Slow Burn: A Zombie Novel by Mike Fosen, Hollis Weller Page A

center that occupied a semi-trailer which was parked south of the border for the time being. He had found himself in better spirits the last couple of days. After the infected had left for America, Matvei spent a couple of days off at his new ranch to blow off some stream and catch up on some much needed down time. He knew the coming campaign would be long and hard. Tamera, his realtor turned lover, had accompanied him, and she made for a nice distraction. Matvei also brushed up on his shooting skills, getting trigger time with his USP .45 and newfound rifle, the HK G36.
    “ The Germans sure know how to build a good gun,” Matvei smirked as he admired the rifle, which was now locked and loaded, leaning against his desk.
    Compared to the simple yet effective AK-74 he was used to, the G36 was a refined, lethal work of art.
    After the short leave, he felt much better. He allowed Tamera to stay behind at the ranch and even insisted that she invite a few close family and friends out for a week or so vacation while he attended to some business out of town. Matvei knew what was coming, and he did not need her turning into a basket case with worry as the world went to shit. He figured with friends and family with her she would handle it all a lot better. Matvei had grown fond of her, and he didn't know how many good women would be left after this all played out.
    Now as he sat watching local news reports via satellite from the large bank of LCD HDTV screens, he had a renewed sense of confidence that this idea of his may actually work. Sure, the infection would spread rapidly and without any discretion, but there would still be survivors, and his men would soon be able to head in and clean up the mess. He now was afforded the luxury of watching it unfold around the country in real time. Several emerging stories caught Matvei’s eye.
    In Atlanta’s Turner Field, where the Braves and Mets were in a four game series with the division lead on the line, a large disturbance had broken out. Several thousand fans stormed the field on live television during the third inning and images showing a large fight were now being shown via helicopter from WGCL in Atlanta. The game feed went down while camera crews fled the stadium in panic. One witness, who was trapped inside the park was being interviewed via cellphone, and claimed that the fight started when a Hispanic hot dog vendor attacked a small child in the stands. Screaming could be heard by the reporter and the line went dead.
    In Los Angeles, a very large traffic accident occurred on the 405 involving several hundred cars. It seemed the culprit may have been a stalled eighteen wheeler on the highway, full of illegal aliens that jumped out of the trailer into traffic and caused a major pile up. KCAL news had a helicopter on that scene which was showing a huge mob of people flowing down the highway, away from the crash.
    Matvei chuckled as watched. He had personally set that one up and expected a rapid infection rate from it as thousands of motorists would be trapped on the interstate with no possible escape.
    Boston was reporting a story as well. WHDH Channel 7 news was reporting that a massive riot erupted in the waiting room of the Boston Medical Center. There was a long line due to concern over the flu, and a fight broke out amongst the patients. Responding security units were overwhelmed, and now it appeared that the police were being overwhelmed as well. Victims could be seen pouring out of the building in a state of panic. The reporter remarked how it already sounded worse than the riots after the last Red Sox World Series victory. They were scrambling to get a reporter on the scene as they had lost contact with a team that was already covering the flu story at the hospital.
    WWJ-TV in Detroit was monitoring a developing situation where several men appeared to have taken hostages at a large grocery store. At this time the perpetrators were not responding to attempts at contact by