Wright David W - Z 2135

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Text copyright 2013 Sean Platt & David Wright

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by 47North, Seattle

www.apub.com

E-ISBN: 9781477899861

Cover design by The Book Designers

To Austin Kleon for his book Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, and the countless storytellers before us.

THANK YOU

Sean and David would like to thank: Our wives and families, for putting up with our schedules and believing in us; 47North for believing in this series; and last, but not least, our Goners, for supporting our dreams and joining us on this journey.

Table of Contents

It is the year 2135, after the zombie apocalypse, and society lives in six walled cities ruled over by The State and its ever present City Watch officers. The Walls keep the people safe from the zombies that wander The Barrens, but some would say The Walls are truly prisons, keeping people in servitude to their government.

Its a society in which hovering orbs patrol the cities, monitoring every movement of the citizens, and City Watch propaganda posters read: Do you REALLY know your neighbor? Watch. Listen. Report.

PREVIOUSLY

Former City Watcher Jonah Lovecraft, a secret member of the rebel Underground, was framed for murdering his wife. While he didnt remember committing the crime, his 17-year-old daughter, Anastasia (Ana), witnessed it, and her testimony sealed his fate. He was banished to The Darwin Games, The States televised reality game show in which prisoners are pitted against one another and zombies. The prize: freedom in the paradisiacal City 7.

When Jonah, against all odds, managed to win The Games, he soon found out that City 7 was a lie. Instead of being delivered to a new life of freedom, he was dumped in a shack in the zombie-infested Barrens, the no-mans land outside the walled cities, and left to die.

Jonah was soon rescued, but found himself imprisoned yet again, this time by a man named Egan who held Jonah responsible for losing his family. Jonah managed to win his freedom from Egan, but before he was allowed to leave, he was told that The State had implanted chips in him years ago, an identity chip, which he knew about, and a mind-control chip, which he did not.

In the process of flushing out the chips, Jonah learned that he had, in fact, murdered his wife.

Anas younger brother Adam was forced into a State-run orphanage after his sister was placed in The Games. Adam found himself navigating friends and bullies with the help of his fathers old boss, Keller, who lost his son years earlier, when an Underground rebel bombed a parade. Keller told Adam to fight back against the bullies, and even gave him a weapon with which to do so. However, when Adam inadvertently killed one of his tormentors, Adam was arrested and hauled out of the orphanage by City Watchers.

Ana, with the help of Liam Harrow, a troubled young man shed grown up with who was also in The Underground, discovered that her father may have been set up by forces within City 6. When Ana was found consorting with The Underground, she was thrown into The Games.

Liam wound up in The Games with her. He had, in fact, gotten himself arrested intentionally, with the purpose of entering The Games to protect Ana.

Ana made her way through challenges and was forced to kill or be killed. At one point in The Games, the announcer informed Ana via a video that Liam had been a double agent, working for both City Watchand The Underground. She realized that Liam was the one to have outed her fathers involvement with The Underground.

She and Liam were eventually saved by Duncan, her fathers old friend and member of The Underground, who helped them escape into underground tunnels beneath The Barrens.

During a confrontation, Liam admitted that he had, in fact, betrayed her father, but it was only to save his girlfriend, Chelle, who was living in a hidden village, the same village that Duncan brought them to, with the promise of freedom.

When they arrived at the village, it was burned down, its citizens slaughtered, and heads, including Chelles, were left on spikes outside the village.

AND NOW