Pandora: A Novel of the Zombie Apocalypse by Richard McCrohan Read Free Book Online Page A

smiled wryly, snickering. “Really, Mike? Five bags of Fritos?”
    “What?” replied Michael, wide-eyed. “I like Fritos.”
    After finishing the task, they watched the deteriorating situation on television then agreed to call it a night and get an early start in the morning. Their goal was to hit the hardware store and the supermarket for what they had missed at the 7-Eleven.

6
    W hile they slept, things had already started to spiral out of control. Asia and the East Indies, including India, had been hit by the comet Pandora’s debris trail first and in turn had suffered the Pandora virus first. And now they were experiencing the beginning of the Pandora 2 Mutation first. Because of their huge populations and the cramped quarters of their crowded cities, China, India, and Japan quickly descended into chaos. For some reason the average 30 percent infection rate was higher in these regions—as much as 50 percent in some places. The infected unfortunately included European and North and South American tourists as well. When people had started to initially sicken with the first virus, the tourists quickly had flown home, hoping they weren’t contaminated. This, however, did not prove to be so. Unfortunately they had arrived home before the airlines shut down and became ticking time bombs to add to their countries’ problems.
    Only two days had passed since Anichka Hordiyenko had become Patient Zero of the Pandora 2 Mutation, but with so much of the planet’s population dying and reanimating into bloodthirsty zombies, the world’s underlying infrastructure was absolutely unprepared and immediately overwhelmed.
    The aforementioned countries of China and India had quickly closed down all internal media outlets, saying they didn’t want to overly panic their citizens and give them false propaganda. The real reason was toimpose draconian measures, especially in China, to quell the sudden surge of zombies. Any zombie, anyone sick, anyone suspected of being sick, or even anyone who so much as complained was swiftly treated with a quick bullet to the head. This plan of action, rather perversely, probably would have worked if it weren’t for the sheer number of infected. Governments, being brave but misguided protectors, had to deal with the initially infected and in turn the increasing number of victims who were infected because of bites. This latter number was rapidly growing due to police and military personnel who were being infected while enforcing the new and sometimes genocidal orders from their superiors.
    In Europe they were faring a little better but not much. The level of initial infection remained at about 30 percent, and the governments and ruling structures were more stable and less corrupt. But the efficiency of response varied from country to country, with Germany, France, the UK, Switzerland, and Belgium putting together a rapid response team, cobbled together from police, special forces, and elements of their militaries.
    The majority of the rest of the countries, however, spent more time arguing over what to do than actually doing anything. With Europe’s borders as porous as they were, the ultimate result was inevitable. Fleeing refugees, both healthy and infected, crisscrossed national borders, and the resultant human bottlenecks hampered already-tenuous emergency operations. Because of policies in Catholic-dominated countries such as Spain, Italy, and Ireland—all of which refused to accept the idea of zombies—confusion ensued over what to do with the infected. They were, in fact, victims of a terrible illness, so one could not just shoot them, yet there was great difficulty in containing them in one place, however compliant they may have been. The concept of concentration camps had a very bad history in Europe, but no one could find another solution. Obviously, unlike their contemporaries on other continents, these countries felt a “Final Solution” was completely out of the question.
    Russia and