Zombiemandias (Book 2): In the Year of Our Death Read online

  In the Year of Our Death

  by

  David J. Lovato

  Zombiemandias: In the Zombie Apocalypse Series Order:

  After the Bite † In the Lone and Level Sands

  In the Year of Our Death

  Copyright © 2015 David J. Lovato

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art © 2015 David J. Lovato

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Part I: That Annihilated Place

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  Part II: A Forgotten Babylon

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  Part III: An Antique Land

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  Part IV: Through the Wilderness

  39

  40

  41

  42

  43

  44

  45

  46

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About the Author

  A Note About Reviews

  A Note on Order

  If you’re reading this, you’ve hopefully read the first two books in this series, After the Bite and In the Lone and Level Sands. Technically, you could get by without having read After the Bite. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could read In the Year of Our Death without having read either. While I strongly recommend at least reading In the Lone and Level Sands first, as several references are made to the events of that book (besides the fact it sets up the world this one takes place in), I decided to leave a note for those of you who choose not to, explaining the most important bits:

  After the Bite is a collection of short stories that range from decades before to decades after the first novel in the series, In the Lone and Level Sands. As such, some of the stories within take place before, during, and in one case very long after the events of this one. After the Bite as a whole is supplemental; it was published first, but exists as a companion book to the main series. The two of them can be read in either order.

  In the Lone and Level Sands details the onset of the zombie apocalypse. These zombies aren’t your run-of-the-mill zombies; while they lean closer to the now-classic “rabies” type, they have their own ruleset:

  The origin of the zombies can be traced to a supernatural event heavily implied to be linked to dark magic, what some might call voodoo. The person behind this does not appear in the book you’re reading now; that tale is told in In the Lone and Level Sands.

  The zombies are attracted to fire. In most cases they will pass up a fresh meal to dive head-first into flames. This almost certainly kills them. Which brings us to:

  Headshots not required (though greatly preferred). These zombies are still humans, and while they have a higher-than-average tolerance for pain, they can still be killed by blood loss, thirst, starvation, or anything that would kill an average person.

  While reading In the Lone and Level Sands will provide a much better understanding of one of the story arcs in this novel, the others involve new characters in new situations and should hopefully be easily enjoyable to series newcomers.

  Finally, thank you for taking the time to read any of these books.

  David J. Lovato

  September 2015

  The Man in the Radio Station

  Keely woke up late and alone. The blankets beside her were ruffled and the pillow was askew.

  It was dark out; it must have been cloudy. Little light peered in between the boards on the window. She sat up and stretched, sore.

  When the bathroom light flicked on, she met her face in the mirror. Her hair had gotten longer, too long, and she pushed her fingers through it, spread it out, measured it. She reached for the trimmer on the counter and turned it on. It snapped to life for a few seconds, slowed, and died.

  Keely sighed. She twisted the bottom off of the trimmer and slid the batteries into her hand. They were simple little things, so delicate, so useful. She let them glide from her inclined hand into the garbage can.

  She pulled some jeans on and opened her top drawer. It was full of Katie’s shirts but void of her own. She made her way to the bedroom door and cracked it.

  “Anyone there?”

  Silence. No, footsteps.

  “Hello?”

  Ralph rounded the corner, his little golden cross bouncing against his chest with each step. He was carrying a laundry basket. It was full.

  “Morning,” he said.

  “Happen to have any of my shit in there?”

  “Don’t think so.” Ralph balanced the basket against his knee and started sifting through the clothes with his free hand. Keely sighed. “Well, you wouldn’t have this problem if you threw your clothes down the chute like the rest of us.”

  “I have bad habits. Where is everyone?”

  “Up, mostly. I think Layne’s broadcasting.”

  “Where’s Katie?”

  “Haven’t seen her. This yours?” Ralph held a shirt out. It was black and had some design on it. Keely reached out and took it into the room, stepped behind the door, and unfurled it.

  “I think it’s Dex’s,” she said. She put it on. “He won’t miss it.” Keely opened the door. Ralph laughed and continued down the hall. “Ralph,” she said. He turned back to her with his eyebrows raised. “Good morning.”

  ****

  Dex was washing dishes.

  “Hey, you got any spare batteries?” Keely asked.

  He didn’t look up. “What size?”

  “Double A.”

  “Sorry, I think we’re out. Garrett just went shopping, too.”

  “Fuck.”

  “You could try Layne, but you might have to wait a while.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Keely said. “Have you seen Katie?”

  “Haven’t, sorry,” Dex replied.

  “Thanks anyway.”

  Keely went through the front door and into the wooden hallway. The temperature rose dramatically; the walls were simple plywood, roughly cut to fit along the sidewalks, street, and curbs. It wasn’t the most secure thing in the world, but from far away no one and nothing could spot them passing between the radio station and the building they had converted into what they now called their home.

  Keely walked the long hall and entered the radio station. She wound her way through the halls and stopped at the large pane of glass. Layne was sitting on the other side. He was talking, but she couldn’t hear him. He saw her, and she pointed upward, toward the speakers. Layne leaned over, flipped a switch, and his voice broke in throughout the building.

  “Keep in mind that sometimes your best weapon is your stealth. What doesn’t know you’re there can’t hurt you. If you fire a gun, you can take out one threat, but you can tell thirty more you’re there. These things die just like we do, and I know it isn’t pretty, but if you can sneak up behind one, you can take it out before it knows you’re there. Blunt force to the head is good. If you can strangle it without putting your arms close to its mouth, that’s better. But much riskier, a last resort.”

  Layn
e had gained thirty pounds since the first time she saw him at that microphone, and it wasn’t muscle. He talked for a few more minutes, then he leaned back and stretched his legs.

  “One last thing, then I’m going to sign off for the day. I’ve gotten a few letters about people disappearing out there. Seasoned survivors. Everyone, stay safe. Don’t let go of hope.”

  Layne pressed a few buttons and the “On Air” light flickered off. Sound continued to pour through the speakers: A pre-recorded list of names from the ID cards Keely had collected, a tribute to those who had fallen. Then Layne flicked off the building’s speakers, moved some papers around, stood up and pushed his chair in, and left the recording booth.

  “Have you seen Katie?” Keely asked.

  “She stopped by a little while ago. I think she went out back, or maybe up top.”

  “Thanks. Do you have any double As?”

  “I can check.” Layne went back into the studio and shuffled through a few drawers and a filing cabinet, then returned to the hall. “Sorry.”

  “It’s all right,” Keely said.

  “Is Garrett back?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “All right.”

  Keely walked down the hall and then stepped through the skinny metal door into the back lot. Memories came back to her, as they often did out here. The path leading to the street had been barricaded off, and a few empty gasoline tanks sat around the generator along with several full ones. Someone Keely had never met was running Hoover Dam and the city had power, but the genny was always there, just in case. Across the lot, tarps were set up with containers below them for catching rain.

  The charred car and the overturned car were still there, a sculpture to remind them of where they had come from. Keely felt a pang in her heart every time she saw them, but all that meant was that she hadn’t forgotten.

  What she didn’t see was Katie. She walked across the lot to where the building met the fence surrounding the tower, and climbed the metal ladder leading to the roof. There she found Katie standing at the edge, staring into the city.

  ****

  “There are so few kids left in the world,” Katie said.

  The sun had since emerged from the clouds and the world was brighter. Katie and Keely leaned against the cement edge of the roof. A satellite dish loomed nearby, and buildings stretched upward in the distance. Just below them was the top of the wooden hallway, and the city was clear for several blocks. It had taken weeks to clear them out and barricade the nearby streets to keep safe from the rest of the world. Every now and then something managed to get in, but so far there hadn’t been any major incidents.

  “They were the first to go,” Keely said. “Mostly. It’s a hard world now.”

  “Yeah. No one’s come to visit in a while.”

  “They’re trying to get by. Are you okay?”

  “I’m wondering how many people are left out there,” Katie said. Keely hugged her. “Every day more of us die. And every time one of us dies, there’s another one of them.”

  “There are still people out there. Layne talks to them every day.”

  “Do they talk back? Can we even prove anyone hears him?”

  “What’s gotten into you?” Keely asked. “You’re starting to worry me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Katie said. She pulled Keely closer. “But I’m worried.”

  “It’ll be okay. It’s always been okay. We can’t give up.”

  “I’m not giving up. I would never.” Katie turned Keely to her and kissed her. “I want a baby,” she said, and then the day was dark again.

  Part I: That Annihilated Place

  1

  In the Night

  Adam had the same dream almost every night, and it was vivid because it was a memory. Sometimes something would be different, but always something small, something irrelevant. The important things were just as they had been in his waking life.

  He was lying on the ground. Someone had knocked him over, he had hit his head hard against the asphalt. For a moment, he just lay there.

  He could see it all: The fire, people running by, the beings running into the flames, attracted like moths. Off to the side, a young man kneeled down and picked up a gun. The fire roared on. A shot rang out. It was deafening, but he ignored it. He ignored the pain he was feeling. He stared at the fire. The creatures were running right into it, and they didn’t feel any pain.

  When he heard Mother May scream, he finally understood she had been wrong.

  The creatures weren’t demons, they were angels. They were put here by God, they were His servants sent to be what humans could not. They could walk the fire and feel no pain, even as their life fled them and they joined His grace.

  ****

  When he woke, it was dark. Adam never slept much, there was always too much on his mind. He headed downstairs. The others would be awake soon enough.

  Finding them was hard work. There were few lesser humans left, and when he did run across them, they rarely shared his beliefs. How many joined him wouldn’t matter, though. Besides, when they refused, he simply assisted them in leaving the world.

  He had built up a decent following. Some thirty people, lesser humans like himself, all willing to fight for his cause, or made willing. And they obeyed the rules. Adam liked that.

  He stood at the podium. The theater was larger than most they had found, and his footsteps echoed. Every little sound echoed, and in the silence he almost thought he could hear ghosts.

  As the minutes ticked by, the theater grew fuller. The lesser people talked among themselves until the last of them entered the room. Then, they took their seats, and it was silent again. Adam began his routine speech.

  “Fellow lesser humans: We gather here at the Belmont Theater for the Arts on this glorious thirteen September, Year Three Anno Letum, In the Year of Our Death.”

  “In the Year of Our Death,” the congregation replied.

  “Let us recite the rules of the Church of Lesser Humans together.”

  All stood. Their voices rose as one.

  “I will not harm nor allow harm to come to a greater human. I will not interfere with a greater human’s right to feast or roam. I will meet with The Church only in proper settings. I will work to strengthen The Church and thus The Cause. I will serve The Cause until I am led to join His Grace. I will at all costs fight the Great Evil One.”

  “Brothers and sisters,” Adam said. “Amen.”

  “Amen.”

  Everyone took their seats. Adam remained at the podium. “Let us hear what bile the Great Evil One has chosen to spit on this day.”

  Adam walked across the stage to where the radio had been set up on the altar. He flipped a switch, and the voice broke in.

  “—to the head is good. If you can strangle it without putting your arms close to its mouth, that’s better. But much riskier, a last resort.”

  Murmurs of disgust moved through the crowd. The Great Evil One went on at great length about how to destroy the greater humans. In the congregation, people shook their heads, closed their eyes, one woman wept. Finally, the voice on the radio gave his closing regards and stopped talking.

  “Brothers and sisters,” Adam said, “the Great Evil One continues his crusade against God’s will. He wishes to darken our days with hatred, to destroy the beauty God has placed upon this earth. He plots the murder of God’s children, the rape of His Grace on Earth.” Adam pounded a fist against the podium. “But we are here as God’s soldiers. We are here to pave the path for the greater humans. We are here to do His work, and then we shall be allowed to leave this earth and join His Grace.”

  “His Grace!”

  “We have been left here to clean out the remaining lesser humans. They are great in number and greater in evil, but we shall not be denied, not now. We make our way west every day, and every day we grow closer and stronger. I can feel the darkness growing as we grow closer, can you not feel it?”

  “Amen!” someone shouted. It was
Randolph. He knew better than to speak out of turn, but Adam smiled. Randolph was eager to further the Cause, and he alone had made Adam’s campaign to the four corners of the country worth it. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he had found the others as well. Tired as he was, his journey would soon come to an end. All they had to do now was find the Great Evil One.

  “Let us never forget our plan,” Adam said. “We will locate and destroy the Great Evil One. With his voice, we will reach lesser humans throughout the country, and our message will finally be heard. After that day, we shall finally succeed in the mission we’ve been left here to complete. After that day, we will finally join His Grace and leave the greater humans to the world they were meant to have.”

  The congregation cheered.

  “And that day is almost upon us. Truly I say to you, this is the year of our death.”

  The crowd grew so loud, they sounded like a legion of thousands.

  2

  At the Afterparty

  When the world changed on June 21st, 2013, Will had been at a party. He didn’t go to parties often, but his best friend Jeremy kept asking, and he eventually and reluctantly agreed.

  Will didn’t know most of the people at the party (which Will hesitated to even call it; the teens were too young for it to be a real party), and had little interest in changing that. They were all older than him, though most were in the same grade. Will sat around the house keeping to himself, talking to Jeremy when he could be bothered to pay attention to him. The other kids laughed and told lewd jokes and swore a lot, which Will didn’t really mind, but wasn’t exactly into. At least he liked the music.

  He had tried to learn the names and faces of the other kids. There was Jeremy’s friend Alex, who Will thought was all right. There was a guy named Rob, who Will wasn’t too fond of. He was too curt and always had to be in control of things. The party was at Rob’s house, which made that easier for him. And, probably the easiest to remember, was Hannah, Alex’s girlfriend. Will thought she was pretty, so he ended up avoiding her more than the others.