Particle Z (Book 1)
PARTICLE Z
An Apocalyptic Zombie Tale
~ Book 1 ~
By
Tim Scott
***
Particle Z
An Apocalyptic Zombie Tale
~ Book 1 ~
Copyright 2016
Tim Scott
***
Edited by Monique Happy Editorial Services
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go and buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, events, or places are purely coincidental; any references to actual places, people, or brands are fictitious. All rights reserved.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to anyone out there who may have dreamed big but gave up, feeling like their dreams were simply unachievable. The words you’re about to read are the end result of daring to do something I never thought I could or would accomplish.
I’m lucky and blessed to have a supportive family around me. Special thanks to my son Eric and my daughter Shea, my beautiful fiancé Denise Haya, as well as my Mom and Dad. An extra special thanks to my Mom who brought me to an old used bookstore aptly named
The
Bookworm
every time I finished a book and needed another. To this day I remember those trips as if it were only yesterday: the drive over, the interior of the shop, the smell of all those books as I walked through the door, along with my Mom’s patience as I looked at every book on the shelf.
Thanks everyone!
Acknowledgements
There are many people who have provided advice, guidance, and/or direct input into the book you are about to read. If I miss anyone please let me know, and I offer my sincerest apologizes in advance. I’ll do this by group to keep things orderly for you.
Editing and so much more:
Monique Happy (Editor, friend, great person)
Beta Readers (whose advice was paramount and for those that don’t know, they perform these services for free):
Cora Burke (Awesome and lots of great writing tips provided)
Ryan Schwarz (Brutally honest review. Many changes made due to his spot-on review)
Karen Dziegiel (Solid advice and a true Indie author fan)
Friends that had to listen to me about my book for a year:
Jim Aggeles (He received the most abuse and is a great guy for listening. Also gives great advice, plus his wife is a published author, Theodora Aggeles – look her up, they kept me grounded)
Kevin Kerrigan (the first person I sat with and told I was going to give this a shot)
Mike Antis (Great guy and the reason the main character is named “Mike”)
Eddie Garcia (Took the photos of the cover model - Marlee Vazquez)
http://eddiegphotography.com
Cover Art:
Lisa Vasquez (Easy to work with and doesn’t get frustrated with people who change their mind)
www.facebook.com/bookcoversbylisa
Authors that have selflessly provided tips, encouragement and support:
Shawn Chesser (told me to “just finish” and those words were the most important words anyone could have said to me during the last year – Thanks Shawn, I di
d
) Fun fact: I got Monique’s name off one of his STZA books I was reading at the time.
Gregg Zimmerman (Can’t say enough about such a warm, encouraging person. This guy is first class and a kick-ass writer as well)
https://www.facebook.com/authorgzimmerman
David Lund (Guy is quality and ALWAYS answers when people ask questions)
http://talesofadventures.net
So many more great and helpful authors … David P. Forsyth, W.J. Lundy, S.G. Lee, Brandon Ryals, Allen Gamboa, Derrick LaCombe, M.D. Woodham, Tanya Cooper, Ricky Cooper, Mike Evans, Curtis M. Lawson, and all the people associated with MHES Beta Readers and Authors. Last but not least, Chad Johnson, may he rest in peace.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1:
Mondays Really Do Suck
CHAPTER 2:
Strange Visitors and Hope
CHAPTER 5:
New Acquaintances and Revelations
CHAPTER 8:
Science or Something Else
CHAPTER 9:
Mishap and the Greenbrier
CHAPTER 12:
Sacrifice and Ingenuity
CHAPTER 13:
Changed or Dangerous
CHAPTER 16:
Rest and a New Objective
CHAPTER 17:
Travel in a New World
CHAPTER 21:
Let’s Do Some Shopping
CHAPTER 22:
The Changed and The Faithful
CHAPTER 24:
Partners and New Horizons
Dr. William Alcazaren had put six months of a twelve-month stint behind him as a research physicist at CERN. He was amazed at how fast the time had passed until now. What felt like a lifetime dedicated to education and networking had finally paid off when he had been selected to lead a small team of physicists responsible for fact-checking the findings and new discoveries made by researchers that had come before them – a targeted peer-review think-tank responsible for keeping his fellow scientists from making fantastical claims that might derail the important research conducted by the Large Hadron Collider and the massive team of scientists dedicated to discovering the hidden truths of the universe.
The joy and immeasurable elation the day he found out he would be flying to Switzerland and working at the CERN nuclear research facility was absent now. The first six months had been marred with accidents and strange events, concealed from the public for fear of jeopardizing the facility and the research they were conducting.
Dr. Alcazaren knew the gig was up as he stared through the glass window of one of the many small labs scattered throughout the facility, watching as one of his team members gnawed the innards of his best data analyst. As he gaped in horror, the creature, once human, looked up at him with eyes filled with a hungry violence. The nametag, still affixed on what remained of a white lab coat now stained red with clotted blood and small pieces of bones and organs, identified it as Dr. Denise Collins.
With a low guttural growl, it launched itself at Dr. Alcazaren, not seeming to realize or care about the inch-thick window between the two of them. The creature hit the glass with an impact so violent he could hear the sharp cracking report of bones breaking. Even though he knew the glass would protect him, he instinctively stumbled backwards, tripping over a box carelessly left in the hallway. Dr. Alcazaren ended up on his back looking up at the face of what had been Dr. Collins, who was now staring down at him with an overwhelming single-minded need to rip and tear into him. The dull red glow deep in its eyes unnerved him as he scrambled back to his feet, looking back down the long hallway he had just come through then glancing up ahead as far as he could see before the curvature of the wall impeded his view.
The facility was overrun with them now. Dr. Alcazaren had been carefully, albeit slowly, making his way to the control room. He was intent on shutting down the collider before it could inflict even more harm than it already had. He was fearful for the general population and was compelled both morally and ethically to do something about it before it was too late.
He glanced up suddenly in alarm as the sound of bare feet slapping on concrete carried to him from the direction he had just come. The CERN facility was a seventeen-mile loop with the particle accelerator’s huge cylindrical shape rising off to his left and disappearing into the darkness. Electrical service was spotty at best now. The facility’s emergency lights cast a minimal amount of light to navigate the seemingly endless loop. Indicator lights of all types were flashing on the exposed flank of the accelerator, adding to the surreal feeling of the place. Hissing vents and pipes added to the overwhelming symphony of light and sound.
The dull thuds of heavy steps combined with guttural hair-raising groans coming from behind him captured his full attention, and his blood ran cold. They were everywhere and he wondered if he realistically had any chance of making it to the control room now. Turning, pure unadulterated fear pushing him, he fled from the malevolent eyes making their way toward him, recklessly sprinting down the hallway, the former Dr. Collins all but forgotten in his haste to circumvent certain death.
He ran until he was out of breath. Stopping, he paused and listened for pursuit, but his ragged gasping breath was all his ears were able to discern. Looking around hastily, he spotted the door to a restroom; rushing in, he slammed the door shut behind him then slid the latch home with a reassuring click. He turned and sank to the floor, his head in his hands as he struggled to catch his breath.
The faint tapping of a pipe overhead startled him back into the reality of his current predicament. He looked around, exhaustion clouding his mind, but thankful to be alive. He rose stiffly to his feet, pressed his ear against the door, and listened for anything that sounded out of place. Hearing nothing other than the typical mechanical sounds that pervaded the place, he reached up and unlatched the door.
With extreme caution he slowly cracked the door open and peered out, looking in every direction for any of the freaks roaming the halls. The hallway appeared clear so he slowly crept out from the safety of the bathroom. He looked at one of the location maps on the wall found everywhere within the facility and was relieved to see that the control room was slightly less than a mile ahead. He felt hope well up within him as he thought he might actually make it. If he could shut down the collider and get word out to the authorities, he would call for rescue and might even be considered a hero in due time.
As he crept along the hallway, he spotted the cafeteria, the doors chained shut from the outside. When he looked in to see why, his legs almost failed him. Countless sets of dead eyes stared back at him. Seemingly as one, the figures started to scream and hiss then immediately began throwing themselves against the chained doors. With horror, he realized the chain was holding but the doors themselves were buckling outward under the weight of the crowd seeking his living flesh.
With a crash, the doors came down and Dr. Alcazaren once again took flight at a full sprint. He ran desperately this time, his only hope with so many flooding the hall behind to reach the security of the control room. The sounds of pursuit were so close now he could smell their putrid bodies with every ragged breath he sucked in. He wasn’t ashamed when he finally felt his bladder let loose, spraying warm urine down his legs and dampening his once meticulously cared for khaki pants.
Tired, scared, soiled, and desperate, he rounded the final corner and spotted the entrance to the control room. He’d put a moderate amount of distance between himself and his pursuers and felt a surging confidence that he would make it now. He continued to pump his exhausted legs faster, almost willing himself forward through sheer willpower. He had slowed at the last second to slide his access card and enter the control room when something hit from the side, knocking him to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.
He looked up, not understanding how he’d ended up on the ground, and realized he had run into one of the altered freaks by pure shitty luck. Its hand latched onto his calf, digging painfully into his leg, pulling itself toward him. He instinctually lashed out with his other foot, driving it straight between its eyes. The freak’s head snapped back with a crack, but the force of the blow brought its head forward again directly on top of his outstretched leg, where it sank its teeth into the exposed skin of his ankle. The pain was searing and immediate. Dr. Alcazaren knew he was as good as dead now. He pulled himself up and away from his attacker, finally entering the control room. As soon as the doors shut, the pack from the cafeteria made their presence known by throwing themselves against them. He knew those doors would hold, but he did not care anymore. It would not be long before the infectious bite overwhelmed him and he turned. Dr. Alcazaren knew what he had to do.
Sitting at the control panel, he turned the accelerator’s power to full and one by one turned on every system that still functioned. The hum from outside the room was soon deafening, and warning lights and alerts began to ring from every corner of the room. He sat back and smiled contentedly as he waited, taking comfort in knowing people would wake up today and live a normal life in part due to his sacrifice. He slowly drifted off, and when the facility went critical he was too far gone in fever to feel any pain. The CERN facility went up like nothing Man had ever witnessed before.
Dr. Alcazaren would never know his final act of valor was for naught. The Change had already begun to rage through the world’s population.