ZOMBIE
by
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“I’m fine.” She gathered her composure once again. “I’m sure you can guess why I’m here today.” She looked Jerry directly in the eyes with tears standing in hers waiting to start flowing again. “Last Friday.” Four days ago, Jerry thought, if the boy was dead four days ago that meant that he was almost certainly back in the zombie form, but then again maybe the disease did something that made it not possible for the boy to return. “I was putting dishes into the dishwasher when I heard Brian speak. It was the first time in over two years that he said a word to anybody. I dropped a plate on the floor and it shattered to pieces. I couldn’t bring myself to pick it up until I heard what Brian said. I walked to the living room where he was propped on the couch facing the TV. I asked him what he said and he turned his head in my direction. Another thing he hasn’t been able to do for nearly two years. He was practically one hundred percent an immobile mute, but on Friday he looked at me and repeated what I thought I heard from the kitchen. He said ‘Mommy. The pain is gone.’ I asked him what he meant, and he didn’t say anything more. I walked to the couch and sat down beside him and put my arm around him. He didn’t seem to notice. I tried to ask him if he wanted to watch Scooby Doo and there was still no response. I knelt on the floor in front of him and that’s when I noticed that his skin lost all its color and was paler than mine is.” She held out her thin right arm to show Jerry. “It’s hard to believe I know. I got off the floor and immediately checked his pulse. I couldn’t find one. I called my mother at work and told her what happened. She said that I should call 911. I hung up the phone and got ready to call 911, but as I was pressing the nine, Brian moved his head again. I dropped the phone and fell to my knees. I thought he must have just drifted off and I for whatever reason couldn’t find his pulse.”“I’m fine.” She gathered her composure once again. “I’m sure you can guess why I’m here today.” She looked Jerry directly in the eyes with tears standing in hers waiting to start flowing again. “Last Friday.” Four days ago, Jerry thought, if the boy was dead four days ago that meant that he was almost certainly back in the zombie form, but then again maybe the disease did something that made it not possible for the boy to return. “I was putting dishes into the dishwasher when I heard Brian speak. It was the first time in over two years that he said a word to anybody. I dropped a plate on the floor and it shattered to pieces. I couldn’t bring myself to pick it up until I heard what Brian said. I walked to the living room where he was propped on the couch facing the TV. I asked him what he said and he turned his head in my direction. Another thing he hasn’t been able to do for nearly two years. He was practically one hundred percent an immobile mute, but on Friday he looked at me and repeated what I thought I heard from the kitchen. He said ‘Mommy. The pain is gone.’ I asked him what he meant, and he didn’t say anything more. I walked to the couch and sat down beside him and put my arm around him. He didn’t seem to notice. I tried to ask him if he wanted to watch Scooby Doo and there was still no response. I knelt on the floor in front of him and that’s when I noticed that his skin lost all its color and was paler than mine is.” She held out her thin right arm to show Jerry. “It’s hard to believe I know. I got off the floor and immediately checked his pulse. I couldn’t find one. I called my mother at work and told her what happened. She said that I should call 911. I hung up the phone and got ready to call 911, but as I was pressing the nine, Brian moved his head again. I dropped the phone and fell to my knees. I thought he must have just drifted off and I for whatever reason couldn’t find his pulse.” Jerry looked at Melanie and politely asked “But he wasn’t the same was he?” “No, he wasn’t. Well he still didn’t talk, and he couldn’t move his legs, so those two things remained the same. But he followed me with his head and every time I got close to him he started to bite his teeth. Almost like he wanted to,” she paused trying to decide whether what she was about to say would make her sound crazy, “to bite me."
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About the Book
It is 1997 in Dallas, Oregon, when Jerry Hopper and his wife, Vivian, dream up the idea of opening an organized facility where the living dead are sent when their family members are not quite ready to let them go. Inspired by their young daughter, Allison, ZOMBIE, otherwise known as the Zoological Order for Mankind Beyond its Intended Existence, opens and soon becomes a hit.
ZOMBIE offers a safe place where mortals can peacefully sit next to the corpse of their relatives or friends, order a bite to eat, and read a book. But as a first-time business dealing with the living dead, it soon becomes clear that ZOMBIE has a few kinks that need to be worked out. When fire alarms begin blaring inside the facility, the Hoppers are alerted to their worst fears: zombies are attempting to escape their rooms. After they manage to secure the building, the Hoppers have no idea that some ten years later, the zombies will rebel once again, setting off a perilous chain of events that will change everything.
In this horror tale, a modern family committed to providing a safe place where zombies can live peacefully soon discovers that nothing is predictable in the world of the living dead.
About the Author
Chris Rowley was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. While growing up, he helped butcher chickens at his grandparents’ farm in Unadilla, Nebraska, and developed his imagination while away from other children and the city. ZOMBIE is his debut novel.