Christine held out the journal to the young man anyway, her lips pursed and brow furrowed in determination.
“Oh, we don’t need that,” the kid said with a casual wave of his hand.
It was so nonchalant that the urge to slap him came over Christine. This was serious, not something to be brushed off. The answer to the world’s problems could be in that journal and this kid was acting like she’d offered him a bag of chips. Her face must have reflected her impulse because the kid quickly waved his hands in front of him.
“No, no, not like we don’t want it. We appreciate it very much. It’s just that…we’ve already found the cure. At least we think we have.”
Christine’s mouth hung open as she turned to look at Zack. His face reflected hers. She turned back to the kid scientist.
“What do you mean?”
Instead of answering her question, he walked over to Blue with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans and stopped at Gretchen’s head. “I’m guessing this one means something to you?” He pulled a hand out and gestured to Christine’s sister with his thumb.
“Yes, she does,” was all Christine could muster.
He gently untied the string around Gretchen’s neck and took off the cover, bending down to examine her face. When he was done he stood up and shoved his hands back into his pockets. “She hasn’t been one of them long, has she?”
“Only a day.”
He nodded his head as a cheeky smile spread across his face. “We can save her, then.”
Christine’s knees almost buckled right out from under her. Was this kid for real? Did he just say they had a cure and could save her sister? Bring her back from the side of the undead to the side of the living? How was this possible? She was so sure Liam’s journal was the only thing out there with an answer to it all, but it turns out they didn’t even need it. Gretchen was going to be herself again. Tears started to roll silently down Christine’s face.
“Why don’t you follow me,” the young man said as he turned and walked away.
Zack grabbed hold of the ropes that bound Gretchen’s hands together and forced her to walk in front of him. Christine followed the kid to a set of large marble stairs, leading to what she had no idea.
Leading to hope her heart told her quietly.
TO BE CONTINUED IN “DEAD WORLD” COMING SOON
For more works from the “Dead Soil” world, check out the novella series “Dead Beginnings” and see how the characters survived their first days of the zombie apocalypse:
-Volume 1: Lonnie Lands
-Volume 2: Lee Hickey
- Volume 3: Olivia Darling (coming soon)
And the Zooey Zombie series to see how the zombies are brought back to life with the cure and what life is like for them afterwards:
-It’s an Undead Thing (book 1)
-So Over the Undead (book 2- coming soon)
Afterward
Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I truly appreciate your support. None of this would be possible without wonderful readers to support us independent authors. So first and foremost, I want to thank you! I also want to thank my family for their support; my mom, my dad, my daughter, and my long-time boyfriend, John.
I also want to thank God for placing the passion of writing stories and sharing them with others on my heart. When I wrote “Dead Soil”, the first book in this series, I was not a believer. This fact came out in my writing. Though I still hold “Dead Soil” and all the books I wrote before I was a believer dear to my heart, there are things about them I would do differently now. I apologize for any foul language that can be found in them. I do plan to do a re-edit to adjust this so believers and nonbelievers alike can read my stories and enjoy them. “Dead Road” is my first fiction book written since I became a believer over a year ago. I struggled at first writing this book. I had no idea how to write a horror zombie novel while still upholding my beliefs, but I felt strongly God telling me to finish what I had started before moving onto new series and books. So, of course, I followed and God provided. I am extremely happy with how the story of “Dead Road” developed. It is still scary, somewhat gory, but upholds the values I now hold deep in my heart; such as healing from hurts, rejecting evil, overcoming struggles, having bravery and perseverance in the face of things we fear, charity, generosity, hospitality, and above all—love. The way I see it, we all have our struggles. It’s just the struggles of Christine, Zack, and the characters of the “Dead Soil” series are zombies while ours are no quite so dramatic and fantastical. Hopefully you came to love the characters of this book as much as I do and took delight in seeing them develop as they figured out how to survive another book, and mourned with those who didn’t. I hope, even though you are not living in the woods and fighting off the undead (at least I hope you’re not), that you related to the characters I’ve created and that in seeing them overcome they have inspired you to overcome as well.
Thank you again for your support! Please, leave a review on any of the book websites; Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, BookBub, etc. I would truly appreciate it. Good word of mouth is essential to the survival of an author. And if you enjoyed the book, keep your eyes open for the next and final novel in the series, “Dead World”.
If you would like to follow my mailing list so you never miss a release or giveaway go to writeralexapostol.com and sign up. In doing so, you’ll receive a free eBook copy of “It’s an Undead Thing (Zooey Zombie book 1)”
Thank you endlessly and keep on reading!
Alex Apostol
Dead Soil (Book 2): Dead Road Page 23