You and Me against the World: The Creepers Saga Book 1 (36 page)

“No.”

“Then you need a better plan. You need to get back to the others.”

“But I don’t know where the others went. They weren’t at the checkpoint.”

“Plans change, Goldie. If they weren’t there, then what does that mean?”

“They are dead.”

“In your heart, do you believe they’re dead?”

“No.”

“Then where are they?”

“I don’t know.”

“Think, sweetie. Think. Where would Thorn and Nick take the children?”

“I don’t know.”

“Think. Remember. The heart.”

Her heart was a scary place. It was a place that she just couldn’t go.

“Always so literal,”
the voice whispered, but it held a note of amusement.
“Use your head, Goldie.”

“But I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

“Yes, you do. It’s there, and you just need to find it. Go back in your mind. Think it through, the answer is in there.”

Devin came to her.

“What’s the matter, sis?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Wait … I’m …” She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.

“You’re what? Are you okay?” He followed her gaze back toward the east.

“That’s right, Goldie,”
her father’s voice continued. “
Go back there and find it. The answer is in those memories that you’re refusing to give voice. Find it and save your friends.”

“Golden, you okay?” Brandon asked.

“Yes.”

She sat down on the road and stared east.

“I’m remembering,” she said softly.

She was surprised that the memories, even the painful ones, brought a small smile to her face. And something that felt a little bit like hope.

“Goldie,”
her father’s voice whispered.

“Yes?”

“Slide.”

Scary Notes from the Internet

During the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, the CDC initially tracked flu-related deaths. In August of 2009, however, the CDC discontinued their running tally and reported only weekly deaths. Shortly after, they discontinued the weekly report. The CDC remained silent on the issue. Later, they reported that because data collection was limited, any report on death toll was inaccurate. In other words, the CDC cannot accurately track the spread of an influenza virus and makes no claim to such ability. Their published “flu surge” guidelines warn: “Estimates from FluSurge are really illustrations for a given scenario; therefore, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. FluSurge should be used as a starting point for planning. Given the large number of unknowns for a possible pandemic, any plan has to be flexible.”

A
Wall Street Journal
article from September 2009 reported on the CDC’s “reassortment” experiments. “Reassortment” involves the combination of two viruses in a lab animal to determine the potential for mutation. The 2009 experiments combined the highly transmissible H1NI virus with the less transmissible but extremely deadly H5N1 virus. The H5N1 virus has killed 60 percent of those who contract it. Some researchers have warned that such experiments are imprudent and dangerous. The experimental results of “reassortment” have not achieved an evidentiary conclusion.

Afterword

The original version of
You and Me Against the World
shares little in common with this novel. That story lives on under the title
Jack and Sandra
, which will be published in an upcoming anthology.

The second version of
You and Me Against the World
resides in my delete bin. A friend requested I write a zombie short story, and I began with the journal of Dr. Thorn. Told in the first person, it felt too confined, so I deleted the eight thousand words and began again. The story was intended to be short, but by the time I reached chapter 5 (which was “Interludes” and is now “The Living and the Dead”), I realized the story could not be contained in any less than a novella. By chapter 10, the story was starting to look like a novel. I thought one novel would do, but the characters had a different idea—or, as Annie tells Bob, “That’s not how we roll.”

Apparently not because my short story has become a trilogy.

The fourth version that you have just read was not the first published. A few typos and formatting issues literally kept me up at night. I took the editing opportunity to elicit feedback from others. I originally wrote this as a Web series and never seriously considered rearranging the chapters. In truth, some of those chapters required a shuffle. I believe it is a better story for those changes. (Thanks, Jim Nelson. I know I did not take all your advice, but it was all very helpful.)

The second book,
All Our Foolish Schemes
, is being prepared for publication. AOFS is darker than the first and sadder in a way, but I believe an even better story. The third and final book (maybe) titled
Our World in Darkness and Light
is underway.

Thank you for sharing this journey. I hope I have made it worth your time.

Raymond Esposito - November 2012

About the Author

Raymond Esposito is an American novelist who was born in the small town of Northford, Connecticut, in 1966. As the middle son, he learned the importance of placing his own mark on the world. His parents divorced when he was in second grade, and like many “latchkey” children of the 1970s, the absence of adult supervision allowed him to discover a world of creativity and imagination. Those experiences were the inspiration for his writing, and many will appear in the forthcoming novel,
The Demon
.

I
n 1984, he attended the University of Connecticut, where, after dabbling in economics, philosophy, and English literature, he settled on a degree in psychology—people and their motivations were, after all, the thing that had always fascinated him.

He began writing short stories at the age of twelve, although he never shared them. It was a passion that continued into adulthood and one fed by his love of all things horror. In 1999, he wrote his first “real” short story titled “Witches Lake.” It was a campfire tale for his children. Over the next decade, he penned another thirty stories. In 2011, he began a short story titled “U & Me, against the World.” It became his first published novel and is Book 1 of the Creepers trilogy.

Today, Raymond lives in Florida. He married the perfect women, he raised two perfect sons, and he was blessed with three beautiful stepdaughters, whom he considers the best “gift with purchase” any second marriage could provide. He also shares his castle with their 135-pound “puppy,” Zeus. The two often debate the merits and drawbacks of feeding Twinkies to a dog; to date, Zeus has won all those arguments.

You can e-mail the author at
[email protected]
or visit his website
http://www.nightmirrors.com
.