The Plague (Book 0): Day Zero (5 page)

On the following pages you will find a brief excerpt from

END OF DAYS

Book 1 of
THE PLAGUE
series
…

Miles and Tiamade their way towards the G.W. Bridge in a hurry. On a normal day to walk from Central Park to the bridge was two hours alone, but this wasn’t a normal day
.

Six blocks away, they arrived at the Henry Hudson Parkway, unharmed and undetected. Vacant vehicles were parked and scattered in all lanes. Not a soul or zombie was in sight as far as the eye could see.

“Oh, God… This is so sad,” Tia put her fingers to her lips, examining the bloody baby seat in the back of the station wagon. She pressed her head against the cracked window, gazing at her reflection. “I guess this is the world we live in now. What else do you know from watching a ton of zombie movies?”

Miles joined her side. “People start to get crazy—fighting others for food, water, supplies. Instead of banding together to overcome the situation, they make matters worse by turning into animals themselves, killing other humans. But this isn’t a movie. Maybe things will be different and people will come together as one to stop this from getting any worse than it already has.”

“How are we supposed to live, Miles? In this new world we can’t have babies. We can’t raise a family.”

“It’s all about survival. We just got to keep moving and hope for the best.” Miles put a hand on Tia’s shoulder. “I know we just met, but I promise I’ll help you get back to your family in one piece.”

“I appreciate that. I really do.”

Miles climbed on top of the hood of the station wagon. All he saw were cars stretched out and eventually disappearing into the blackness of the night.

“See anything?” Tia asked.

“Just a shit ton of cars we have to squeeze through.” Miles jumped off the hood and opened the car door adjacent from the station wagon. He began searching the glove compartment, under the seats and the trunk. Then he moved on to the next car.

“What are you looking for?”

“A flashlight. It’s really dark down there, even with the street lamps.”

Tia then joined him in search of a flashlight, and after just over a dozen cars searched, they came up empty.

Miles slammed the trunk closed. “How does nobody have a flashlight with them, let alone own a battery,” he said to himself.

Tia turned to him, “How is this the quietest area we’ve been to so far? It’s jam-packed with all these cars and yet there’s nobody, not a single person or undead creature-thing either. Where is everyone?”

“Good question.” Miles took a moment to himself. Then, “Okay, we need to forget the flashlight and continue moving. If we see a zombie then we duck and take it out without a sound. If we accidently attract more—especially since we are on a narrow highway—we’re fucked.”

Tia nodded, and Miles got his MP7 ready as they continued their way to the G.W.

Sgt. Allen Cooper hadn’t seen such a hostile crowd as the one in front of him in all his thirteen years in the service. His tank was front and center—behind the tank were his men and a blockade, preventing anyone from leaving.

Their orders were to secure all exits of New York so the outbreak wouldn’t spread. If anything got out of hand…he would be forced to open fire without hesitation nor question; no rhyme or reason.

The hostiles were shoulder-to-shoulder, bumping into one another, hollering and making threats. A thousand of them. Children cried in their mother’s arms.

“Let us through,” one man yelled.

“We have children,” a mother yelled.

“What about the rest of us, huh,” another said. “You’re just gonna stand there and let us die?”

“For Christ Sakes, man, let us out.”

“Help us.”

Sgt. Cooper heard enough. He raised his M4 and with force, yelled, “Everyone stay the fuck back or we will open fire. We have orders to secure this location and will not tolerate a hostile crowd. Stay calm and we will…”

“Stay calm?” a ginger-haired man stepped forward. “How the fuck do you expect us to stay calm? Are you blind? Do you not see what’s going on? People are dying and you’re just there on your high horse acting all mighty and powerful because you wear that stinking uniform. You should be ashamed to be a part of such a disgraceful government.”

Sgt. Cooper hopped off the tank, accompanied by two of his men. He got up into the ginger-haired man’s face and said, “Sir, get back. This is your final warning.”

The ginger-haired man’s wife and daughter watched on. She pleaded for her husband to back off. “Gabriel, let’s just go. Please.”

Gabriel turned to his wife, “They won’t let us out of the city, and I’m not dragging my family back into that death zone.

“You might want to listen to your wife, sir. This doesn’t have to get ugly.”

Gabriel turned to Sgt. Cooper. “Fuck you,” he spat. Then, he turned back to the hostile crowd and at the top of his lunges said, “Come on people, are we really just going to let them run the show? Are we going to let them determine whether we live or die? You see what’s happening. Our friends and families, our co-workers and innocent strangers are dying and the military isn’t raising a finger to help. We need to fight back. Fuck them. It’s up to us. Who’s with me?”

The hostile crowd cheered, all behind him. Gabriel turned back to Sgt. Cooper.

“Better listen to these people, Sargent.”

Sgt. Cooper aimed his M4 at Gabriel. “Back the fuck up. Now!”

“I’ll meet you in hell.” Gabriel swung at Sgt. Cooper, knocking him to the ground in a daze.

The military aimed at the crowd. Gabriel stared them down. Sgt. Cooper got to his feet, pulled out his 9MM and pulled the trigger, and the gunfire reported.

Thanks to all who’ve participated in this project in whatever way, shape or form. Those people include:

Nikki

For portraying Tia

Abby

For portraying Emily

Lexi

For editing
DAY ZERO
and all of her “Holy Crap” moments during the film practicing

Kevin

For portraying Kenneth Patterson, and coming up with his sadistic persona that will be revealed in Book
1

Shawn

For portraying Derek Hanson

Matt

For portraying Wolf

And others for participating in general.

A special thanks to the other creators of
THE PLAGUE
for choosing me to be the first to write in this series, and start the journey for our soon-to-be beloved characters—allowing me to pave the way to the future writers of the series.

Ryan Cecere was born and raised, and currently lives, in New Rochelle, New York. He has been writing stories and acting them out with friends ever since he was in elementary. Writing was once a hobby, and now he has decided to take his love for creating stories to the next level by publishing his work.

THE PLAGUE
is a project him and his friends (John Rayner—CEO & Founder of Rayner Electronics; Chris Esquivel, and Scott Lucas) created back in the summer of 2014. Not only has
THE PLAGUE: DAY ZERO
been assigned to him to write, it is also his first published work.

More Books to Come…

THE PLAGUE: END OF DAYS

THE NELSON FILES Cases

Co-created and co-written with Scott Lucas

RYAN CAN BE FOUND HERE:

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/ryance93

Email: [email protected]