About Flu

There's a nasty flu going round. An epidemic, they call it. The posters say to cover your mouth when you sneeze, and throw away the tissue. But such simple measures won't stop this flu. Because when you catch the flu, armed police come and lock you in your house to die alone. When you catch this flu, it kills you in days. And when you catch this flu, two hours after it's killed you, your eyelids snap open again... FLU is a pacey, terrifying, frighteningly real zombie horror story.

PROLOGUE

Finaghy, Northern Ireland 17th June 2010

There was a woman screaming in his face. She was one of many, crowding around him. But he couldn't hear her. With the headgear he was wearing, Sergeant George Kelly couldn't hear what any of them were saying. They were all just muffled words. Muted. Censored. Like sounds you would hear under water. But he could see her talking, see her screaming. And he knew she was swearing. It was something about the way her lips were moving. Shaping the words as if they were heavy. Teeth showing. Almost growling rather than speaking. Or maybe laughing. Because, with every fuck-shaped word she mouthed, there was at least the hint of a smile. It didn't matter, of course. None of their words mattered to George when all he could hear was the rhythmic sound of his own breathing. A mechanical mish-mash of pumps and compression as sanitised air flowed, noisily, through rubber tubing into his facemask and lungs. Steady and dependable. Pure and uninfected. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking to the corner of his visor, he saw his constable, Norman Coulter, also in breathing apparatus, also fighting through the confused and excited crowd. Norman smiled, as if enjoying himself, rolling with the mob as if on some fairground ride. George knew it was just bravado, though. Maybe the big man was drinking on the job, again. Or maybe he had something even more taboo flooding through his system. George didn't care, though. Not now. He couldn't blame the poor bastard for taking the edge off, regardless of how he did it. In fact, he wished he'd had the wit to take a drink himself.

About Wayne Simmons

Belfast born, Wayne Simmons, has been loitering with intent around the horror genre for some years. Having scribbled reviews and interviews for the likes of Pretty Scary, ZOMBIE-A-GOGO and REVENANT MAGAZINE , Wayne was delighted to release his debut (zombie-ish) horror novel, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, through PERMUTED PRESS. The book was received well by both fans of the genre and reviewers alike. Wayne released his zombie horror novel, FLU, through SNOWBOOKS in April 2010 and we will publish his first novel, Drop Dead Gorgeous, in 2011. In what little spare time he has left, Wayne enjoys running, getting tattooed and listening to all manner of unseemly screeches on his BOOM-BOOM Box... more

"Like a rudely awakened Mrs Havisham, the horror genre has been startled out of its unquiet slumber with a firecely subversive slap from tattooed new kid on the block, Wayne Simmons. Stay awake, he advises, the worst is yet to come." ~Malachy Coney, comic writer and artist (The Darkness, Vampirella)

"One of the best new horror writers of the decade. Wayne Simmons takes everything you fear and exploits it with no apologies." ~James Melzer, author of The Zombie Chronicles trilogy