Children of Eden: The Trilogy of the Rising

By Melvina Hawkins-Patterson

Serum 222, designed to kill a strain of deadly cancers. Serum 222, handed to the hands of a demented scientist and used to raise a nation.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, raised in a large family of eight siblings. Parents are Kathy Grant and David Lavender.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648952265

Book preview

Introduction

A mad scientist develops a formula, hoping to rid the world from deadly cancers. However, his demented unsuspected daughter uses it to raise the unforgotten from the bowels of the earth.

The world is infested with the walking dead, rampaging and killing in order to exist, while giant sewer rats the size of men savagely kill off the citizens of Texas. Humans find shelter in an underground society called the Colony. There, their shadows are hidden away from the world. A mission to save the human race from becoming extinct.

Termination Project X is a movement put in place for the extermination of the undead. Hunters set out to cut them down by numbers, preventing any more humans from coming in contact with the infected.

Children are no longer children, but cloned images of what was, cloned in an institution called IGC (International Government Cloning). A product, a test, an experiment that had been contained in a controlled environment had gone wrong. The children were more human than artificial. Embryonic stem cell research is on the rise.

When IGC doctors realized that they’ve made a mistake in cloning the children, they attempt to destroy their property. The children escaped IGC and fought to get to Eden with help from their friends.

A rebel develops a military weapon in hopes of saving lives and destroying the undead. The infamous Dr. Carey Smith continues her crusade in building a new nation of flesh-hungry ghouls.

Chapter 1

The Digging

There he goes again, my old man. The rain fell harder than usual, and our dog, Pupi, barked from the windowsill. My crazy father headed down to the graveyard, that special place where decomposed bodies are laid to rest. And my father digs the remains of what’s left, just to experiment on. My father was not like your average dad, as you can see. He was a well-known, prominent scientist who had developed vaccines over the years to conquer incurable cancers, like deadly skin cancers that would eat away a man’s flesh in a matter of a few days.

Once the corpse was dug up, he dragged it home by the feet. Pupi barked furiously to get to the front door until Daddy got there.

Dad swung open the front door. Yes, Pupi, would you mind helping my old bones with this one?

Pupi tugged at one leg while my father pulled the other. The stench of odor made me ill. I died a thousand times over, only to wake up in the arms of a mad man. A nightmare that my father created. People don’t die around here anymore. They only live a little longer. To rot away for their flesh to be picked by vultures. Oh, how I wish I knew what he was thinking so I could get rid of the pain.

It is the formula that has been carried down from generations. My father said that it was the hope of tomorrow. I considered it the beginning of a new holocaust. Listen, can’t you hear them? I can. They’re lurking in the night. Awaiting a time of judgment.

Pupi slept on the couch. I suddenly heard a knock at the front door. Our dog jumped up and barked, and I got up, threw on a robe, and ran to the door to answer it. Yes? I asked.

Suddenly, what appeared to be a skeleton approached the front door. I was shocked, and my limbs got weak. I couldn’t believe what was standing before me. I’d seen a lot of weird things, but old bones arising from among the dead, no way! God only knows what that thing really smelt like.

I gazed out the window, and the moon glowed in the night. I could hear my father whistling and rattling his keys, and I also could hear the calling of the undead. Help, help me, help me! screeched an awakened corpse.

By the time my old man got it downstairs to his lab, Mom woke up, and the lights flickered on and off. She knew who it was. That man is going to be the death of me.

There were many nights that I couldn’t sleep. I had those same recurring dreams in my head. The night air was cold and gloomy. The hooting of an owl resting on a branch of a tree could be heard. Pupi and I ran down to the cemetery and noticed my father slowly pouring solution 222 over each grave.

You are all my children, and I command you to wake up! Benjamin Smith, my father, chanted. Hordes of zombies pushed up from the dirt, stretching their hands out, embracing the earth. The smack of thunder roared across the sky, and the rain came down upon us. Pupi whimpered and barked.

I was amazed to see what was coming to dinner that grim night. Pupi and I ran immediately home to tell Mom, but when we got there, Mom was slouched over the sofa, drinking a glass of bourbon. Where’s your father, young lady? She slurred her words.

I knew she was drunk. My lips wanted to move, but I was startled.

When you see your father, you tell him… She pauses. Tears streamed down her cheeks. I could see the fire in her eyes.

Why couldn’t I hate him? How can a child hate his or her own father? I just didn’t have it in me.

One by one, my old man dragged them things inside the house. I could see the insane expression on his face. He was rather gleeful. My mother snapped and threw her wineglass against the wall, breaking it into pieces. Her eyes like cesspools of booze.

She yelled, What the hell are you doing? What is the meaning of all this, Ben? Why can’t you be normal like all the others?

My father responded, Because I was never like the others, never! So different that I admire myself a great deal. More than you can ever imagine.

You sick old man, you need help, Ben. Why don’t you— Before she could finish, he walked away. It didn’t matter how far he went. As long as he got the job done. Benjamin shrugged it off and acted as though we weren’t even there.

By the time he dragged in the last corpse, I heard the door slam shut. I could hear the sound of a saw drilling into bone and flesh, and I regurgitated onto the carpet.

Biology wasn’t my favorite subject. I hated dissecting live frogs. Every night was a horror show. Mom would lie in bed, wondering what kind of man she was married to. She would just gaze at the wall for hours at a time. Unlike most fathers, mine was a complete freak to start out with. Robbing the dead of their dignity and right to rest in peace. He would laugh as though he had the whole world in his hand. The world of the dead, I presume. Days would pass, and he would still be working on that thing in the basement. What could he possibly be looking for?

Pupi and I went back to sleep, and I decided to forget that it all even happened.

In the morning I was in biology class. A child named Zackery Parker sat next to me. He didn’t like me, and I sure as hell didn’t like him. He kept blowing spitballs into my hair. The children in the classroom burst out in laughter, but I didn’t care. I was out to get even.

Zackery was on his way home from school, and I waited and waited. Payback is a bitch, Especially when you don’t know how it’s coming. He paced down the road, and I hid behind a brush of bushes. I could hear him coming, and that was my chance to let him have it.

By the time I got home, my clothes were soaked with blood. I immediately took them off and got into something warm. I thought about what I did, but it didn’t faze me none. My father was at the cemetery as usual, and my so-called mother was stone-cold drunk. Yes, I realize I’d killed. Except I knew how to hide my emotions. I felt nothing.

A collection of coffins scattered among the dead, and a crazy old man trying to play God. Why has it come to this, and why did he have me? Why wouldn’t he let them all be? I felt the earth rumble as my father dragged in one more. Sleep to me was an escape to sanity, but waking up was a nightmare all over again.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For I am the product of the worst mother in this valley. No, I didn’t like the old geezer too much, but he’s my old man. What can I say? He would work in that lab for hours at a time, and I would rarely see him. The townspeople began to wonder why there were so many empty graves. A panic broke out, and my father isolated himself from the public. I paid a visit at the graveyard one evening, and a young child was sitting at an open hole. I believe my father robbed that child’s loved one. She was crying, the type of cry as though someone had stolen something very precious to her. I felt like I wanted to reach out, but that wouldn’t do any good. I wouldn’t be able to bring them back.

The moon was bright, and a chill was in the air. I had a dream that night unlike any other. A phantom came to me. He was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying.

Carey, Carey, you are the chosen one, you are, it said.

I buried myself under the covers.

You are the one, Carey, you are!

Why? I asked, and the voice in my head stopped. I cried myself to sleep that night. I never wanted to hear it again.

The shadows of wolves can be heard running in a pack. The smell of a child is in the air, and the coyotes are hungry for the kill. The child’s name is Nathan Rumsfeld. The coyotes chased the boy and backed him up against a tree. Their eyes reflected the color of the moon, and their teeth were as sharp as daggers. Help me! he cried out, but no one heard his plea. A cold chill was in the air, and the wolves blew out steam. The evil pack licked their chops. I could tell they could taste him. The chilling howl of the coyotes warned others to join them. Ferocious growls stemmed from their jaws until they all went in for the kill, ripping the boy from limb to limb.

I awoke from his scream. The boy was dead.

Pa and I went back to the old graveyard the next morning. I want a fresh one this time. He meant someone who was just being buried. Burial services was held for a John Griffin. Family and friends gathered around in mourning, and my father was smiling from ear to ear. I’m going to bring him back! I knew right then, he was mad.

By the time everyone left, Pa dug that man’s corpse up. The man looked calm, rather peaceful. Benjamin had intentions of creating Frankenstein. We finally got his corpse down into the basement. While Dad strapped his body onto the table, IVs were injected into each arm, and vials of 222 was fed into his veins.

John, wake up, John Griffin. This is Dr. Benjamin Smith, can you hear me?

His eyes opened, and they were bloodshot red. Suddenly, he immediately sat up, and I nearly pissed on myself.

Carey, Carey, my dear. We have made history, my dear child! My dad was proud of his work, no matter how gruesome it was.

By what, by bringing this poor man back? I replied.

You don’t understand, they told me that this experiment would never work, would never happen. That this experiment was a joke, a myth!

My father inserted enough 222 to keep that dead stiff alive. Headlines came out the next morning about my father’s new discovery. Doctors all around the world were interested in knowing more about it and its side effects. Before I knew it, my dad lost his license as a mortician. His team members felt that he was a threat to himself and to society. I did too, but that didn’t stop the madness.

My father continued his experiments. Solitary in the cold and dark, another kind of being walked. A lamp to shine through the long nights. Their claws scrabbling from time to time in the dirt as it tore at its helpless prey. More and more bodies came up missing from their resting places. They roamed the land after nightfall, unaware of humans. A rumble issued from their throats. The undead feasted, crushing their bodies, tearing and cracking bones in their jaws. No weapon could do them harm. Her power and cruelty were of a measure beyond. The doors slammed open like thunder, and a shadow loomed black against the sky, outside the halls, blotting out the stars.

Cold winds carried the moans of the wolves. On slimy ledges and in the water. Bits of flesh bobbed on the surface, and the air was heavy with the odor of decay. Swooping and swerving as they hunted by night, bats struck fear in the hearts of mankind. A cruel and ghastly host searching for victims among intruding. Corpses gnawed human flesh and drank human blood. The living shadow of the dark before the earth took shape. Night became its relic and memory. Doom and disease, pain and strife, sorrow and old age were her children. All this fearful brood was endangered so that they might rule the yet unborn race of humans.

The crows gave their last harsh calls and took wing for their woods. The air would grow still and chill as darkness fell.

There weren’t any streetlights, except at crossroads near cities. Still, there were people who braved the late hours to travel on the open road. Flocks of greedy crows plowed and sowed and harvested. The night sky was an ebony canopy. The howling of wolf packs and sometimes the screaming of the winds.

Creatures attached themselves to lonely roads, hills, and woods. They roamed wild places. Loping, shuffling, crawling, and scuttling the earth. They were covered with earth and moss. The undead would kill and devour their victims. On one night, the beings of darkness were free to roam.

Chapter 2

The Old Hag Next Door

Bifocals sat on top of the dresser. A dingy wig worn on her head. An old decrepit rocking chair sitting in the comer of the room. False teeth soaking in a glass jar, and a wrinkled basset hound named Juice lying on the carpet next to the fireplace. Ms. Martha Giggles was her name, and she lived alone. Every time my father was at work, no matter what the cat brought in, the curtains would slowly open. Ms. Giggles would just sit there and gaze at my old man. I knew why, I just didn’t give a damn.

I hope he doesn’t drag me in like that when I die, she said. She would hop on the telephone and call the town policemen, but got the same response. He’s dragging in another one of those deadbeats.

Before she could finish, they would respond, Dr. Smith is a reputable doctor, Ms. Giggles. Why don’t you two try to get along?

Why, I never! She would then slam down the receiver.

Juice always got into trouble. She came home one night carrying a human skull that she dug up at the old graveyard. Ms. Giggles gasped and called the town policemen again. I hate to bother you, but Dr. Benjamin Smith is at it again. This time Juice found an old skull at the graveyard. She’s chewing on it as we speak.

The men chuckled over the receiver.

Ms. Giggles didn’t find anything funny and decided to investigate herself. She threw on her bedroom slippers. The teakettle on the stove went off, and she proceeded toward the kitchen. The smell of sweet gingerbread cookies baking in the hot oven wafted through the room, and a cat named Skunk was drinking a bowl of milk. Skunk was a smelly old cat. Where there was mud, Skunk was out in it. He even got into a can of sardines. A garbage can was Skunk’s best friend.

Ms. Giggles went out the back door with her cane and walked to the cemetery, where my father was digging up another stiff and shoveling up piles of dirt. It was just another day to him, another grim day.

I shall get even someday, somehow. I shall get even! Ms. Martha Giggles never forgot those words. It was like she was predicting a nightmare.

A nut fell from a tree and struck her on the head, and she yelled out loud. My old man heard her and immediately turned around to see who was there, but saw no one. Is someone there? he asked.

Ms. Giggles walked home as fast as she could. Sweat ran down her face as she headed for the shower. Warm water splashed onto her skin. She shivered in fear under each drop.

Oh god, that insane man is disturbing the dead. What could he possibly want with all of those…

Skunk was eating out of his dish, and a storm came. Ms. Giggles closed all the windows and pulled down the shades. The clouds moved across the sky, and it got dark.

After soaking part of her worries away, she got out of the tub and patted her face, gazing into the mirror. No one believes me, not one soul. Suddenly, a vision of a corpse appeared before her. Chunks of flesh fell from his body, and Ms. Giggles was in shock and began to scream, but the figure of the corpse disappeared. The storm knocked out the power throughout the house, and Ms. Giggles accidentally bumped her glasses on the floor, shattering them into pieces. She slowly paced across the bathroom floor to get a towel to wrap around herself and used her hand to feel for the phone. Her vision was blurry, and the room appeared to be moving around in slow motion. The phone, I must find the phone! It seemed like the phone was a mile away. She finally found it and picked up the receiver, but there was no dial tone. She paced the room once again. She checked the cabinet drawers in the kitchen and found an extra pair of eyeglasses to wear.

She glanced out of the kitchen window as the rain lapped dully at the glass foyers and ceilings. Ms. Giggles sipped from her steaming mug of hot tea. Shadows of the undead could be seen approaching her house. Limping, crawling their way to the path of her door. She was frightened and began to panic. She dropped her mug on the floor. She started checking the drawers for knives, forks, or whatever she could find, knocking other utensils off the kitchen counter. Sweat poured down her wrinkled cheeks, and suddenly it all stopped. The shadows disappeared, as though she had woken up from a bad dream.

The power throughout the house came back on, and the smell of fresh apple cider herbal tea left an aroma in the air. She immediately called her friend, Ms. Daisy. One thing about Ms. Giggles, she was one nosey woman. She knew who was sleeping with who, when, how, and where. Before your bow could even get his pants up, she was underneath your bed, and all your neighbors knew about it. Yeah, that was Ms. Giggles for you, your daily neighborhood gossiper.

Chapter 3

A Bowl of Chili

The earth split in two as coffins poured out the undead. Flies, spiders, and maggots fed on fallen flesh. A hideous figure stood tall among us that was once forgotten. The leaves fluttered in the wind and blew away with the changing of the seasons. Mice scurried away from their path, and the shadow of an owl hung on the branch of an oak tree. After a while, the formula wore off, and their bodies collapsed upon the muddy soil, and old shoelaces scattered among the remains.

Pupi and I went to bed that evening, and she slept at the bottom of my feet, snoring. As I was lying there, the reflection of the moon was bright, and the culprit glowed throughout the night. All day long, a colony of bats hung around in caves, trees, and attics, and the sound of the wind rustled. Taking mysterious shapes. Haunting the shadows. I could hear them calling me, Carey, Carey, Carey! Their minds were not at rest, and the shutters slammed shut against the window in the middle of the night. I could actually hear the tapping of water from the faucet. Their voices grunted and sputtered in the wind. In a window embrasure, a candle shone.

The door strained at its frame, and the creaking faded away. Then suddenly, there it stood tall before me. A hideous figure that may have crawled from underneath a rock. His cruel eyes oozed green slime, and its razor-sharp jaws drizzled black saliva. I trembled with fear. I was panting so hard, trying to catch my breath. The zombie vanished, and my mother Dorothy came into my room.

Are you alright, Carey? I heard you scream.

I wasn’t sure what I saw, but I knew it wasn’t supposed to be alive. I’m alright, Mother. I had a bad dream that’s all.

But it wasn’t a dream, it was real. So real that I could feel my heart racing. The room was cold and gloomy, and Pupi got up and ran to the bedroom window. I knew those things were still out there. I knew they were waiting. Waiting for their next victim to claim.

My father ran more tests on formula 222. He knew it worked, and so did I.

The dead wreaked havoc upon the earth, and the secret hid behind a closed door. A door that shouldn’t be opened.

When the evilness in men has extended out into the rise of a new nation, and children are no longer children. Donors will soon run out of body parts in place of metal. A subhuman is reborn. The savagery of the undead has engulfed the earth into chaos, and those who are left behind are remembered.

Years have gone by, and I have grown into a respected prominent surgeon. My work was good, and my enemies weren’t far. I worked around a crew of suspicious employees. A black fellow by the name of Jimmie Dee was our janitor. He was gay, but funny as hell. Jimmie was one who knew pretty much about what went on at Norway Hospital. Debbie Daniels was our nurse. She had the prettiest red hair you ever did see. Mattie Edwards was our head nurse, and she didn’t take no shit. A strikingly good-looking fellow by the name of Clyde Madison was our x-ray technician. We all worked on the E Wing floor.

None of them cared for me too much because of the pay I was receiving, but who gives a damn. Jimmie would mop floors and clean offices. Every now and then, I could tell when he went through patients files, but he would deny it each and every time.

Clyde Madison had a thing for Ms. Daniels. I heard she was married once, but who’s counting. Mattie Edwards was a complete freak. One time she got caught in the men’s restroom giving free head. Now I don’t know how true this is, but don’t let me be the one to tell you. Well, you have it, this is my crew. Sounds like a job, doesn’t it?

Mattie always made coffee for us in the morning. I could smell the aroma of French vanilla cream. Hospital staff members would rush into the break room to get a cup. Mattie would always accommodate us with a tray of hot cinnamon rolls or oatmeal cookies. Some mornings, we couldn’t wait to get to work. The frost in the air fogged our windows while we prepared patients for surgery. Unlike most surgeons, I would sneak off to my laboratory in the basement.

I was working on an antidote toward making formula 222 much more effective than it has been. My father’s work did not succeed, but mine will.

Jimmie, if you look at it, no one ever really checks out of here. Debbie was working on her PC while he was leaning over the counter.

Girl, you’n bumped your head. My cousin Vinnie was in a bad accident last month. He’d lost his right arm. Vinnie laid up sick in this hospital for six days, until he passed away. They disposed of his right arm later on down at the county morgue. But at least his arm checked out, gal. His arm, gal! Jimmie resumed mopping.

Either you have a bad set of ears, or I don’t know what the hell you just said! Ten patients, ten patients in one week, and we don’t even know why. There has to be a reason, Jimmie, and I’m going to find out. She started filing papers in her file cabinet. Debbie sensed that something terrible was happening at Norway.

Nurse Edwards walked over to her desk. Mattie was her nickname.

Good morning, Ms. Daniels. Mattie was looking into her cosmetic mirror, powdering her cheekbones. She touched up her hairdo and pushed down her tight white dress.

Good morning, Mattie, how was last night? Curiosity killed Debbie’s cat.

Hot, dirty, and sure ’nough nasty, baby!

Everyone laughed, except Ms. Edwards. She seemed to love sharing her bedroom secrets with her colleagues.

Clyde Madison approached Debbie, handing her a set of x-rays. Debbie had a huge crush on him. A proud young doctor marched into the E Wing floor to examine her patients, Dr. Carey Smith. She happened to be somewhat attractive and caring. She paced quietly into one of her patients’ room. His name was Herman Patterson. He happened to be an irate patient. She was attempting to take his temperature at his bedside.

She was lying to her patients in hopes of perfecting her formula. Tsk, tsk, tsk, it doesn’t look good. You’re dying, Herman. Do you know what it is like to die, Herman? To be a corpse one moment, and to wake up in the next life. In the life of a zombie?

Herman was in shock as Nurse Daniels entered the room. She checked his blood pressure.

Hmm, his vital signs are okay. It says here that he goes into OR at 8:00 p.m. tonight. Did you hear that, Mr. Patterson?

Carey stared at him in an evil way. Herman nodded his head yes. Carey walked out of the room while Nurse Edwards spoke to Herman. Debbie smiled at him. She used the remote to the bed to prop his head up.

He grabbed a hold of her right arm. "Don’t leave me alone, don’t leave me alone with that beast. ’Cause the next time you see me,