Hell of the Dead 3: The Hell of the Dead Saga, #3

By Erik Handy

THE TERROR SPREADS!

 

Get ready for an electrifying ride as Hell of the Dead 3 brings you to the edge of your seat!

 

The scene: a city thrown into chaos by a deadly virus.

 

As the virus mutates its victims, panic and fear spread like wildfire, leaving the city defenseless and vulnerable to the plague's vicious grip.

 

Enter a skilled SWAT specialist and a determined reporter who risk everything to uncover the truth behind the outbreak and put a stop to it before it's too late.

 

With an intense blend of action, suspense, and horror, Hell of the Dead 3 will leave you breathless and begging for more. Don't miss out on this gripping tale of survival in the face of an apocalyptic nightmare!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erik Handy
• Release date: Apr 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224809059

Erik Handy

Erik Handy grew up on a steady diet of professional wrestling, bad horror movies that went straight to video, and comic books. There were also a lot of video games thrown in the mix. He currently absorbs silence and fish tacos.

Book preview

Read the Full Dark Series from the beginning!

1. The Hell of the Dead Saga

Hell of the Dead

Hell of the Dead 2

Hell of the Dead 3

Hell of the Dead 4

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2. The Rose Miller Trilogy

She Never Dies

Macabre

She Never Dies: Part 2

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3. The Malice Below

4. The Creeping City

5. Terror Rising

6. Rot House

7. Full Dark

ADMINISTRATIVE ALERT

CONTAINMENT ROOM 34

VISUAL SECURITY OFFLINE AT 656

ACCESSED VIA KEY CARD X317 AT 700

CODE – ACCEPTED AT 700

DISMISS?

The man known to his subordinates as Harrison smiled in the glow of his flat-screen.

Dismiss? he mused. It was time to take the project’s experimentation to another level. Controlled lab testing could only produce a finite amount of results. He had enough of those.

His gloved finger hovered over the Y key.

Contingencies were in place. The damage and loss of lives would be negligible. The press blackout would be in effect as soon as he hit the keystroke. This would work.

He couldn’t wipe the grin from his mouth as he pressed the button that called forth the apocalypse.

Chapter 1

This is stupid, Victoria Lupo thought. Stupid and absurd.

She gripped the small black case in her lap to make sure it was still there. Of course, it was. She was just being paranoid. But she was playing a dangerous game that had to be played for the sake of all humanity . . . .

As the bus hit a bump in the street, jostling the dozen or so people on it, Victoria thought back to her first day in Heaven, the underground lab where Hell was created.

Heaven.

The founders of the project believed that they were clever in naming it that, but she was well aware that their egos had falsely elevated them above mere mortals.

Her official title was Group Administrator, which simply meant she electronically filed the project reports. She didn’t have access to the actual project – no, she stole the key card and code that got her into the storage level – but she had access to the project’s data. Words on reports were enough to stir her conscience and put her on this path.

It’s stupid and absurd, she thought again. She looked back and around her. No one paid attention to her. Those not blankly staring out the window into the slowly passing cityscape were chattering on their cell phones.

If they only knew what I have here, she said to herself. I’d have this bus to myself. Maybe the city, too.

The bus slowed and stopped. Someone got off. Victoria saw that the meeting place, a downtown hotel, was the next stop. A few more minutes until the case was out of her hands and her conscience could begin to heal itself. She may not have been directly involved with the blasphemy created in Heaven, but she still accepted her position without question.

She looked up at the man who got on. The bus rattled forward and he didn’t lose a step. He was dressed casually in a blue polo and khakis. Nothing unusual.

But he kept looking over at her . . . .

She didn’t recognize the stranger. He wasn’t the journalist she was on her way to meet. Maybe someone from the lab? She thought she covered her tracks well, but she stole one of the most dangerous and highest classified items from the government. She feared it didn’t matter how well she covered her theft and escape. She was going to get caught.

She tensed up as the man passed her, his eyes on something in the rear, probably an empty seat.

Her stop was close. A few minutes away given the sparse traffic this time of day.

She realized she held her breath so she let it out. She wasn’t built for this life of intrigue and suspense.

She glanced back at the man who spooked her. He was already well into a conversation on his cell phone.

BEEP.

Her heart skipped a beat.

BEEP.

Where was it coming from?

Nearby.

Someone’s cell phone?

BEEP.

No.

Her.

BEEP.

From the case.

She wanted to throw it to the floor and leave it there. She was through.

The beeping continued.

No one else acknowledged the sporadic noise.

Where was her damn stop? She’d been on this bus forever!

BEEP.

She slowly snapped open the case, hiding its contents from prying eyes. She peeked inside at the small vial nestled in sturdy, gray foam. Inside the vial, Heaven’s Virus, a green liquid that was held still in its prison.

She didn’t notice this before, but she saw a tiny, metal string rounding the vial stopper. She couldn’t know for sure, but she felt that didn’t belong there.

One more beep made her jump.

Then it happened.

Her fear was confirmed when a sharp pop from the vial was followed by a thin crack down the length of the vial.

What she didn’t know was that there was a miniature explosive in the vial stopper that was triggered by an even smaller charge via a micro-receiver.

Triggered by Harrison.

All part of his plan, she guessed.

What she knew for certain was that she and everyone on the bus were dead.

The vial cracked further.

Victoria never felt more useless or dumb. There was no way she was going to get away with this and now she and everyone who came in contact with the virus would pay for her transgression. She should have known better. She should