh my gosh, Dean! I think a gang of thugs are attacking the people in line.”

I shook my head.
It can’t be.
We lived in a family tourist town, its biggest crimes consisting of kids stealing sweets from the local supermarket and old ladies complaining about Friday night litter on their porches; the crime rate was so low that misdemeanors made the front page. I couldn’t even remember the last time there’d been a public beating or any kind of vicious attack. “Maybe it’s nothing,” I said, my brain trying to justify the picture before my eyes.

“It sure doesn’t look like nothing,” Sherry said. “You think they’re on drugs?”

I shrugged, hesitating. I wasn’t naïve enough to think there were no drugs where I lived, but to see their effects creeped me out big time.

Bang! Bang!

Before I could answer, shots echoed from the nearing cars. I wrapped my arm around Sherry and forced her head down the way I had seen on television and in all those action movies. “It looks like the police are firing into the crowd!” I yelled.

“No! They can’t be.” She clutched her chest. “My sister’s down there. I hope she’s okay.”

The ride jerked forward. As we started to descend, Sherry leaned over me to peer at the blinking lights on the bar that rotated inside the wheel.

I gripped her hand. “We’ll find your sister. I promise.”

“Thanks, Dean.”

A scream tore through the air, followed by growls and hisses.

“What’s that noise?” Sherry asked, frantically glancing below us.

Peering past the yellow bulbs twinkling all around me, I tried to see what was happening below. My senses were on full alert because of the danger we were in. I knew a stray bullet could hit us, or one of the drug-crazed people might decide to attack us. We had to get out of there, fast, before something happened. A cold chill rushed through me as the cart stopped at the wooden platform.

I scanned the area for the best possible escape route. Crazed weirdoes were biting and tearing into the flesh of screaming, innocent bystanders, their blood staining their clothes and the asphalt beneath their feet. My stomach protested, ready to hurl up all the greasy hotdogs, funnel cakes, and cotton candy I’d eaten. My mind screamed,
This can’t be true! People just don’t go around biting each other like cannibals! It has to be a joke.
But I knew from the grotesque salty-metallic smell wafting through the air that the blood was all too real. It wasn’t a joke…but the grossest thing I’d ever seen in my life.

“Dean, what’s happening?” Sherry asked, shaking my shoulder frantically.

“I have no idea, but we’ve gotta get out of here.”

The possessed people shuffled toward us.
My pulse pounding in my ears, I spun quickly in hopes of getting out the other way, but the entrance was blocked with more people flooding in. The silver line dividers dropped to the ground with a loud
clang
.

“We’re trapped!” Sherry said, grabbing my arm tight.

“No!” I shook my head vehemently. “Don’t even think that. We’ll climb up the Ferris wheel.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

I hesitated, considering my words. “Then we fight,” I said, suppressing a gag at the rotten smell.

G
uttural sounds—strange growls—emanated from the group as they stared us down like they wanted to rip through our flesh. They had greenish-looking, cracked skin, torn clothes, and white eyes.
Contacts? A wicked case of cataracts? Liquid latex? Special effects?
I had no idea, but I was ready to take them on.