The Hunt Chronicles (Book 2): Revelation

The Hunt Chronicles

Volume 2: Revelation

By   J. D. Demers

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Text Copyright © 2015, by J.D. Demers

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  This book contains material protected by International and Federal copyright Laws and Treaties.  Any unauthorized print or use of this material is prohibited.  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

This book is the work of fiction.  Any resemblance to actual persons, places or events is coincidental.

Edited By: Ruth Clack and Julia Tripp

A note from the Author:

It took much longer to complete Revelation than I originally intended.  Life happens, but the birth of my daughter was well worth it.

I would like to thank my fans who have waited patiently for this release.  I think you will find it was worth the wait.

Publishing Volume 1: Awakening was a new experience for me.  One lesson I’ve learned is how much fans matter, and I try to stay in contact with you as much as possible (mostly on Facebook).  I’ve also learned how important it is to hear how you felt about the book via reviews.  So please, once you have completed this book, stop by the Amazon page and write up your thoughts.  It is not only great to hear from you, but it is motivating while I continue the series.

Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy!

J.D. Demers

Editor’s note:

From the very first page, Revelation is a nail-biting roller coaster ride that has the reader buckled in, afraid of what lies around that next hairpin curve and yet unable to stop in anticipation of what comes next.  This is the new world for Christian and his fellow survivors, from hard-fought victories to gut-wrenching losses, they try to recreate some normalcy in the dialectic chaos that reality has become.  And in the end, they only have each other to rely on.  But a new addition to the group brings a small ray of hope that maybe there is a way out of this nightmare.  And it all hinges on Christian.  Can he survive not only the Zombie Apocalypse but also the ignorance of humanity in order to save it?  All will be revealed in The Hunt Chronicles: Revelation.

-Julia Tripp, Editor

Sometimes during the editing process, a book will draw you in, and you have to stop and remind yourself that this is supposed to be work. This happened to me during the edits for Revelation, the second installment of the Hunt Chronicles by J.D. Demers.

This book transcends the limits of being a “book about zombies” and compels you to come to grips with the struggles of being a human in a world that has been overrun by them.

Revelation has all the action, gore and science that readers of this genre expect and enough plot twists to make it a page-turner. By combining the elements of trust, betrayal, hope and despair, J.D. Demers has created a world of Good versus Evil that will have you questioning your own morality and leave you wanting more.

I personally can't wait for the next installment. For professional reasons, of course.

-Ruth Clack, Editor

Prologue

August 5
th
– One year, four months and eighteen days after The Awakening

Sleeping on the tile floor of this office put a knot in my back last night.  Not that I slept much, though.  The chorus of moans from the zombies outside and on the first floor of this office building saw to that.

The dead know I’m still up here.  It must be the scent of my living flesh.  No one
really
knows what senses these things have, but Doctor Tripp was sure the virus that causes the reanimation of the dead controls all the basic senses we humans have, and she suspects some are enhanced.  I have probably been the only meal to pass through this abandoned town in months, and the scent of a living creature has kept them up my ass since I took shelter here.

The two heavy metal doors on the first and second floors that lead to the stairwell are all that’s keeping them from me.  Given enough time, they may breach it.  I will try to use some of the furniture up here to wedge the door shut.

There’s an access hatch to the roof in the stairwell.  I went up to check it out this morning, but as soon as the sun was halfway overhead, I came back in.  It must be a hundred and fifty degrees up there.  I would probably die within a day if I got trapped on the rooftop.

I scanned the small town for the few minutes I was on the rock and tar roof.  This place is tiny.  There might be twenty buildings in the whole town, and most of them seem like they had been abandoned pre-Awakening anyways.  There’s a gas station on the next street with a car parked right next to the pumps.  I’m pretty sure I can see broken windows, but it’s the only vehicle I’ve seen that doesn’t have busted tires or hasn’t been burned out.

The zombies here had to migrate.  This town couldn’t have had more than a population of fifty or so.  There has to be close to a thousand dead out there.  They’re starving, too. 

Most have completely dried skin that looks like old, hardened shoe leather dyed grey.  They don’t move as fast as the ones in Florida or most of the other places I’ve been.  With nothing except sand to eat, the zombies here have to rely on consuming themselves for energy.  Before I aroused them, they were buried in the sand or hiding in buildings, saving every ounce of vitality until they had an opportunity to feed again.  Call me Mister Opportunity. 

I could easily outrun them, but how far would I get in this heat?  I would die from the elements in a day or two. 

I’ve decided to write more today.  After disappointing myself with not finding a way out of this mess, I need to occupy my time with something.  It takes my mind off of this messed up situation. 

Chapter 1

Escape

April 22
nd
  Night

The battle with the scabs that night had left us shaken.  PFC Vanerka was killed by a scab and Specialist Combs, who had been impaled by a spear, was in critical condition.

The inside of the compound was quiet as we packed as much gear as we could into a few of our vehicles.  That was in contrast to the noise outside the perimeter.  There were a thousand zombies banging and pulling at the fence.  The croaks and moans of the dead-heads were so loud that the few commands Lieutenant Campbell was giving to us were through shouts and yells.  Thankfully, most of us already knew the bug out plan.

DJ had briefly argued with Campbell over completing the plow he had designed for Big Red.  The Lieutenant thought it would take too much time and the fence would never hold that long.  DJ insisted that he and a couple others could have it mounted within an hour and was sure the fence would hold longer.

Fish had interrupted, agreeing with DJ, saying that there were so many dead-heads that we would need Big Red to clear the path.  Campbell didn’t waste any more time and approved the project, though I knew he wasn’t happy about it.

The smell was God awful.  I swear the wind was blowing in all directions into the compound, carrying the stench of the rotting corpses outside our perimeter.  The Ace Hardware complex had spoiled me with only brief gusts of the retched smell over the last week.  I saw more than one of the children throw up and I even caught Jada, the slim, chocolate-skinned daycare worker catch bile in her throat a few times.

Everyone was paired up to take separate vehicles.  Fish was taking Daniel and Specialist Combs in his truck.  Combs wasn’t doing so well, and Daniel was all over him, trying to keep him stable. 

I was told to go with Chuck, who I privately referred to as Santa Claus.  I was a little upset that Campbell split Fish and me up, but I didn’t cry about it.  No sense in embarrassing myself.

I decided to load up most of my gear in Fish’s truck, choosing to keep my bug out bag, one of the AR-15s and my basic scavenging gear with me.  Fish told me I should take the MP5 so that Chuck would have something other than his handgun in case things got hairy for us. 

That put things into perspective for me as well.  Campbell had at least one rifle with each vehicle.  It wasn’t that a 556 round would put down a zombie any quicker than a .45 or 9mm, but the rifles held thirty round magazines which meant less reloading if things went bad. 

We were taking Chuck’s Jeep Cherokee.  It wasn’t exactly the best for zombie world, but it was four-wheel drive and he had welded fencing to the windows.  It also had a decent bumper and over a half a tank of gas.

Chuck was a decent man.  I didn’t know a whole lot about him, other than he had been a police officer from New York.  After more than thirty years serving his community, he and his wife retired to Florida.  He was sort of an old-fashioned grump.  I envisioned him as the type that would say “When I was a kid…”

Chuck also had a good heart, though he rarely showed it.  I knew there was a real Santa Claus deep down inside.  He saw things as black and white, right and wrong. 

It was an hour and a half since our first encounter with the impending hoard when parts of the fence had finally started to get ripped down.  Jenna, who was keeping an eye over our evacuation preparation from the top of the building, warned us a few had made it through the back of the compound.

I saw her on the roof, waving and speaking into her radio with her country drawl.  The message was grim.

“Boys, you better hurry up.  Dead-heads have broken through the south fence,” Jenna said into the radio.  She grabbed the ladder and shimmied her way down.

The Jeep Cherokee’s position in the convoy was right behind the U-Haul which held most of the children.   Jada was at the back, preparing to jump in with the children.

“Let’s go, Christian,” Chuck barked.

“Where is she?” I heard Jada cry as I opened up the passenger door.  Chuck heard her as well.

“She went back inside to get something for Daryl,” a young girl responded.

“What’s going on?” Chuck called out as he walked over to the back of the U-Haul to investigate.

“Karina is missing!” Jada said frantically.

I didn’t know much about the children and who was who, but I did know Karina.  She was the oldest of the children and would help Jada and Cheryl with the younger kids.

“What’s the holdup?” Private Manns grumbled as he came to the back of the truck.  His short, stocky frame gave him the appearance of a tough guy but, in reality, he was a super nerd and one of Campbell’s best Intel weenies.  He was tasked with driving the U-Haul.  “The LT said we move out in one minute.”

“Karina went back in the building!” Jada said, on the verge of tears. 

“They’re tearing down the north fence,” Gonzales called over the radio.  “We need to move!”

“We need to get going,” I yelled, rushing over to the group assembling around the U-Haul.  “They’re breaking through the fence.”

“Mount up!” The LT squawked over the radio.  “We’re moving out!”

“I’m going in after her,” Jada breathed.

“No, you’re not,” Manns said uneasily.  “We have to move out.  If we stay here, we’re all dead!”

I didn’t think Manns was being heartless.  I saw the concern in his face, but he was right.  We couldn’t sacrifice everyone in the compound for one person.  I could already hear the dead-heads moving inside the perimeter.  Our engines were running and the noise was probably bringing them straight to us.

“We’ll get her,” Chuck said and then looked at me. 

“What?” I gasped. 

“You heard me,” Chuck snapped.

“You’re insane,” Manns commented.  “I wanna save her too, but we have to get moving.”

“And you will.  Christian and I will get her.  We won’t be far behind.” Chuck pulled out his pistol and ensured he still had a round in the chamber.  “Tell Campbell we’ll be right on your heels.  Let’s go!”

I hated how Fish always made my decisions for me, and this old man was starting to do the same thing.  I didn’t want that girl to die either but, at the risk of sounding like a chicken, I thought going back and letting ourselves get surrounded while everyone else moved out was crazy.  I couldn’t bring myself to say it aloud, though.

“Come on!” Chuck commanded as he turned towards the garden entrance of the building. 

I cursed under my breath and ran over to Chuck’s Jeep.

“Stay here, boy,” I said to Boomer who was nestled in the back seat.  He whined as I shut the door.  I knew I would feel naked without him, but I didn’t want to risk him running off. 

I heard Manns report what Chuck and I were doing and the cursing of both the Lieutenant and Fish. 

Chuck had already passed through the garden area of the store by the time I made it to the entrance. 

“Don’t worry, sir, we’ll be right behind you,” I said into the mic before I entered.  I don’t know why I said that.  I really didn’t have a clue what I was charging into.

“We’ll give you two minutes,” he responded, “After that, meet us at Camp Holly.  I can’t risk everyone…”  I had the notion that Campbell wanted to stay, but knew he couldn’t risk the whole group for one little girl.  I didn’t blame him.

I didn’t say anything else and followed Chuck into the store.

It was uncomfortably dark in the building despite the driveway lamps lining up and down the aisles.

I heard Chuck call out, “Karina!”

Toward the back, we heard a response to Chuck’s call.  It just wasn’t who we wanted it to be.

The answering croak of a few zombies reverberated through the store.  I realized that through all of the turmoil of fighting the scabs off, putting Private Vanerka to rest, and loading up all the gear, that Fish and I never shut the back door we had exited out of earlier that night.

“They’re inside, Chuck,” I told him, “We have to go.”

Chuck turned and gave me a scornful look, but before he could say anything, we heard a cry for help coming from the back.  It sounded distressed and muffled.

“She’s alive, damn it!” Chuck said with a satisfied grin as if he had justified our staying behind.

Without another word, the two of us moved quickly to the back of the building.

“I think she’s in the office,” I said as I turned on the flashlight attached to my hat.  Chuck nodded in agreement.

As we got closer to the break room, the commotion coming from the zombies in the building grew louder.  I could hear banging while they hungrily groaned in anticipation of fresh meat.  The smell was starting to cloud my senses as we drew closer.

We rounded an aisle and saw several zombies banging on the office door.  Karina could be heard behind it, calling out to us again, but neither Chuck nor I wanted to give away the advantage of surprise. 

Chuck gave me a quick look and then started to move toward the zombies.  I reached out and grabbed his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

I had a plan, just not a very brilliant one.  What is it that they say?  ‘Bravery is often confused with stupidity’?

This was one of those times.  I quickly gave Chuck some motions, hoping that he understood what my idea was. 

I silently told him to hold back out of sight of the zombies while I circled around one of the aisles to approach from the other side.  My plan was to draw the zombies away while Chuck shut the back door before any more made their way in, and then he could free Karina.  Then they would head for the garden exit where his Jeep was.

He
mostly
understood the plan. 

I rounded a far aisle and grabbed a sledgehammer hanging on one of the shelves, allowing my AR-15 to dangle freely in front of me.  I looped around on the far side of the store and continued back to where Karina was trapped.  Once there, I could lure them away and take them for a trip through the maze of aisles inside the building.

I came around the corner and saw that they hadn’t moved and no more had come through the back door.  Jogging up, I readied the sledge for a devastating swing on one of the zombies.  I zeroed in on the tallest one I could see who also happened to be the closest.

The zombie, a male in his former life, was severely degraded.  Whether he was bit or changed naturally, I couldn’t tell.  He was trying to squeeze past his zombie comrades in an attempt to get at the door to the office.

The door itself was starting to buckle.  I didn’t know what fortifications Karina had made to keep the zombies from knocking down the door, but it didn’t seem like it would last much longer.  I didn’t want to wait around to find out.

I swung the sledgehammer in a down arc.  It crushed through the skull and partially imbedded in the dead-head’s neck.  It didn’t squirm or quiver, but just fell limply to the ground. 

Surprisingly, only two of the zombies turned to face me.  There was a short, fat female and a male that seemed to be limping due to a shredded leg.  Their teeth gnashed as they anxiously growled at me.

I needed all, or at least most, to follow me. 

“Come on, you bastards!” I all but shouted, in an attempt to draw more attention to myself.  The back door was still open and I didn’t know how many were in the rear of the compound. 

That did it.  All of them turned to face me and let out their own guttural groans of hunger.  By that time, the short, fat one was in striking distance and I swung, smashing in the side of her face.  I didn’t stick around to see if I permanently immobilized her.  The rest were only a few feet away when I turned and jogged opposite from where Chuck was hiding.

I made sure not to run too fast.  Zombies may be quicker at night, but they were not exactly track stars.  I kept about fifteen or twenty feet distance between us as I rounded two aisles, keeping them away from the back of the store.  I goaded them the whole way, making sure they stayed on my heels.

“Got her!” I heard Chuck call out and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’ll meet you at the car!” I yelled back to him.

I decided to lead them back down near the office so I could loop around the last aisle and sprint through the garden entrance to meet back up with Chuck and Karina.  I was ten feet away from the end of the aisle when I saw the part of my plan that the old cop missed.

He never shut the back door.  Ahead were four zombies coming straight toward me.  It was either sheer bad luck or I was louder than I thought while I antagonized the zombies that were chasing me.  I was trapped.

I only saw the four ahead of me, but I had no clue how many more were on the other side of them.

I threw the sledge with all the strength I had at the new arrivals.  Without bothering to see if it had any effect on slowing them down, I spun around and lifted my rifle.

I shot, moving back the way I came.  One, two, three zombies went down after emptying half my magazine.  It was so damn dark in there, the red dot sight barely helped.