The Rot

It is now eleven years since the first contact. Ground zero was located in New York City's LaGuardia airport—an Iranian infiltrator, highly infected with the deadliest of viruses in human history. Due to the lack of proper security measures because of highly relaxed government leadership, the infiltrator was able to smuggle in and strap on an improvised explosive device and detonate himself in the middle of a security checkpoint. The blast instantly killed more than one hundred people, along with dispersing the virus. In a matter of months, the planet—almost eight billion people—became infected, and the Rot spread and fed on the living, creating an extinction-level event to humanity. In those eleven years arose an elite force called Reapers. This force is led by a man known to his team only as the Commander. The following is one story from that eleventh year adapting to a world now populated by rotting and highly infectious not quite alive or dead humans.

It has been more than eleven years now and the Commander along with his Reapers have adapted and survived. They may even have the first infant to have come into this new rebooted world—two words of surprise: wholly shit! Jonah is a Reaper. There are five Reapers on each team. It is a designation given to men and women by the Commander. Jonah was born on the upper north side of Pittsburgh to a Cuban immigrant mother and father. They came into the United States and became citizens through the legal process that took approximately three years. They became enormously proud Americans. Jonah's dad opened an automotive and boat detailing mechanic's shop. It was exceedingly popular throughout Pittsburgh . . . but that was a lifetime ago. It is now a time of death, life, and new beginnings. The following is a story of the survival, heartbreak, and extreme violence of human beings.

Ken Zera is a 30-year United States Air Force veteran and has been all over this wondrous planet. Ken is an aviation safety and maintenance expert who never considered himself a writer but now enjoys it and is an aspiring author. Inspired by Sandra Zera, his mother, who proclaimed that he had the talent to write stories, The Rot is his first book and is dedicated to her. He has other fantastic stories currently in work. The story synopsis, In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the story takes place eleven years after a highly deadly virus was released into the human population. The virus quickly transmitted to other humans from a bite or scratch, killing the infected and reanimating them. The outbreak triggered an extinction-level event with humans that are not quite dead and not quite alive with only the simplest motor skills and the fundamental need to feed.