The Undead World

Greed, terrorism, and simple bad luck conspire to bring mankind to its knees as a viral infection spreads out of control, reducing those infected to undead horrors that feed upon the rest. It's a time of misery and death for most, however there are some who are lucky, some who are ruthless, and some who are just too damned tough to go down without a fight. This is their story.

Greed, terrorism, and simple bad luck conspire to bring mankind to its knees as a viral infection spreads out of control, reducing those infected to undead horrors that feed upon the rest. It's a time of misery and death for most, however there are some who are lucky, some who are fast, and some who are just too damned tough to go down without a fight. This is their story.

In The Apocalypse, the great majority of the men and women who fought with honor - with a sense of duty and loyalty - gave their lives for others, leaving those without honor to flourish and rule. Their rule is not marked by decency or civility, but by wicked brutality. Yet, in some very rare cases, the kind and the noble survived. These hardened survivors learned to live among the undead, but now they must learn how to stay alive among creatures that are far more monstrous: their fellow man.

There are no happily ever afters in the new Undead World. There are no vacations or time-outs or do-overs. There's only the endless daily grind of living or the shockingly horrific fact of death that hangs over every living creature left on the face of the earth. For some, that death lies in a single mistake or a moment of bad luck, or simply in fate. For others, that hard death hounds them day and night, relentlessly.

Beaten and battered in mind and body, the fugitives limp west, unaware that the human world is fading all around them, unaware that the last remnants of the goodness of man is being ground under the heel of evil at every turn. When confronted with that evil, fight or flight are their only choices, however, Neil's small group is hamstrung, forced to take on more refugees who come to them empty-handed, unarmed, and hungry.

Nothing is simple anymore in the new undead world. Crossing a road, making tea, meeting new people, all can turn deadly in a twitch of an eye. For the Renegades, who are unarmed and hounded over half the state by ruthless bounty hunters, there's only one thing that they can say is simple: dying. Surrounded by enemies and without help from the imprisoned Captain Grey, they flee from one trap into another with little but the wits of Jillybean and Neil's steadfast leadership to keep them alive. But is it enough?

The journey across the zombie-filled country does not get easier for the renegades. The Great Plains, the heartland of America, is now home to vast herds of the undead. These savage hordes sometimes stretch as far as the eye can see. Among them live the Azael - men who have regressed back to the bloody and chaotic roots of our collective ancestors where only the strong or the blood-thirsty survive.

The people of the Estes Valley have found their peace destroyed as they are attacked by the single greatest army left in the world. Not only do they have to contend with an army of men equipped with the latest hi-tech military gear, they also have to battle a horde of undead half a million strong. But, perhaps worse than all of this, they have to deal with a seven year old girl - Jillybean. Cruelly coerced into helping her enemies, Jillybean bends her mind to the destruction of the valley, the death of kings, and the loss of her own soul.

The war with the Azael has left the people of Estes Valley weakened and isolated in their mountain retreat. Supplies of fuel and ammo are dangerously low and yet Neil bets most of what he has left on a gamble to find Jillybean, who was last seen in the forests of Missouri. Neil is the only one who sees in the little girl a chance at a new beginning. He hopes to harness her genius for the benefit of the valley, but when the gamble fails he must send the only two people he can trust out into a dangerous world to gather more supplies.

For Jillybean, moments of utter happiness and pure sanity are as fleeting and wonderful as sun-showers at a July picnic. Her time with Granny Annie is one such moment, but as always it ends far too quickly and she is once more thrust back into a world of crushing loneliness and endless despair.

With people fleeing the valley in droves and Estes no longer the safe haven it had once been, Neil Martin must make some hard choices. His group has dwindled to 70 homeless refugees who have very little left to survive on. They desperately need to find a place to call home before their many enemies realize how defenseless they truly are. Instead of risking everything on a blind thrust across the Rockies to the Pacific, Neil sends out three picked teams to not only find a safe passage through the mountains but to also find a community that will take them in.

Tales of horror from one of the masters of the genre. Peter Meredith delivers stories that will keep you devouring them one after another. From the Pen - a gift that just keeps on killing, to "The Eyes in the Storm" - a beast that feeds on those who dare to go out when nature is at its cruelest, to "The Haunting at Red Feathers" - a true haunting that has the young couple trapped in the woods with a demonic presence, begging: "Don't let the night catch me here!"