The ZWD Trilogy (Book 1): Zombie World Dominance [The Destruction Begins] Read online

  KING OF VEGAS

  P U B L I S H I N G

  ©2016 L. D. King. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2016

  ISBN-10: Coming soon

  ISBN-13: Coming soon

  Kindle version: ASIN:

  King of Vegas Publishing

  PO Box 750723

  Las Vegas, NV 89136

  LD-King-Author.com

  Zombie flourish by Mike Wilson gonegonetheformofman@deviantart

  Used under Creative Commons licensing

  Editing by Five59 Publishing Five59.com

  Cover Design by Johannus M. Steger of Steger Productions

  facebook.com/stegerproductions

  I dedicate this book to my bride, Cheryl.

  Without the undying support of my beautiful bride, I would not have been able to finish this book. As of September 2015, we have been married for ten years.

  Who would have known that my search for a Sunday coffee partner to read the Sunday paper with would have matured to the place it is now? Cheryl is my partner, my supporter, my confidant and my lover. She is my rock in a stormy world.

  When I have a question or ask for advice, she is right there beside me. She has never had a disparaging word about my efforts or my ability to finish this book.

  To my love with all my heart,

  Your husband

  Larry

  The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing.

  Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by

  procrastination, consumed by feelings of panic,

  self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy.

  And that’s on a good day.

  — Robert De Niro

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  Chapter 1

  Manhattan, New York

  Chapter 2

  Mazatlan, Mexico

  Chapter 3

  Luxor, Egypt

  Chapter 4

  Moscow, Russia

  Chapter 5

  Melbourne, Australia

  Chapter 6

  Riverside, California

  Chapter 7

  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  Chapter 8

  New Orleans, Louisiana

  Chapter 9

  Manhattan, New York

  Chapter 10

  Mazatlan, Mexico

  Chapter 11

  S.S. Oceania, the Pacific

  Chapter 12

  Luxor, Egypt

  Chapter 13

  Moscow, Russia

  Chapter 14

  Melbourne, Australia

  Chapter 15

  Manhattan, New York

  Chapter 16

  Riverside, California

  Chapter 17

  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  Chapter 18

  New Orleans, Louisiana

  Epilogue

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  PROLOGUE

  Stan’s lifeless body lay on the ground, his intestines pouring out all around him. One lung had been ripped completely out of his chest where his ribs had been ripped open. Stan’s girlfriend Rosie lay dead next to him. She, too, had been torn to shreds by the attack of the creature that had slain them. Her belly and chest gaped open. The contents of her freshly gouged body gushed onto the ground and mixed with Stan’s. Blood was everywhere.

  Their four friends stood staring with unblinking eyes, their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word. They’d been on an end-of-summer fling, but now they stood in shock, having just watched their friends die before their eyes.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen to them. Not to teenagers. Not on vacation. Not in Manhattan. Not anywhere.

  How did this happen? Was it an isolated incident? What had they done to provoke this?

  This would eventually be recognized as the beginning of one of the darkest periods the world had experienced since the Black Plague of the Middle Ages, which wiped out 50 million Europeans — about 60 percent of Europe’s population — in a seven-year period beginning in 1346. The Black Plague had been limited to Europe, but this new event wouldn’t be restricted to a single country or even a single continent. Rather, it started simultaneously all around the world, on a single day. The devastation that followed would not end for many years, if in fact it ever ended.

  What had occurred to cause worldwide death and destruction to run so rampant and out of control?

  If this worldwide devastation were ever to end, would there even be enough survivors left to rebuild the world we once knew? If humanity could be resurrected from the ashes, would anyone be able to understand what had caused the collapse in the first place, and could it be prevented from happening again? What would future historians point to as the cause of this new plague?

  One of the major events that historians would point to were the collapse of the United Nations and the International Stock Trading Exchange. The catastrophic failure of these two pillars of the world, along with the circumstances surrounding their failure, set in motion a series of tragic events that would rock the world backwards nearly two centuries, resulting in the total destruction of many cities and towns and the devastation of numerous rural areas of the world.

  In 2036 the world’s population was approximately 8.9 billion people. Over a single 48-hour period it was estimated that 3.3 billion, or 38 percent of the population, had disappeared. There was no reason as to why they were gone. They were simply gone, leaving no trace behind. As the shock spread concerning the sheer number that had gone missing began to gripping the world, the conspiracy theorists and the leaders of the world’s religions were spreading their own theories as to why so many people were gone. Reasons ranging from the Second Coming, the Rapture or alien abduction or some clandestine government operation were making their way around the world. No matter the reason, people needed to have something to hold on to in order to explain why so many people were gone. For several days, one theory after another was offered up, trying to explain where that number of people could have gone.

  Day after day the theories kept coming. Then, several days later, adding to the mystery and misery of those who were gone, out of nowhere people were being killed. At first it was one or two deaths here and there. The killers were strange creatures that had never been seen before in all of human history.

  As if the killings themselves were not enough, the manner in which people died was mind numbing. These creatures killed their victims in the most horrible, vicious and brutal way that could be inflicted upon a human body.

  Now that the killings had begun, the concern for those that had disappeared had been quickly replaced with simply trying to avoid the wrath of these creatures. Humanity had been reduced to survival mode.

  What happened? Why did these two pillars of the world collapse? What occurred that was so bad that it caused the world’s banking and international trading to crumble in on itself? Why did so many people have to die? It was the result of abso
lute greed and complete control.

  In the years following 2025, the world was spiraling out of control. The currencies of the world became nearly worthless. Simply put, the world was broke. The new currency being used by the nations of the world was power. The borders of countries were being redrawn under this new power system. Stronger countries were invading weaker ones with impunity. The poorer nations endured massive recessions. The citizens of the world paid the price for the losses.

  In 2025 came the collapse of the International Stock Trading Exchange, or ISTE. The ISTE was the driving force that set the value of goods and currencies of the world became so devalued they became as worthless as the paper they were printed on. This triggered the collapse of the United Nations.

  This worldwide currency crash did not happen all at once. It started slowly at first, then rapidly picked up speed. In the span of three days, the ISTE first suspended its operations before it completely collapsed. Private individuals, businesses both large and small, international corporations, and entire countries lost billions due to the crash of the UN and the ISTE.

  The tipping point for the collapse occurred in 2023 when Greece’s economy failed for the last time. No country, or group of countries, was willing to rescue Greece yet again. The failure of Greece’s economy triggered a massive devaluation of the Euro. This rippled through Europe. Germany withdrew from the European Union and isolated itself. Due to the cost involved, Germany withdrew any and all assistance that they had previously provided to other countries in need, including military aid, financial assistance, medical and humanitarian aid.

  Italy, England, and Spain followed Germany’s lead, isolating themselves from the rest of the world as well. They also withdrew all foreign aid. As Europe restructured itself under a new isolationist ideology, the rest of the nations of the world followed suit. The countries that could not sustain themselves were subject to being overthrown by their more powerful neighbors.

  All of the major countries of the world began refusing to recognize or accept any other country’s passports. In an effort to identify their own citizens as well as to identify people from around the world, the major countries had worked on new government identification cards, travel visas and new passports that the nations of the world would acknowledge. They agreed that no other form of identification or passport would be accepted. This change that they agreed to would force the lesser countries to follow suit by issuing new ID cards and passports if they desired to do any business with the major countries, including international travel.

  In 2036, without notice, the plague began with the brutal killings of six teenagers in New York City. Following these deaths, thousands upon thousands of the remaining citizens of the world would be brutally slaughtered before it ended — if indeed it ever came to an end at all.

  Some said the end result could be as simple as the slaughter of every last living man, woman or child on the planet.

  And so it began.

  Chapter 1

  It Begins

  Manhattan, New York

  It was a Friday afternoon, August 15, 2036 in East Norwich, New York, out on Long Island. A light breeze was blowing. It cooled the summer heat off a bit. In nearly all small towns across America, people out walking greet each other as they pass; the town of East Norwich was no different. It was much like all small towns across the country. Living in East Norwich was nice. Nothing of any importance ever happened there.

  Adults generally found East Norwich a great place to live. Teenagers, however, tended to find it boring. Matt Johnson with his wife Mildred had lived in East Norwich their entire lives. They had been married for 36 years. Their only child, Mary, was turning seventeen today.

  Mary had been waiting for her birthday the entire summer, and planning the day for weeks. Her parents were happy to open their home to their daughter’s friends in order for Mary to celebrate her birthday. She simply wanted to have a small, intimate party this year, with a few of her best girlfriends. Of course, if she invited her girlfriends, she would have to invite their boyfriends, so Mary had planned the event as a couples’ party. She had invited Jennifer Ellison along with Jennifer’s boyfriend, Mike Smith; Rosie Hernandez and her boyfriend, Stan Samuelson; Cori Baldwin with her boyfriend Teddy Hibbs; Kathy Koten with her boyfriend Raymond Morgan; Valerie Lynn and her boyfriend Chris Abell, and Karla Bailey with her boyfriend, Romeo Tudorache. Of course, Mary had invited her own boyfriend, Jerry Timmel.

  Her parents loved throwing Mary great birthday parties. Since her birthday fell near the end of summer, school would be starting in just a couple of weeks. It was also the time when Mary’s parents left to work their booth at nearby Beekman Beach. They sold souvenirs, tee shirts, shorts, sunscreen, candy and dozens of other items to the tourists who visited the beach. Throughout the summer, business at the beach was steady, and they had employees to run their booth. However, the last several weeks of the summer was when they made most of their money. During the last couple of weeks of the season, Matt and Mildred worked alongside their employees at their booth. The tourist season ended when school began, and that was when they closed down their booth for the year, going back to town to run the small hardware store that they owned.

  Mary would be a senior when school started; this would be her final year at home, since she planned to go to college out of state after she graduated.

  Mary was a stunning teenager. She stood at five feet, seven inches and was in great shape. Mary loved to run and would do several miles a day if the weather was good. She took pride in her body; she watched what she ate, ran every chance she could, and worked out if the weather kept her inside.

  Her hair was a golden blonde color. Her body was tanned to a wonderful shade of bronze, which was no small feat on Long Island, thanks to judicious use of a tanning bed.

  Mary walked with a grace of a jaguar stalking its prey. The girls in her high school either loved her or hated her. Both groups had the same reason to love or hate her — she was, simply said, gorgeous.

  She was the captain of the cheerleading squad for her high school’s football team. She had tried out for the squad her freshman year and was one of the few freshmen accepted on the team. Her motive had been that she was sweet on a certain football player named Jerry Timmel. Mary had had her eye on him since they had been in the seventh grade. They had dated a number of times over those four years. Mary had become a cheerleader to make sure that no other girl would be able to put their hands on her guy.

  Jerry Timmel had gone out for football in his freshman year of high school, and it was never a question that the Adonis of the freshman class would make the team. He stood six foot one, with a muscled, chiseled body. He worked out with his father, a retired Marine Corps Drill Instructor, in their basement weight room on a daily basis. He worked hard to keep his body in tip-top shape. He had been joining his father in the workout room since he was three years old.

  He and his girl were a stunning couple wherever they went. It was natural for them to be together.

  Both Jerry and Mary were oblivious to the looks they got as they walked around town or school together. They never gave their good looks a second thought. They did wonder, at times, why others didn’t work harder at being healthy. The lack of exercise and a proper diet wasn’t that hard, but most kids their age were happy to sit in front of the TV, eating one sugar- or salt-filled snack after another.

  Everyone that Mary invited came to her party except for four of her friends. Those four simply didn’t show up. They didn’t call. Nothing. It was as if they had just disappeared.

  The four that didn’t come were Karla Bailey, Kathy Koten, Romeo Tudorache and Chris Abell. Mary was a little concerned that they didn’t come to her party, but she wasn’t that surprised. The girls were kind of her friends and kind of not. It was one of those situations. Mary was on speaking terms with the girls, but a week before, Mary had an argument with Karla. They hadn’t made up by the time Mary’s birthday had come. Karla was best friends
with Kathy. If Karla was friends with someone, then Kathy was too. If Karla was mad at someone, then Kathy was mad at them also.

  Kathy’s boyfriend Raymond showed up, however, and Valerie arrived without her boyfriend Chris. Raymond was sitting in one of the chairs on the front porch. Valerie sat next to him. He was holding his head in his hands, looking as if he was about to cry. He looked up at Valerie, and spoke in a trembling voice:

  “You know, Valerie, I stopped at Kathy’s house to pick her up. We were going to walk over here together. I walked up to their door, and as I knocked, the door just swung open. It wasn’t closed all the way. Everything was all busted up in their house. I went in to look for her, thinking maybe she was hurt or something, but no one was there. I ran out of the house and called the cops from the sidewalk. I was told that because no one was in the house, it would be a couple of hours before they would have an officer there, because as of early this morning they’d been working a large number of calls like mine. They said quite a few officers hadn’t come in, and they were really short staffed. After that, I came on over here, hoping Kathy would be here. On my way over, I called her cell again and again, but it just kept ringing. She never answered. What do you think should I do?”

  “Raymond, I know how you feel,” said Valerie. “It was getting late. I called Chris to let him know that I was ready, but he never answered his phone either. I can’t remember whether we said I’d meet him here or wait for him at my house. I called his dad, too, but he didn’t answer either. I wanted to come to the party tonight because it’ll be my last night in town for a while. My parents said that most of their employees didn’t show up at their booth, so I have to go with them in the morning.” She shook her head sadly. “I asked Chris if he wanted to come with me to the beach for the next couple of weeks. He told me that he would if my folks said it was okay.”