H. Alt available for sale at only 99 cents!

Are you an avid reader of zombie novels? How about Sci-fi? Then you should definitely check out my books! So far I've got Oblivion, a sci-fi fantasy about angels and demons and the humans that get caught up in their war, and two zombie novels: Sunkissed and Weeds, the sequel to Sunkissed. There are free samples available on Amazon, and the books can be purchased for a mere 99 cents each. Click here to go to Amazon and check out my profile.

As always, thank you for your support, and read on!

A sequel to Sunkissed, Weeds, now available on Amazon!

Well hello there, endearing and supportive fans!

For those of you who read Sunkissed: A Zombie Novel, I have some good news for you - Hayden's story has continued and the sequel is finally (FINALLY) available on Amazon! You can find it for your reading needs here: http://tinyurl.com/nz6m3rl

As always, thank you so much for your support! It means a lot to me to have your enthusiasm and feedback! Please, enjoy the sequel! I hope I did you proud!

Read on!

H.

Weeds: A Zombie Sequel

Below is the first chapter of Weeds, the sequel to Sunkissed: A Zombie Novel. Enjoy!

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

A warm breeze carries the promise of a storm and whips the tops of the trees, but the grass around us is still, as though it fears the squall to come. In the distance, birds twitter hurriedly as gray and black clouds infiltrate the last patches of blue sky.

We’re stopped before a stronghold. From where we’re parked atop a hill, the city below seems to be encased in a solid metal wall that curves off out of sight and into neighboring woods. The wall is at least twenty feet tall with men guarding the barbed-wire top.

And the entire wall is surrounded by undead.

Jay lets out a low whistle while I cut the engine. We’re perched at the top of the hill just outside the city. The inside of the city looks untouched, but it’s impossible to tell how far the seclusion goes for.

“So it’s true,” Belle sighs, leaning forward in the backseat so that her head is level with Jay’s and mine. “This really is the safest place in what used to be our country, huh?”

“But why here?” I ask, suspicious. “Why where the virus began?”

“And how the hell are we going to get inside?” Jay asks irritatingly, picking at the bandages at his throat.

“Stop,” I scold him, slapping his hand away from his wound. He gives me a pathetic look not unlike a golden retriever caught chewing its stitches.

“Hayden, they look pretty organized here,” Jay says after a thoughtful pause following his admonishment. My eyes follow the armored men that pace together along the top of the reinforced wall. “Established. What do you think they’ll do to a couple of people like us?”

I shrug, then immediately wince in pain. My shoulder never did heal fully from the incident at the school. “They might want to take some blood samples. Do what the Professor was doing, you know. He asked me a lot of questions, read a lot of books. Maybe they have a whole science department here, for all we know.” I exhale sadly. “Oliver would love that.”

Belle tips her head back and peers through the sunroof of the car. “Another storm’s coming.” Traces of sunlight dance on her face. “A big one.”

After checking my rearview mirror, I open the car door and step outside. Behind us, large gray clouds bubble and boil, spilling into the sky with a roll of thunder. Ahead of us lies the city, the undead rumbling against the metal barricade in piles as though trying to find a break in the seamless wall.

A loud horn pierces through the still air and I spin around to face the car. My wide eyes find Jay laying his hand on the horn, glaring ahead determinedly.

“People are getting into this city somehow!” Jay shouts over the noise as I turn back to the armored gates. “They need to know that we’re here!”

We caught the attention of the guards the moment the horn sounded. But we also drew the attention of the undead. They shift at the sound, milling in small circles before realigning their bodies with our car instead of the gate.

“Idiot!” I shout, climbing back into the car and slamming the door shut. I start the engine back up. “You’re just getting the attention of the others! Stop!” I pull his hand off the horn and the air goes still again. The light around our car goes dark as the clouds engulf the sun above.

“Got their attention, too,” Jay says with a smirk. The guards atop the wall now point and call to us.

I slam my head back against the headrest. The undead that were attracted to the sound of the horn are back to ignoring us, turning to face the wall once more. As I study their movements, I spot a couple of roads at the bottom of the hill that veers into the woods surrounding the city.

“Maybe…” I murmur, a plan forming as the first raindrop splashes the windshield. “Jay, honk my horn.”

“Is that…code?”

“No, Jay. Seatbelts, everyone!” I cry, clipping my own into place. “Jay!”

“Okay!” He says enthusiastically, and lays his hand down on my steering wheel.

“Keep holding it, okay?” I call over the sound of the horn. Then, I throw my foot down on the gas pedal.

“Hayden, what the hell?!” Belle cries out, and I hear her thud back against the car seat.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

We bound over the hill and approach the city with mounting speed. Rows upon rows of undead turn to the sound of my horn, abandoning their posts at the wall. Above, the soldiers literally scratch their heads at what I’m doing.

Just before we reach the group of undead, I veer right onto the road I spotted from atop the hill. The undead to our side, ahead and behind are all drawn to the sound of the blaring horn, and as I speed past the trees on the gravel road, they begin to chase us. Behind us, they sprint after our car. Ahead of us, they prepare as though ready to pounce on us when we will eventually drive by.

Undead bodies tackle our car and are thrown off as I turn off the road and onto another, following the wall of the city. The undead, bumping and wrestling against the body of the car, throws the vehicle slightly off balance, but I press on, attracting the attention of every undead in the area.

“What the hell are you planning?” Jay asks me, his eager eyes finding mine in the chaos.

I grin back. Even though he doesn’t know what I’m planning, he trusts me enough to not let his hand leave the horn. I like that sense of trust. It gives me more power.

I gun it through the woods, plowing through undead while others struggle to keep up. I turn hard, and thuds ring out as undead pummel against the side of the car. I force the car back around down the second road, heading back to the direction of the gate. The undead have fallen behind in a mist of dirt and dust, and we finally reappear at the base of the hill where we started.

The entrance to the gate is now clear; all of the undead followed us into the woods. That means, of course, that there’s a large hoard trailing behind us now. As Jay relinquishes the horn, I can only hope the guards know what I plan to do.

They do. For a split second, someone is as crazy as Jay to trust me, and the gates are cranked open. The back of the car fishtails as the wheels try to catch friction against the ground, throwing the last of the undead off of our car; the rest are not far behind.

Rain pelts down against the windshield as the car guns forward, into the growing gap in the wall. Just as the passage becomes big enough for the car to fit through, the front of our car enters the sanctuary beyond.

The side-view mirrors snap off from either side of the car, and lingering undead on the sides scrape to pieces between car and wall. In a heartbeat, I’ve zoomed through the gate. Before I know it, another wall rapidly approaches.

An airbag blows up in my face and I start laughing amidst the deafening screeching and crash of totaling the car. My seatbelt tugs painfully against my chest and shoulders, and my laugh turns into a cry of pain. I’m crying and laughing and pummeling at the airbag with my fists to breathe properly.

“Is everyone okay?” I cry out, but I hear Jay laughing and Belle screaming obscenities and I know we're all fine. We picked up a lot of speed before the impact, but the turn into the gate slowed us down substantially. I sit in disbelief that my plan worked.

Around us are the sounds of gunfire and a grinding hum of metal scraping against the earth. My eyes go to the rearview mirror and I watch the gate doors collide to a close behind us.

I unbuckle my belt and pull on the handle of the car door, stumbling outside into the cool air. I whip my head around, finding us stuck between two towering metal walls. We’re not inside the city just yet.

A man in a uniform approaches me, wearing a dark helmet and a solid black jumper, his arms occupied by a machine gun. “Of course, it was a woman driving.”

“I’m gonna pretend that in this post-apocalyptic era, sexist jokes don’t exist. What’s with the second gate?”

“This is a checkpoint. We check to see if any arriving survivors have been bitten,” says the guard, propping his gun up and pointing it at me.

Uh-oh. Right. Telling a guy at gunpoint that I’ve been bitten but survived. I suck in a deep breath and look him straight in the eye. “I’m immune,” I say carefully.

“Immune?” The man echoes with a wary gaze. He doesn’t lower his gun.

“So’s he,” I say, nodding back to Jay, who I hear getting out of his car. “The girl in the back, Belle, she hasn’t been bit.”

“So you have been bit?”

“Twice, weeks ago. I passed out but I didn’t turn.”

“And him?” He inquires, motioning to Jay with his gun. I feel a warm bead of sweat drip down my spine.

“Same thing,” Jay says from behind me. Maybe he thinks that telling them that he was bit only two hours ago is too risky. I don’t correct him.

“And she’s clean?” The guard confirms. More guards stand around us now, each one wielding intimidating-looking guns.

“Totally.” I nod eagerly. How desperately I need this man to believe that we’re safe.

He nods once. “Okay. But a full-body check is mandatory. We aren’t missing anything in between these gates. If we let one infected person into the city, it’ll be the end of the world all over again.”

I nod in agreement. “Safety first.”

After we give our names, the guard motions to the others. At gunpoint, they round Belle, Jay and me up like cattle and begin ushering us away from the still-smoking car.

We’re led into a separate metal hallway built into the outer wall of the city. To my dismay, Jay and Belle are led into different rooms and I’m taken to an empty, cold room at the end of the dimly lit hall.

After an extended, humiliating strip-down before three male guards, a fourth man, a doctor, is called into the room. I’m allowed to put on my undergarments and jeans as he examines the wound at my wrist and shoulder, neither of which have fully healed.

My back to the door, the doctor gently probes at the bite marks as I stare up at the ceiling, desperately wishing to be reunited with Jay and Belle even though it couldn’t be more than fifteen minutes since our separation. Suddenly, a familiar voice drifts through the door.

“I caught the name of the people that drove in here like maniacs, and I had to see if…”

My heart stops. No. What are the chances, honestly, of him being here? Most of the world is undead and the one guy I never want to see again is alive? Is that some kind of a sick joke?

I pull away from the doctor to face the doorway and the man standing in it. He’s in a guard’s get-up, his shaggy hair pressed flat against his forehead from the helmet.

He stares at me through his visor, squinting his eyes, when a small smile appears on his lips. “Did your tits get bigger?”

“For the love of God,” I sigh, reaching for my shirt off a nearby chair.

“The examination isn’t complete,” the doctor argues.

“Yes, it is.” I snap, wrestling myself into my shirt. Some of Danny’s last words replay in my head, and I want so badly to hurt something or someone that I clench my hands and teeth and resist the urge to snatch a gun. “I can’t believe you haven’t learned from your past mistakes. After everything you’ve done to me – to me, personally!”

And here he stands, the very reason for hard feelings and a splintered friendship. Someone from long before any of this. Back when the world still made sense.

“Mike,” I hiss, crossing my arms tight over my chest. “What the hell are you doing alive?”

He only smiles. 

Sunkissed: A Zombie Novel

In a hilarious twist of irony, I have published Sunkissed: A Zombie Novel on Easter this year, 2013! 

It is available to download here. Sunkissed will be the first of two zombie novels I'm writing this year, 

so, WAIT! Theres more! 

Here's a sneak-peek of the novel! 

Stealing out into the hall, we make it swiftly down the staircase. Danny was right; the apartment is silent, save for the occasional scream that pierces through the south wall. As our feet quickly descend the staircase, my eyes scan the doors on every landing, but each one is shut tight. It’s not long until we’re on the ground floor with the last door that we have to pass through before us.

I look over my shoulder to Danny, nodding once. “Are you ready? Do you remember where the Chevy is?”

“Yeah. Around the corner on Roland,” Danny nods back. She takes in another shaking breath; I do the same.

“On three. Run straight in that direction. Try to avoid the…things,” I end bleakly, my attention back on the door.

“See you there,” Danny promises.

I shift my grip on the axe, my palm already sweating in nervousness. “Okay. One…two…three!”

I turn the knob and slam the door open and we burst outside. I run blindly forward into the courtyard.

A woman’s scream shreds the initial calm of the outside air; I take half a second to check it’s not Danny. But she was at my heels, sprinting in the direction of the street. My eyes hastily scanned the area; undead swarm at the edges of the courtyard, the blood on them wet and their skin sagging. My eyes connect with one standing not far from us, and before I know it he’s on our trail.

I scream incoherently at Danny to move faster and she bolts ahead. Getting a stronger grip on my axe, I throw my arm back at the approaching undead man, who’s already close enough that his heavy breathing fills my ears.

The torrential uproar becomes a dull background noise. The axe blade lands in the space between his shoulder and neck and sticks. My balance thrown, I stumble into the man and use both arms to wrench the axe back out, spinning around to lurch after Danny.

He pauses but doesn’t stop; in a heartbeat, his unsteady breathing rasps in my ear. I stumble downhill and into a parking lot at the corner of Roland. Look first, a voice – my mind, in haste – commands, and I glance over my shoulder to find him. His blue eyes, red where they should be white, a chunk of skin torn away to reveal the skull beneath his brow, meet mine as I drive the axe blade into his neck.

I don’t decapitate him – not completely. I throw my weight in the other direction and the axe is easier to pull out this time. Cold blood splatters against my bare arms and he falls, his head collapsed to one side, his neck muscles and bone splintered and exposed. I turn on my heel, my stomach in somersaults, and race again after Danny.

She’s nearly to the car, and although her hammer is bloodied she looks unscathed. As I watch her, the sun glimmering off the shining body catches my eye and temporarily blinds me.

“Danny!” I exclaim, falling slightly behind.

We emerge onto the sunlit street, crowded with cars, bikes, and corpses. A sordid scorched smell reaches my nose – like a barbeque gone very, very wrong – and I look for the source as I run. The smell must be coming from the corpses I avoid. They probably won’t be corpses for much longer, I think. I suddenly skid to a halt.

“Hayden!” Danny calls out. She reaches the car and wrenches open the backdoor, throwing the bags in. “Hayden, come on!”

I turn slowly in place, my eyes scanning the long road that stretches out behind us; in the distance I see my previous attacker, stumbling down a set of courtyard stairs I just passed. The chaos of the moaning undead, the screaming nearly-dead, and the whirring of sirens echoes in my ears. Unlike the adjacent street we had come down, this street is flooded in sunlight. It’s also peculiarly empty of the infected.

“Danny,” I say, in a voice loud enough that she can hear me. “They can’t go out in the sunlight!” Suddenly the decomposing bodies and the rotten smell plaguing my nose make perfect sense. The corpses in the roads are fallen undead that were pushed out into the sunlight, and before they could make it back to the shade of the tall buildings, of the trees in the courtyard, they were burned to death.

Danny pauses, taking a moment to look around. “Thank God,” she whispers. “They have a weakness.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, bitterness overtaking me. “Until dusk.”

Read on here for only 99 cents or free if you borrow it through KDP Select! 

H.Alt For Me!

Hey! If you're reading this, you have successfully discovered the blog of the up and coming author, H. Alt! Which is me. How's it going?

I've had this blog for a while, but I've never really utilized it. So for my first post, I'll do a traditional plug of my new (although not really so new) and available novel, Oblivion! You can find it here! This is a new, re-formatted, re-edited version of the original. Check it out!

This is also a good time to mention that I have a second novel in the process of becoming published. Below is an excerpt from my next novel, "Sunkissed: A Zombie Novel." Read on!

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The man’s body looked as though he had pulled himself out of a grave and come back from the dead. For being a video that was only 400 by 300 pixels, the detail was painstakingly sharp. The shallow breaths of whoever held the video camera fill my ears as I remember, and I lean against the doorframe, squeezing my eyes shut. I saw that man; dead or alive, it was impossible to tell, dragging one foot behind him as though it were too heavy, as though his ankle were broken. Despite his injured leg, he was still shockingly fast. He sprinted across the street, jumped on a middle-aged woman, and with no hesitation at all, buried his teeth into her neck and ripped the muscle out of her throat. Blood poured everywhere; the woman’s screaming came out jagged and disconnected. She collapsed, and several more like the man – pale and grotesque-looking, with wounds and torn clothes, their arms hanging limply as though they had forgotten how to use them – leapt onto her. Her blood-curdling screams paused only between fits of bloody gurgling. The monsters ripped her to shreds, greedily scooping her insides into their mouths. The cameraman’s hand shook hard, the picture trembling as though he was fighting to stay standing in an earthquake.

The video ended when the cameraman turned hard to the left, and one of the cannibals’ faces filled the frame and froze.

That face…I’ll never forget it. If he looked healthy, he’d be in his mid-twenties. His hair was ragged and greased with blood – his own or maybe another’s. His eyes were sunk deep in his sockets and his cheeks sagged. His jaw was broken so that his mouth was fixed in a never-ending scream of agony, and his eyes…

His eyes were dead.

---

Hope you enjoyed the excerpt! I'll be around with more updates eventually. Thanks for reading!