No light filtered in through the porthole, which didn’t surprise her. Alissa felt like she had slept for hours. The straining in her bladder confirmed it. As she pushed aside the covers, something weighing them down caught her attention. A pair of dark blue coveralls sat folded on the end of the bunk along with a towel, a small bottle of shampoo, and a bar of soap, the latter two resting on top of a note. She pulled it out and read it.
Alissa.
The captain gave each of us a change of clothes. I guess we smell ripe.
Kiera
Alissa glanced down at her clothes. Ripe would be an understatement. She had become so used to be covered in deader blood she barely noticed it anymore. Her current outfit, including her boots and leather coat, were soiled with the remains of the living and the living dead. Even her hands had ground in streaks of red from the blood. Besides, she could use a hot shower to relax her muscles that were tight and achy from two days of combat.
Swinging her legs out of the bunk and picking up the clean clothes and toiletries, Alissa made her way to the showers. Once in the lit corridor, Alissa blinked her left eye several time. Not only had the black spot from yesterday not gone away, but it had also grown larger, now effecting nearly twenty-five percent of her vision. She would check it out later that morning.
Only a few people were in the showers. She stripped down and took a long, semi-warm shower. Not that it mattered. It felt good to be clean again. Judging by the amount of blood and dirt that swirled down the drain, she needed it. When finished, she slid on her old underwear and the new clothes, which were a little loose. The rest she dumped in the trash.
After dropping off the towel and toiletries back at her bunk, Alissa made her way to the mess hall. The breakfast line had started to form. The aroma drifting from the kitchen made her stomach rumble. At 0500, the doors opened and the line moved forward. The cooks served scrambled eggs, bacon, and potatoes. She took a huge helping of each, plus an orange juice and cup of coffee. Entering the mess, she saw Patricia and Susie seated at a table, the former also in dark blue coveralls, the latter still in what she had worn on the island. Alissa made their way over to them.
“Mind if I join you?”
Susie beamed. “Have a seat.”
Alissa sat down. “How’s the food?”
Susie shrugged. “It’s okay, but it’s not as good as IHOP.”
Patricia leaned over and hugged the girl. “You must be rested.”
“Why do you say that?” Alissa scooped some eggs into her mouth.
“You slept sixteen hours.”
“That long?”
“You needed it.”
“And you snore,” added Susie.
Alissa almost spit out her eggs trying not to laugh. “Are you sure it wasn’t Shithead?”
“He snores, too. But not as loud as you.”
“Susie,” Patricia politely chastised the girl. “You don’t say things like that. It’s not nice.”
Susie pouted. “Sorry, Aunt Alissa.”
“That’s all right.” Alissa leaned closer and gave Susie a conspiratorial wink. “I know it’s true.”
“Aunt Alissa, what’s going to happen to us now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Kiera says you own a cabin in the woods in New Hampshire. Can we stay with you?”
With all that had gone on the past few days, she had not given much thought to what would happen after their rescue from Warren Island. She had no idea how her team would get back to North Conway.
“I think we can arrange that.”
“Really?” Susie asked excitedly.
“Yes.” Alissa paused. “Could you do me a favor and get me a glass of iced water?”
“Sure.” Susie bolted from the table.
When she was out of earshot, Alissa leaned closer to Patricia. “I don’t mind taking you both with me, but does Susie have any other family she should go to?”
Patricia shook her head. “Susie’s parents had her late in life. Both sets of grandparents are dead. Her father had two brothers. One was killed in a car accident three years ago along with his entire family. The other lives in California with his family, but no one knows what happened to them since the outbreak.”
“What about you?”
“My husband, Phil, died trying to save Susie’s family. His parents are dead. He has a brother who lives in Arizona and a sister in Philadelphia, but we haven’t heard from them. I’m an only child and my parents retired to Orlando. The chances of any of them having survived this are nil. Besides, I’m all Susie has. We stick together.”
“Good for you. I promise I’ll take care of both of you.”
“Thank you.” Patricia reached out and held Alissa’s hand.
Susie ran up. “I have your iced water.”
“Thank you.” Alissa took a long drink. The three chatted about anything they could think of except deaders. As Alissa ate, she described to Susie the cabin, Little Stevie and Connie, and Archer.
“You have a cat?”
Alissa nodded. He’s a bit of an asshat, but he loves children.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
“You will soon.”
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
A young seaman stood behind her.
“Yes?”
“Are you Miss Madison?”
“I am.”
“Warrant Officer Marlowe, ma’am. The captain would like to see you on the bridge.”
“That sounds ominous,” teased Patricia.
“Nothing to be worried about. He just wants to discuss with you your options for the future.”
“Go ahead,” said Patricia. We’ll take care of your tray.”
“Thanks.” Alissa stood. “Lead the way.”
A Thank You to My Readers
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. It’s one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done with my life. I love sitting on my front porch or in my back yard, surrounded by nature while writing, often with Walther and Bella sitting beside me or getting into trouble.
The best part is having fans who read my books and enjoy them. I’m extremely fortunate and grateful that I have a fanbase that devours my novels like zombies eating human flesh. You keep reading and I’ll keep writing.
If you liked Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies VI: Rescue, or any of the other books in the series, please post a review on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be long—just a rating and a sentence or two about why you enjoyed it. The more reviews the series receives, the more opportunity other readers have of discovering the book.
The Nurse Alissa saga will continue. The next book in the series is currently in production and the plans are to make Alissa’s life miserable well into 2021, maybe even 2022. I have some unique situations planned for Alissa’s team and some interesting characters they’ll run into.
A new series, which is more along the lines of paranormal horror, is currently in the works. The first book, The Ghosts of Eden Hollow, is scheduled for release in late February. In addition, plans are moving ahead on that non-zombie, post-apocalypse series I was talking about earlier.
So, hang on. This year is going to be exciting.
Acknowledgments
Writing is solitary and lonely. Getting a book published is a complicated process involving many people, all of whom deserve to be recognized.
I want to thank my Beta readers, the unsung heroes of writers. No matter how many times you edit and proofread your manuscript, errors always slip through. My Beta readers, especially Dan Uebel and Doc Fried, provide detailed notes on the spelling, grammatical, or punctuation mistakes I missed and help me not to look illiterate.
Once again, a major debt of thanks goes to James R. Jackson, a former U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and author of the Up From the Depths series. As with my previous Nurse Alissa novel, there is a heavy military element in this book. Being a civilian, I reached out for assistance. James read the manuscript and provided numerous suggestions on how to b
ring the book in line with military policies and procedures. This book would have read a lot less realistic if not for James. However, certain protocols I had to abandon for the sake of the plot, so any scenes that don’t pass the guffaw factor are my responsibility.
Christian Bentulan designed the cover art for Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies VI: Rescue as well as the other books in the saga. I love Christian’s work. His covers reach out and grab the reader’s attention as well as foreshadow what is to come within the pages.
You would not be reading this book, or any of the others in the Nurse Alissa series, were it not for my dear friend and colleague, Alina Giuchici. I hadn’t written a zombie series since Rotter Apocalypse was published in 2015. Alina is a major fan of my stories and kept urging me to go back to writing about the living dead. With some gentle shoving in the right direction and a few well-placed ideas, over the course of a long week on the road I came up with the concept of the Alissa series. If you like these books, be sure to thank Alina.
Finally, a major debt of thanks goes to my family, human and furry. As with my last five novels, I wrote, edited, and released this one during the COVID-19 lockdown, taking advantage of having so much time on my hands and being stuck at home. This has been the best year of the dogs’ lives because they think I stay home all day to be with them, and they want to spend every minute with me. The cats are pissed off that I’m around all the time, especially Archer whose naps are disturbed by my typing. (Yes, Alissa’s Archer is taken directly from my own cat Archer, especially his asshattery.) It’s hard to maintain my writing discipline when everyone is home, and even harder to maintain my sanity when there is nowhere to go, but I couldn’t do this without their love and support.
About the Author
Scott M. Baker was born and raised in Everett, Massachusetts and spent twenty-three years in northern Virginia working for the Central Intelligence Agency. Scott is now retired and lives just outside of Concord, New Hampshire with his wife and fellow writer Alison Beightol, stepdaughter, two rambunctious boxers, and two cats who treat him as their human servant. He has written six books in the Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies saga, his latest zombie apocalypse series; the Shattered World series, his five-book, young adult post-apocalypse series about a group of adventurers attempting to close portals into Hell; The Vampire Hunters trilogy, about humans fighting the undead in Washington D.C.; Rotter World, Rotter Nation, and Rotter Apocalypse, his post-apocalyptic zombie saga; Yeitso, his homage to the giant monster movies of the 1950s that he loved watching as a kid; as well as several zombie-themed novellas and anthologies.
Please check out Scott’s social media accounts for the latest information on future books, upcoming events, and other fun stuff.
Blog: scottmbakerauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/397749347486177
MeWe: mewe.com/i/scottmbaker
Twitter: twitter.com/vampire_hunters
Instagram: instagram.com/scottmbakerwriter
TikTok: tiktok.com/@scottbaker666
Nurse Alissa vs. The Zombies | Book 6 | Rescue Page 13