Zombie Moon Rising - Chapter One - A Peter Brannigan novella

Aug 7, 2026

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Zombie Moon Rising follows Peter Brannigan as a Halloween night turns into a crisis when a zombie shuffles down his street and draws attention to magic and darkness beyond the Council’s reach. Investigating the source, Peter teams up with Aiden to uncover black magic that few in Ireland understand. As Peter confronts the creature up close and grapples with harrowing memories and visions, the investigation forces difficult choices that challenge what he believes about his own humanity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages62

Reading Time1 h 35 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter One

Zombie Moon Rising By Claire Farrell A Peter Brannigan novella Set in the same world as the Ava Delaney series Peter Brannigan had forgotten it was Halloween until he noticed the zombie shuffling down his street. Before Peter met Ava, before Aiden became a consultant to the Council, unlikely allegiances were formed. Their world has always been full of magic and darkness, but zombie attacks are out of even the Council’s league. Investigating the appearance of a zombie in his neighbourhood, Peter teams up with Aiden to find the perpetrator of black magic that few in Ireland understand, but he ends up facing choices that force him to question his own humanity. [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Smashwords Edition October 2013 Copyright © Claire Farrell [Claire_farrell@live.ie](Claire_farrell@live.ie) Cover art © The Cover Collection [www.thecovercollection.com](www.thecovercollection.com) Licence Notes This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com) Chapter One Peter Brannigan had forgotten it was Halloween until he noticed the zombie shuffling down his street. He dropped his house keys, blinked, then bent to pick them up. Terrific costume. Late afternoon, and it was already dark. The air tasted of winter, and his hands were numb from the chill in the air. He was on his way home to face another night alone, and he probably had nothing in the house for trick or treaters. When he straightened, the figure was closer, and in the light of a waxing moon, the fact that most of its head was caved in was plain to see. He squinted, pretty sure what he was seeing was unlikely. Giggles from the far end of the street startled him, and a chorus of “Trick or Treat!” filled the air. The zombie, or whatever the hell it was, stopped walking and half-turned at the sound. “Not tonight,” Peter muttered, inserting a card key into the slot on his door. He didn’t have time to take care of the second lock. Not with that creature shambling toward his neighbours’ kids. They were pains in the arse and probably the ones kicking footballs at his back wall from eight am on a Sunday morning, but still, they were kids. They deserved the chance to grow up into adult pains in the arse. He sprinted out of the garden, swearing under his breath. His neighbourhood had to have been built on a cursed graveyard or some shit. He caught up with the…okay, fine, zombie easily, but he had to hold his breath to ward off the stench coming from the thing. The zombie stared at him, just stared, but its eyes were blank and empty. Up close, its skull was mangled, as if it had been crushed by something heavy. Blotches of green and purple and red covered its face, and it was missing two front teeth. That sparked a memory of something, but Peter didn’t have time to speculate. The kids had moved to the next house. Apparently, the zombie had noticed them coming closer, too, because he stepped away from Peter. “No!” The zombie froze to the spot. Peter swallowed hard. He hadn’t exactly come up against a freaking zombie before. They looked at each other for a few seconds; Peter, warily, and the zombie as if it were trying to think really, really hard. “Fuck it.” Peter rushed at the zombie and pulled it into a headlock, avoiding the gory open wound. He marched the thing toward his own house and away from the children. The zombie struggled, but it was kind of uncoordinated. Maybe its head injury had done something funky to its reflexes. Who cared as long as it didn’t get to hurt anyone. He wasn’t sure if the brains of children were actually a zombie’s preferred food choice, but he wasn’t inclined to find out. He dragged the zombie into the garden and noticed his next-door neighbour standing at her window, staring at him with a look of familiar horror in her eyes. The old bitch stil

FAQs

What triggers the story’s main conflict for Peter Brannigan?

Peter notices a zombie shuffling down his street on Halloween, forcing him to act before it can hurt anyone.

Who does Peter team up with to investigate the black magic?

Peter partners with Aiden to track down who is behind the zombie’s appearance and the related black magic.

Why does the investigation affect Peter’s sense of humanity?

The choices he faces during the investigation, along with memories and visions, push him to question what he is and what he believes about himself.

Aug 7, 2026

Upload by Eden