“You don’t realize what you’ve done! You’ve ruined the country’s only hope for survival. It’s going to keep spreading! We almost had the cure! Do you hear me? We almost had the cure!” Several shots rang out and a red hole erupted like a miniature oil well from his chest. The force of the impact knocked him several feet backward before falling face first to the ground. Donnie turned around to see who had fired the shots.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that,” said General Tomes. He ran past Donnie. “Follow me. We’re evacuating Safe Zone Nine and heading to Safe Zone Six.”
“Wait a minute. Why did you kill him?”
“Wasn’t he threatening you with an ax? Just be thankful I showed up when I did. Besides, he wasn’t anybody special. Now come on.”
“I killed General Milkwood.”
“What?”
“I said I killed General Milkwood.”
“Did you have a good reason?”
“He wanted to kill me.”
“Then what’s the problem?” asked General Tomes. “If anybody asks, I’ll tell them Mr. Rooker killed him. Now come on, the zombies have breached the building.”
“What about everybody else in the building?”
“Don’t worry about them. Everybody that can be helped is being helped. We’re not going to purposely leave anybody behind.”
Donnie took one last look at Angelo’s body before following behind General Tomes. He didn’t know where he was leading him, and he didn’t care. All he cared about was getting to Safe Zone Six safely.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Pastor Zobrist was standing outside of the church with Jewel, Erica, Mrs. Smith, and Morana when they were met by General Cochran. He looked saddened and shaken as he stopped to speak with the pastor.
“We need to get out of here. The building is being evacuated,” he said, trying to catch his breath.
“Where are we being evacuated to?” asked Pastor Zobrist.
“We’re being evacuated to Safe Zone Six in Kansas. There are trucks waiting for us by the main gate.”
The pastor looked at him concerned. “There are a great number of people who need to be evacuated. Are there enough trucks to evacuate everybody?”
“There are over forty trucks in the motor pool. We have more than enough trucks to evacuate everybody. We need to move quickly. I don’t know how much more time we have before the zombies get this far in the building.”
They came across Gene Allan along the way. He was carrying a large box. He followed the group outside the building where they found several soldiers firing at a small horde of zombies slowly making their way toward the trucks. The group quickly made their way toward the truck on the right where a soldier was waving at them.
“He wants us to get on that one,” said General Cochran. He led them over to the truck and the soldier helped the group get safely on the back of it while gunfire sounded around them. Once they were seated, Nurse Jackie, Lieutenant Reardon, General Tomes, and Donnie climbed into the back and found open spots to sit. They felt the truck move after hearing the soldier who helped them on board give the clear sign for them to head out. Donnie peered out the back of the truck and watched as the battle between soldiers and zombies continued. He wondered if people were still in the buildings and if they were being attacked by zombies. He looked around the back of the truck. Everybody was deep in thought, most likely thinking about how lucky they had been to escape with their lives. He closed his eyes and thought about the zombie park in Valparaiso, Indiana. He thought about how the zombies made their way into the city. He thought about the new friends he had made. And he thought about how he killed General Milkwood. He was relieved he had made it this far. He had some close calls with death, but somehow, he eluded death. It was a good day. He hoped he had many more in his future.
Morana held tightly onto Mrs. Smith’s hand. “Death missed us.”
“What was that?” asked Mrs. Smith.
“I said death missed us. He no longer cares about us. He won’t follow us to where we’re going. He’s going to be too busy here,” she said, pointing outside the back of the truck with her free hand.
Mrs. Smith managed a smile. She thought about her children back at the school, and she hoped they were all safe. She felt guilty for leaving them, but she hadn’t been given a choice. She felt Morana squeeze her hand. “You won’t leave me, will you?”
“Why would you ask such a thing, Morana?”
“Mommy and Daddy left me.”
Mrs. Smith squeezed her hand back. “I promise you I will never leave you. Even if you want me to leave, I won’t.”
The rest of the survivors were all relieved they had survived everything they had been through, especially Pastor Zobrist. He knew he had only survived so far because of God. God still had a purpose for him. He knew the zombie apocalypse would continue to spread until every state in the country was infested. That would be when the people in the country would need him the most. He was ready for his purpose. He was ready to continue serving his Lord.
The End
Epilogue
Once at Safe Zone Six General Tomes informed them what had happened at Safe Zone Nine. An emergency meeting was held and the construction of a giant security wall was built behind the fences surrounding the large base. If necessary, they were prepared to build another wall directly behind the new one. The gates leading on and off of the base had been closed and secured. No one was allowed on or off of the base once the wall was completed.
Across the United States the zombie outbreak continued to spread until it reached both California and Florida. It is unknown how many safe zones were still operational and how many survivors were living in the middle of the outbreak. The United States of America was renamed by China as The United States of Zombie. China, Japan, South Korea, along with several other countries passed a law stating all criminals in their respective countries would be released from their prisons and sent to the United States to serve their sentences.
Safe Zone Six remained safe and secure. Even two years after closing their gates, not one zombie had found its way onto the large base. They considered themselves the last of the American people.
Thank you for reading United States of Zombie. Whether you liked it or not, I hope you’ll take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. Reviews are vitally important to me as an author both to help me market my book and to improve my writing in the future. Thank you.
Mark Cusco Ailes
I would like to dedicate this book to all my fans that have enjoyed my books. I appreciate all the kind words about my stories and for believing in them. I would like to thank my brother, Derek, for spreading the word about my books and helping me market and promote them. I would like to thank my mother for her work on editing and giving advice where it was needed. I would like to thank all the businesses that host my autograph signings which include, The Hammond, South Haven, Valparaiso, and Lake County Libraries.
About The Author
Mark Cusco Ailes is the author of several novels including The Day The Earth Cried and Zombie Park. He currently resides in Valparaiso, Indiana, where many of his novels take place. His hobbies include meeting celebrities at conventions, reading books, writing stories, and acting in plays. He was the drummer for the 80’s heavy metal band Latem, an extra in the movie Moon 44, and has been in several stage plays. In the eighties, he designed haunted houses in Stuttgart, West Germany, three years in a row and won two awards for best design. He also has done several radio and television commercials.
Mark Cusco Ailes is currently hard at work writing his next book around his current book tour.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination, or used factiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Mark Cusco Ailes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For information and permission request contact:
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Published by Weekland Press.
Website: http://Markcuscoailes.com.
Facebook: @Mark Ailes
Twitter @ Mark Ailes
Other books by Mark Cusco Ailes
Bunga, Book One: A Ray Cycle Adventure
Tashla, Book Two: A Ray Cycle Adventure
Rhysnor, Book Three: A Ray Cycle Adventure
The Day The Earth Cried
One Magic Christmas
The Creator’s Game
The Storm Inside My Head
A Handful Of Raindrops
Heir To The Throne
Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Blood
Zombie Park
Z-Day: Day Of The Zombies
Plague Of The Living Dead
Creation Of The Living Dead
Zombie World
Midnight Scavenger Go
AVZ: Aliens VS Zombies
The Last Stand
Books written with brother Derek Ailes
Journey Into the Unknown
Catfurnado, Zombies And One Killer Doll
Catfurnado: Meow No!
Werewolves, Zombies And Deadly Women
Http://markcuscoailes.com
Facebook @Mark Ailes
Twitter @Mark Ailes
The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 5): United States of Zombie Page 18