Dead Men (and Women) Walking Read online

  "Shut up!" Billy howled. This time his voice was terrifying. It thundered in the room and I thought the noise would break all the TVs and blow out the window. Lou fell silent. Greg stopped weeping. "Was it about Vep?"

  Lou nodded. He'd lost his voice. He kept his eyes on the floor. He couldn't stand looking at the zombie. I too couldn't look at the horror. I kept my eyes on Lou's neck.

  "Vep Industries," Billy said. "Our biggest rivals. I started to suspect he was selling secrets to them about an hour before I came on duty that night. He acted very fast to eliminate me, too quick for me to think of it as the motive. I'd have visited him before I came here. Sorry for the trouble, Greg and Jack." He paused. I looked up. His eyes were on Greg and Jack. "Okay, Lou," he continued. "Let's pay Pemprey a visit."

  Lou didn't think of resisting. He walked out ahead of Billy, after Billy had punched a button and opened all doors. They went down to the parking lot. I watched them on the TVs, not believing what had happened. They got into a Security Van in the parking lot. I think Lou drove. As the white van had sped out of the gates, I heard police sirens in the distance. That's when I collapsed in shock. For several days, I could see and hear, but I couldn't eat, move, or talk.

  Since then, nobody has ever seen or heard of Lou and Mr. Pemprey. The latter's neighbor, wakened by a scream, said he looked out of the window at about 3:00 am and saw the white van parked at Mr. Pemprey's drive. At 5:00 am, cops found the van abandoned near Wittle's Cemetery, where they'd buried Billy.

  About the contributors:

  Penelope Allen is a gainfully employed, internationally published Canadian poet who enjoys travel, photography, museums and exercising her vocabulary daily. While she discovered her penchant for poetry late in life it didn't curtail her enthusiasm one iota. Penelope is positive that without the wonderful writers, who frequent the web, she'd still be wallowing in rhyming couplets. Currently, she's a moderator on two Internet sites and, by invitation, a poetry editor for a newly established publication.

  David Bartlett is a print journalism major attending Emerson College in Boston, MA. He has long harbored an interest in horrific and supernatural fiction, and his favorite literary works include: "It" by Stephen King, "The Haunting Of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, "The Descent" by Jeff Long and "The Girl Next Door" by Jack Ketchum.

  Guy Belleranti creates fiction, poetry and puzzles from the hell heat of southern Arizona. His work has appeared in many publications including The Eternal Night, AlienSkin, Futures Mysterious Anthology, and Nocturnal Ooze. His homepage on the web is: http://www.authorsden.com/guybelleranti

  John Benton is a freelance writer and game designer. He has worked with Alea Publishing Group and Dog Soul Publishing. His homepage is http://badwrongfun.50webs.com/

  Donna Taylor Burgess's has appeared in genre publications like The Book of Dark Wisdom and Bare Bone. She is also the editor of the Naked Snake Chapbooks and NSP Paperbacks. http://www.nakedsnakepress.com/

  Emily M. Z. Carlyle's previous credits include "He Tastes Like the Sea," published in THIRTEEN magazine. She resides in Maryland.

  Originally from Wayne, Indiana, Patricia A. Collins currently resides in Texas with her husband.

  Debra Colvin is a freelance artist who lives in Riverside, CA. More examples of her art can be found at http://www.llothcat.com/.

  Dilman Dila lives in Uganda. Dilman has published several short stories, in ezines, print magazines and anthologies, and has worked with Kenyan filmmaker Kinyanjui Wanjiru on a couple of screenplays.

  Brian Jaime is a freelance writer and English Major in West Covina, CA where he writes a wide range of creative, editorial and business pieces. In addition to being a writer, he has also been an accountant, human resource manager, English tutor and entrepreneur. He believes that, when it comes to writing, any response is better than no response. His

  latest work can be found in the newly released anthology Embark to Madness. In addition, his writing has also been seen in FlashShot and The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. More information can be found on his website, www.brianjaime.com.

  Michael A. Kechula is a retired technical writer. Switching to fiction in 2003, his works have won first prize in 6 writing contests, second place in 1, and honorable mention in 2. His stories have appeared in 43 online and print magazines and 12 anthologies in Australia, Canada, England, and the US. He's authored 6 books of flash fiction tales, and a self-study book that teaches beginners how to write flash fiction. He is the editor of Flash Tales Magazine (www.flash-tales.com).

  Aurelio Rico Lopez III is a devoted fan of the macabre and a scribble junkie from Iloilo City, Philippines. Over the years, his fiction has been featured in various anthologies such as COLD FLESH (Hellbound Books), TRIP THE LIGHT HORRIFIC (Rage m a c h i n e Books), SHADOW BOX (Brimstone Press), STAR-SPANGLED ZOMBIE (Maniac Press), and THE BLACKEST DEATH I & II (Black Death Books). More of his dark tales are scheduled to appear in RAW MEAT (Carnival of Wicked Writers), MIND SCRAPS (Rage m a c h i n e Books), THE BLACKEST DEATH III (Black Death Books), and MIND GAMES (Maniac Press).

  Mark Henry Medina resides in the Philippines, where he is working on his Bachelor's degree in information technology. He can be reached via his website at http://marcs-day.deviantart.com

  Benjamin A. Nendza is a freelance artist living in Florida.

  Tanya Nehmelman lives in Northern Illinois. She enjoys writing short stories, children's stories, poetry, and my favorite horror stories. Her work has appeared in various electronic publications.

  Lee Pletzers is the author of Blood of the Wolf, Nightmare, A Season of Darkness and also the SF/Horror Crossover for which a sequel is currently being written. His novel Re-Entry of Evil was released in August 2004, published by SPX Press. His personal page is www.leepletzers.com

  Ognjen Popovic currently works mostly as a freelance artist. He has always been inspired by cover artworks and illustrations for computer games, books and heavy metal. During his lifetime so far, he focused on fantasy art, with his portfolio including work for computer games, movies, music bands and role-playing companies. Being also the student of informatics, his intensions in the future are to work on the graphics for computer games, or even engulf into some coding as well. His style leans to achieve realistic images with lots of shading, though he doesn't mind using Illustrator for vector images (tools of trade are Photoshop and Maya 3D). He has been a computer magazine writer for many years, and was the contestant of the World Karate Championship in Osaka, Japan.

  Banned from the indie wrestling circuit where he terrorized both fans and opponents as the King Kong Kid, the world's tallest midget wrestler, Brian Rosenberger now scares the literate. His writing can be found numerous places. Just look. He hails from Parts Unknown but perfects submission holds in Cincinnati. The choke's on you.

  http://home.earthlink.net/~brosenberger/

  Jennifer Schoonover was born a couple of generations ago to fairly normal parents. She worked at West End Games from 1996 to 1998. Since then she has worked as a freelance editor, writer, and advertising copywriter for such companies as The Mountaineers Books, Haworth Press, EN Publishing, Æthereal Forge, Tabletop Adventures, and JAGS. Jennifer currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, her daughter, three cats, two parents, and a brother. She recently launched her own RPG company. http://kumapageworks.org/FireWater/

  E.P. Spader is a systems analyst and freelance author. He lives in his birthplace of southern New Jersey with his loving wife, Kayce and his three beautiful children: Justin, Dakota and Sydney. Like so many others, he aspires to write the Great American Novel.

  Tristan T. Tenorio resides in the Philippines and graduated with a degree in political science. He is also an aspiring freelance writer.

  G. W. Thomas is Editor/Publisher of RAGE m a c h i n e Books. He sells POD paperbacks through Lulu.com and ebooks through Renebooks.com. Check out his hub site at http://ragemachinemag.tripod.com

  Shawn Westmoreland can be reached via his personal website at http:
//www.charmingbastard.org/

  Garth Wright's first short story was published in the magazine short fiction anthology The Reaper #1 in 1999. He operates and writes for Khan's Press with books published from 2002 to 2005, and has been published by Sword & Sorcery in Strange Lands: Lost Tribes of the Scarred Lands, and by Vanishing Goblin in Rooms with a View, both in 2004. He is also a line developer for ENPublishing's ENGuilds book line.

  Alexander Zelenyj's previous work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Front & Centre Magazine, Revelation Magazine, Cerebral Catalyst, Jupiter, Whispers of Wickedness, Freefall Magazine, Crossroads Magic, The Lightning Journal, Worlds of Wonder, Simulacrum Magazine, Double Dare Press, The Rose & Thorn, Upfront Magazine, Amazing Journeys Magazine, Death Bus, and Nth Degree. Mr. Zelenyj has received multiple grants from the Ontario Arts Council under recommendation of Coach House Books, Descant Magazine, and Kiss Machine Magazine towards two separate novels-in-progress. He is the author of a children's book entitled Marco Polo: Overland to China, published by Crabtree Books. His fiction has been nominated for the 2006 Pushcart Literary Prize. Mr Zelenyj's most recent achievement is having his speculative fiction short novel, Black Sunshine, published by Fourth Horseman Press.

  Table of Contents

  Part 1: Awkward Silence

  Part 2: The False Knot

  Part 3: The Urge

  Part Four: The Willing Feast

  About the contributors: