Rise Again Below Zero

by Ben Tripp

  “Zombie mayhem gets an interesting modern American makeover in Ben Tripp’s notable debut” (Publishers Weekly)

  RISE AGAIN

  New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow hails Rise Again as “not just a zombie novel—it’s an indictment of the us-versus-them mentality that chooses authoritarianism and control over cooperation and compassion. As such, it does more than scare—it both moves and enrages, and transcends mere spookiness for something much more satisfying. . . . Tripp raises the stakes so high that the book becomes nearly impossible to put down.”

  “Rise Again would make a terrific action movie due to a strong cast of characters struggling to survive by choosing to become heroic or malevolent. . . . A fabulous futuristic apocalyptic thriller.”

  —Alternative Worlds

  “Danny’s journey through a land of death to find [her sister] Kelley makes for a remarkable character-driven story, and the final sentence takes it to another level.”

  —Library Journal

  “It will delight fans of zombie fiction and post-apocalyptic stories, including Charlie Huston’s Sleepless and Justin Cronin’s The Passage.”

  —Booklist

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  For Tucker

  He could hear its garments rustling in the leaves, and every breath of wind came laden with that last low cry. If he stopped it did the same. If he ran, it followed—not running too: that would have been a relief: but like a corpse endowed with the mere machinery of life, and borne on one slow melancholy wind that never rose or fell.

  —Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

  Questi non hanno speranza di morte.

  These have no hope of death.

  —Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia

  PROLOGUE

  THE SILENT KID TESTIFIES

  Everbode nos yu dont get neer th zeros, caus neer th zeros is neer th deth. We feerdem, but we nodem wel lik oldentiim salors gon to see but duno how to swim, th danjar al rown an them in thaar wuden ships liik us in owr caravan. Feerdem or feedem, gos th sayin.

  Im telin this story bowt dany wo is non rown th worl for her derin egsploids agins th zeros bc noobode riits anethin down animor an wat she don changit everthin tords man agin from when th zeros rulit th worl. This story is imporn for that rezin alon, but also bc peepel think dany is a legint wen she was jus a huumin liik yoonme. Onle she was a speshil huumin hoo was not afraad to dy. An ii was lucky enuf to no hir that is dany adelman or th zombikiler or th ledir of th triib, an she no me aswel an tretit me good wen she cud av kilt me that firsten daa, th daa thay founit me bludy an dyin.

  It was neer 2 yeer sin th worl endit an th zeros, or as yu miit cal em th zombis or th unded or th maneetirs, riz agin and startit ther nu worl on th runes of th ol 1. As preecher say al th sins of th worl maketh th dum clay of th ded bestir an riz agin an turnip on th livin woo askit for destrucshin on acownt of thay doan lisin to th wird of th Lord. Th Lord is alwaas angry alwaas kilin peepel for 1 thin or anuthr dependin on preechirs mood. U wud hav thot if th Lord was so disapoynit with his creashin, that beein mankind ii meen, he wud of just startit ovar anu. But th Lord is an meen ol sunbich he wantit to kepe sum peepel alive so he kin make em sufir. Dany she fot agin th preechir an th Arkitkt and savit mee.

  B4tiim ii liv in a superb of a big sity, Kansis Sity in the graat staat of Kansis. Awr hows lookit like ever uthir hows in the hool street and the hool superb and proly th hool sity for all ii noon. Ii dint think abowt other plasis vary ofen or nevar rily. We wen on vacashan wunst or 2 tiims an seen other plasis but thay dint seem al that difernt from Kansis Sity esept as miit be thay hav sum hils or mountens or mabe th oshin shoor.

  On th daa th worl endit ii was plaan in the yard of my hows. ii was proly 2 ol to be plaan with toys but shaam as ii am to amit it th truuth mus be sed. Ii ges in th tiim befor it was oka for a boy 7 yers ol to play with toys enstet of ril guns an niifs and expeshily slinshots. My toys war prety gud thay war mosly wepin kind of toys but not danjaris bc thay war onle faak. Th guns had ornj plastic narzils on th ends and went bakabakabaka until th bateris diid or ii leftem owtsid ovarniit and thay got ranit on or th sprinklars watrit them. Ii had also a rubir niif not danjris wotsowivar and mani arme men in lyfliik posis lokt in combat with my toy diinoosoors.

  In the midel of th daa my mam cum owt an tel me there was sum weerd nus on th tevy bc this was wen we still had tevy U unerstant and cud wach muvis and shos my favrets beeng th 1s wif sooljars fiiten, ane sho as long as th sooljars was fiiten rily. Ii likit viilent shos ii am not shamd to amit that. Now I don liik vilent shos not evin to think bowt em. Ii seen enuf of vilens to las me th rest of my liif.

  Th weerd nus was abowt peepel runin and scremin everwaar in th worl but th nus kep chanjin th subjec like thaa dint want to tawk abowtet adal. Prolem was thar was so much news abowt it, onle thing hapenin rily esep for 4th of July paraads an warnin peepel to be caarful of fiirwurks so they don’t blo off thaar hands or get blinet in ther iis.

  We dint see aneethin rong at 1st only sum nebers cum owt of thar howsis and lookit around like U cud chek if th nus was troo jes by goin owtsiit and luuken down th street. Our neber mises kirshner saad to my mam ii am worit abowt what ii seen on th nus do U no a chanil waar they show wat is hapnin I cant fine 1, and my mam saad no ii cant finger owt why they don’t jus sho us wat is hapnin ii think it miit be a teristatak and mises kirshner put her hand ovar hir mowth an saad oh biit yoor tung margrit plees god don let it be a teristatak do U think it miit rily be a teristatak, and riit then our neber kid on tother side my frend jerry he liiten a hole string of fiirkrakers and they wen pakabang and my mam an mises kirshner both of them jumpit bowt 3 fut in th aar an scremit.

  Anewa my mam she makit me cum insiid th hows an ii 8 a snak last snak evar in my lif that was a nordinry snak sitn at th cawntar betwen th livin room and kichin an tevy goin liits on fijrater humin dishwasher washen dishs—las norml daa in th worl an ii dint no it at th tiim ii jus aten my snak an wundar wen ii can go outsiit an pla some moar cus ii wantit to liit firecrakers with jerry. It was a gud snak tho it was strin chees thar isnt ane strin chees ane mor also krakers graaps an milk. It was 10 minits after ii was dun an mam wantit me to sta insiid but ii wantit to go out an pla with jerry wen 1st craazz persn cum runin down th street.

  It was liik a sirin on a firetruk in olden daas U no when U heer a sirin cumin tords yor hows an U don no if it is cumin to neer yor haws only it gets lowder an lowder an then U start to think maabe it cum to yor blok an then maabe it cum to yor hows. Th craazz man was runin an scremin hands in th aar an he run riit pas owr hows. Ii run owtsiid to see an my mam she was escaart she grabit me an pul me insiid th haws and th man run pas an fel down ded riit in frunt of jerrys hows. Ii was jelis at th tiim cus jerry got th ded man in frunt of his hows not me an he that is jerry wud get on th nus an be famist. But ther was another craazz man cumin down th street an ii thot mabe he dy in frunt of my hows. He dint dy he kep runin. Ii was wachen from th livin room windo an my mam was on th foon we had telefoon bak then an she was telin my dad cum hoom don’t caar wer yar jus cum hom dont caar if yor helpen yer frend get his vintij car redy for th 4tha juli paraad cum hoom an he sed he wud cum hoom but he nevar cum hoom proly he diid runin an scremin iil nevar no.

  Lots mor scremin peepel cum runin down ar street an even sum of ar nebers 2 runin with ther hans up in th aar. My mam lokit th dor turnit of th liits an tukit me upstaar
s an we hidin in hir bejrum an lookit out th windoo at th craazz peepel runin. Mane of th peepel diid in th street 1 of them diid riit agins owr fens an another crashit into th fens an wen riit ovar th top an landit in my toy sooljars an la stil. That 1 was a laade a nold laade she had a merikin flag shirt for th holida. Ii saw wen she diid she pupit a big shit in her pants an ii laf an my mam hiten me on th hed an saa don be a nanimel peepel are diin this is no tiim for lafen.

  Jerry my neber cum to owr door an nok an nok and he was scremit his mam diid so my mam wen down to let him in ii staad upstaars to keep wachen th spetakl of a worl gon craazz owt th windo. But then my maam dint cum bak upstaars so ii thot she was given jerry a snak but she nevar cum bak upstaars. It was getin dark wen ii fiinly cum downstaars an th reesin ii dint cum down suner was cus ii was scaart so much ii dint hav th curij to cum down. Ii ges ii nu thar was a prolem or my mam wud hav cum bak up th staars with jerry but she dint. Ater a wiil th scremin stopit an onle ded peepel wur everwar not ane livin peepel ii cud see from th windoo.

  Ii cum don an it was dark insiid th hows an ii felt liik ther wur spiidars crolin on my skin. My hart was hamrin. Ii dint fiin ane siin of my mam or jerry ii thot maabe they wen to jerrys hows so ii got a flashliit even tho it wasn rily dark owtsiid yet an I saw al th ded peepel everywar a milin ded peepel. Sum1 sed latir on ther was 100an50thosin ded in th graatr meterpolitin aarya includen saan lewis.

  Ii gon ovar th fens between th howsis bc ii was so escaart of th ded laade on th lon with th shit in hir pants. Ii wen into jerrys hows th dor was opin ii wen in an it was qiiit in thar qiiit as th tuum as dad wud of sed. Ii luken arown but ii was 2 escaart to go upstaars an it got dark so ii turnit on th lites an was escaart al niit. Ii peed in my pants also so it wasn fune.

  Th nx mornin ii wen owtsid an th ded peepil was on thaar feet. Sum survivars was luken for other survivars so ii calit 2 them an tha cum 2 get me. Ii cud tel tha wer aliiv bc tha cud tok an th ded peepil wu got up agen tha cud not tok. Noor hardle even wok or mov arown. The survivars jus push th zombis owt th wa. Tha war zombis as u alrede no this so ii wil calit them zombis even tho we dint no tha war zombis yet. Tha pushit th zombis owt th wa an cum get me an I criid I amit it I criid lik a smal baabe and a laade survivar she strokit my haar an presit my faas 2 hir busim. She gavit me a smal dog hu bcaam mi bes fren. We al got in a van an droov tween the zombis wakin arown lik a videeyo gaam.

  Ii don reemembar wen th zombis startit biiten al th peepil. Ii was sleepin in th van ii was tiirit from not sleepin al niit. We stopit at a hows an the men went to see if thar was a survivar, ii was tool that latar. A zombi biten 1 of th men an blud went everwar an th zombis wen craazz an biten everbode wu was owtsiid th van. We drovit awa vere fast then an aftar that mor an mor peepel got biten on arms legs nex eers fasis or fingars ever tiim we stopit it seem liik sumbode get another biit. Thar was so mane zombis.

  Tha seem to cum up owt th grown or under evere rok or behiin ever tre an bush. An ever tiim sumbode got biten tha turn in2 a zombi themselv an so it got wurser evere da until thar war no mor survivars xep me an 2 othir in owr gruup. We seen othir gruups 2 but we kepit to owrselv then ntil ii was aloon in th worl. Maabe it war a mistaak an we shud av gon for strenth in numbars but in liit of what ii seen aftar that maabe our gruup did th riit thin aftar al.

  Bc th onle cretur worser an moor cruul an vilent an bludfirsy than the zombi is man.

  PART ONE

  1

  “You have the right to remain silent. In fact I prefer it. Anything you say would be held against you in a court of law, except there isn’t one. You would have the right to speak to an attorney, but we don’t have those either. There ain’t shit except me. Do you understand?”

  Danny Adelman had the man facedown against the pavement on the side of the road, his hands bound across his spine with a plastic zip-tie. Her attention was divided, but she’d gotten good at multitasking since things went bad. The zeroes were coming through the tall yellow grass. Slow ones. Moaners. Dozens of them, drawn out into the open by the burning wreckage, preceded by their long, sobbing cries of hunger.

  “You can’t kill me,” he said. “You’re a cop.”

  “I didn’t say I was going to kill you,” Danny replied. She knew where he got the idea: Her short-nosed shotgun was jammed up under his left ear. “I’m only judge and jury here. But the executioner is getting real close.”

  She and the perpetrator had another minute, at most. Then Danny was going to have to get to the Mustang Special police interceptor and bug out. The black smoke rising up out of the wreckage of the man’s truck was shaped like a giant fist, with one finger pointing down at the scene of the action. The perp wasn’t going to be any more ready to talk than he was now. Time to get down to business.

  “Tell me something,” Danny said.

  “Fuck you,” he answered. He was burly-shouldered, stinking of sweat, his lank hair clinging to his skin in oily strokes. There was a deep, unhealed gash across his forehead.

  With patience she did not feel, Danny said, “You tried to steal one of our children. Why?”

  The man barked a laugh. “You don’t know? I guess not, if you’re coming from the west.” He wrenched his face into a mirthless grimace, trying to smile despite the asphalt against his teeth.

  Danny thought about breaking his nose. “And you figure not telling me is gonna be satisfaction enough for dying?”

  “Doesn’t matter—you’re going to kill me either way,” he said.

  “Tell me what I want to know and you get your hands back,” Danny said. “Even with that busted foot, you can probably make it out of here. Don’t tell me, and I leave you just like you are. Maybe you can still get away, even with handcuffs on. You could last for days.”

  “Fuck you,” the man repeated.

  “And if you say that just one more time, we move on to option three: I break your other foot. You got fifteen seconds.”

  The perp wasted ten of them weighing the alternatives. Then he said: “I was trying to survive, okay? There’s a bounty. One kid buys you passage to the safe place. Got to be under twelve. Lots of people are doing it. Parents are turning in their own.”

  “And what happens to the kids?”

  “They go somewhere else. An even safer place. I hear they’re happy there.”

  “Then why the hell didn’t you just ask nicely?”

  Danny saw there were tears running out of the man’s red eyes and dripping on the tar.

  “Because somebody stole my son,” he said. “I was taking him there, and this biker gang showed up. Called the Vandal Reapers. And now he’s gone.”

  The man sobbed. Danny heard the grief, the real agony in his chest, and she knew he was telling the truth. For a few seconds, she listened to the man’s sorrow hacking out of his chest, but the muzzle of her shotgun never wavered, and she did not relieve the weight of her knee upon his back. The nearest of the zeroes was within fifty yards by now. It moaned with renewed urgency as it came closer. A big male.

  There was only death in the world now. Living death that could walk and hunt and feast, and barbaric death from outlaws and madmen. Death from the ruins of a shattered civilization. Death from disease and festering wounds. Danny could leave this man to die, or do something to help him. This man whose grief had made him crazy and convinced him to rush one of the Tribe’s caretakers. Whose panic had led him to drop the child he’d grabbed, and drive away at top speed.

  Danny’s mind was racing. She was long past compassion for anyone who acted on behalf of chaos, even with the most personal of motives. But another man dead was another feeding for the zeroes. Another pair of hands that could fight back against the dead would be lost forever—or might become one of the enemy.

  “Get in the fucking car,” she said.

  2

  The police special slewed between the undead that shuffled onto the roadway. They were ragged, dark, indistinct things, like the piers of an abandoned dock revealed by the tide. Skulls with wet rawhi
de stretched over them, yellow teeth in black, gaping mouths. Eyes that stared out of deep sockets. Pale, lightless eyes. Butcher-shop eyes. They moved like people in pain, stiff-limbed and lurching, twisting around to follow the vehicle. As soon as the last one went by, Danny hit the throttle. Those assholes back at the convoy weren’t answering the radio, probably because Maria, who normally operated the communications system, was the one this escapee had punched when he went for the kid. But once again, the Tribesmen had failed to follow protocol and keep communications open. Danny decided the prisoner’s fate rested on whether Maria was badly injured.

  “Drink some water,” Danny said.

  “No,” her companion in the front seat said. It was a woman’s voice, or nearly so.

  “You need to drink water or you’ll shrivel up,” Danny said and pressed the plastic bottle into the gloved hands beside her.

  They were barreling along Interstate 70 through Kansas. Not too many shrubs grew through the pavement and there were relatively few wrecks on this route; she could use some of the speed the police special was designed for. The wind whistled through the barbed-wire zero catcher bolted to the front fender and ruffled Danny’s choppy red hair beneath her Smokey hat.

  “I made a mistake and I’m sorry. Can’t you just let me go? Drop me off here, I don’t mind,” the prisoner said. “Please.” He sounded afraid. More than he’d been before.

  Danny glanced in the rearview mirror: The man in the backseat couldn’t take his eyes off the apparition riding shotgun next to her. His fear was justified. They made a peculiar pair, she knew. Danny could pass for good-looking from a few feet away, but there were too many scars on her face for up-close work. Most people, however, found themselves staring at her left hand. It ended in a mess of cauliflower tissue where three fingers should have been. According to some crazy story that was going around, Danny had once chewed them off with her own teeth to get free of a wrecked car surrounded by zeroes. Mutilations were not an uncommon sight in this time, however. Almost everyone had a couple of badly healed injuries or an untreated illness. It was a world of decaying teeth, greasy hair, and crooked scars.