Prologue 1

June 3rd, 2008
3:04am
In an abandoned basement lab, deep in the heart of Purdue's campus...

Pranav Lee gently squeezed the bulb and released precisely seven droplets of green fluid into the otherwise crystal clear solution. He then methodically adjusted the bunsen burner to a whiter flame and set the timer to count backwards from seven minutes.

"Professor Anderson kept telling me my thesis wasn't radical enough. Kept telling me I wasn't breaking any new ground. Well I'll show him, Roger. We'll show him, together! Isn't that right, Roger?"

Roger the corpse stared back at him, lifeless.

"That's okay, Roger. Just a few more minutes and I can try Test Solution #21. Where would you like it this time? On the arm, perhaps?"

No response.

"Oh, you'd like that very much, wouldn't you, Roger?"

Still no response.

"Don't let me forget, Roger, to turn out the light when I leave. Last night we almost got caught because of your shenanigans. It's a good thing nobody uses this lab anymore, because the door doesn't shut quite right. You be good when I'm at class, okay?"

Roger's lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling.

Startled by the quiet beeping of the timer, Pranav jumped and looked around suspiciously before scribbling some notes into his lab book.

"Professor Anderson always liked good note-takers, Roger. Said the only way to prove a new theory was to record everything so it could be tested and repeated." he said as he grabbed the beaker of light green fluid with a pair of tongs. Gently pouring a few drops onto Roger's arm, the hot liquid sizzled on the dead flesh and produced an acrid odor that caused Pranav to recoil. He returned the liquid to the stand and noted the result, before measuring out more white powder from an unmarked container.

"Pop quiz, Roger. What is Professor Anderson's wife's name?"

Silence.

"Ooooh, I'm sorry. Time is up and I'm afraid the correct response is 'Bethany'. Would you like to risk all of your winnings for a second chance question?"

No response.

"Fair enough. I know it's hard to concentrate when the samples haven't been working very well lately. Maybe the next batch will work better - I'm going to try increasing the ratio of scopolamine to catechol-o-methyl. Perhaps that will generate some response."

The next hour passed in relative silence as the two continued testing various combinations of the chemicals Pranav had smuggled into the building over the past semester.

"The Exponent says that this week is gonna be extra hot, and since everybody thinks this lab isn't being used, I need you to try not to stink up the place while I'm gone, okay Roger?"

Roger said nothing.

"Atta boy. Whew, you already smell pretty rank. I wish I could turn on the ventilation hoods, but I'm already risking a lot using the outlets for the lab equipment. It'll be worth it, though, if I can prove my theory. Anderson will be old news, and I'll rub it in his face."

After carefully washing his hands, Pranav pulled large tarps over his work-in progress before pulling his backpack on. He pulled the last tarp over the gurney.

"Goodnight, Roger. Sleep well."


Current Word Count: 652

Dedication

This novel is dedicated to several influential groups of people in my life:

My family, for not only encouraging my love of reading, language, literature, and writing, but for also shaping my humor style, wit, and other intellectual processes.

My teachers, for attempting to instill in me some working knowledge of English, even if I still don't know for sure what a gerund is or still mix up "it's" and "its". I still sing School House Rock in my head to remember parts of speech.

The Ship of Fools - the bulk of my current group of collegiate friends. This novel is based on and revolves around them. Thanks for all of the funny, guys.

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Additionally, I would like to thank Max Brooks (author of the Zombie Survival Guide), George Romero, Sam Raimi, and the creative forces behind Resident Evil and Dead Rising for the influence and entertainment.

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name or history of any person living or undead is entirely coincidental and unintended.

Word Count: 116

Official Introductions

Hello all, my name is Ryan and I'm a Purdue University student. I will be posting to this blog chapters of my first attempt at National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. My writer profile can be found here.

My goal is to post about every other day. I'm shooting for 50,000 words before November 30th, at midnight. That's an average of 1666.66 words per day (!).

As of now I don't even have a working title, much less a detailed outline. I've just got an idea. For now, all you need to know is that my story takes place in the here and now.

I encourage all readers to comment. Tell me what you like, what you don't. Tell me if I make a mistake, and feel free to suggest things. If I get enough feedback, I may try put some polls on the right sidebar and YOU can influence the outcome of the story.

All writings contained on this weblog copyright Ryan Garwood, 2007.