Zombie Castle (Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

with the problem of what to do with a virus which had become a potential weapon.
    In the final stages of its evolution the virus had become the perfect killer. Within minutes of contact the new host also became contagious, and within a few hours, the subject developed severe cold or flu-like symptoms. Two to six hours after the appearance of these symptoms (depending on their physiological makeup), the host transformed into a zombie.
    If you were unfortunate enough to be bitten by a zombie and survived that initial attack, the virus’s progression was much more rapid. It took between five and ten minutes for the change to take place and so the cycle would begin again.
    Unaware of any of this at the time, Tom had his last night of untroubled sleep.
    The following morning we had woken to another fine hot day so we planned to spend another day on the beach surfing. After breakfast Becky packed a cool box with drinks and snacks and I packed the car with body boards, chairs and towels.
    The man in the caravan next to us opened his window and shouted to get my attention, ‘Mate, you gotta see what’s happening on the news, it’s unbelievable!’
    The look on his face made me think better of the funny remark I’d been about to respond with. I walked over to his open window and looked at the television and he turned up the volume.
    A visibly shaken news anchor was talking rapidly and urgently: ‘I repeat, unconfirmed reports are coming in of mobs attacking innocent bystanders at numerous locations around the country. We’re trying to contact the police and the Government for a statement but so far we’ve had no response. Reports of cannibalism are coming in, again unconfirmed. But please stay with us as we try to confirm what’s happening…….’ She paused, held her hand to her ear and appeared to be listening to someone through her earpiece. ‘We can now go live to one of our teams at Central London Hospital.’
    The screen went blank for a moment then showed a male reporter standing in the car park of a hospital.
    ‘Hello studio, this is Mark Smith and I’m reporting to you live from outside Central London Hospital. I’m not sure what’s happening but reports have reached me of people being attacked at random. I’ve seen no actual evidence of this yet, as my cameraman and I were returning from filming in the countryside near Oxford when the call came in for us to head here. The one thing I did notice on the way here is how empty the streets are. The London rush hour just hasn’t happened. I can’t explain it. Also my car radio doesn’t appear to be picking up any stations.’
    ‘Oh come on, this is rubbish. It’s not telling us anything!’ I complained.
    The camera panned out and picked up a few people in the background stumbling towards the reporter.
    The reporter spoke off screen, ‘I can see some people approaching, I’ll go and talk to them and see if they can tell us what’s happening.’ The camera shook as the cameraman followed the reporter over to a crowd of about ten people. The shot steadied as he stopped and got ready to film the interview. He zoomed in on the nearest person approaching the reporter. It was a man and he was walking awkwardly, as if drunk, but it was the sight of his face that made my blood run cold.
    We’ve all seen zombies depicted in TV shows and films. I was always a huge fan of them, especially the hit US show ‘The Walking Dead’. So in my mind I had a picture of what a zombie should look like. The reality was far more frightening. His face was grey, pallid and disturbingly blank, dark blood dripped stickily from his mouth and his shirt was torn in several places, revealing horrible looking injuries. Almost absently, I thought to myself, ‘Oh! That’s a Zombie!’
    A millisecond later it sank in properly, ‘Shit! That’s a Zombie!’
    We watched in horrified fascination as, heedlessly, the reporter walked towards the man, his microphone outstretched in front of