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    Virus Z: Breakout - Episode 1: Virus Z, #1
    Virus Z: Breakout - Episode 1: Virus Z, #1
    Virus Z: Breakout - Episode 1: Virus Z, #1
    Ebook100 pages1 hour

    Virus Z: Breakout - Episode 1: Virus Z, #1

    By Robert Paine

    2.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Virus Z: Breakout - Episode 1

    An unknown virus, ordered to be secretly researched by the government, is in the hands of a tired, overworked CDC Scientist. A small mistake is all it takes. It started with one. One person becoming what no one truly believed to be real.

    James Ericson witnessed the downfall of Floor Three in the Atlanta CDC Lab. He saw a man he admired turn into a flesh-devouring monster. Now, with just his blood stained lab coat and a mysterious flash drive, he must attempt to outrun the virus.

    Can he make it to safety before it catches him, or will he end up just like the other mindless zombies beginning to fill the streets only one thing on their mind...

    NOTE: This is the first episode of Virus Z, a serial novel. There will be cliffhangers, and Zombies, from one installment to the next. Read at your own risk...or delight.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOur Pack Press
    Release dateJan 18, 2016
    ISBN9781502275639
    Virus Z: Breakout - Episode 1: Virus Z, #1

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    • 2/5
      Meh... I'm going to read episode two but there were enough plot holes in episode one I could've drove the main characters truck through it!

    Book preview

    Virus Z - Robert Paine

    Virus Z: Breakout – Episode 1

    An unknown virus, ordered to be silently researched by the government, is in the hands of a tired, overworked CDC Scientist. A small mistake leading to an infection. It started with one. One person becoming what no one truly believed to be real.

    James Ericson witnessed the downfall of Floor Three in the Atlanta CDC Lab. He saw a man he admired turn into a flesh-devouring monster. Now, with just his blood stained lab coat and a mysterious flash drive, he must attempt to outrun the virus.

    Can he make it to safety before it catches him, or will he end up just like the other mindless zombies beginning to fill the streets only one thing on their mind?

    How long can he survive as he stares death in the face?

    *****

    Experience all 5 episodes with Virus Z: The Complete Collection!

    Breakout – Episode 1

    All tragedies strike on normal, ordinary days. You get up, go to work, and expect the day to end like all the others. Then, you leave the office, late as always, head home, and arrive only to fall asleep almost as soon as you get through the door. However, sometimes life likes to shake up the natural order of things, just to test our strength and stability.

    James Ericson spent his life in just such a normal, average way. In the city of Atlanta, Georgia, James worked for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention– a.k.a. the CDC, as a lab assistant for a brilliant scientist. His mornings included the same routine as every other person...shower, coffee, and breakfast. Maybe a quick catch up on the news. Just a normal morning.

    Outside the haven of his apartment, people went about their business in a hurried daze. He had lost count of the number of times someone spilled coffee on his white dress shirts on the short trip to his old beat up pick-up truck. Normally, this was the only blip in his otherwise mundane world. Eventually, he gave up on the neat and pressed shirts and began wearing the less expensive polo alternative. Not like it mattered, considering how his white lab coat hid whatever shirt he decided to go with. He just grew tired of paying for dry cleaning.

    After leaving his small studio apartment, he would worry over the exuberant rent he paid while driving to work. That’s what he got for living so close to the CDC research facility. He then sat in traffic with bleary-eyed parents sipping coffee while trying to control unruly children. His only difference to every other person driving on the same highway was that James dealt with safety issues of the human race on a daily basis. He didn’t expect this day to be any different. James certainly wasn’t prepared for his stable life to be so severely shaken. But it would be.

    Even with traffic, the drive only took about thirty minutes before reaching the secured compound. Like every other day, he groaned upon approaching the guard who spent more time watching TV than securing the gate. After a quick flash of his access badge, the only battle left was locating a parking spot. With the number of office workers and scientists fighting for the perfect parking place for shiny new cars, finding adequate space for his old Chevy was more than a small challenge. He had an easier time recording radioactive isotopes.

    With his parking dilemma solved, he entered the building and trekked through the lobby to the elevator. From there, he rode the elevator to the third floor and moved through the maze of blinding white hallways drenched in florescent light. Occasionally, he would pass a rushing lab assistant or a frazzled scientist with their nose jammed in some sort of file or balancing an overloaded clipboard. Hard-soled shoes echoed on the cold white tiles as he passed by every one of them. James silently thanked his boss for letting him wear sneakers, even though they looked a little odd with dress pants.

    His long stroll through the sterile corridors ended at lab six. On the books, it was a virus research lab dedicated to finding cures for things like swine flu and hepatitis. The employees knew the government officially owned the lab. James had suspicions about what they were really doing but was too afraid to say anything for fear of losing his job.

    Through dual-pane glass doors, he spotted his boss sitting on a rolling stool with his eyes already glued to the lenses of a microscope. Dr. Daniel Capell’s hunched lab coat-clad back was all he could really see. As James approached the glass doors, they automatically opened.

    The interior of the lab consisted of the same blinding white walls and floor. The only thing distracting from the harshness was a Hang in There kitten poster plastered right in front of Doctor Capell and a metal shelf housing dark blue binders. Along the walls, high-tech equipment and rows of empty test tubes rested atop stainless steel tables. To the right of the doctor, a small refrigerator also sat on one of these tables. On the left side of the room, a large sliding glass door led to the huge refrigerator housing all their work. Yet another table cluttered with papers, computers, a printer, and a few more microscopes sat in the middle of the room.

    You know, James muttered as he walked inside, You would think that they would put better security, like a code pad or something on these labs.

    James headed over to his boss and looked over his shoulder. From this angle, James could easily spot the silver slowly replacing the mop of black hair atop the older man’s head.

    They could at least put in a decontamination chamber or something, he added while squinting at the doctor’s work.

    First off, James, Dr. Capell sounded exhausted. You’re late. Second, this isn’t Hollywood. We work with whatever funding the government gives us.

    He pulled his eyes away from the microscope and turned a bleary gaze onto his James.

    Besides we have a decontamination chamber attached to The Vault. It’s not like we’re working on extremely dangerous viruses anyway. All of the dangerous ones are on the fourth floor.

    The Vault was Dr. Capell’s code for the huge refrigerator with the thick glass doors. All the viruses on which they worked existed inside.

    Yeah...sorry about being late. James scratched his head in an attempt to look innocent. You know how parking is around here.

    That’s why you get here early. The older gentleman was having none of his excuses.

    Unlike some people, I need sleep. I’m not a robotic doctor. As his boss stood up from his stool, James took a step back.

    Sleep isn’t exactly a good excuse for being late.

    Dr. Capell turned his back on James and walked over to a shelf holding hundreds of binders filled with notes and data on their research projects. His finger slid down the row of spines until he pulled one from the metal shelf. A brief search and stoic glare at the page accompanied his serious tone.

    I need you to pull C5126 for me. Nancy wants the reports on that one finished by the end of the day.

    Nancy was basically the errand girl for the people up top. If they wanted coffee, she went and got it. When they needed to fire someone, she delivered the bad news. If someone dared fall behind on their work, she was the one who snapped the whip to make the underdogs work faster.

    We barely even looked at C5126. It’s going to take longer than a day to finish the work-ups on it.

    Do you think the brass cares if we barely looked at it, Dr. Capell growled and looked at James out of the corner of his eye. They want it done, so we get it done.

    Aye-aye, Captain. James did a mock salute before turning on his heel and marching towards the

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