* Jessica Gomez turns over a blackened table in the midst of the burned and crumbling structure. Smoke rises from other burned buildings within the fallen fences. A few others take down the zombies still straggling into the area attracted by the fires. Nothing is left under the table except for ash. Gomez leaves it and keeps searching. *

Jay Wilburn: What happened here?

Jessica Gomez: You know what happened here and why.

Wilburn: Was he looking for me?

Gomez: He didn’t mention you. We told him we gave him all the M&M’s we had last time he was here, but he either didn’t believe us or didn’t care.

Wilburn: I’m sorry.

Gomez: He has to be stopped. There’s no other choice now.

Wilburn: I really need this interview for the blog though, so …

Gomez: Fine.

Wilburn: State your name and the latest work you are promoting.

Gomez: Jessica Gomez and the Undead Worlds anthology

Wilburn: Tell me about your story in the anthology.

Gomez: “Fallen” takes you back to the beginning of the Flash. Harold the Anchorman is briefly in the first book of the series, INFECTED, reporting the chaos that’s unleashed on the world. This short story dives into the cause of the Flash and a firsthand account of turning infected.

Wilburn: Describe the characters who appear in this short story from the universe of your FLASH series.

Gomez: “Fallen” only has one main character and that’s Harold the Anchorman. Harold makes his debut in the first book in the series, INFECTED, for a moment on TV. He’s informed of the impending doom only hours before the incident. He struggles with what to do with the information. Ultimately, there’s nothing he can do.  Once the Flash plummets the world into the depths of hell, Harold becomes Infected, and we watch the world through his changing eyes.

Wilburn: Tell me about the zombies from the universe of the Flash series.

Gomez: My Zombies are living, breathing, carnivorous humans. Not the traditional undead, rotting, zombies. There are several stages of Zombie in the Flash series. In book one, they’re sluggish and decrepit, mindless creatures. In book two, we see them growing smarter, learning to speak. In book three, you’ll see an entirely new side of the Infected, one that’s unimaginable. Could their humanity be resurfacing? (I can’t tell you that yet.) I enjoy that fact that they’re not always the same, they’re always changing, unpredictable.

Wilburn: Why this character and this story for Undead Worlds?

Gomez: I’m excited to get the chance to tell Harold’s story. There are so many characters that we brushed by in the Flash series, that I wanted to give each of them a small chapter too. Harold is the first of several short stories I plan on writing to fill in people’s journeys after the Flash and before they made it to the caves. I know I’m curious to see how they made their way to the mountains of Oregon.

Wilburn: What would the warning label be for this story?

Gomez: WARNING: DO NOT READ WHILE EATING POPCORN.

Wilburn: Good advice. what do you hope readers take away from your story and Undead Worlds?

Gomez: The BEST part about FALLEN is that it comes in the form of an Anthology, so not only do you get my story, but you get 21 other Zombie authors.  Undead Worlds- 22 authors, 22 stories, 1 great book!

*More zombies approach over the hills*

Wilburn: We should go.

Gomez: You should go. We need to rebuild.

*She picks up a broken pipe and joins the others to stand her ground at the edge of the fallen fence.*

Check out Undead Worlds to read Jessica Gomez’s prequel story “Fallen.” Then, go start her Flash series. You can also follow her on Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, her webpage, Pintrest, or Bookbub.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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