Thanks go to my friends and family for giving me the confidence to begin writing. A special thanks goes to my mom for constantly reminding me that I need to write this book. I know it took a while, Mom, but this is the beginning. I promise. In the past, I've read that writers often write about experiences they have dealt with in their own life, altering the characters and story to match the tale they want to tell. With this in mind, I must dedicate my first book to my brother, Colin, who passed away under a year ago. I'm guessing he is having a beer, watching Karate movies and chatting it up with Bruce Lee right now.

The noise was like nothing he had ever heard before. One moment he was doing the daily security rounds of the cemetery, and the next he was on the grass holding his ears against the deafening sound. It was the most unnatural thing he had ever heard. A sound like thunder mixed with long fingernails going down a chalkboard. It last for nearly eight seconds and ended with a bright flash of light directly to his left. Mike rose to his hands and knees and peered in the direction the light had come from. His ears were still ringing as he climbed to his feet. The sun was just going down in Phoenix, although there was still a little light left.

What he saw set the hairs on the back of his neck tingling. One of the older tombstones glowed an eerie green color. Just to the front of the tombstone there was a glowing green crack hanging in the air about six feet above the ground. Mike blinked as he tried to focus more closely on what he was seeing. He shook his head hoping to clear the ringing from his ears. He pulled his radio from his belt when he noticed a body laying on the grave below the glowing crack.

"Rick. I need you out here. ASAP." He keyed into the radio. Mike stared at the body. This had to be some sort of prank. He knew he was looking at a man due to the fact that the face was turned in his direction. The second indicator was the size of the body. This guy was the size of a large football player with the muscle to back it up. The truly strange thing was that the guy was wearing some type metal armor. Mike heard Rick's response as a blurb from the radio. His ears still rang as he keyed the radio again.

"What is this shit? Please don't tell me I'm on some sort of Punked episode." He said as he stared at the body's armor. It was intricately designed in black and red. Mike nearly pissed himself when a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind and spun him around. Rick was yelling something at him and pointing towards the body. Mike staggered as a wave of dizziness assaulted him again. He felt something dripping down the side of his neck and reached up to feel what it was. He traced the liquid feeling up to his ear and then looked at his fingers. He felt Rick's hand on his shoulder again, this time gently, as he saw the blood on his hand. Rick was guiding him back to the security office. "I can't hear you. The sound did something to me. I don't know what you idiots planned, but I think you took the joke too far." He said to Rick as they arrived at the office. Rick sat him down in the desk chair and started writing on a notepad next to the phone. Mike read it slowly.

No joke. I don't know what the sound was either. Did you see the hole in that guy's neck? Call 911. I'm going to check the guy outside.

Mike grabbed Rick's arm before he could go, writing furiously in answer to the previous note.

Did you see the weird green light?

Rick shrugged as if he had no idea what Mike was talking about. He pointed at the phone and then walked out of the office. Mike pulled the phone off the hook and dialed the emergency number, holding the receiver hard against his ringing ear. He heard the garbled voice of the 911 operator.

"We need some help down at Green Lawn Cemetery. There was a loud sound and now my hearing is impaired. We also have a body out in the graveyard." He said as he rubbed his temples trying to clear his head. This time he could barely make out the reply.

"Sir, we are on the way. How badly are you injured?" The operator's voice buzzed in his ear.

"I seem to be getting my hearing back but I'm still a bit shaky. I'll be fine. The other security guard went to check on the body we found outside." He said as he struggled out of the chair to look out the office window. He could see Rick kneeling over the body as if he was examining it for life. Then he noticed the green crack in the air above the grave. Was it larger than before? He couldn't believe his eyes. "That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen." He said into the phone.

"Sir? Is the other security guard ok? Did you say there was a body there in the graveyard?" The operator asked, concern evident in her voice. Mike felt a wave of dizziness and promptly sat down in the chair. Rick walked into the office, a look of confusion and fear on his face.

"What the hell? Did you see that guy out there? He looks like he came from a movie set. He's dead though. The guy has what looks like a big bite taken out of his neck." He said as he stood looking out the window.

"Did you see that green light just hovering over the guy?" Mike asked as the 911 operator told him to stay on the line until the police and paramedics arrived.

"What light? I don't see it. I heard that sound though. I thought a bomb went off or something. What the hell was that?" Rick asked, clearly frightened. Mike felt good enough to get out of the chair again and looked out the window. Not more than fifty feet away he could see the body, the glowing tombstone and the green crack dangling in the air. Maybe the sound had screwed him up more than he thought. Green Lawn Cemetery was in a suburb on the northwest side of Phoenix. It would take emergency services about five minutes to get there.

"Oh hell. The guy outside is still alive. I just saw him move his hand. You better tell emergency services to hurry up. I could have sworn he was dead though." Rick said as he moved to the door. "I'm going to see if I can help him." Mike pulled the phone closer to his ear.

"You folks need to hurry up. We think the man outside is still alive. There might be a chance to save him." He said. The 911 operator assured him they were almost on the scene. Mike heard Rick yell something and stood up to look out the window. The armored man was walking towards the office and Rick was sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood where the body had been. Mike almost dropped the phone in fear. The man was slowly staggering towards the door of the office. He dragged his feet with his arms outstretched, just like one of those zombies from the movies. Mike looked at the man's face and noticed his eyes. Mike felt his bowels loosen as he realized the face he was looking at was dead. The eyes were filmed over and blank. Mike screamed. He could just now hear the sirens from emergency services getting closer.

"Oh my God! He's dead. This can't be real. What the fuck is this!?" He screamed into the phone. The armored man was nearly to the doorway. Mike tossed the phone aside and made a break for the door, barely dodging the reaching arms of the dead man. He saw the gaping hole in the man's neck, strings of flesh hanging down in a grisly display. The thing moaned as it reached for him, almost as if it was disappointed it had missed. Mike ran over to Rick's still form on the ground and turned him over, noticing once again the eerie green light above him. He nearly retched as he noticed the guard's face had a large chunk missing. He saw another hole in the man's forearm. He looked up to see the armored zombie was getting closer again. That was when Rick grabbed his leg. Mike felt searing pain as he looked down to see the other security guard bite off a large part of his calf, chewing it greedily. His leg buckled as the armored zombie arrived to bite his shoulder. Mike screamed and fell to the grass. His vision dimmed and went black as he saw the flashing lights of the ambulance pull into the Cemetery office driveway.

To Be Continued in Chapter 1! Coming Soon...