Redneck Apocalypse Read online

  Praise for Eric S. Brown

  “Eric S. Brown’s writing creates a visually stunning image within the mind of his readers. His books are some of speculative fiction’s best.”

  —Dark Discussions Podcast

  “… Mr. Brown seems to have an instinctive understanding of how to put fiction down on the page … He knows how to craft an effective novel!”

  —James Robert Smith, author of The Flock, The Clan, and The Living End

  “Mention author Eric S. Brown’s name, and more than likely the first thing you’ll think of is the undead as he’s become the rather undisputed ‘King of Zombie Stories..’”

  —Debi Moore of Dreadcentral

  “(In his Bigfoot War series), I love Eric’s premise for combining Bigfoot AND zombies – what could be more terrifying than that?”

  — Donna Galanti, author of A Human Element and The Dark Inside

  “Eric is the author of over thirty novels. His work ethic is second to none, and his originality even more so.”

  — Jason L. McPherson, author of The Gorge

  “Eric S. Brown is one of the busiest authors I’ve had the pleasure of conversing with. This guy is always, always, always working on something. From Bigfoot to comics, he’s got his hands in more than one cookie jar. I’ve read Eric’s work and I can honestly say I’m always entertained.”

  — Rhiannon Mills, author of Bone of Willow Wake and The Demon King”

  “Like the undead, Eric S. Brown is an unstoppable force in the genre. His fiction consistently delivers jolts to the heart and mind.”

  —David Dunwoody, author of Empire and Dark Entities

  “Eric S. Brown has made a name for himself around the world as one of the finest horror writers on the market. With the pop-culture phenomenon of zombies and public obsession over an apocalyptic society at the end of its rope, the timing couldn’t have been better for the fast-paced, violent worlds created by Brown.”

  — Garret K. Woodward of The Smoky Mountain News

  “There is one CONSTANT with the works of Mr. Brown, and that is his books and stories will entertain.”

  — David Bernstein, author of Machines of the Dead and Amongst the Dead

  “With Eric Brown you will always get first-class action, tight writing & fast-paced dialogue. (He) is becoming a major influence in modern zombie writing & (his zombie stories) are a giant step in this process.”

  — Sean T. Page, author of The Official Zombie Handbook and War Against the Walking Dead

  “Eric S Brown is a whirlwind of talent, dedication, and good old fashioned scares.”

  — Brian Keene, Author of TheRising

  “I am always up for a zombie story … (Eric S. Brown’s) writing skills are of a good quality and I would not hesitate to try out something else that (he has) written.

  — Patrick S. D’Orazio, author of The Dark Trilogy

  BIGFOOT WARS

  REDNECK APOCALYPSE

  BY ERIC S. BROWN

  GREAT OLD ONES PUBLISHING

  NEW HAMPSHIRE

  U.S.A.

  Published by Great Old Ones Publishing

  New Hampshire, U.S.A.

  http://www.greatoldonespublishing.com

  No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, scanning, recording, broadcast or live performance, or duplication by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations with attribution in a review or report. Requests for reproductions or related information should be addressed to Great Old Ones Publishing at http://www.greatoldonespublishing.com.

  Bigfoot Wars Redneck Apocalypse

  Copyright © 2014, by Eric S. Brown

  Cover artwork by Ogmios http://www.artbyogmios.com

  Edited by Philip C. Perron http://www.darkdiscussions.com

  Manuscript to book by Philip C. Perron http://www.darkdiscussions.com

  Cover design by Ogmios and Philip C. Perron

  The tale within this work is a work of fiction. All characters, products, corporations, institutions, and/or entities of any kind in this book are either products of the author’s imaginations or, if real, used fictitiously without intent to describe actual characteristics.

  First Great Old Ones Publishing trade paperback printing, 2014

  Great Old Ones Publishing

  For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases or editions for a library of your choosing, please contact Great Old Ones Publishing through the website http://www.greadoldonespublishing.com

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 0692270434

  ISBN-13: 978-0692270431 (Great Old Ones Publishing)

  GREAT OLD ONES PUBLISHING

  NEW HAMPSHIRE

  U.S.A.

  Introduction

  Eric S. Brown

  The original Bigfoot War book came out in May of 2010. After years of writing zombies, I desperately needed to take a break from the hungry dead, and Bigfoot War was my way of doing that.

  Growing up in the rural south, I had always been terrified of Sasquatch and channeled that into the pages of Bigfoot War. It was much more than just another killer Sasquatch book, not that there were many around at that time. Bigfoot War was a brand new take on the Apocalypse, blending the formula of zombie fiction with the Sasquatch mythos.

  As a fan, I had been sick of books and movies that only had one or two killer Sasquatch in them and wanted something that took Bigfoot Horror to a whole new level. Bigfoot War did that. It succeeded far beyond anything I could have ever imagined at the time. It became the best received book, in terms of reviews, ever published by Coscom Entertainment, and went from being a book I had written mainly for myself to being my flagship title. Forget being “the king of zombies in the small press” as some places had come to call me, I was now the “Bigfoot Apocalypse guy”.

  Before I knew it, I was writing Bigfoot War II: Dead in the Woods and then Bigfoot War: Food Chain. That initial trilogy is the core of everything Bigfoot War. They tell the story from beginning to end (sort of) on their own. The response was crazy and overwhelming as I had not only the fans of the series demanding more but also the series’ publisher.

  By the time I wrote Bigfoot War IV: Legion, my career had changed greatly. I was in a place as a writer where I wasn’t afraid to take chances with my fiction anymore. In fact, I thrived on trying to top myself with how insane the next book was going to be.

  Bigfoot War IV served as a prequel to the original trilogy that not only explained where the zombie virus that struck in book II had come from but crossed over with several of my other books like The A Pack of Wolves trilogy, How the West Went to Hell, and even World War of the Dead. Bigfoot War IV had Bigfoot hordes, zombie Sasquatch, demons, werewolves, and even a telepathic time traveler (named after my real life son).

  At that point, I was ready to move on, thinking I had done all I could do with the Bigfoot War series but there was no hope for that. The demand was still insane for more of the Bigfoot War universe and I couldn’t let my readers down, could I?

  Bigfoot War V: Planet Sasquatch re-launched the series in an entirely new time period in the far flung future, after mankind had recovered from the Bigfoot Apocalypse and humanity had spread outward into the stars. Planet Sasquatch was a very fun book for me to write as it blended my personal favorite genre, Military SF, with Bigfoot Horror. It too was a hit in the small press world of publishing, and Planet Sasquatch: Retaliation was released not long thereafter.

  Planet Sasquatch: Retaliation was, I think, the best book of the series other than the original. It was my “Aliens” as a large force of heavily armed coloni
al marines set foot on a planet full of killer Sasquatch and went to war with them. Looking back now, I can see that book was, in a way, my homage to John Steakley’s ARMOR, one of the bestselling Military SF books of all time.

  The Planet Sasquatch arc also includes Planet Sasquatch: Heavy Carnage which picks up right after the epic final battle of Retaliation as a small group Mechs fight a desperate battle to survive on a hostile world of monsters. The final book of the Planet Sasquatch arc is of course Bigfoot War: The End which once again time hops even further into the future and concludes the entire series.

  Along the way, during and between the two true arcs of the Bigfoot War series, I wrote quite a few expansion titles too including the most notable of which was perhaps Bigfoot War: Tales of the Sasquatch Apocalypse. It is unique among all the books in the series as it covers everything from Bigfoot attacks as far back as ancient Rome all the way through the days of books II and III in the original trilogy.

  The first true expansion book, in respect to the timeline of the series, was Bigfoot War: Frontier. It was a prequel to Bigfoot War IV and is a western take on Bigfoot Horror.

  Bigfoot War: Outbreak is a direct expansion to the first two books of the original trilogy that brings back Zack and shows more of what was happening in the Asheville area of North Carolina as the Bigfoot/Zombie apocalypse began. Then there are stand alone tales like Bigfoot War: The Mech Age which helps to fill in the gap in the timeline between Bigfoot War III and Bigfoot War V.

  Right now, however, in your hands, you are holding a copy of Bigfoot War: Redneck Apocalypse, written over five years after the original Bigfoot War. It returns to the events of the first book giving you more insight into what was happening in another town near Babble Creek during the very first few nights of those early days of the war. Whether or not Bigfoot War: Redneck Apocalypse will be the final book to be added to the series is questionable at best. With the release of the movie adaptation of the original Bigfoot War book on the horizon, and talk of more films if the first is successful, I just honestly don’t know myself. I still enjoy writing Sasquatch Apocalypse stories so we’ll all just have to wait and see what the future has in store for us. In the meantime, enjoy this one and let the carnage commence … again.

  BIGFOOT WARS

  REDNECK APOCALYPSE

  ERIC S. BROWN

  The clock in the center of the truck’s dash read 1:11 AM. Harold didn’t give a flying flip. He ejected the Johnny Cash CD from the player and shoved in one by Creedence Clearwater Revival, cranking it up as he belted out the lyrics “playing in a travelin’ band”. He was in a good mood and its cause was more than the mass of crushed Redbull cans in the passenger seat next to him. In less than four hours, he’d be rolling into the back lot of Ingles’ super center 1663. Once his eighteen wheeler was unloaded, he’d be free.

  A smile stretched over his lips. This drive had been a long one. Harold missed Rita and was more than ready to get it on with her after he got a shower and lured her to their bedroom. No, forget that, he thought, the living room floor and as soon as I walk in. That would be even better. He knew she had worked her job at Clyde’s restaurant last night, but today was the first day of her two day break.

  They were newly married and things were going great. His job paid most of the bills, and with the money from Rita’s, they were saving up for a house of their own. No more trailer park days for them. No sir. They were moving up in the world and getting ready to start a family.

  He was alive with energy despite his exhaustion from the drive. His foot was already heavier than it should be on the gas, but he knew this road well. The curves and twists of the Parkway flowed like a natural sort of rhythm to him now. Lord knew, he’d been driving them enough. Hauling freight and groceries had been his job for over a decade and he always took this same route if he could. There had been a lot of downed trees and landslides in the last year or so that closed it off at times but tonight, it was open and he was loving every second of pushing onward down it.

  Harold almost didn’t see the patrol car in time. It sat in the middle of the road as he came around a sharp turn. Its lights were on but they had been blocked by the mountain. He jerked the wheel hard to the right, his foot slamming on the eighteen wheeler’s brake. The massive truck’s tires squealed, crying out in protest. He almost fishtailed, barely managing to hold it together and keep control of the truck.

  Even so, the front of the truck smacked into the edge of the patrol car’s rear and knocked it a half circle spin as it barreled passed it. He was cursing like a sailor as the eighteen wheeler finally skidded to halt. Harold’s hand slapped itself onto his crotch, checking to see if he had lost control of his bladder during the madness of the last few moments. His pants were dry. Slinging open his door, he jumped out onto the road, running back along it towards the patrol car. He froze as he saw the body lying beside it.

  “Oh Lord no,” he whispered. The body was crumpled up but he could see straight away that its head was gone. Blood pooled on the road around it, drenching the dead deputy’s uniform and glistening the moonlight. One of the body’s arms was badly mangled too. It looked as if something had taken a hold of it and twisted the limb nearly off. The white of bone protruded through the torn sleeve of the man’s uniform just below his elbow.

  Harold forced himself to walk closer to where the body lay. What had happened? Why the devil had the deputy parked his car in the middle of the road? Harold’s mind screamed at him. Why was the poor idiot even out here at this time of night?

  Yanking his NASCAR hat from his head, Harold ran his fingers through his hair. Though the night was warm, he felt chilled to the bone. Things were going too well for him to screw everything up with something like this. He fell to his knees and threw up. The eggs and sausage he’d had grabbed at the truck stop last night before he left Wilmington didn’t taste as good as they rose into his mouth and were sprayed onto the asphalt. When it was over, he wiped at his mouth with the backside of his hand. His whole body was trembling as he stood up. Only then did he notice the deputy’s Glock. It lay several feet from the man’s corpse and several spent casings were scattered about on the road.

  What the Hell? Harold wondered. He heaved himself to his feet, curiosity overcoming his fear as he staggered towards the deputy’s corpse and the patrol car. His truck had hit the car in its rear but the forward grill was caved inward. There was blood and clumps of matted brown hair covering the dented section. The deputy must have hit something before he’d come along. That was why the lawman had stopped in the middle of the road. But why had he drawn and fired his weapon?

  None of this made sense. Harold shook himself. If this was a bad dream, that meant he was asleep at the wheel and needed to wake up. Now!

  Harold took a closer look at the patrol car. Besides the forward grill, it was a mess. Whatever the deputy had hit messed it up pretty bad. If he had hit a bear and had it survived the impact, that might explain why the lawman had went for his gun. There was nothing like a ticked off, injured bear coming at you to get you to pop off a few rounds. If he had hit a bear though, where was the body? Surely between being hit by a car and the deputy putting some rounds into it, the thing had to be dead.

  A low, guttural growl arose from the trees at the roadside. This time, Harold’s bladder did let loose. A warm stream of urine ran down the side of his right leg as he turned and saw the thing that had been watching him. Though it was partially hidden by the trees, Harold could see enough of it to know he was well and truly screwed. The beast stood on two legs, a towering nine feet in height. Brown hair covered its man-like body from head to toe. Its yellow eyes blazed in the shadows, full of anger and hate. It came limping from the trees towards him, dragging one broken leg along as it shuffled forward.

  Harold sprinted full out towards the open driver’s door of his truck and threw himself inside. He let the truck’s own momentum slam the door closed as he shifted the big rig into drive and laid the pedal to the floor. He glance
d in the side mirror, looking back, to see the thing hobbling after him. Only now, the creature wasn’t alone. There were three more of the beasts behind it.

  The three uninjured monsters bounded along the road, chasing after the truck and matching its speed. The road had too many curves for Harold to go full out. He began praying as he watched the things catch up to the eighteen wheeler’s rear. There was a thud, his jaw dropping, as he watched one of the creatures leap onto the side of the truck and climb atop its trailer like some kind of dang monkey.

  Harold tore his eyes away from studying the beast as it disappeared from view. Instead he focused his attention back on the road ahead, yet to his chagrin, he saw it was too late. He screamed like a school girl as he saw he’d never make the turn in time. With a shudder, the eighteen wheeler smashed through the guardrail at the edge of the road. Harold felt the truck quiver as it dropped away from the road. Open air was all that lay ahead.

  Lost in shock and his mind wandering, Harold wondered if the beasts were still holding on to the truck or if they had jumped clear. He closed his eyes seconds before the truck’s cab made contact with the rocks below and the trailer came crashing down upon him. The night lit up with orange flames as the eighteen wheeler’s gas tanks ignited. The explosion was immense. Its flames became so severe that the last thing Harold felt was his own flesh melting away from his bones.

  Danny’s fingers struggled to rip free of his shirt neck collar. He hated dressing up for anything, and funerals were the worst of all. Thank God, he thought as he plopped down upon the porch swing. At the least, the whole affair was now over.