Finally settle it, once and for all: Would you survive the zombie apocalypse? “Undead Rising: Decide Your Destiny” slams you into New York City just as it is struck by a zombie outbreak, leaving you to decide how to survive when your friends, neighbors, coworkers, and strangers join the undead. With more than 45 different scenarios, it’s tough to survive, but even when you die, sometimes you become a zombie—opening up new, monstrous options, including eating celebrities, being used as a genetic experiment, and exploring the Mariana trench. Every time you read “Undead Rising” you have the chance to change your destiny—but every scenario will leave you flipping pages to try again. Note: Nostalgic adults and teens welcome; not a kids’ adventure.
Targeted Age Group:: nostalgic adults
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
How many times have you wondered if you could really survive a zombie apocalypse? I have, more than I probably should admit! I figured there was only one way to find out who would make it–test them out with a gamebook! As is true of most zombie adventures, the biggest challenge isn’t outrunning the zombies–it’s surviving the other humans (and stupid decisions you may make)!
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I wrote most of this book while chuckling to myself, so most of my characters are compilations of people or ideas that I thought would be really funny. Because much of the book is set in an office, I wanted each background character to feel realistic and yet extremely office-drone-like. We are all such vivid people, and yet all work together in little grey boxes! That’s enough to make anyone feel like a zombie.
Book Sample
Your only survival-type training was a camp-out in your backyard when you were ten (and your mom made you come inside after it got dark because she thought it looked like rain, so your camping adventure was mostly watching movies and eating microwaved s’mores) and a few months where you were deeply interested in survivalist TV shows, but the overall effect of those was making you sure you never ever ever wanted to be stranded on Everest in a snowstorm or anywhere where you might be required to drink your own pee.
So letting Bruce take the reins seems like the best possible idea.
“Um, hey Bruce, could you go over your plan again? I want to be sure I really get it,” you say, trying to make up for the fact that you were completely ignoring his speech the first time.
“Right,” Bruce says, his shoulders already squared away in the best mock-military stance since Patton. “First, we secure our floor from incursion from below. Then, we go floor by floor, speaking with the other offices. Anyone who likes our plan can join us. Anyone who doesn’t will be forced to move to an unsecured floor lower down—we don’t want to risk unsavory sorts being in our midst, do we? No, we don’t.” He didn’t even pause to let anyone else chime in. You get a little shiver of
anxiety.
“We are to prepare for eminent attack. We will arm ourselves with whatever we can find or make. We consolidate supplies, prepare defenses, and ready the building as best we can.” Bruce leans forward on the table, his arms seeming all muscle. “And then,” he says, looking quietly around the room with a slow gaze, “we survive.”
Gulp.
Steve is visibly shaking, but Becky steps forward and confidently asks, “Where do we start?”
Bruce gives her a smile that could cut diamonds. “There are three points of ingress to this floor: a stairwell on either side of the floor and the elevator. We blockade the stairways first, on the downward side. The elevator is working now but we might lose power at any moment, so we block that area, too. We’ll need to make part of the defenses portable so we can move to the other floors, but defense is the priority. Let’s gather up everyone on the floor, and divide into teams to PROTECT. OUR. BUILDING!”
You meet Bruce’s roar with a weak “yeah!”
Everyone stares at you, and you shift on your feet awkwardly. “Okay then,” you say.
Bruce designates himself as the leader overall. You’re put in charge of the east stairwell with Becky; Kristina, Alex, and Steve are to work on the west one; and Bruce goes off to find people to boss around for the elevator protection.
The next few hours are a surreal nightmare—spending all day doing manual labor with your officemates? No thank you. Together you break down cubicle barriers and tables, forming a mishmash barricade down in the stairwells and across the elevator doors. You are hot and tired and you hate your coworkers more than you ever thought possible—you thought filling out a form with these people was bad; well, it’s nothing compared to negotiating a working barricade.
You slink back into the workroom and rest your head on your crossed arms on the table. After you-don’t-know-how-long, more of your coworkers, including Our Great Leader Bruce, trickle in.
“Okay,” Bruce says, confident in his own plans. “Now we need to start working with the other floors. I’ll stay here and organize the supply chain. Becky, will you be our ambassador to the lower floors?” Bruce says. Great, now he has a favorite student. Becky, ever the organized mind, nods her assent. “And I need someone else to take the upper floors. Any volunteers?”
You:
* Check on Alyssa. Why hasn’t she been helping?!
* Your stomach is rumbling. It’s probably time everyone had something to eat. You propose a break
for dinner.
* You’ve had enough of being bossed around. You’re going home. Bruce can suck it. You get up and
leave.
* Volunteer to check upstairs.
Links to Purchase Print Books
Buy Undead Rising: Decide Your Destiny Print Edition at Amazon
Buy Undead Rising: Decide Your Destiny at CreateSpace
Links to Purchase eBooks – Click links for book samples and reviews
Is this book in Kindle Unlimited? Yes
Buy Undead Rising: Decide Your Destiny On Amazon
Read more about the author here.
Have you read this book? Tell us what you thought!
