This novel was inspired by World War Z by Max Brooks and the popular flash game series The Last Stand by Chris Condon.
I would like to thank Ruby Lydia, Olowosoyo Temitope Glory, Horlahh Biblion, Jibola Coker, and Sara Piesse for beta reading and helping me improve!
Prologue
Soumoto, a secluded village in southwest Russia, was where the zombie apocalypse had begun. Before the first outbreak took place, Soumoto was a popular tourist destination. The residents had been living in the area since about three centuries after the Rurik dynasty. While the village did not see nearly as much population growth as other areas in the country, it continued to thrive over the course of many centuries.
Graham Spencer, a respected former soldier, had just entered the village. The residents of the village gazed at him curiously as he walked by. Whenever he looked at any of the people he walked by, he waved back to those who greeted him.
The 32-year-old man had a difficult time locating the village. Due to its remoteness and tiny size, the village was not on maps. Graham had to frequently ask for directions from locals in other towns and villages in the area.
Once he finally knew where Soumoto was, he thought about his life after the military. He was happily married to his wife Elise Walker, and they had one son and one daughter together. They had been together since they were children. It was not until high school that they officially started dating. After graduating from high school, they agreed to marry after Graham had returned from his military service.
Graham returned from serving in the army with the highest honors, and he married Elise shortly afterwards.
Upon arriving in Soumoto, the former soldier recalled being called to the village to investigate something serious that had taken place in the village.
As he approached the hospital in the village, he noticed the horrified looks on the villagers near the building. They were whispering something that Graham could not understand.
The doctor said that if Graham were to enter the building, he must wear a mask for safety reasons. He nodded as he placed the medical mask given to him on his face.
The sight before him made Graham deeply worried. Before him lay ten people on cots. All of them were semi-conscious.
Retrieving some medical gloves and placing them on his hands, Graham knelt before the first patient to examine her. She moaned a little bit when he placed his thumb on her forehead. Graham could tell that she had a fever of over 102°F based on how warm her forehead felt and the intense shivering from her. He then noticed a bite mark on her left forearm. Upon examining it more thoroughly, he realized it was not a bite from an animal. It seemed to have come from another human, possibly someone under eleven years old.
Graham went through examining the other nine patients, and they all showed similar symptoms, with similar wounds on different parts of their bodies. While Graham thought that the wounds were the source of the infection, one thing he noticed was that the actual injuries on the patients were clean.
The former soldier asked the villagers who had been taking care of the patients. He did not like the answer that was given to him. They said that no one was taking care of them, and that it was not safe. Graham was appalled that no one was doing anything to help the people with their infections.
Then Graham realized that he had yet to find out who or what had inflicted the injuries. He was led to an abandoned house on the outskirts of the village. Inside was a young boy of nine years old, bound by his wrists and feet with chains. He was writhing like a wild beast.
The former soldier was shocked that someone as young as the boy could do something terrifying like that. It reminded him of the opening scene in the Halloween movie in 1978, when the killer was revealed to be six-year-old Michael Myers, who had just murdered his own older sister in cold blood.
Graham was hesitant to even touch the young boy, as the former soldier was afraid the young boy would transfer whatever he had to him. The villagers had terrified looks on their faces, resisting the urge to run away. Even with his hesitancy, the former soldier cautiously stepped forward with his mask and gloves on.
Graham saw how pale the boy’s skin was, and upon touching it, the skin felt cold. He carefully checked the boy’s pulse by placing his finger on the side of the neck. Graham could not find either his pulse or a heartbeat. The boy had a wild look on his face, especially in his eyes. His eyes were sunken back into their sockets and were locked on the former soldier as if a predatory beast was stalking their prey, ready to pounce. The boy made a move to lunge at Graham in a hostile manner, but his bonds held him back.
On the outside, Graham seemed unbothered by the boy’s movements. Deep down though, he felt himself wanting to retreat a little bit to avoid the possibility of getting bitten by the boy.
In order to hold him down, Graham requested that two burly villagers help him. At first, they could not move a muscle, and Graham could understand why they felt that way. While they did eventually assist Graham, it was only after the former soldier had told them that they would not get infected as long as they wore masks and gloves.
During his time in the military, Graham did have some experience with medicine. When he was not in battle, he was always helping the military medic to save the lives of sick and injured soldiers.
While the burly villagers kept a firm hold on the boy, Graham retrieved a syringe to take a blood sample. However, instead of red blood, the syringe filled up with a russet matter that was the same consistency as glycerin.
After removing the syringe, the boy renewed his violent struggles. As he struggled, his right arm snapped. There were the jagged ends of bones stabbing through his gray flesh. That was enough for the burly villagers to let go and run away, even though the boy did not even seem to notice.
Graham himself retreated seven paces. While he had been a doctor to a degree since he was eleven years old, Graham could not help but be concerned about what the frail nine-year-old could do. He left the building and locked the door upon seeing the boy attempting to twist in his direction.
Graham panted, attempting to calm himself down from what he had just witnessed. He then asked the villagers how the boy got infected in the first place. None of the villagers answered. As Graham thought about what to do next, he heard banging on the door behind him, the boy’s fist pounding on the wooden door.
Graham then pleaded with the villagers to know what happened to the boy, and at last, a young woman walked towards him. He presumed the woman was the boy’s mother. Based on the look on her face, Graham could tell that she had been sobbing for several days. Her eyes were dry and red.
The former soldier felt sympathy for the young woman. He felt horrible that she had to lose her son.
She explained that it had happened when the boy and his father were retrieving water from a nearby well. Both had fallen into the well when attempting to retrieve the water. The father had unfortunately died from his injuries shortly afterwards. While the boy seemed unscathed somehow, he had been crying not only from his father’s death, but from a bite mark on his neck.
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Reaching for his cellphone, Graham dialed the number of one of his closest friends in the military, Dr. Mitch Townsend. He was a military medic during his military days and had saved the lives of many soldiers working together with Graham. After their military service, Mitch Townsend became one of the top doctors in the world.
“Hello? This is Dr. Mitch Townsend. How may I help you?” Mitch Townsend answered from the other side of the line.
“Hey, Mitch. This is Graham Spencer. How are you doing?” Graham greeted.
“Oh hey, Graham. It is good to hear from you. I have been a busy man, but other than that I am doing well. How are you?” Mitch responded.
Graham was about to chuckle but realized that he needed to let Mitch know about the entire situation he was dealing with in remote Russia.
“I would say that I am doing well, but I have a situation that I think I might need your help with,” Graham said.
“Certainly. What can I do for you?” Mitch inquired.
Graham then explained everything to Mitch, from the bites, the fever, the boy, the snapping of the boy’s arm. Even though he could not see him, Graham could tell that Mitch’s face on the other end of the line had stiffened.
Mitch asked Graham to show him those who got infected. Graham went back to where the patients were being kept, and he turned on his phone’s camera over each patient. When the former soldier moved his phone camera over to the wounds themselves, Mitch put Graham on hold for a few minutes before doing some research into what he knew about the infected.
When Mitch got back to Graham, he was solemn. “I have never seen anything like this before, Graham. With the information you have provided me, I fear that we could have a potential crisis on our hands.”
Graham nodded in agreement, a now serious look on his face. “I was just thinking the same thing. Do you think my family would get affected by the whole thing?”
“I feel like it is something that would certainly be a possibility. Hopefully nothing atrocious will befall you or your family, Graham,” Mitch said, trying to comfort his friend.
“Thank you for your time, Mitch. I understand that you are a very busy man and most likely have patients waiting for you right now. Thanks again, and I hope you take care,” Graham stated.
“Anything for you, Graham. I may be a busy man, but you are more than welcome to call me at any time. Tell Elise and your children that I said hello,” Mitch responded.
“Will do. Have a good day, Mitch,” Graham said.
“You too, Graham. Bye,” Mitch replied.
“Bye Mitch,” Graham said before he ended the call and put his phone away.
“Do not move,” a voice said.
Graham turned around and saw many men walk in. They were wearing hazardous material suits.
One of the men, whom Graham presumed was the leader of them, walked forward with a serious look on his face.
“Are you armed, sir?” he asked.
Graham shook his head.
The man then walked past Graham, the other men following him. They placed the patients on stretchers, shackling their limbs before carrying them out. The boy was placed in a body bag. His mother sobbed at seeing her son taken away from her. As for the rest of the villagers, they were seized for examinations. They had their blood drawn for testing, as well as their names taken.
Graham could not believe this. He felt that a major catastrophe was about to happen.
If there was something that was going to cause major chaos around the world, Graham wanted to ensure that he was there for the ones he cared about most.
Upon leaving Soumoto, Graham immediately arranged a meeting with the Mayor of Moscow, Zakhar Lebedev. He needed to let the leader of Russia’s capital know about the outbreak so they could act before it was too late.
The moment he arrived in Moscow, Graham did not waste any time. He immediately went over to Moscow City Hall.
The security guards there recognized him. “You must be Graham Spencer? The mayor mentioned you would be meeting with him about something urgent?”
“Yes sir,” Graham confirmed.
“Right this way,” one of the security guards led him to the mayor’s office.
Once they arrived, Zakhar Lebedev was there to greet Graham. “Ah, Graham Spencer. I assume you are here to inform me of what happened in Soumoto?”
“Yes, Mayor,” Graham stated with a nod as he entered Zakhar Lebedev’s office. The mayor closed the door behind them, and Graham sat down at Zakhar Lebedev’s desk.
“I have heard there was some kind of outbreak there in Soumoto. Do you happen to know the cause of the outbreak?” Zakhar Lebedev inquired.
“There was a nine-year-old boy who displayed some strange symptoms, such as grey skin, reddish-brown blood, and behavior that was like a rabid animal,” Graham said.
“Do you happen to know what happened to the boy? Why he could have started behaving this way so abruptly?” the mayor asked.
“The boy’s mother explained to me that it had happened when the boy and his father were retrieving water from a well located just outside of the village. As they were attempting to get the water out of the well, they both unfortunately fell in. The father was mortally injured and died within a few minutes. At first it looked like the boy had somehow gotten out of the whole thing unscathed. However, according to his mother, he had been crying not only from his father’s death, but from a bite mark on his neck. It is unknown what could have bitten the boy and caused him to act the way he did,” Graham explained.
Zakhar Lebedev nodded in understanding. “Oh dear. I am sending my condolences to that boy, his mother, and the rest of his family. This sounds like something that could affect the entire planet if nothing is done about it. I feel like we will need to take this seriously. However, I fear that there are those who might not take this as seriously as we do.”
“Which is what worries me the most,” Graham said with a sigh. “What are we going to do?”
Zakhar Lebedev sighed. “I am afraid we will have to find ways to convince everyone that this is something that cannot be taken lightly. Some may listen, while others may not.”
“We must do what we can though,” Graham stated firmly.
“That is exactly what we will do,” Zakhar Lebedev said in agreement.
The meeting ended with Zakhar Lebedev working on doing whatever he could to inform Moscow, as well as the rest of Russia, about the impending outbreak unless something was done. Graham was glad that the country where the first outbreak took place took it seriously.
As he was flying back home, Graham was thinking about all the fun times he had with his wife. He remembered how shy of a kid he was when they first met. They were both only five years old when they ended up sitting next to each other on the school bus on their first day of school. Graham was proud to say that the rest was history after that.
Graham also appreciated how Elise Walker was so nice to everyone, especially him. At first, he was too shy to talk to her, even though she was so sweet and understanding. After some encouragement from his parents, however, he had no problem talking to her about life, what they enjoyed doing for fun, and what they hoped to accomplish in life when they grew up.
Not long after they began their freshman year in high school, Graham worked up the courage to ask Elise on a date to the homecoming dance, and she gladly accepted. It was such a wonderful night for them. Over the course of the dance, they both felt a spark forming, and by the end of the night, they shared their first kiss.
At one point, Graham had dreamed of becoming a football player. He led his football team to back-to-back state championship appearances. While the team did fall short the first time, they avenged the loss the following season, with Graham winning the MVP award. After two seasons of football, however, Graham decided he was more of a bodybuilding type of man. Therefore, he devoted a lot of his time to bulking up and getting as strong as he could.
Elise was supportive of him every step of the way. She was a cheerleader for all four years in high school. While he did not play football anymore by the time they were seniors, they were named homecoming king and queen. It was then that Graham had decided to join the military.
Upon graduating from high school, Graham proposed to Elise, and she happily accepted. Since he was going to be serving in the military, they agreed to marry after he had returned.
Their wedding day was the happiest day of their lives, and a day Graham would never forget.
Despite the best efforts of Russia to contain the outbreak, the virus would continue to spread rapidly over time through resettlement, forced labor, and the red market.
The first major public outbreak took place in England, where the virus was named “Morbitiones” by Mitch when he was called to look at infected patients there.
When the outbreak first hit the United States, it started in a small town in Florida called Culcheth. Despite its small size, it was the wealthiest town in Florida.
It did not take very long for the news of the outbreak to get to Graham and his family, as they lived in Culcheth. Graham did everything he could to protect Elise and their children. Unfortunately, he ultimately lost his family to the apocalypse. It left Graham devastated that he was unable to keep his family safe from becoming zombies themselves. He was even further demoralized when he never heard from Mitch again. Fearing the worst, Graham assumed that his friend was also lost to the apocalypse.
As the apocalypse spread, Graham moved to an extremely isolated area somewhere in Southern California. He would spend the next thirty-three years in isolation, grieving over the loss of his family.