Zombie Island: Book 1 of the Zombie Outbreak Series

Here's a preview of Chapter 1 . This gives a taste of what is to come. Enjoy! 

Understaffed

As hard as he tried, he couldn’t open his eyes. His lids were glued shut by days-old eye crust that had hardened by the dry air inside the containment unit. He dozed off again, still feeling the drowsy effects of the bug that put him out of commission for three straight days.

When he regained consciousness, he felt his hands pressing on the cold, soaked floor. The texture felt too slimy and gritty to be water. When he lifted his hands up to his nose, he immediately recognized the smell. It was his own vomit.

He stammered to his feet, still feeling groggy from either being sedated or from passing out on his own; he couldn’t remember. With his damp hands, he managed to break some of the crusty buildup loose around his eyes. Even then, his vision was still blurry.

Where am I?

The last thing he remembered was sitting on the toilet, twenty minutes late for his second shift. He had been having excruciating stomach pains for days, but he didn’t report it. They were already behind schedule. Any more delays would cost his team a performance penalty and jeopardize his upcoming promotion.

He had to suck it up, at least for another day.

Looking around, he saw a protruding metal nozzle over his head. The containment unit began to heat up. It felt just like the sauna he and Peter, his lab partner, shared after a long workout at the facility’s gym.

A sudden hissing noise startled him. It sounded like a powerful steam press. Then, soft white foam began spraying down from the nozzle on top, coating his entire body. It felt soothing enough, like being covered in silky shaving cream.

The shower stall.

That was where he was, so he thought. How he ended up in there, he couldn’t recall. He began lathering himself with the frothy foam, like he’d done every morning. But to his dismay, he was still in his work uniform. Was he so out of it that he had forgotten to undress before stepping into the stall?

A flash of memory bounced around in his head. He remembered having a cold beer with Peter in the lounge. He vowed it would be his last one for the week. They were laughing over how another coworker of theirs failed miserably in trying to pick up the brunette jogger at the running track.

He’s such a dork. No chance in hell he’ll win her over.

The foam began to turn sticky and hard. It felt more like clumps of white glue than slippery suds. Soon, his fingers and toes were stuck together and then stiffened.

He looked up and saw the nozzle had retracted. A menacing black rubber tube descended in its place. It moved like a venomous viper, ready to strike its victim below. Instead, a clear hot liquid jetted out of it, hitting him in the face.

He tried ducking out of the way, but he couldn’t move his body. The hardened foam had locked him into place inside the cylindrical glass tube.

Help me! Help-

Before he could utter his last word, his head had already melted, followed by his torso, then his lower body. Finally, cool clear water flushed the containment unit, washing away any residual remains down the center drain.

A large vacuum tube descended once the rubber hose retracted. It rotated back and forth and blew hot air into the unit until it was completely dried and sterilized.

Moments later, two technicians in hazmat suits arrived on a shuttle. They made their way down the line of containment units stationed in the restricted area. Each carried digital tablets used to check the statuses of the containment units.

“Unit six just cleared,” one of them said.

The lead technician checked the roster. “That’s the second one this week. He was in data analysis, second shift.”

“Poor sap. How long was he here for?”

He scrolled through his files. “Not that long, just under two months. He’s always behind schedule.”

“Good riddance.”

The lead technician noticed something odd. He turned his tablet over to show his profile statistics.

“Check out his recent weight. It looks like he’s put on some massive pounds recently. What the hell are they feeding them over there?”

They boarded their self-driving shuttle waiting for them at the end of the hallway. As they drove away, the lead technician marked the former worker’s profile as terminated.

“Looks like we have another job opening.”