Pandora: A Novel of the Zombie Apocalypse Read Online Free PDF Page B

his father during the start of the Pandora virus. His father, whom he couldn’t stand (because he was, according to Jack, the world’s biggest asshole), had a bad heart, probably from screaming at everyone. The virus hit him hard, too hard for his weakened heart to cope with. His younger brother, Tommy, had joined the army to get away from him and didn’t even come to the funeral, saying he was in the middle of a mission in Afghanistan. Jack went and stayed only two days before coming home, saying he would deal with the estate from home.
    “I’m sorry, Jack, but I should see if I can get a hold of my parents also. They’re on this Caribbean cruise they always go on this time of year, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to get in touch with them,” Mike said, realizing he was rambling.
    Jack smiled and waved his hand in a shooing gesture. “I’m fine,” he said. “Go do what you have to do.”
    Smiling back, Mike took his phone from his pocket and walked into the seldom-used dining room.
    Sean, having just dialed his parents’ number, heard the television go on again but at a much lower volume. He took a bottle of springwaterfrom the refrigerator then pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down. After four rings, his father, John, answered.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi, Dad,” Sean said. “Is everything okay there?”
    “Ah, hello, son,” his father said, voice immediately lightening. “Everything’s fine here. You?”
    Relieved, Sean blew out a gust of air.
    “Wait a minute, son.” John Sullivan’s voice suddenly sounded distant as he called out, “Cessy!” That was his nickname for Cecelia, his wife. “Cessy, can you turn the TV down? I can hardly hear Sean.” A few moments later, he said, “Okay, Sean. Now I can hear what’s being said. Have you been following the news about Pandora? They say it’s a mutation of the original one.”
    “Yeah, I know, Dad,” Sean said. “We’ve been following it on TV all day.”
    “This sure is something. This went from bad to worse. Now all the poor people who caught the first Pandora are coming down with this second version. They’re getting sick and turning into raving lunatics.”
    “I think they’re calling them zombies now,” Sean corrected.
    “Bunk,” exclaimed his father with all the assurance of an elder. “Whoever’s been spouting that nonsense has seen one too many of those monster movies. Dead is dead. This Pandora mutation obviously has affected their brains. They pass out or something, then get up and go crazy, attacking people. Hey, wait. Didn’t Brian come down with the virus a few weeks ago?”
    Sean grew pale and sweaty. In a soft voice, he said, “Yes, Dad, he did. He…he got sick again this morning, so we took him to Saint Mary’s ER. Dad…Brian is dead. He died in the ER.”
    The phone was silent. When John finally spoke, he gasped. “Oh, my God! He’s dead? I can’t believe it. Not Brian. He was so fit.”
    Sean sadly smiled; he knew Brian wasn’t really fit but just big. “I know. He got so sick so fast that it was hard to even grasp what was happening. We all just felt if a doctor saw him, he’d admit him, and then he’d befine,” he told his father softly. “It was a nightmare.” Sean stopped there, not wanting to tell his dad the rest and upset him even more.
    “Cessy is going to be so crushed to hear this,” John said sadly.
    “Listen, Dad,” Sean said, concerned, “you have to be very careful now. Things are falling apart fast already. I’m hoping for the police or the National Guard to get it together and do something to control this. If they quarantine the other infected people quickly, maybe this can be contained.”
    “Don’t worry, son,” John Sullivan said confidently. “Your mother and I aren’t going to do anything stupid. I’m sure the cavalry is coming to the rescue. They’ll be knocking on our door to take us to safety in no time. Say, listen, I have to get off the phone now. It’s time for me to