Deadlocked
AR Wise
This is a collection of the entire first series of Deadlocked, books 1 - 4.
Deadlocked: David is forced to travel home to his family through the zombie apocalypse. In his struggle, he will put into motion events that will eventually help to reveal the secret to how the plague began.
Deadlocked 2: Laura struggles to protect her daughters with the help of a young boat captain. She will be forced to endure unthinkable ordeals in her journey to protect those who are most important to her.
Deadlocked 3: Billy heads into the zombie infested city to search for his mother. Along the way, he encounters a member of the military and two new friends to help him learn the truth about what happened to the last living member of his family.
Deadlocked 4: The characters of the series are faced with their greatest challenge yet as the most innocent among them are in mortal danger. The plague's origin is uncovered, and the people responsible reveal themselves in this final story of the Deadlocked series.
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EXCERPT: (From Chapter 1 of
Deadlocked)
“What hospital are they at?”
asked Jerry. He was supposed to be managing the floor, but he had no interest
in telling people to get back to work on a day like this.
“Saint Peter’s,” said Barry.
“A bus full of kids just showed
up." Gloria clasped her hand over her mouth. “This is horrible.”
“Has anyone died?” asked Jerry.
“Not yet,” said Alan, one of the
company’s accountants.
“How many kids are sick?” Jerry
pushed his way past the others to get a better view of Barry's screen.
“They didn’t say. They’re taking
the camera over to the bus now,” said Barry.
Everyone silenced and I could
hear the reporter telling the viewers he was going to get on the bus. After a
few moments of rustling, which I assumed was the reporter’s microphone rubbing
against his coat, he asked, “What happened here? Are these kids okay?”
“Oh my God,” said Gloria. “How
terrible. Look at them, the poor babies.”
Then the screaming started.
Everyone in Barry’s cubicle jumped and caused the walls to shake as people
pressed against them. Barry’s speakers crackled with the shrieks of children.
My daughters are three and five,
so I was studied in the various screeches a child can make, and these were a
mix of pain and terror. The pained screams weren’t the sort that came from a
stubbed toe or skinned knee. These were a violent expulsion of every ounce of
breath and energy the child could muster. I can still remember the sound that
came from that speaker as if it were happening now. It was horrific.
I couldn’t ignore this event
anymore. I got up and peered over the divider.
“What are they doing?” asked
Gloria. “Why are they doing that?”
Barry turned off his monitor, but
the sound continued to wail through his speakers. He scurried to turn them off
and eventually had to rip them away from his desk. The cord whipped out from
behind his computer tower. He held the speakers and stared up at me, his face
drained of color and his eyes wide and unblinking.
“What happened?” I asked. “I
didn’t see. What happened?”
Jerry had his hands on his head
and sounded like he was going to hyperventilate as he stumbled through the
crowd and fell back against the wall outside the cubicle. James and Marcia
announced they were going home and Jerry just nodded his acceptance. Work was officially over.
“What happened?” I asked again as
I went out into the hall.
Gloria came out of Barry’s
cubicle and steadied herself against the threshold. “They were killing each
other.”
“What?”
“The kids…” she couldn’t
continue.
“They didn’t just kill each
other,” said Barry. “They were eating each other.”
**************
A.R. Wise was born in Hammond, Indiana, just outside of Chicago. He's spent time in several states throughout the years but now resides in beautiful Colorado, near the Rocky Mountains. He is the proud father of two adorable, beautiful girls that inspire him everyday, and is married to an unreasonably understanding and loving wife. He has been writing since he was a child, but the ebook revolution is what finally convinced him to offer his work to the world.
