The Z-Strain Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Morris, SJ

  “I know. It’s just hard to leave this place. We’ve had so much happen that I’m overwhelmed with the prospect of starting over.”

  “I know, but we’ll start over together. I’ll never forget the first time we met. You were decked out head to toe in black leather, and duct tape smelling like death itself had chewed you up and spit you out. You’re a strong woman, Abby. You can do this. We can do this.”

  “Well, since you say so,” I laughed and kissed him. “Hey, I’m going out to the graves to say goodbye to Lance, Allycia, and everyone else.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “Yeah, I know you need to say goodbye to Tom, Dan, and the others.”

  Chris turned me around to hug me again. “Good. Even though we haven’t seen too many of the infected recently, I still don’t like the idea of you out there on your own.”

  We told the others where we were going, and a few of them decided to join us. Kamil wanted to say goodbye to Dana and Chuck, Doc wanted to visit her husband, son, and daughter-in-law’s plots one last time.

  We stood outside in the fresh warm air around the gravesites of our loved ones. Most of the graves didn’t even hold the bodies of our loved ones, just memorabilia of the lives they had lived. Allycia’s ashes were here and I had buried Lance’s bow and arrow along with his high school letter jacket. There were tears, there were sobs, but most of all, there was love. I looked around at all the faces of my friends and family and realized how strong we were.

  We didn’t survive because the people memorialized in these plots had died for us, we lived so that we could honor their memories and build a better future for those of us that were left.

  We had to be better than the people who started this plague. We needed to do everything in our power not to just survive, but to thrive and build a new, better society despite their actions.

  I left purple flowers on all of the graves and said goodbye for the last time while Chris held Ella and Kasey. They would never get to meet their brother or sister, but they would always be a part of them.

  Chris and I were the last to leave the gravesites with the girls. We turned to go, and a harsh shriek cried out from the trees. Chris quickly handed me the babies and told me to run. We were both armed, but I couldn’t shoot holding two babies, so I ran as fast as I could back to the iron gate.

  I heard shots ring out from Chris’s rifle behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, but Chris was no longer in sight. I was a hundred yards from the wall when four of the super-infected exited the woods in front of me. I stopped dead in my tracks, trying to plan my next move when the lead infected locked eyes with me. It looked down at the crying babies in my arms and growled as air hissed out of its dead lungs.

  The creature stalked forward towards me slowly, and the others behind it stood fixed like predators faced with an opponent. I didn’t want to make any sudden movements just in case it would cause them to attack, so I stood as still as possible while their leader continued to approach me.

  The undead monster was now only five feet away from me. I could smell the stench of putrid rotting flesh emanating from the creature. The corpse was wearing hunting fatigues with a bright orange vest, and a red bandana hung around its blood soiled neck. It sniffed the air as it inched even closer to me. I wanted to turn and run, but there was no way I would have made it very far, so I continued to remain still.

  The infected stopped practically nose to nose with me. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, and the zombie licked the tear from my face.

  Ella reached her tiny hand up from her blanket in my arms and swatted playfully at the bloody handkerchief dangling from its neck. The infected looked down at the girls with its cloudy dead eyes and just stared.

  There was a soft noise behind me that sounded like someone running, and the zombie’s head snapped up towards the noise. It screamed a feral cry and bolted back into the trees. The others followed it.

  Chris ran up to me, huffing and puffing from exhaustion. “What the hell, Abby! Why aren’t you already inside the gates where it’s safe? I heard more screams, so there’s more of them out here. I just killed at least ten of those fast bastards. Let’s go,” he demanded while he pushed me toward the gate.

  Once inside the relative safety of the wall, I turned to Chris to share the experience I just had with the super-infected, but I couldn’t get the words out. I couldn’t find a way to explain what had happened because I myself had no idea what had transpired.

  Chris stopped loading the last of the supplies onto the truck, and he turned to me. “Are you okay, Abby? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  I looked down at my two daughters, who were cooing and wiggling in my arms as if nothing had happened. Ella had a black smudge on her tiny little fingers, and I quickly wiped it away with my hand.

  “Yeah... yeah. I’m fine. I just... I’m ready to get on the road, I guess, and I zoned out.”

  We finished packing up, and everyone loaded into the vehicles including Lilly who was excited to go on a car ride. We pulled out of the giant iron gate and headed south. The plan was to find a boat in Florida and see if we could find a vessel big enough to ship us and our vehicles to any of the islands where we could create a new sanctuary.

  I put my experience with the super-infected behind me and focused on the future. I might never know what the connection my daughters and I had with the infected meant, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from being the best mother I could be and helping Ella and Kasey grow up as normally as this new world would allow.

  We were spreading the word on how to defeat the infected, and I was confident that one day, humans would ultimately retake our planet from the dead.

  The End

  About the Author

  SJ Morris was born in Anchorage Alaska, on Elmendorf Airforce Base, but now resides in Bordentown, New Jersey, with her husband, their two children, and two dogs.

  SJ Morris has written short stories for as long as she can remember. However, it wasn’t until 2013 that she started to focus on writing her debut novel, Z-Strain.

  When she’s not writing, SJ Morris enjoys spending time with her family as well as their pets, hitting the gym, playing video games, and whenever possible, lounging on the beach, completely immersed in a good book.

  Thank you for purchasing the Z-Strain Series. I hope you enjoyed the labor of love that took me seven years to complete. I also hope that you will take a few moments to leave a review. Every single one of them is greatly appreciated!

  Click Here to Leave a Review - Thank you

  Also, please feel free to email me with any questions, comments or ideas that you would like to see our beloved characters run into next. Email me at SJMorris@ForeverMorrisPublishing.com

  If you enjoyed this book, make sure to check out my other titles:

  Before the Outbreak: William DeFranco’s Story

  Before the Outbreak: Jessica Chambers’ Story

  Before the Outbreak: Zhang Wei’s Story

  Richie’s Ghost Squad: Book One - Ghost Cat

  Also, keep an eye out for more of my books to be released soon.

  Find me on Social Media, My web page, SJMorrisAuthor.com or my author tab on ForeverMorrisPublishing.com to keep up to date on my upcoming releases and general zombie apocalypse/horror fun.

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SJMorrisAuthor/

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