DEAD RAIN: A Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse (28 page)

BOOK: DEAD RAIN: A Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse

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Epilogue

By the time the storm ended the South Jersey plague had been contained. Thousands of troops from Fort Dix had joined the State Police and the National Guard to seal off half the state, barricading the roads, ferreting through the Pine Barrens, hunting and killing the dead.

Sedated on tranquilizers, Ryan and Emma watched news of the operation on the local news, huddled together on the couch of a Red Cross shelter. They shared a bond that couldn’t be broken, and with therapy would someday be whole again.

***

Across the bay on a quiet beach in Delaware, Jennifer Malley called to her golden retriever, trying to shut him up. It was early in the morning and she feared he might wake her beachfront neighbors with his nervous yapping. “Quiet, Sonny! Shush, boy!”

Finally she reached him at the edge of the water, and was shocked to find him whining over a body, sprawled on the sandy shore.
“Oh my god,” she gasped. But her horror subsided when the little girl lifted her head.

“Oh thank heavens,” she cooed, rushing to the girl’s side. “I thought you were dead!” She reached out to help the little girl, grateful that she wasn’t drowned. The orange lifejacket must have saved her life. “You’re safe now, sweetie,” she smiled. “You’re safe.”

Marissa felt the warm soft fingers, lifting her gently from the sand… and smelled the delicious odor of human flesh.

About the Author

Joe Augustyn is the creator of the original motion picture franchise NIGHT OF THE DEMONS. He wrote and produced the very first movie in the series and co-wrote the second one with James Penzi. For the record, he was the only principal creative participant from the original film who was not involved in the remake.

Joe’s first novel was THE NINE LIVES OF FELICIA MILLER, a tale of witchcraft and shapeshifting about a small town teenage girl who transforms into various types of domestic and wild cats to exact her revenge on a gang of evil boys.