Zombie Road VIII Crossroads of Chaos David A. Simpson Zombie Road VIII Crossroads of Chaos Book 8 in the Zombie Road series This is a work of fiction by David A. Simpson ISBN: ISBN: 9798720224721 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No portion of this text may be copied or duplicated without author or publisher written permission, with the exception of use in reviews Copyright 2021 David A. Simpson All rights reserved Contents Prologue 1. The Traveler 2. Unfinished Business 3. Destruction 4. Loose Ends 5. Lakota 6. Gunny 7. Jessie and Maddy 8. The AI 9. Saved 10. Corrupted 11. The Madroleeka 12. A More Perfect Union 13. A Way Out 14. Train to California 15. Guns 16. Ensenada 17. Xavier 18. Star Wars 19. Jessie 20. Takeo and Sandy 21. Lakota 22. Remembrances 23. The Girl He Left Behind 24. Spaceport 25. Double Cross 26. Ancient History 27. Maddy 28. The Space Pirates 29. The Queen of the Outer Reaches 30. The Arena 31. The Collectors Men 32. The Agro Planet 33. Home 34. Time Travel One 35. Time Travel Two 36. Leaving Lakota 37. Scarecrows 38. Natacha 39. Iona 40. Choices 41. The Hospital 42. Sailing Up River 43. Mona Lisa Smile 44. New York 45. Manhattan 46. Madroleeka 47. Arrivals 48. Training 49. The Traveler 50. Jessie + Maddy Afterword Also by David A. Simpson Zombie Road VIII Crossroads of Chaos A two-fisted trucker tale Original Cover Art by Wahyu Widodo Cover design by Christopher Michaels Dedicated to my dearest partner in life: The nitpicky, OCD, grammar-Nazi, Robin. Wild Cry Attributed to Bonnie Parker Distance wheels, spike-rimmed Across the curve of consciousness. And every mile scars deeper Until my every sense Blends into one gigantic wound You of the cool sweet hands, Giver of ease Alleviator of longing, Where are you now? Distance is an enemy And the stars spit fire, The winds rake baleful teeth Down every naked nerve, Screaming crimson words of mockery. You of the deep warm voice, Speaker of music, Maker of splendid dreams, Where are you now? Prologue The Asteroid Jessie passed the days reading the journals, sitting beside Scarlet watching her float in the healing fluids and slowly piecing the strange story together. The other Scarlet, the machine Scarlet or whatever she was started to thaw some towards him. As time passed, she seemed to resent him a little less. He knew she still blamed him for being here, held a grudge that he was the one to show up and not her Jessie. As far as she was concerned, the Traveler should have left him to die and returned like he was supposed to. She seemed more human to him, also. She became less robotic, more accepting as she grew to know him. She showed more emotions. “Something I don’t understand.” He said one evening as they sat down together to eat, which was something new. For the past week or so, he hadn’t seen her eat or drink anything. “What is that?” She asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin. Her table manners were perfect as was everything else she did. “How long has he been trying to jump back in time? The journals don’t have dates, they’re numbered and the newer entries don’t have any details. Sometimes just FAILED is written on a page. I guess he got tired of writing down what happened, they’re mostly just math formulas or something.” “They are coordinates.” She said. “And he has been trying for many thousands of years.” “What?” Jessie said and stared at her. “He couldn’t be that old.” “If you count the years he has been in space between times, it has been thousands of years.” She said. “Yeah, okay, but that doesn’t count.” Jessie said. “It doesn’t?” she asked. “Well, no.” Jessie said. “You’re not really alive are you? When the machine breaks you down you die, right? The only reason he survived is because of the zombie virus, you can’t count the time you’re dead as part of your life time, right?” “If you have the virus then you don’t really die, do you?” she asked. Jessie pondered that for a moment before answering. “I don’t remember anything when I came here.” He said. “But I think I passed out before he activated the bracelet. We talked for a few minutes then he…” “You spoke?” she asked eagerly, leaning closer to him. “You were awake?” “Well, yeah.” Jessie said “I told him his beard looked like shit. You thought he found me after I was unconscious?” “Yes!” she said. “You were almost permanently dead when you arrived. I didn’t know you spoke. You really told him his beard looked terrible?” A small, enigmatic smile crept across her face and for a second, she almost looked impish. “We are in agreement on this. I encouraged him to shave.” She continued “But tell me, what did he say? Did he leave instructions for me?” Jessie opened his mouth to answer then closed it and took stock of his situation. When he spoke again, she didn’t like what he had to say. “I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.” He said. Her eyes narrowed much like Scarlets would and not for the first time he was baffled at how similar they were. One of his questions was going to be how she did it. “Okay.” She said. “I am familiar with this game. I will ask first. Did he give you any instructions?” Jessie thought for a moment before answering. He tried to relive the whole weird situation of meeting himself but most of it was a little fuzzy. His head had been broken open and he was in the middle of dying. “No.” he replied after considering it. “Not really. He said to put the bracelets in some blue thing on the table. He said don’t come back, don’t try to change anything. After reading the journals I understand why.” The Scarlet machine looked down at the table, disappointment on her face. “He said to destroy them?” she asked quietly. “No, he said put them in the blue thing, an osmi-something if I remember right.” “Osmitron.” She said. “It absolutely eliminates anything that is put inside. Permanently. I will get them
