North of the Dead Preview
Chapter 1
It was six o’clock in the morning on a dark and notoriously cold November day in Toronto. The kind of cold and dark day that made you not want to get up for work, so you could stay curled up in your warm bed. It was the kind of chilly, dark, early morning Mick had come to dread driving to work. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision as he drove, yawning every few minutes and passing numerous deadend streets. There was always very little human activity on Mick’s drive to work.
Mick worked as the head cook at a breakfast restaurant, flipping eggs, frying bacon, and raising peoples’ cholesterol for that heart attack. Time had caught up with the owner, so he entrusted Mick to open up upon his behalf. Even though Mick hated his job, it paid the bills and gave him a decent standard of living. Most of all, it kept him free from debt. Mick felt a weird vibe as he was pulling into the driveway. He could not explain it, but something was wrong. He had felt something from the moment he left his home and took that first breath of cold November air.
As he turned the key to unlock the door, Mick looked around the parking lot. As expected, Serena had arrived before him. Her car was parked in the usual spot in the lot. Then they would start working, getting everything ready for the 9:15 a.m. breakfast rush, before the rest of the staff started. However, this morning the lot was clear of all other vehicles. The cars of the two families that lived upstairs were gone. The owner, who lived close but still preferred to park his car there overnight, was gone too. Mick felt something was off, because those vehicles were there every morning when he started work. It was the never-changing pattern.
Serena, Mick’s favourite full-time waitress, usually waited for Mick to unlock the door inside her car. But she was not there. She was always early. Never called in sick. She was a single mom in her late thirties, who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock to a drunk who had left her and his daughter after she turned two years old.
Mick turned the key, finally opening the back door that led directly to the kitchen area. Everything was normal.
The only light and noise was coming from the fridge. Mick closed the door behind him then reached for the light switch to illuminate the kitchen, located behind the oven. That’s more like it, Mick thought.
Within seconds, he heard banging coming from the back door. “I’m coming,” Mick yelled as he opened the door just a few inches. Serena muscled through, violently swinging it open. There was a loud bang from the metal doorknob coming into contact with the wall. Both fell to the ground. Mick became very angry, yelling, “What is your problem? Why did you plow through the door like an angry bull?”
But Serena did not reply. She just leaped on top of Mick and tried to bite him. Mick got his left hand under her jaw and his right hand on her left shoulder. But he struggled to keep Serena from biting off a piece of his face.
Mick made eye contact with Serena and tried to talk to her. In a loud voice, he said, “STOP! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME.”
Serena did not respond. She was not acknowledging Mick’s voice at all. She was acting more like a rabid dog. Her skin was a weird shade of grey, and some of the veins in her face were popping out. She had bloodshot eyes and messy hair. Serena gripped his shoulders with incredible force.
Mick managed finally to pull Serena off him and got up and grabbed the closest weapon he could find to defend himself, a meat tenderizer from the prep area. Serena immediately charged at him. He attacked with no warning and no mercy, with all his force swinging the meat tenderizer through the left side of her skull. Serena dropped hard to the floor. He slowly approached the corpse on the ground and realized that something else was off.
He examined the pool of blood near her wound; there was a purple-red tint to it. He slowly examined the blood by touching it; surprisingly, it was freezing cold.
“How can this be? This is not possible,” Mick said. He freaked out and ran to the phone to call 911. He picked up the receiver, but the phone line was dead. He ran out to the front bar area to turn on the television, but that wasn’t working either. “What the hell is going on?”
Mick became very paranoid. He grabbed the meat tenderizer and his keys and ran out the door. As he approached his car, he noticed two men limping toward him.
“Back away or I will kill you,” Mick yelled, raising the meat tenderizer above his head. But there was no response, just growling. Mick looked closely at their faces as they continued to move closer. Both men had pale faces, grey skin, and chunks of their faces and necks were missing. It seemed that pieces of them had been bitten off.
Mick moved toward the zombies. He realized that what had happened to Serena had also happened to these men. And that the end of the world looked to have just begun. Mick raised his arm with the meat tenderizer and bashed the first zombie’s head in. Then he pushed it to the ground. He moved toward the second zombie with full force and drove the meat tenderizer through its skull. Pieces of bone and brain matter splattered out. Mick ran to his car. When he got to the door, he pulled back his hand. He realized he needed to go back to the restaurant and grab whatever he could carry—weapons, food, tools, medical supplies. Mick ran back to his car and drove away. He knew he needed to get somewhere safe—and fast.
It was six o’clock in the morning on a dark and notoriously cold November day in Toronto. The kind of cold and dark day that made you not want to get up for work, so you could stay curled up in your warm bed. It was the kind of chilly, dark, early morning Mick had come to dread driving to work. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision as he drove, yawning every few minutes and passing numerous deadend streets. There was always very little human activity on Mick’s drive to work.
Mick worked as the head cook at a breakfast restaurant, flipping eggs, frying bacon, and raising peoples’ cholesterol for that heart attack. Time had caught up with the owner, so he entrusted Mick to open up upon his behalf. Even though Mick hated his job, it paid the bills and gave him a decent standard of living. Most of all, it kept him free from debt. Mick felt a weird vibe as he was pulling into the driveway. He could not explain it, but something was wrong. He had felt something from the moment he left his home and took that first breath of cold November air.
As he turned the key to unlock the door, Mick looked around the parking lot. As expected, Serena had arrived before him. Her car was parked in the usual spot in the lot. Then they would start working, getting everything ready for the 9:15 a.m. breakfast rush, before the rest of the staff started. However, this morning the lot was clear of all other vehicles. The cars of the two families that lived upstairs were gone. The owner, who lived close but still preferred to park his car there overnight, was gone too. Mick felt something was off, because those vehicles were there every morning when he started work. It was the never-changing pattern.
Serena, Mick’s favourite full-time waitress, usually waited for Mick to unlock the door inside her car. But she was not there. She was always early. Never called in sick. She was a single mom in her late thirties, who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock to a drunk who had left her and his daughter after she turned two years old.
Mick turned the key, finally opening the back door that led directly to the kitchen area. Everything was normal.
The only light and noise was coming from the fridge. Mick closed the door behind him then reached for the light switch to illuminate the kitchen, located behind the oven. That’s more like it, Mick thought.
Within seconds, he heard banging coming from the back door. “I’m coming,” Mick yelled as he opened the door just a few inches. Serena muscled through, violently swinging it open. There was a loud bang from the metal doorknob coming into contact with the wall. Both fell to the ground. Mick became very angry, yelling, “What is your problem? Why did you plow through the door like an angry bull?”
But Serena did not reply. She just leaped on top of Mick and tried to bite him. Mick got his left hand under her jaw and his right hand on her left shoulder. But he struggled to keep Serena from biting off a piece of his face.
Mick made eye contact with Serena and tried to talk to her. In a loud voice, he said, “STOP! GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME.”
Serena did not respond. She was not acknowledging Mick’s voice at all. She was acting more like a rabid dog. Her skin was a weird shade of grey, and some of the veins in her face were popping out. She had bloodshot eyes and messy hair. Serena gripped his shoulders with incredible force.
Mick managed finally to pull Serena off him and got up and grabbed the closest weapon he could find to defend himself, a meat tenderizer from the prep area. Serena immediately charged at him. He attacked with no warning and no mercy, with all his force swinging the meat tenderizer through the left side of her skull. Serena dropped hard to the floor. He slowly approached the corpse on the ground and realized that something else was off.
He examined the pool of blood near her wound; there was a purple-red tint to it. He slowly examined the blood by touching it; surprisingly, it was freezing cold.
“How can this be? This is not possible,” Mick said. He freaked out and ran to the phone to call 911. He picked up the receiver, but the phone line was dead. He ran out to the front bar area to turn on the television, but that wasn’t working either. “What the hell is going on?”
Mick became very paranoid. He grabbed the meat tenderizer and his keys and ran out the door. As he approached his car, he noticed two men limping toward him.
“Back away or I will kill you,” Mick yelled, raising the meat tenderizer above his head. But there was no response, just growling. Mick looked closely at their faces as they continued to move closer. Both men had pale faces, grey skin, and chunks of their faces and necks were missing. It seemed that pieces of them had been bitten off.
Mick moved toward the zombies. He realized that what had happened to Serena had also happened to these men. And that the end of the world looked to have just begun. Mick raised his arm with the meat tenderizer and bashed the first zombie’s head in. Then he pushed it to the ground. He moved toward the second zombie with full force and drove the meat tenderizer through its skull. Pieces of bone and brain matter splattered out. Mick ran to his car. When he got to the door, he pulled back his hand. He realized he needed to go back to the restaurant and grab whatever he could carry—weapons, food, tools, medical supplies. Mick ran back to his car and drove away. He knew he needed to get somewhere safe—and fast.
