Release Notes in conjunction with CBLS Promotions is thrilled to present:
Zombie Night in Canada: First Period”
By
Jamie Friesen
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Jamie is also
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Promotional price: $3.99
Coupon Code: CX94Y
Expires: July 1, 2012
BLURB
Tokyo.
Sydney. Beijing. Cairo. Paris. Rome. New York. Los Angeles. One by one, the
world’s great cities fell to the zombie plague. What chance does a small,
non-descript city in Canada like Edmonton have?
The
world as we know it is finished. Civilization has collapsed and humanity is on
the brink of extinction. Billions of people are dead, victims of a horrific
plague.
Bi-weekly
paychecks, Tim Horton’s double doubles, men’s league hockey and cheap winter
vacations to Cancun. That was the life Xander Barnes had known for years until
a pandemic swept the globe. Efforts to slow its spread or develop quarantine
zones, in many cases were too little, too late.
Nowadays,
life consisted of avoiding the plague victims, ghouls who had an insatiable
appetite for human flesh and finding enough food to survive day to day. How
long can one ordinary man survive in a world gone mad?
EXCERPT
“Gentlemen,
it’s going to be a race to get to the cars, so I suggest you hurry. Larry and
Greg, run to the Sheriff’s office and see if there is more ammo and maybe some
working flashlights. We’ll meet you at the ramp by the fountain in one minute,”
Darryl said. “If you’re not there in time, we’ll leave you behind. Got it?”
“Got
it!” they echoed.
Just
then the doors to the Bowker Building opened again and dozens of infected
streamed out. The two groups raced off. John and Darryl reloaded as they ran
and got to the stairs, hiding behind a planter filled with sub tropical plants,
with the older men a dozen steps behind them. Sunlight poured in from a
skylight and illuminated the area. Greg glanced out the windows and saw that
the Legislative Grounds were filled with dozens more infected. When the old men
had finally caught up to them, they raced down the stairs. John tossed a table
onto its side and shoved all three of them behind it.
“Stay,”
he ordered tersely.
Larry
and Greg followed Darryl’s orders and raced into the office. Greg ran into the
back room and fired his pistol twice into a locked cabinet. The lock shattered
and he ripped it open, pulling out a pair of pump action shotguns. He loaded
shells into each and stuffed more in his vest pockets. He stuffed several
pistol magazines in as well and scrambled back out to the front office, where
Larry was tearing a desk apart looking for batteries.
“I
can’t find any!” Larry hollered.
“Forget
the batteries, let’s get going!” Greg yelled, grabbing a jacket off a nearby
chair and threw it on.
Greg
tossed a shotgun to Larry and jammed the half empty box of shells into his
hands. Then he tore out the door without another word. Larry pulled one last
drawer open and yelled, “Jackpot!” He stuffed a couple packs of batteries into
his over-sized pockets and followed Greg out the door, tossing on a heavy
jacket as well. A second later, Larry heard a shotgun blast. As he ran out into
the hallway, he saw Greg standing there, firing his shotgun into a huge group of
infected, blood and flesh exploding from the lifeless victims.
“This
way,” Larry shouted and raced for the ramp that spiraled down to the lower
level. Greg followed, and they took turns, running and firing, covering each
other’s back whenever possible. They made it to the bottom of the ramp and saw
John and Darryl firing into a group of infected, coming down the stairs that
were located at the south edge of the ramp. The premier and cabinet ministers
huddled in abject fear only a few feet away.
The
infected from the Bowker Building were coming down the ramp and Larry turned
and fired at them. In the narrow confines of the ramp, every shot finished off
several infected, but their numbers suddenly seemed limitless. Dozens, if not
hundreds, poured down the ramp from the ground floor.
Darryl’s
pistol’s slide jacked back as the magazine emptied. “Did you find us any ammo?”
he screamed at Greg.
Greg
tossed over all four of the magazines he had found. Darryl shoved one in and
resumed firing. Suddenly the way was clear.
“Let’s
go!” Darryl hollered.
He
grabbed the premier and then both he and John raced down the tunnel towards the
parking lot. The two cabinet ministers followed in their steps, with the two
young sheriffs firing into the ever expanding pack of infected. A door to the
Legislative Annex on their left from opened, and more infected flooded into the
hallway as they ran past it.
“Sir,
run for the end of the hallway!” John yelled. Charchuk and two cabinet
ministers continued down the darkened tunnel.
John
and Darryl stopped and fired point blank into the infected.
“Last
magazine, make ‘em count!” Darryl said over the gunfire to John, as he passed
him a magazine. John nodded.
“Greg,
Larry, come on!” Darryl shouted, as the sheriffs were on the verge of being cut
off by the host of infected flowing from the Annex. They ran backwards and
stood shoulder to shoulder with Darryl and John. Natural light from three
periscopes flooded the hallway with an eerie light, adding to the emergency
lights mounted on high on the walls.
John
and Darryl fired again and again until both were out of ammunition. Darryl’s
gun clicked on an empty chamber. He glanced around, looking for something,
anything to hold off the infected. He ran to several nearby display cases,
marked ‘Alberta Legislature’, which had a display about the provincial
government. One cabinet was stuffed with replicas of both the Legislature’s
mace and several medieval-era battle maces, and he smashed the glass with butt
of his pistol. He jammed the pistol back into its holster and reached into the
case, pulling out a pair of wicked looking maces and leaving the gaudy,
gold-painted Legislative replica behind.
He
ran back to John and gave him one, then attacked the infected reaching for him
with an over-handed swing. The mace came down and crushed the infected
teenager’s skull, sending blood and brain matter in every direction. John
emulated him and they cut a bloody swath through the infected. The young
sheriffs, also out of ammunition, were now using the butt end of their shotguns
like clubs to fend off the infected.
They
fell back slowly, responding to any attempt by the infected to get around
them.
Bit by bit, they were moving closer and closer to the parkade.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jamie Friesen was born in
Lahr, West Germany while his father was serving with the Royal Canadian Air
Force. He attended the University of Alberta where he obtained a Bachelor of
Arts in History, and followed it later with a Masters of Arts in Communications
& Technology. After obtaining his Bachelor's degree, Jamie went abroad and
taught English in Japan and Taiwan.
He now lives in Edmonton,
Canada with his wife and daughter, working in the Public Relations field and
writes in his spare time, which usually translates to early mornings and lunch
time.
