Month: October 2013

ELBOW: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 7 Comments

ELBOW

It made contact with Jesse’s nose as Frank spun around. They shouldn’t be fighting, especially not out in the open, but that young prick had something coming to him.

“What the fuck you do that for?” Jesse whined as the blood poured from his nose. He stood in front of Frank, his hands held up in front of his face in the classic pugilist stance.

“You know why you stupid little shit.”

“Are you seriously mad about that? It’s not my fault she went out and didn’t come back. I didn’t put her on the recon team Frank.”

Marta, Frank’s wife, had been part of the recon team who’d been attacked yesterday by another group of survivors. Without gear and a lot of ground to cover before dark, they hadn’t stood much of a chance in the confines of the city. Open territory would have been one thing, but with hardly any exits and too many places for the undead to hide, the city was a deathtrap.

Today, Frank had taken a small group into LA to look for his wife and the rest of the team. The look on his face said it all by the time they’d gotten back with Harry, the lone survivor.

“She wasn’t supposed to be out there. It wasn’t her team – it was yours. You didn’t go so she ended up having to run back to back missions. If that’s not your fault, I don’t know what is.” Frank reinforced his anger and blame with another well-aimed crack of his elbow, splitting the skin below Jesse’s left eye.

“You can keep hitting me man, but that’s not going to bring her back.”

“I know, but it sure as hell will make me feel better!”

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

BLOAT: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 7 Comments

BLOAT

“What the fuck is that smell?”

“Shhh! It’s got to be one of them! Don’t tell it we’re here for fucksake!”

Mark wasn’t sure what to say at Amanda’s outburst. But then he’d never actually been outside since it all went down. Sure he’d seen things from his window, but never anything up close. Hell he was surprised he’d even gotten this far…

As an agoraphobic, he hadn’t set foot outside his home since he was twenty-one and at thirty-seven, when the zombies attacked, he was perfectly fine staying inside. Until his supplies ran out.

At least he’d had Amanda to count on. She was his only life line, even before the uprising. One night, after seeing the reports on the news, he’d heard her knocking frantically at his door. She’d come to try and convince him to leave his condo, but it had taken her four months.

With the undead moving out of the cities, she’d finally convinced him it was the safest time for them to move.

Not that it was an easy feat for him at all. They started slowly, having decided on a number of milestones to overcome each day. Some days Mark failed, not being able to get much past the front door but it all changed the day Amanda told him she was leaving.

And she did leave. The very next day. But it was good for Mark because it forced him to make a decision: to leave and try not to look back.

So on his first day outside, after stepping into what appeared to be an abandoned building, he found his olfactory senses assaulted with the concentrated smell of them. There had been whiffs as the travelled down the streets but nothing as bad as this.

Rounding a corner, trying to source the smell, they came upon a hulking mass of what used to be a man, his body so bloated it appeared to be twice the size.

Exhaling sharply at the smell, Mark exclaimed “I think I’m going to be sick!”

At the sound of a voice, the body rolled and the distended stomach burst, releasing a smell that burned their eyes and activated their gag reflexes. It started to crawl toward them, dragging its bulk with it.

Amanda turned to flee, but Mark’s feet were rooted to the spot. He longed for his safe apartment and silently cursed Amanda for making him leave it.

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

AGONY: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , 8 Comments

AGONY

The pain is intense, searing as it travels through the network of my body. Each new invasion feels worse than the last but there’s nothing my cells can do to fight them off. I’m succumbing to the army and my defences never had a chance.

I want to fight, but I know it’ll do no good. Waging a war on the cellular level is do or die. And I’m about to die. But it’s not going to be much of a death.

There was a time I never wanted to die. A time where I wished I could live forever. I would give anything at this point to simply die. That is not going to be my fate. I will come back but will act as a vessel for transmission. The army has only one goal – to conquer.

My new eyes open and I see the world from behind a milky haze. There are shades of grey but then I see the red of living…

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

BELOW: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 9 Comments

BELOW

Above them they hear the shuffling, the halting steps over the rough boards. There is nothing they could do but wait them out.

A small, soft whimper escapes the lips of the smallest child. A hand roughly flattens itself across the offending mouth, startling her even more. A louder cry is somewhat muffled by the fingers but it’s too late.

They’ve heard and are trying to locate the source of the noise.

Panic spreads quickly through the bodies cramped into the space, a palpable feeling that sets more nerves on edge and creates additional nervous energy.

The energy translates into more panic, and more panic into noise. They clamour from above is deafening as the dead scramble to get at the living.

There is nowhere to go but up. Their earthen cellar nothing but a tomb they now want to escape.

And then it is quiet. No sound, no scraping. Just the absence of noise.

It is the calm before the storm. The moment before the fall.

With a resounding crack, the wooden planks overhead crumble downward, pinning some, killing others. Pandemonium ensues as the living try to fight, but they have been relegated to the bottom of the food chain now.

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

HORSE: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 7 Comments

HORSE

It neighed softly, fear flickering in its eyes. The poor animal was scared and with just cause.

A horde ringed its paddock, each of them straining against the wire fence, trying to get in.

It circled the inner sanctum, nervous energy twitching its muscles as it pranced. The undead surrounding it keened desperately for the meal only a few feet away.

The fence bowed slightly before snapping back, propelling part of the gathered group backward. With the wall of bodies behind them, they snapped forward again, the tension on the fence finally causing it to buckle inward. Like molasses, they flooded into the pasture, each of them slowed by the sheer number clamouring to get in.

As the undead sought out the entrance to their prey, the animal saw its chance.

With hands scrabbling to catch hold, it bolted in the opposite direction, barely clearing the fence as it jumped. Hands continued to grab at the fuzz-covered muscle as it mowed down any who stood in its way.

Clearing a copse of trees, it was brought up short. The numbers in front greatly outweighed those behind. Flight took over again and it bolted through the middle, only to be stopped by the sheer number of bodies packed tightly together.

Within moments it fell, its attempt at escape over.

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

FLICKER: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 20 Comments

FLICKER

With their perimeter set up, Sally and Joe settled into their sleeping bags around the fire. It was dangerous to have a fire out in the open, but it had been days since they’d seen one of them. They assumed they were safe, but there’s never any security after the end.

In an effort to obscure what they had done, Sally and Joe had built a ring around the pit, placing the stones so they better concealed the flames. It made them feel safer and soon both of them had dozed off for the first time in months.

That was their second mistake.

As the pair slept, the flicker from the fire caught the attention of a walker in the woods. A lucky step over the can-laced rope and it was inside the perimeter, closing in on the sleeping lumps.

As the fire drew it forward, Sally and Joe continued to sleep, the sounds of contented breathing broken by the hideous keening.

Panicked screams followed as Sally valiantly tried to fight the creature off Joe, but it didn’t do any good. The pair hadn’t seen one walker in a few days but that night, three walked away from the fire…

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

BITE: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Blog Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 26 Comments

BITE

“Fuck that hurts!” Mary gritted her teeth against the pain of the needle and turned to look at the partially finished butterfly on her wrist.

“Look sweetie, I warned you before I started that beauty is pain. Stop moving!” The gruff artist roughly grabbed her hand to move her wrist back into position.

A few more pricks of the needle was all she thought she’d be able to endure. Then, the pain stopped, along with the sound of the machine’s motor.

“What the fuck?”

Mary opened her eyes and turned to face her tattoo artist, noting the puzzled look and the silence that now pervaded the room. Throughout the shop, she heard nothing; no other motors buzzing.

One by one, the clients and their artists gathered in the common area of the shop, each of them a little more confused than the next. The owner of the shop, a big burly guy with more ink than virgin skin, came into the room, telling everyone the fuse box was fine, that the power must be out.

Each of them looked out the big windows at the front of the shop, surprised by the pandemonium they could see.

Curiosity took over, winning against their better common sense, and the group moved to the front door. En mass they exited, wanting to see what was going on.

“Oww! That fucking idiot just bit me!”

All Rights Reserved © 2013 Julianne Snow

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

Exit: Flash Fiction for the Coffin Hop

Posted on Posted in Coffin Hop, FictionTagged , , , , 27 Comments

Well aren’t you all in for a treat! You’re going to get eight days of zombie flash fiction from yours truly!

All of the festivities are in honour of the Coffin Hop, an eight-day blog hop for horror writers, Make sure you check the rest of the Coffin Hoppers out here.

And without any other fanfare, I give you…

EXIT

“It should just be around this rack Gavin. Hurry!” Catherine spoke in hushed tones, trying to propel her boyfriend into reacting faster.

The pair had entered the warehouse to look for supplies and had hit the jackpot! In both food and water.

They’d only been inside for a few moments, stuffing the absolute necessities into their canvas packs before they started to hear the thumping.

Gavin, being the more curious of the two, decided to check it out. He only got partway down the aisle before the crash reverberated through the warehouse.

Not knowing what was actually going on, Catherine grabbed their bags and hauled ass to where Gavin stood listening. Looking up she spotted the signs that pointed to the exit and started to navigate her way out, dragging Gavin behind her.

Pushing on the handle of the hollow metal door, she came up short, confusion written plainly on her face. Gavin thrust her awkwardly aside, putting his weight behind his attempt, panic setting in as the door remained completely closed. It wouldn’t budge.

As they turned to look for a different exit, they saw the hordes slowly closing in…

***

Comment on this post to be entered to win a daily prize of a digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One. If you comment on each day, you’ll be entered into the grand prize – click here for more details. All winners will be announced at the end of the Coffin Hop.

Coffin Hop 2013 on Days with the Undead

Posted on Posted in Blog Hop, Coffin HopTagged , , , , , 6 Comments

The Coffin Hop is coming! The Coffin Hop is coming!

That’s right my little undead freaks – the Coffin Hop is coming and it starts tomorrow! For those of you that don’t know anything about the Coffin Hop, it’s a 8 day event featuring horror authors and artists. Technically we all feature goodies and such on our blogs and you all get to reap the rewards!

What to expect from Days with the Undead this year?

Each day I will be featuring a little bit of flash fiction – Zombie-style!

What could you win? I’ll be giving away one digital version of my novel Days with the Undead: Book One and a copy of my soon to be released collection Glimpses of the Undead each day to a random commenter and at the end of the week, I will be giving away a grand prize of:

  • A signed Print version of Days with the Undead: Book One
  • A digital copy of my soon to be released Glimpses of the Undead
  • A digital copy of a super secret collaborative project to be released before the end of the month
  • Plus a few other goodies I may decide to throw in!

To win the grand prize you must comment on my each of my posts for the entire hop. If there are more than one commenter who comments every day, one winner will be chosen by random draw!

Excited? I thought so!! Check out the rest of the Coffin Hoppers here!

How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse: New Tool!

Posted on Posted in How to Survive the Zombie ApocalypseTagged , , , 4 Comments

How many of you have ever sat around and thought about the uses of common household items? Recently I talked to you about the uses of the humble rubber band and to say that some of you were surprised at its versatility would be an understatement. So with that thought in mind, I present to you the paperclip.

Now hear me out! Paperclips are extremely versatile and can be used for many little jobs once the zombies attack. Consider:

  • Lock picker
  • Fingernail and cuticle cleaning tool
  • A finger or toe splint
  • Unclogger of nozzles
  • Emergency diaper pin
  • Emergency hair pin
  • Meat Skewer (just don’t hold it over the fire yourself…)
  • Keeps important papers together
  • Will help mark your page in a map book
  • Will help mark your page in your Zombie Survival Guide
  • Helpful when clamping an artery
  • Useful to massage the ear and clear away ear wax (use the rounded end!)
  • Useful to help tell time (use it as a sundial)
  • Useful as a button or clasp (no one wants their pants falling down… Especially when you’re trying to flee!Re)
  • Removes heavy plaque from teeth
  • You can string a bunch together to make a chain maille vest (extra protection from Zombie bites)
  • Zipper pull replacement

The uses really are endless… So stock up people!