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    The Stranger
    The Stranger
    The Stranger
    Ebook86 pages1 hour

    The Stranger

    By Steve Wands

    ()

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    About this ebook

    In The Stranger, Danni seemingly finds safety in an apartment building overrun by the living dead. It's a claustrophobic examination of a young woman's struggle to accept the world around her and hopefully find a place in it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSteve Wands
    Release dateApr 8, 2011
    ISBN9781458114945
    The Stranger
    Author

    Steve Wands

    STEVE WANDS is a comic book letterer working on top titles at DC Comics, Image, Vertigo, BOOM! Studios, Random House, and Kodansha Comics (to name a few). He also designs, inks, and illustrates for those, and other, companies. He’s the author of the Stay Dead series, and is a writer of short stories. When not working he spends time with his wife and sons in New Jersey. Oh, and he drinks a lot of coffee.Steve has just wrapped illustrating The Fallen for Cemetery Dance Publications, which is written by Bram Stoker Award winning writer Brian Keene, based on a story by Richard Chizmar and Jonathan Schaech, colored by Gabriel Cassata.His work appears in titles like the mega-hit manga Attack on Titan, All Star Batman, Batman, Cognetic, Black Road, Descender, Frostbite, The Flash, Trinity, The Spire, Gotham Academy, FBP, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Supergirl, Action Comics, Garfield, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Next Testament, Peanuts, Six-Gun Gorilla, and many others.

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      Book preview

      The Stranger - Steve Wands

      THE STRANGER

      A Stay Dead short story

      By Steve Wands

      * * * * *

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      * * * * *

      Published by:

      Steve Wands on Smashwords

      The Stranger (A Stay Dead short story)

      Copyright © 2010 by Steve Wands

      Cover Design and Layout by Apparatus Revolution

      http://www.staydeadrev.com

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

      Nice words from nice people about the Stay Dead Series available from smashwords.com

      "…an interesting story. It has a fantastic plot and plays out wonderfully throughout the entire story. There are some very good, gore filled scenes that will make anyone cringe…"

      Lyle Perez-Tinics of Undead in the Head Book Reviews

      http://www.undeadinthehead.com

      "…it's a tribute to Steve's imagination that my attention was held from beginning to end. I especially liked a sequence in which we find that zombies ain't the scariest thing out there… encouraging moments of insight into how a kid might feel if life became a horror movie…"

      Martin Gray Journalist

      http://dangermart.blogspot.com

      "...focuses on atmosphere and desperation...gruesome and really interesting, both stories oozing hopelessness...a really strong debut."

      Corey Graham formerly of the Midnight Podcast

      http://www.midnightpodcast.com

      "One of the most humanizing zombie stories since Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead."

      Bryan Wolford of the Drunken Zombie Podcast

      http://www.drunkenzombie.com

      This collection of short stories is brutal and heart breaking. Steve Wands describes the state of the world in the midst of a zombie outbreak as if he were there. These tales will make you feel like you know the characters and are sharing in their plight.

      Mike Benedict of The Cadaver Lab Podcast

      http://www.cadaverlab.com

      "...one of the more intense and downbeat endings you will ever read... endlessly fun...nothing wasted...no pulling of punches."

      Desmond Reddick of Dread Media

      http://www.dread-media.com

      "...very well done...makes you want more...a great read... I couldn’t put this down."

      Darryl Pierce of A Little Dead Podcast

      http://www.alittledead.com

      Stay Dead: The Stranger & Tunnel Rats was also nominated for a 2009 Mail Order Zombie Dead Letter Award for Best Zombie Book/Fiction.

      http://www.mailorderzombie.com

      * * * * *

      THE STRANGER

      A Stay Dead short story

      * * * * *

      Jumping from roof to roof, searching for some small bit of safe passage from the burning streets below, Danielle thought for sure she would be dead in minutes. Some rooftops were full of staggering ghouls, some of them even falling off the side, smashing themselves into a more twisted mangled bag of skin. She had reached the last roof she could jump to without going back in the other direction. She ran to the edge, the rain pattering off her shoulders and cooling the sweat off of her face. She saw a street half-full of walking corpses, of bodies on fire and of people screaming. From behind her, a man grabbed her by the arm. Scared to death, she screamed, turning and beating wildly on what turned out to be an older gentleman wearing a raincoat. His beard was beading up with rain and she knocked him to the ground. He put his hands up, shaking, as if to say don’t hit me. She backed up in confusion and started crying. Then she ran to the other corner of the roof.

      Don’t go over there. Follow me, it’s safe! the little man said. As he got off his now soaked rump, he pulled his hood back to reveal the humble-looking, older man he was. He looked like a squishy Gorton’s Fisherman.

      She stopped in her tracks and turned toward the man. He waved her over and she followed hesitantly; looking around at the alternatives. He led her through a door that led to a stairwell. It was quiet with the exception of the rain. They went down two flights of stairs. The old man took off his raincoat and opened the door. They now stood in front of it. The door made a slow creak, and from inside seeped out an instantly comforting warmth. Danielle could hear the crackle of fire and it made her a bit more at ease. The door stopped midway. From behind it poked the small but unnerving 2 3/8" barrel of a stainless steel Smith & Wesson model 60 revolver. The old man chuckled.

      Put that little thing away, Lorraine, he said with a smile. You’re scaring our guest.

      Guest? Opening the door was the grandmotherly face of Lorraine. Her hair was curly, dark gray, with stormy streaks of white. Don’t stand out there–come in, she said, moving from behind the door and opening it all the way.

      Thank you, Danni barely squeaked out.

      They walked in and headed toward the fire. Lorraine put her peashooter into her apron, and picked up a mug, which she was sipping from before they had come back. Clem, the older man, picked up a mug as well, and tipped a teapot to it, filling it to the brim. He then looked at Danielle and offered her some. She obliged and they stood around the fire, which was burning in a steel garbage can in the middle of the kitchen. The fire was small. It had to be. The vent above the stove could only expel so much before the whole apartment was full of thick, black smoke. The three of them stood, sipping the watery room-temperature tea in silence. Clem’s ears perked as he heard a faint noise in the other room. He looked at his wife, then Danielle. Danielle didn’t hear anything and was safely behind a veil of shock and disbelief–that would soon turn to anxiety and exhaustion.

      I’ll go see what that was, he muttered.

      As if a switch was flipped, Danielle became a nervous wreck. She was still somewhere outside of her body. Still in a place where nothing hurt, a place where bones were numb to breaking, but a place she could

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