WARNING: "This is the Emergency Broadcast Network. The epidemic known as Agent X has contaminated all but the most isolated pockets of the country. A state of martial law has been declared. Stay inside. Barricade all windows. Lock all doors. The infected are considered to be psychotic and extremely dangerous. Trust no one. This is not a test." Agent X is unlike anything modern science has seen before—a fast-spreading virus that turns the infected into raving maniacs on the hunt for earth's few remaining survivors... One of those survivors is Lulu, a seventeen-year-old girl spared by a rare medical condition. Immune to Agent X, and witness to her own mother's bestial degeneration, Lulu is on the run for the frozen north, the last place on earth rumored to be safe. But what's awaiting her is as unexpected, and as frightening, as what's followed her there...

When the Agent X virus first struck, the victims became voracious killers intent on contaminating every last soul. And X spread like mad... The entire eastern seaboard of the United States has been ravaged by the contagion, wiping out all signs of hope, faith, or rational thought. Off this desolate coast is a refitted nuclear sub, a 560-foot steel tomb cutting through dark waters and commandeered by a crew of survivors—including Sal DeLuca, who lost his father during their flight from Agent X. When he leads a team to scavenge for food and supplies on land, he comes across a squad of seemingly welcoming mercenaries. But he's about to find himself trapped between new terrors on the surface and mutiny below.

The Agent X plague infected women first, turning mothers, daughters, and sisters into killers intent on spreading their contagion, turning most of the human race into Xombies. Now, Lulu Pangloss and the Xombified crew of the USS No-Name are wandering the seas on a mission of "mercy": converting the last mortal humans into immortal beings like themselves, believing it is mankind's only hope of surviving a cataclysm that will wipe out all life on Earth. But Lulu and her shipmates are about to learn that there are worse fates than death...

The Living Dead 2 has more of what zombie fans hunger for: more scares, more action, more... brains! Experience the indispensable series that defines the very best in zombie literature with a shambling, ravenous herd of original stories. The Living Dead 2 also features a slavering horde of reprint zombie stories. All this adds up to a landmark volume that helps define what zombie godfather John Skipp calls "The New Zombie Literature." Additional contributing authors: Joe McKinney Carrie Ryan Kim Paffenroth R.J. Sevin Julia Sevin Catherine MacLeod Mark McLaughlin Kyra Schon Steven Gould Catherynne M. Valente Jonathon Maberry Genevieve Valentine John Skipp Cody Goodfellow Sarah Langan “Last Stand” by Kelley Armstrong. © 2010 Kelley Armstrong. “Danger Word” by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due. © 2004 Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due. Originally published in Dark Dreams. Reprinted by permission of the authors. “Pirates vs. Zombies” by Amelia Beamer. © 2010 Amelia Beamer. “We Now Pause for Station Identification” by Gary A. Braunbeck. © 2005 Gary Braunbeck. Originally published as a limited edition chapbook by Endeavor Press. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Steve and Fred” by Max Brooks. © 2010 Max Brooks. “Living with the Dead” by Molly Brown. © 2007 Molly Brown. Originally published in Celebration: 50 Years of the British Science Fiction Association. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Zombie Gigolo” by S. G. Browne. © 2010 S. G. Browne. “The Anteroom” by Adam-Troy Castro. © 2010 Adam-Troy Castro. “The Human Race” by Scott Edelman. © 2009 Scott Edelman. Originally published in Space and Time. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Summer Place” by Bob Fingerman. © 2010 Bob Fingerman. “The Rapeworm” by Charles Coleman Finlay. © 2008 Charles Coleman Finlay. Originally published in Noctem Aeternus. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Tameshigiri” by Steven Gould. © 2010 Steven Gould. “Everglades” by Mira Grant. © 2010 Seanan McGuire. “The Mexican Bus” by Walter Greatshell. © 2010 Walter Greatshell. “He Said, Laughing” by Simon R. Green. © 2010 Simon R. Green. “Rural Dead” by Bret Hammond. © 2008 Bret Hammond. Originally published in Tales of the Zombie War. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Therapeutic Intervention” by Rory Harper. © 2008 Rory Harper. Originally published on eatourbrains.com. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Lost Canyon of the Dead” by Brian Keene. © 2010 Brian Keene. “Alone, Together” by Robert Kirkman. © 2010 Robert Kirkman. “The Skull-Faced City” by David Barr Kirtley. © 2010 David Barr Kirtley. “The Other Side” by Jamie Lackey. © 2010 Jamie Lackey. “Are You Trying to Tell Me This Is Heaven?” by Sarah Langan. © 2010 Sarah Langan. “Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco” by Seth Lindberg. © 2001 Seth Lindberg. Originally published in Twilight Showcase. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Wrong Grave” by Kelly Link. © 2007 Kelly Link. Originally published in The Restless Dead. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Mouja” by Matt London. © 2010 Matt London. “Zero Tolerance” by Jonathan Maberry. © 2010 Jonathan Maberry. “Zombie Season” by Catherine MacLeod. © 2008 Catherine MacLeod. Originally published in Bits of the Dead. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Thought War” by Paul McAuley. © 2008 Paul McAuley. Originally published in Postscripts. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Dating in Dead World” by Joe McKinney. © 2010 Joe McKinney. “Arlene Schabowski of the Undead” by Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M. Schon. © 2007 Mark McLaughlin and Kyra M. Schon. Originally published in Midnight Premiere. Reprinted by permission of the authors. “Who We Used to Be” by David Moody. © 2010 David Moody. “Thin Them Out” by Kim Paffenroth, R. J. Sevin, and Julia Sevin. © 2008 Kim Paffenroth, R. J. Sevin, and Julia Sevin. Originally published as a limited edition chapbook by Creeping Hemlock Press. Reprinted by permission of the authors. “Category Five” by Marc Paoletti. © 2008 Marc Paoletti. Originally published in Sin. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Crocodiles” by Steven Popkes. © 2010 Steven Popkes. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Reprinted by permission of the author. “Reluctance” by Cherie Priest. © 2010 Cherie Priest. “Flotsam & Jetsam” by Carrie Ryan. © 2010 Carrie Ryan. “Where the Heart Was” by David J. Schow. © 1993 David J. Schow. Originally published in Hottest Blood. Reprinted by permission of the author. “The Price of a Slice” by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow. © 2010 John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow. “Zombieville” by Paula R. Stiles © 2009 Paula R. Stiles. Originally published in Something Wicked. Reprinted by permission of the author. “When the Zombies Win” by Karina Sumner-Smith. © 2010 Karina Sumner-Smith. “The Days of Flaming Motorcycles” by Catherynne M. Valente. © 2010 Catherynne M. Valente. Originally publishe...