Kingdom of Players (Episode 6, S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND)

Episode 6

This book contains Episode 6: Kingdom of Players

SERIES DESCRIPTION:

Five hackers. One game. Ten thousand undead.

The Undead were created for servitude— first as soldiers, then as laborers. Now, they’re avatars for the amusement of the rich and privileged.

Welcome to GAMELAND, an urban wasteland gaming arcade in the center of an abandoned Long Island, where violence is digitized, politicized and commercialized, and where zombies doing battle under cybernetic control is televised 24/7.

Everyone's dying to play The Game. Some buy their way in. Others volunteer. Gamer-hacker Jessie Daniels and her friends plan to break in.

But that’s the easy part; it's getting back out alive that's the killer.

EPISODE 1: Deep Into the Game
Zpocalypto gamer Jessica Daniels and her gang of code jackers break into Long Island's Gameland hoping to catch a glimpse of the Infected Undead. The addition of a stranger to their fold raises tensions within the group. After a terrible accident nearly takes the life of one of their members, emotions run dangerously high. Finding the abandoned wasteland unlike anything they ever expected, their excitement turns to dread as the dangers become all too clear.

EPISODE 2: Failsafe
Jessie and Kelly clash after one of their group gets stranded among the Infected Undead, forcing Kelly to make a rash decision which will ultimately deliver them into the hands of those who would turn them all into mindless players in The Game.

EPISODE 3: Deadman’s Switch
Unable to escape from Long Island because of the failsafe device implanted inside their brains, the group digs in until they can devise a way to neutralize it. Jessie is anointed as their leader despite Jake's claims that she is unfit. A final desperate attempt is made to leave, setting into motion a sequence of events that will result in one of them dead, another infected, and all of them running for their lives.

EPISODE 4: Sunder the Hollow Ones
A mutiny in the group splits the members, leaving Jessie out in the cold. As she continues to struggle to fulfill her promise to bring everyone safely home, a chance encounter with one of Gameland's residents dredges up deeply buried memories, leaving her feeling haunted and doubtful about her future.

EPISODE 5: Prometheus Wept
After one member of their group is infected, Jessie makes a decision to hand over another to a mysterious group of Undead sympathizers in exchange for a promised antidote. But will she be able to collect the medicine and return before it's too late? Will the medicine work? And will she be able to get them all back home again?

EPISODE 6: Kingdom of Players
Armed with a potential antiserum to the reanimation virus, Jessica races back to Gameland to save her infected friend. Waylaid along the way, she must fight for her life to save another. Will she make it back in time? Or will her friend die and return as one of the Undead?

EPISODE 7: Tag, You’re Dead
Torn between rescuing Ashley from the homicidal Ben and staying with Jake, who's been infected, Jessie, Kelly and Reggie must carefully plan their next move. But Reggie falls ill and the Undead break into their stronghold. Soon they're fighting for their lives in a battle that will lead all of the group to their darkest hour.

EPISODE 8: Jacker’s Code
The shocking conclusion to the high-tech horror thriller, GAMELAND.
Determined to do whatever is necessary to get home, Jessie and the others must face some of the most difficult decisions of their lives. But the world is a very different place from the one they left behind. Some monsters don’t live behind walls.