Wild Strawberry: A Zombie Holocaust
an excerpt

Jim Tide did not realise that he was the first person to see the end of the world. He tutted and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb. He could feel a headache coming on. Tomorrow would be Friday. When he was at college he vowed that he would not get a job that had him longing for the weekend. He studied art, but followed the money into advertising. He looked at the advertising posters on this train, and then closed his eyes; he didn’t want to think about work until tomorrow.
His underground train from work stopped between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner stations. The faded orange upholstery on the chairs had once been fashionable, now it was stained by years of use and abuse. He was in the last carriage, half-full; the tail end of the rush hour was mixing with the beginning of evenings out.
He looked out of the tube train’s window into the dark. He could just make out a small platform, and a corridor stretching back into the dusty black.
Something was moving in the darkness. Engineers, he guessed. He pressed his face against the glass; it was cool against his brow.
The train hissed, ready to move on. Suddenly the shape Jim had been staring at moved sharply, spinning round. He instinctively moved his head back as the shape headed straight towards him at speed.
He saw two grimy hands reaching towards him, and as the tube started to roll the hands smacked into the window with a sickening crunch. Everyone in the carriage jumped.
“Fuck!” Jim shouted, “What was that!”
As the train pulled away he glimpsed a face, smeared with blood, the eyes looked wild, teeth bared.
It was the beginning of the end.