Zombie Boy 2: Level Up (Adventures of Zombie Boy) Read online

  Zombie Boy 2: Level Up

  Val O. Morris

  Contents

  Welcome!

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Help Zombie Boy Grow!

  Note From the Author

  Also By Val O. Morris

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  ZOMBIE BOY 2: LEVEL UP

  by Val O. Morris

  Copyright 2016 Val O. Morris.

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  The author greatly appreciates you taking the time to read her work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help spread the word.

  Cover Illustration: Jason Whitt

  Cover Design: Craig Morris

  www.valomorris.com

  Zombie Boy 2: Level Up

  Trapped in a video game overrun with zombies, Katie's life is in jeopardy.

  Liam Walker, a now leveled-up zombie hunter, suspects that HoriZon Corp, the virtual reality game developer, is somehow behind it all. Liam must use the experience he gained from the first adventure and return to the video game world that took his best friend. With new foes threatening their plan at every turn, Liam and friends battle mini-bosses, giants, and hordes of zombies across many familiar video game settings in search of Katie.

  Can he and his friends escape the zombie apocalypse and get out of the game world alive... once again?

  Twice the action, double the adventure!

  If you would like to receive a FREE story, and be the first to know when the next Adventures of Zombie Boy book is released, please visit:

  www.valomorris.com/monsterreader/

  For my dad...

  …who isn’t zombie crazy but has asked me almost daily when he can read the next adventure in the Zombie Boy series.

  Well, Dad, this one’s for you.

  1

  If dying in a real-life video game counts, then Liam's best friend, Katie, died two weeks ago. It had been two weeks since he woke up from the nightmare of living in a video game, only to be thrust into a real life nightmare where he was determined to win his best friend back from death.

  Liam stared at the pretty blonde girl in the next row. When she made eye contact, he turned his head. Gotta play it cool. He had been staring at Katie since class started.

  The bell rang and the students gathered their items. Katie glanced back at Liam, and then she and her girlfriends giggled as they exited the classroom.

  Katie never hangs out with the prissy girls. Liam reminded himself to keep his jealousy in check. She may not remember their long and close friendship, but he did.

  Every day he followed her home and today was no different. It wasn't something she could avoid; he lived directly across the street from her.

  As Liam walked, Rhonda ran up to him. They had been friends only for a short while, but considering they met while trying to escape a zombie infested video game together, they already had a strong and unique bond. "Thought I'd never catch you. All that zombie killing has really made you fast."

  Liam spent what seemed to be several days living through a zombie apocalypse. It all started with a video game Katie had given him. Unbeknownst to either of them, it thrust them into an alternate universe where Draxon Hollow had been overrun with zombies. The odd thing was that most people, all kids, didn't even notice.

  Similar rules to a video game applied. Reading comics and books increased Liam's skill stats in areas like intelligence, strength, and perception. Killing zombies increased his over all experience level. Unfortunately, death also played a role. When people died in the game, they weren't really dead, but they were totally different people back in the real world.

  It was Liam's goal to convince New Katie that she was once Old Katie. How would he suddenly convince someone who had lived her whole life across the street from the same person that the two of them were actually best friends? Oh, and also that she had just "died" in a video game world which is why she doesn't remember her old life?

  "Nah, not fast. I just don't want to lose her. Today's the day. Gonna make my move."

  "You're just gonna walk right up to her and say, hey, remember me? Your best friend?"

  It sounded better when he thought about it in his head.

  "You might want to hold off. At least for now," she said handing him the latest issue of Gamerz Extreme.

  Liam took the magazine but never took his eyes off Katie. As he entered the top of their street, he watched as she got in a convertible with three other girls and sped away. New Katie was friends with the older, more popular girls, not sweaty teenage boys who loved to spend Friday nights eating pizza and playing video games.

  "Are we gonna check it out?" Rhonda's voice seemed to come out of nowhere pulling him back into the moment.

  Liam opened the magazine and flipped to the page Rhonda had earmarked.

  Caleb, another friend Liam had made within the game world ran up to them. "I got your message to meet here. What's up?"

  Liam stared at Caleb's shirt. It had an image of a zombie licking its lips at an appetizing brain. It read: GOT BRAINS?

  "Nice shirt." Liam wasn't amused. The thought of zombies, especially in a playful way, still hit too close to home.

  He went back to reading the magazine. Wild colors assaulted Liam's eyes as he skimmed over the advertisement.

  "Did this just come out?"

  "Yep."

  Usually conventions are scheduled months in advance, and Liam was a regular reader of Gamerz Extreme, but that was the first he'd heard about it.

  "We gonna go?" asked Rhonda.

  For the first time ever, Liam acted like he didn't want to go to a game convention. "Well, I was hoping I could talk to Katie this weekend."

  Without thinking, Rhonda asked, "Won't she be there?" The look on Liam's face reminded her what an awful question that was. Open mouth, insert foot.

  Old Katie would have been first in line at the game convention. New Katie? She wouldn't be within fifty yards of one.

  Liam and his friends stood in line to be one of the first to experience the new Chaos Caliber game. The booth had several TVs and game consoles set up with multiple controllers each. Finally, Liam, Rhonda, and Caleb sat down for their turn. After a few rounds of regular person versus person deathmatch, the game's spokesperson paired up the consoles into team deathmatches. Liam's team held the lead until the final ten seconds. Another team of friends called Game Masters ramped up their game and blew past Liam and crew to take the lead.

  "Oh, so close!"

  The gamers each shook hands and exited the booth going their separate ways. Liam couldn't help but think about Katie. "We could have taken them if we'd had her." She was so good at Chaos Caliber that she had an additional online screen name just so new people would play with her.

  As they exited the booth, a guy handed them each a flyer. "Hope to see you there," he said with a smile before disappearing into the crowd.

  "Who was that?" asked Liam.

  The flyer advertised a game tournament for a yet to b
e determined game. They did it like that to try and even the playing field. Basically, participants could only practice on games that were readily available, but with no knowledge of which would be the chosen game, players would need to divide their time between several and hopefully not be able to excel at any one game. There were always the hardcore exceptions, however.

  "We should enter," said Rhonda. "What would really be awesome is if you were able to convince Katie to join us."

  Caleb had yet to game with her, but he had seen how she handled a crossbow at the amusement park while they were in the game world. "Dude, if she plays as good as you say, we could totally win this thing!"

  It was a wonderful thought, but Liam had not even had a chance to talk to her and his friends were already making plans. The tournament was in two weeks. Could he convince her that she was really his best friend and that she was an excellent gamer in that time? Did she even still have her HoriZon console?

  "Well, if it isn't my three favorite zombie killing kids."

  Liam turned around and saw Morgan Paradise, in his trademark trench coat and fedora, standing behind them. "Mr. Paradise! What are you doing here?"

  "Please. I think we've been through enough in a short time together that we can be on a first name basis." Of course, he was referring to how Liam and his friends saved Morgan from an eternity in the game world. "Besides, only my wife's lawyers call me Mr. Paradise."

  Caleb asked, "Are you scoping out the wicked cool games?"

  "No, actually I'm here hoping to land a job. I've got a couple of interviews set up already."

  "That's great!"

  "It's all thanks to you and your friends," Morgan said to Liam. "I owe you a lot."

  Liam reached out and shook Morgan's prosthetic hand.

  When they first met Morgan, he was disguised as an elderly man so he could hide from other kids in the game who wanted to do him harm. After a group of kids cut off his hands for not revealing how to escape the game world and get back to the real world, Morgan went into hiding. It was Liam asking the right questions that led Morgan to believe he was different.

  Different, indeed. Morgan was determined to stay in the game world. He didn't want to go back to a life where his estranged wife was trying to get sole custody of their daughter in a divorce battle.

  But, Liam knew that hiding from problems only lasted so long, and he was able to convince Morgan to return to the real world with them. He, too, had to accept that his anger aided in getting Katie killed in the game. Now it was his life's mission to get her back.

  Rhonda smiled. "Well, you make the coolest games. Any company would be lucky to have you."

  "Not sure who'll want to hire someone who can't code quickly," he held up his hand.

  "Yeah, but you've got enough design experience that you could lead the team," Liam argued. "The fact that you wrote Zombie Game and coded the VR into it is insane. I mean, have you seen what that game can do?"

  It was a serious matter, but it was so strange that he had to laugh about it.

  Morgan said, "I wish now I hadn't."

  Liam said, "I hope I never have to play that game again. Don't ever want to go through that again."

  Morgan replied, "Don't be scared of it. It's just a game."

  True, but Morgan's game got out into the wild before it was bug tested or fully vetted. It was as real as standing in that convention hall. There was no manual with a game counselor's number to call when the player got cornered by a horde of zombies, or when he couldn't figure out a life-saving puzzle.

  Liam stood a good foot, foot and a half shorter than Morgan, but he looked him right in the eye. "I like you, and I realize you're a victim in this, too. Do me a favor. Don't ever say it's just a game."

  Losing his best friend was not something he took lightly.

  "I understand," Morgan nodded. "But you have to understand history so as to not repeat it."

  Liam didn't get a chance to ask him what he meant by that.

  Morgan looked toward the door as a guy and girl walked in. "Oh, great. My old boss' son just walked in."

  Liam turned toward where Morgan was pointing. Liam's heart fell to the floor. There was Thomas... with Katie on his arm.

  2

  Katie with Thomas meant all sorts of crazy things. Liam's mind, of course, immediately went to the worst of them.

  Would Thomas force her to play the game again?

  If he did, would that somehow spin the space-time continuum out of control?

  Would she ever remember him and their friendship?

  And more importantly...

  Would he ever get a chance to tell her how he really feels?

  So many questions in the span of a millisecond.

  Even though Liam took full responsibility for what happened to Katie--his need for revenge on Thomas ultimately causing the zombie to chomp down on Katie--Liam still harbored much anger for Thomas. Liam had been bullied too many times by Thomas both at school and on the baseball field.

  Thomas and Katie approached the group. His uppity attitude preceded his arrival. His pressed khakis and button up shirt didn't belong at a gaming convention.

  He stopped a few feet away. Fire almost shot from his eyes as he greeted Morgan. "Mr. Paradise."

  Liam could almost feel the exchange it was so tense and wondered if Thomas had anything to do with Morgan being fired.

  Morgan hesitated but then tipped his fedora. Playing coy with the kid whose father had a large portion of the gaming world in his back pocket wasn't a good idea.

  Then Thomas turned his attention to Liam. "Hey, peewee. Come to check out the sights? Too bad you have to enjoy them like all the other lowly gamers."

  His attitude was so smug. Liam wanted to slap that grin right off his face.

  "It pays to have friends in high places, huh, babe?" He looked at Katie. "Too bad. I could have gotten you all VIP passes. We're headed into HoriZon Corp's big event. They're revealing a secret new project. World dominating stuff." There was a suspicious glint in his eye.

  Liam stood two feet from his best friend yet they may as well have been two thousand miles apart. The ache in his heart moved to his throat. He wanted to speak, to convince Katie to leave that jerk and run away with him instead, but the tension in his neck strangled his vocal chords.

  Rhonda saw the internal war being fought in Liam's expression and took the reins. "So, Katie, how long have you been a gamer?"

  "Aw, she doesn't really play. She's just my guest to the executive parties."

  'Thomas was now answering for her?'

  'And *just* his guest?'

  Liam's gaze could have cut through glass.

  "Speaking of," he looked down at Katie, who seemed as disinterested as a non-gamer could be, "ready for the first sneak peek?"

  She forced a quick smile. As if that was what she was supposed to do. Then Thomas looked at Liam. With a wicked grin, he said, "Now to get some hands-on time."

  The group watched as Thomas walked away with Katie. Liam knew Thomas was taking a jab at him with that statement. The thought of Thomas even holding her hand was enough to make him want to punch something.

  Caleb said, "I can't believe I ever liked that jerk."

  Morgan, trying his best to soften his gruff voice, said, "So, that's Katie."

  Hearing her name snapped Liam out of his angry daze. He nodded.

  "If he's anything like his father, he's bad news. But I guess I don't have to tell you that."

  He didn't. Morgan knew that Thomas had been involved in Katie's "death". In the short time since being back in the real world, Liam had filled Morgan in on what happened that night. Even though Liam blamed himself, it was because of Thomas that they were even in that situation.

  "Morgan, you've gotta get me into that event." Finally, the war being fought on his senses eased up allowing him to force words out.

  "I don't think-."

  "Don't you have friends who still work there who could get you in?" Liam didn't care wha
t it took. His best friend could be in danger, and the longer she was with Thomas, the more that danger grew.

  Morgan shook his head.

  "No one owes you any favors?"

  "Kid, look."

  Liam turned away from him. He didn't want to hear excuses.

  "I'm sorry, Liam. It's just that I burned a lot of bridges when they fired me. I'm surprised Thomas hasn't sent the guards after me already."

  Liam stared at the conference room door where Thomas and Katie had just entered. A man in a black suit was checking badges before allowing anyone to enter. Getting his hands on a VIP badge would take some ingenuity.

  He watched as a kid and his mom exited the Chaos Caliber exhibit. The guy handing out passes to the tournament shook his head. The little boy looked like someone had broken his favorite controller. Then Liam spotted it. A VIP badge hanging around the boy's neck. Liam had an idea.

  Liam approached the boy and his mother. "Excuse me, ma'am."

  The lady turned around. "Yes?"

  "I couldn't help noticing that your son was hoping to get a pass for the tournament." He hadn't rehearsed what he was planning to say, and the woman grew tired of Liam's stalling.

  "I'm sorry, we're really busy."

  "No, no, please don't go. What I mean is... I, er, have an extra pass. Would you be willing to make a trade?"

  "Maybe. What's the trade?"

  Liam gazed at the VIP badge around the little boy's neck. Then he turned and pointed at the closed conference room door. "That event over there. My best friend is in there and I think she might be in trouble. I don't want to bring attention to her, but I'd like to go check on her."

  The woman's eyes narrowed. She looked like she didn't believe him.

  "I'll give your son my pass if I can just borrow one of your VIP badges. Just for that event." Liam pointed to the closed conference room doors.