by Rand, Thonas
“Save that shit, Henderson,” Giles, the chief of the boat, said.
Giles was an Asian man in his forties, pure Navy to the bone, a constant professional, even at the end of the world. The Commander of the Independence stood next to him, Christine Evans. She was a southern bell, though you couldn’t tell by looking at her. She had a dominating aura—this woman commanded respect when she walked into a room. With short blonde hair, tan white skin, and dark gunmetal eyes, she was a vision, even in a dirty uniform. Commander Evans was in better shape than most people half her age. She stood there and watched her boat sail away.
“Boy, do those fools have a surprise waiting for them,” one sailor said with a grin.
“They’re taking our goddamn ship!” another sailor spat. “I told you it was a bad idea to leave her unattended.”
“There’s only seven of us left, Guzman,” Giles said. “We need to stick together at all times.”
“Oh, we’re gonna stick together alright,” Guzman said. “Because we’re not going anywhere now.”
“Be quiet,” Evans said and her voice was precise. “Whoever they are, they’re not gonna get very far.”
“Who do you think they are, sir?” Giles asked.
“Well, since they know how to run the ship and fire the 57 millimeter,” Evans said. “They’re obviously not civilians, Chief.”
A low rumbling hit their feet as the dock was disturbed and a loud noise reached their ears—the horde of the undead appeared a quarter of a mile down the harbor—they only had a couple minutes before they were overrun.
“We need to leave,” Giles said.
Evans didn’t look at the horde. She heard them and knew how close they were by the sound. She continued to watch her ship move on. “Let’s go,” Evans said.
The sailors climbed down a ladder on the edge of the dock; in the water was their zodiac boat. Giles was second to last, as he waited for Evans to go before him. “Sir?” he said to his commander.
“Go ahead,” Evans told him.
Giles climbed down as Evans stood there by herself and watched the Independence. The horde was within a couple hundred yards of reaching their position, but Evans couldn’t care less; the Independence was her only thought.
“Those goddamn fools have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into,” she said aloud.
On the Independence, the group watched what they had escaped shrink away but, unbeknownst to them . . . in the unexplored bowels of the ship, it was dark and empty. No one was present, but a sound—a faint banging noise echoed throughout—deeper into the steel chasm and the source was revealed…
The hatchway to the engine room was closed tight, locked in place, and for good reason. The pool of blood around the bottom of the hatch was a telltale to that. The blood was old and coagulated; it was also all around the seam of the hatch, as if it was pushed outside from within the hatchway. Old threads of brown blood were spattered across the frame of the hatch like the branches of an old tree—
BAM!
Something heavy hit the hatch from the inside…
BAM! BAM!
Again, stronger this time, with more ferocity, and then the unknown entities identified themselves verbally as they banged up against the metal door for freedom.
Dead people.
There were more than three or four pounding on the door to get out, using their bodies as battering rams, and the steel door began to give way after hours of nonstop attack. More precisely, the hinges and locking mechanism of the door were weakened. Bending slowly, little by little, by the will of creatures that cared not for their physical state. The locks holding them in would soon give way…
Behind the ones at the door, another twenty or thirty could be heard waiting for their chance to get out…
The dead only wanted two things: freedom and to feed, and at the rate the metal of the door was giving way…
They would soon quench their only desires…
Very soon…
Up above, Ardent, John, and Lauren, along with the rest…
Had no idea they were sitting on a powder keg…
* * *
Table of Contents
THE FIGHT of SOCIETY
Copyright
PROLOGUE
ECHOES
THE FALL of SOCIETY BOOK TWO
DAY 45: ARDENT KELLER
OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO PASADENA, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER
DAY 45: ARDENT and BEAR
THE U.S.S. RONALD REAGAN CVN-76
DAY 45: MILLA and DEREK
DAY 201: CONFESSION AT THE LAST SUPPER
DAY 18: SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA
DAY 1: PIEDMONT, ARIZONA
DAY 18: DEN of THE BEAST
DAY 201: THE LAST NIGHT at THE HOSPITAL
DAY 23: THE HANGING MAN
DAY 202: DISCOVERY and ESCAPE
DAY 24: CERAULO and DONNIE
DAY 202: Z & C DAY
DAY 23: PAUL and KATIE
THE MARKET
UNABRIDGED
DAY 202: SITTING on THE DOCK of THE BAY
EPILOGUE
CASTAWAYS
Table of Contents
THE FIGHT of SOCIETY
Copyright
PROLOGUE
ECHOES
THE FALL of SOCIETY BOOK TWO
DAY 45: ARDENT KELLER
OVER FIFTY YEARS AGO PASADENA, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER
DAY 45: ARDENT and BEAR
THE U.S.S. RONALD REAGAN CVN-76
DAY 45: MILLA and DEREK
DAY 201: CONFESSION AT THE LAST SUPPER
DAY 18: SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA
DAY 1: PIEDMONT, ARIZONA
DAY 18: DEN of THE BEAST
DAY 201: THE LAST NIGHT at THE HOSPITAL
DAY 23: THE HANGING MAN
DAY 202: DISCOVERY and ESCAPE
DAY 24: CERAULO and DONNIE
DAY 202: Z & C DAY
DAY 23: PAUL and KATIE
THE MARKET
UNABRIDGED
DAY 202: SITTING on THE DOCK of THE BAY
EPILOGUE
CASTAWAYS