Alaskan Undead Apocalypse (Book 3): Mitigation Book 3)

A PERMUTED PRESS book

Published at Smashwords

ISBN (trade paperback): 978-1-61868-0-679

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-61868-0-686

Mitigation: Alaskan Undead Apocalypse
copyright © 2013

by Sean Schubert

All Rights Reserved.

Cover art by Dean Samed, Conzpiracy Digital

This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Prologue

PART II

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-One

Twenty-Two

Twenty-Three

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Six

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Nine

Thirty

Thirty-One

Thirty-Two

Thirty-Three

Thirty-Four

PART III

Thirty-Five

Thirty-Six

Thirty-Seven

Thirty-Eight

Thirty-Nine

Forty

Forty-One

Forty-Two

Forty-Three

Forty-Four

Forty-Five

Forty-Six

Forty-Seven

Forty-Eight

Forty-Nine

Fifty

Fifty-One

Fifty-Two

Fifty-Three

Fifty-Four

Fifty-Five

Fifty-Six

Fifty-Seven

Fifty-Eight

Fifty-Nine

Sixty

Sixty-One

Sixty-Two

Sixty-Three

Sixty-Four

Sixty-Five

Epilogue

The cold, unrelenting and worsening, forced them from their lonely trek into the cave. Without fire, the cave was equal parts dark and cold, though it provided some shelter from the remorseless winds. Anything was better than being out in the weather, even their prehistoric brains knew that. Though largely still, the air in the cave remained bitterly cold. The walls and dirt floor boasted glistening patches of ice like jeweled adornments. The trio hunkered down under a large animal skin to warm themselves. Absently they lifted pinches of frozen earth from beneath them and stuffed it clumsily into their mouths. The ice, the water anyway, they needed, and the dirt went into their empty bellies attempting in vain to fill the greedy and protesting void.

It had been days since they had eaten, so he parted company with his two huddled companions in search of anything he could find. If he could happen upon a sleeping animal, perhaps he could plunge his crude spear into the beast. With one aggressive stroke he could have a warm coat and food. They would be saved and then he would mate with the female. He had tried before but she was with the other male, which only led to challenges and fighting and painful bruises. If he were to bring back food, she would certainly present herself to him. Her strong scent was maddening to him, and watching the other male take her time and time again didn’t help matters.

The darkness was an enveloping mouth closing in behind him and snuffing out the dim light. His large, hairy hands groped in front of him like a curious cat’s whiskers, seeking changes in the air and the encroaching walls to either side of him. Until his eyes could adjust, his hands would lead him. The path grew more and more narrow, like he was walking down the narrowing throat of a predator. Thankfully, both the walls and ceiling had been eroded to largely smooth surfaces after centuries of water and air movement through the tunnel. He soon found himself standing at the threshold of a larger cavern.

Suddenly the air became warm and moist. The echo of his labored breathing changed as well, wandering into the higher corners and ceiling only to bounce back to him. He took two steps into the cavern and stopped suddenly, instinctively lowering his already stooped posture into a much tighter and defensive stance. A pungent odor, a tantalizing and threatening blend of life and death...growth and rot, tickled his nose and set his senses on alert. It was a den. Instead of opportunity, he felt alarm. He should not be there.

Blind and terrified, he started to back out of the cavern, painfully aware of every echoing sound he made. Leaping silently from the darkness, the faceless beast latched onto his shoulder just below his neck. His tough, weather-beaten skin with its thick coat of dark hair was torn by the beast’s ruthless gnashing teeth.