“I’m sorry, Jim,” I said. He nodded sadly, finally accepting that I’d done everything I could.
I climbed into the truck and fired up the engine. When I looked up, Jim was gone. I noticed a CD lying on the passenger seat and picked it up. Must have been left there by one of Guthrie’s boys. It was a band I’d never heard of—The Chambers Brothers. I slipped it in the player and cranked it up. Lost myself in the pounding, liberating rhythm of “Time Is Here Today.” As I picked up speed I checked the rear view mirror and, for the last time, saw Perro’s bloated body in the road, newly arrived crows fighting as they picked at the rotting remains. Eventually he would return to the earth. Might even nourish it. Circle of life, I guess.
I didn’t know where I was going exactly. Towards a future filled with uncertainty and danger. It was the kind I was used to, but this time there were no limits. I had to find the people who did this—needed to deal with them, even if it meant dying alone without anyone to pray for me. It was all that mattered now. I had to.
For Holly.
Copyright © 2014 by Steven Ramirez.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the publisher at stevenramirez.com/permission
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Dead Is All You Get / Steven Ramirez.—1st ed.
ISBN 978-0-9898718-3-9
A SIMPLE ASK
Thank you for reading my novel. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now that you’ve finished it, I have an ask.
Will you take a few minutes to write an online review?
Amazon US
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Honest reviews are crucial for a writer. They connect us with our readers and provide important insights into how we are progressing in our craft. And don’t worry if you didn’t like the book. I’d still like to hear from you. Really.
Thank you again, dear reader.
MORE FICTION BY STEVEN RAMIREZ
Tell Me When I’m Dead:
Book One of THE DEAD SERIES
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
“Walker,” a short story
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
“A Bone in the Throat,” a short story
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book isn’t only a product of my time and imagination. It’s the result of the patience of my family—Corinne, Gabby and Candy. There were many times when I had to just get to it. Their understanding and support was crucial in helping me complete this novel. If you are a writer, you’ll understand what I’m telling you. And if you have a writer in the family, please give them the encouragement they need. It’s a tough road, writing.
I’d like to thank Marti McKenna, who did a fantastic job editing the book. Also thanks to Deborah Bradseth for the beautiful cover design. As she can attest, I can be a handful. And finally JW Manus for her wisdom, patience and formidable formatting skills.
A huge high five to Kevin Asmus, who created the cover art. Previously, Kevin allowed me to use his work Last Man Standing for the cover of Tell Me When I’m Dead, the first book in this series. When I asked him if I could commission a new original cover for Dead Is All You Get, he practically leaped at the chance. He’s an incredible artist with a big heart, and I am thrilled to feature his work.
I also want to thank my beta readers—especially authors Danielle DeVor and Tony Gilbert, who offered important suggestions and insights that helped make the book better. Finally, I want to thank Joseph Berube, who has spent many years in the military and who provided me with crucial technical details around a soldier’s life.
The little girl at the end quotes 2 Corinthians 4:1. This is from the New Living Translation, which can be found at biblehub.com:
Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.
This, which Jim quotes in a dream, is also from the New Living Translation version of John 8:32:
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
“Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy,” or “Kyrie eleison,” was taken from the Order of Mass.
This line, which Dave quoted, can be found in Masterpieces by Khalil Gibran:
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
The Rockefeller Report referenced in the novel is real. You can find it by searching the Internet on “Is Military Research Hazardous to Veterans’ Health?” In case you’re interested, this is from the Forward:
During the last few years, the public has become aware of several examples where U.S. Government researchers intentionally exposed Americans to potentially dangerous substances without their knowledge or consent. The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, which I have been privileged to chair from 1993-94, has conducted a comprehensive analysis of the extent to which veterans participated in such research while they were serving in the U.S. military. This resulted in two hearings, on May 6, 1994, and August 5, 1994.
Information on the Tuskegee syphilis experiment was taken from an article in Wikipedia, which can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment.
Plum Island, also mentioned in the book, is real and has a long, dark history. You can find a wealth of conspiracy theories by searching the Internet.
Lastly, I dedicated this novel to “the men and women who serve our country.” Though this book is not really about soldiers or the military, it is populated with fictional people who served in dangerous places like Afghanistan. I have nothing but respect for these brave individuals, and I sincerely hope that in creating my characters, I didn’t in any way do our men and women of the military a disservice. Hooah!
THE PLAYLIST
Okay, now for some fun! Here is a playlist of songs relating to this novel. The ones marked with an asterisk are mentioned in the book. The rest are thematic to the story. I hope you find them entertaining.
1. “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers *
2. “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes *
3. “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode *
4. “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” by Will L. Thompson *
5. “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure *
6. “Catch the Wind” by Donovan *
7. “Time Is Here Today” by The Chambers Brothers *
8. “I Melt With You” by Modern English
9. “Times Like These” by The Foo Fighters
10. “Time Bomb” by Rancid
11. “Human” by The Killers
12. “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones
13. “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by R.E.M.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
You can connect with Steven on
Twitter:
twitter.com/byStevenRamirez
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/StevenRamirezWriter
Goodreads:
www.goodreads.com/StevenRamirez
Google+:
plus.google.com/+StevenRamirezWriter
Amazon Author Page:
amazon.com/author/stevenramirez
Steven’s website and blog can be found at stevenramirez.com.
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STEVEN RAMIREZ began writing seriously as a sophomore in high school, concentrating on that time-honored vehicle of teen outrage and simmering hormones—poetry. Each week, he created these verses and “borrowed” the school’s copier equipment, which allowed him to distribute his work to the unsuspecting world. He still owes the high school twenty-eight bucks for supplies, so please don’t tell anyone.
In college, he dabbled in short stories and filmmaking, all to avoid working on his actual major—music. After a trip to the UK and Spain, where he learned that Californians really do have an accent, he returned to the states and graduated with a BA in music, which helped him land a job answering phones.
Eventually, Steven began writing screenplays, mostly because everyone else in LA is writing a screenplay. It’s the law—look it up. If you are not at least “working” on a screenplay, they banish you to South Orange County, where you can take up surfing. Come to think of it, they might have rewritten that law, but you wouldn’t know it visiting Starbucks. What set him apart, though, is that for a while he had an agent. He still didn’t sell anything, though. Agents are like lawyers. Unless there are crisp, new thousand dollar bills nailed to your forehead, they tend not to return your calls.
Then came a fateful meeting with the Davids—David Rimawi and David Latt of The Asylum, the prolific studio responsible for ‘Sharknado.’ These fine gentlemen read Steven’s work and decided to take a chance. The result was the horror-thriller film ‘Killers.’ It was funny, bloody and action-filled, and featured a young Paul Logan, who has gone on to enjoy a nice movie career while Steven became old, embittered and … wait, that’s somebody else’s life.
Tired of hawking screenplays, Steven returned to short stories. Though over the years he had written several novels—none of which were published—he decided to try again and in 2013 published Tell Me When I’m Dead, a zombie thriller. In 2014, he followed up with the sequel, Dead Is All You Get, and is hard at work on the last book of THE DEAD SERIES trilogy.
In addition to writing, Steven is a pretend musician, having written songs and played in bands since high school. He started on the accordion long before it was popular, then graduated to the piano. Thankfully, he decided to give up music and focus on writing.
Steven lives in Los Angeles with his lovely, long-suffering wife and two beautiful daughters. He has a highly distracted Shi Tzu who insists bananas are a major food group. He enjoys Mike and Ikes with his Iced Caffè Americano, doesn’t sleep on planes and wishes Europe were closer.
CONTENTS
1: Opening Shot
2: Cornered
3: Dream Faster
4: Evie’s Story
5: Misdirection
6: Signing On
7: Shock Treatment
8: Patient Zero
9: The Mayor
10: Dragger Days
11: Conspiracy Theory
12: Ariel
13: Sometimes You Get Lucky
14: Field Report
15: Examination of Conscience
16: Men in Black Cars
17: Friends in Need
18: Left Turn
19: Told by an Idiot
20: Justified
21: News of the World
22: Just Like Guatemala
23: Frantic
24: Carrot—Not a Stick
25: Operation Guncotton
26: Running the Gantlet
27: Making Things Right
28: Personal Jesus
29: Coming Home
30: Exit Strategy
A Simple Ask
Acknowledgments
The Playlist
About the Author
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1: Opening Shot
Chapter 2: Cornered
Chapter 3: Dream Faster
Chapter 4: Evie's Story
Chapter 5: Misdirection
Chapter 6: Signing On
Chapter 7: Shock Treatment
Chapter 8: Patient Zero
Chapter 9: The Mayor
Chapter 10: Dragger Days
Chapter 11: Hell's Waiting Room
Chapter 12: Ariel
Chapter 13: Sometimes You Get Lucky
Chapter 14: Field Report
Chapter 15: Examination of Conscience
Chapter 16: Men in Black Cars
Chapter 17: Friends in Need
Chapter 18: Left Turn
Chapter 19: Told by an Idiot
Chapter 20: Justified
Chapter 21: News of the World
Chapter 22: Just Like Guatemala
Chapter 23: Frantic
Chapter 24: Carrot - Not a Stick
Chapter 25: Operation Guncotton
Chapter 26: Running the Gantlet
Chapter 27: Making Things Right
Chapter 28: Personal Jesus
Chapter 29: Coming Home
Chapter 30: Exit Strategy
Copyright Information
A Simple Ask
Acknowledgments
The Playlist
About the Author
Table of Contents