ZOMBIE: Lockdown

ZOMBIE LOCKDOWN

Edited by TW Brown

Smashwords Edition

Zombie Lockdown

©2013 May December Publications LLC

The split-tree logo is a registered trademark of May December Publications LLC.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living, dead, or otherwise, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author or May December Publications LLC.

Dedication

This is all for you Michael DeNoma.

I will never understand,

nor will I ever forget.

Contents

DEAR JULIE

by Lisa Ann Smith

LUCKY FOR SOME

by Andrew Freudenberg

RESCUE

by Selene Macleod

DRYING OUT

by Heather Henry

LIFE AND UNDEATH ON THE CHAINGANG

by Chantal Boudreau

NO GOD WAITING

by T Fox Dunham

ISOLATION

by Rebecca Brown

MISTER BROWNSTONE

by Jeff Baker

THE THREE DEAD STOOGES

by Michael Shimek

ZED

by Suzi M

DEATH ROW

by Joseph Rubas

1

dear julie

by lisa ann smith

Dear Julie, 11/2/2013

Hey there, sis, how are things going? I haven’t been able to talk to you yet. I am in jail in Reno. I was busted for selling some pot. I know…I know, you always tell me to be careful and to watch myself. We went to Reno for my friend Sara’s birthday and I decided to take some pot along with me to sell. But stupid me, I tried to sell it to an undercover cop. He looked like he was on the up and up, but obviously he was not. My bad. He didn’t look like a cop. He had dreads and smelled like he hadn’t worn deodorant for like a year. I guess that is why they say you can’t judge a book by its cover. Stupid undercovers.

Well, anyways, how are the kids? I really have been missing them. It seems like it has been years since I have seen their smiling faces. I hope everything is well with you guys. I will try and write every week so that I can keep you up to date on what’s going on with me.

You should send me some pictures of the kids. It will definitely brighten up my day. Plus it might be nice to have some kind of outside contact.

Last night I got a new roommate, her name is Lucy. She is what you call a whore; not just a slut, but a real whore. She says her pimp won’t bail her out, so she is stuck here until she goes to court. That is how I know she is a real whore. She is really annoying. I swear if she says like like one more time, I am going to pull my ears off.

My cell is nice. I can see the sun set right out my window, so at least there is something to look forward to every day. I can also see birds outside my window, too. They like to sit on the windowsill. I feel bad for the people below me, though, they have got to have a window covered with bird shit.

Most of the people here are really nice. Everyone just kind of does their own thing. I did get asked if I was gay, bi, or interested. I told them that I was straight and I only liked men. We will see if they leave me alone.

It’s funny when you are in here, all the girls start to act gay with each other. I can’t tell if they were originally gay or if they are just acting. Maybe getting stir crazy with the lack of a guy to be with.

The food here is really nasty, it tastes like school lunch. No, worse than school lunch! More like hospital food. Like rotten hospital food. Every meat is a processed meat, so it is slabs of bologna with some veggies on the side. We had spaghetti a couple nights ago, and the sauce was hot pink. Just NOT normal. They are required to give you all the food groups and they do. I will probably gain twenty pounds being here.

Well, gotta go. Write more later. Remember to send me some pictures. I’d love to see you guys. I sure miss being free.

Love,

Christina

…

Dear Julie, 11/4/2013

I had court today. They gave me a lawyer and I talked to him about the charges. We are going to try and get the charges down to possession. That way all I have is a fine and probation. If it all goes through, then I should be out in a month. I sure hope he knows what he is doing and I get to go home. Though, I don’t think you are allowed to drink on probation. Ugh, but I’ll do whatever I have to, to get out of this hell hole.

I mean, really, I am bitching about not drinking when I should feel lucky that I won’t be stuck in jail for a while or going to prison.

There is this one sweet lady in here. She is in for murder. I just couldn’t imagine her ever hurting a fly. She claims it was self defense, or so I hear. No one is supposed to talk about their case in here. Some people think they have informants in here listening, trying to find dirt on ya to charge you with worse charges. Pretty gay. But some of us trust each other and talk about stuff in here. I guess they actually read all my letters too… WEIRD, huh?

Lucy my roommate won’t quit crying. I guess when you are a prostitute you are considered fair game for the gay people to take advantage of. I have a feeling that the black eye is proof that she was forced to do something that she didn’t want to. I really don’t get how a girl can force another girl to do anything. But I am not going to ask because I am sure I really don’t want to know. Lucy called her pimp today to try and get her out, but he won’t take her calls. Tomorrow she has court, so hopefully she can get out of here. I feel bad, but she chose her life. I know. I know. I made choices myself that got me in here. I shouldn’t point fingers.

Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you what happened at court today, it was really weird. I was sitting there waiting for the judge to come out. Then, all of a sudden a lady ran into the court room yelling that she had been attacked outside on the street. It looked like she was hurt somewhere because she was covered in blood, but I couldn’t see any wounds. One of the cops took her out of the court room and took care of her. I never saw the cop again, so I am guessing he took her to the hospital. I am not sure what that was all about. Hey, maybe you can look it up online and send me the article or something. Something just didn’t feel right about the way the lady was freaking out.

Well, I hope all is well with you. I better go. I will write you again tomorrow. If you get a chance, please write me. It gets a little lonely in here. You don’t have to write much; just a simple ‘hello’ would be nice. Oh, and a couple pictures would be awesome. Thx, sister. I hope I am not bugging you.

Love,

Christina

…

Dear Julie, 11/5/2013

Lucy’s court has been rescheduled for one reason or another. She is crying once again. I can’t imagine her being a good whore if all she does all the time is cry. She tried to call her pimp again. (Well, Jim, sorry, she told me to quit calling him her pimp. She says he loves her and saved her from her abusive dad. She says he is the only person that has shown her love before.) So I guess she called Jim again and he still does not answer. Gotta go for a sec, I will write you more later. They are giving us TV time today. I am not sure why, but I am not going to complain.

Holy shit!!!

I can’t believe what I saw on the news. Most of the guards don’t talk to us because we are like scum to them. I am sure if I was their sister or mother they would treat me differently despite my selling pot. But, oh well, back to the news. It looks like they quarantined most of the major cities in the US. Not Reno yet, but they say that the infection is increasing so they might quarantine Reno. What kind of infection is going on? They only said that it was an infection. Is it some kind of cold or flu? Like the swine flu that was going around? I tried asking the guards, but they just look at me like a dirty rat and won’t tell me a thing.

Oh yeah, thanks for writing me back. I was kind of wondering if you were getting any of my letters. I have tried calling you, but your cell service won’t let me call through to you. I am glad the kids are doing well in school. I can’t believe mom is back with that shitty ass boyfriend. I wonder how many times he has to beat her for her to realize that he is never going to change. Thanks so much for the pictures. The kids look so grown up. I miss them.

Anyways, everyone is talking about whats going on. I wonder how bad it is…I wonder what it is. You remember James, right? He is my best friend from San Fran. He is the gay guy who always told you how gorgeous you look. Remember I made a joke about him looking like he was plastic because of all the makeup he was wearing. Haha, I guess he has driven in from SF and he said he would visit me later today, so I will see if he knows anything that is going on. I hope all is well with you. Oh yeah, thanks for the money you put on my books. I really needed some shampoo other than this bar of soap they gave me. I swear the soap was made with bleach. It whitens your whites pretty well, and does a hell of a job drying your hands out. I am also going to buy some colored pencils and paper. I am thinking of picking up drawing again. Well, I will write you again tomorrow. Tell everyone I love them.

Love,

Christina

…

Dear Julie, 11/6/2013

Well I talked to James. He said that all of the freeways are closed around here. The only way he could get into Reno was to take the back roads. I guess the infection is some type of rabies, you know, like what dogs get. James told me that people are running around attacking other people and biting them. He said it was pretty bad out there and he wasn’t sure if he could come back to see me anytime soon.

You know, he is the only friend that has stuck with me through all of this. No one will talk to me or write me. Well…other than you. I hope he makes it back okay. He does fight like a girl, but then again, he is gay…so what do you expect.

Lucy is now with Jim. He showed up today and they were granted a personal visit. I guess a personal visit is where you can actually touch them and talk to them without having bullet proof glass between them like I had with James. Her court date was rescheduled again for sometime in the future, so we don’t know when she will get out. They keep on rescheduling her court date for some unknown reason. She says that she doesn’t know why. My guess is they are trying to build a better case against her, but I am not sure. I would not be surprised if she was up to more dirty business than what she is in here for.

I go court again tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t get rescheduled like Lucy’s. She thinks it will, but we will see. I know my case is cut and dry because I admitted to trying to sell pot to a cop. I don’t think I could fight it anyways. They are certainly going to believe a cop over me. Everyone tells me that the judge will side with a cop over you any day. All I have is a public defender defending me, and they are just crappy attorneys that couldn’t get a real attorney job. So I don’t see them pulling any special strings. Oh well.

I hope James got back to the hotel okay. He said it was really crazy out there. Do me a favor and call him when you get this. I would like to make sure he is fine. His number is in my old daily planner I left in the closet.

Well I guess I better go. Talk to you later. I hope everything is all good with you. I hope you’re somewhere safe. Please, please write me back when you get this. I worry so much about you guys.

Love,

Christina

…

Dear Julie, 11/7/2013

This sucks. We are not allowed visits anymore because of the infection. Lucy came back from her visit with Jim and she said that the couple next to them was fighting and they took the girl out. She was pretty beat up so they have her in the infirmary.

They are letting us watch the news more. My guess is because everyone is asking so many questions and stuff. But the news says it is not getting any better, this infection is everywhere. It even is where you live! I sure hope everything is okay and you and the kids are safe. I haven’t gotten a letter back from you but the one.

I tried calling a few people, but no one answers their phones anymore. The weird thing is a lot of the phones are turned off. I can tell because it never rings and goes straight to voice mail. I really wish I knew what is going on and that everyone is okay.

Like I said, everybody in the jail is uptight and worried about their loved ones. The tension is building between everyone. People get into little fights here and there. Some people yell out their cells constantly for the police. They want answers, WE want answers. There is no way out of here, and some people believe we are safer in here with all the guns and big walls. Most of the guards are missing, only a couple have stuck it out here. We think that the only guards that are here are the ones with no one else out there. Like family and stuff. The rumor is that they were told that if they stick around, they get paid double time, if they don’t, then they wont hold it against them. So there are only a few guards watching us now. But they have beefed up their guns as to say, don’t try anything or we will shoot and I don’t doubt they will. Their orders are shoot first, ask questions later.

I really wish I knew why they are so jumpy. But all the support staff is gone as well, like the people who sit there and watch the doors and stuff. I see that the towers still have guards in them; that is good. I guess in all this madness they still don’t want us to escape. I will write you again tomorrow. I really hope everything is still okay in your neck of the woods. I am really desperate to hear from you. Please write me even if it is one word. I NEED to know if you are okay.

Love,

Christina

…

Dear Julie, 11/8/2013

Well it looks like we are not even safe in here. The girl that got in the fight with her boyfriend was in the infirmary and a few other people were in there, too. (Including Lucy, she was in there because she got beat up real bad last night.) She isn’t talking too well, I guess she