Tag: free fiction

UNDEAD MONDAY: T-Shirt | #FreeRead #Zombies

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T-Shirt

It came at me. From a direction I completely wasn’t expecting. Fucking zombie!

Sometimes you think you’re in the clear, you know? You look in front of you and all seems normal. That’s the problem with thinking you’re living in a normal world. Nothing is normal now.

I’d been surviving on my own for about a year now. In the beginning there were more people but you know when they say you can’t cure stupid? They’re right. Once, I watched this guy walk right into a grocery store without even checking first!

I mean sure, we hadn’t seen many of them that day, but it wasn’t like they had jobs to go to anymore. They just hung out sometimes waiting for the living to wander by.

I guess that’s their job though isn’t it… Hunting us. Who can blame them for getting a little smarter about it?

Geez man, now I’m giving them some intelligence. But I swear, if you watch them too long, you’ll see what I mean. They have an uncanny ability to sense things. I watched a few people walking down the street yesterday, doing the normal look-out and advance stuff we’ve all learned from watching movies.

The funny thing was that none of them thought to watch their back. Classic rookie mistake, but it wasn’t like any of us are rookies. Jesus, it’s been at least 16 months since everything went down. If you’ve survived this long the dumb luck has to have been tempered with a little skill.

And I was beginning to think my own dumb luck had run out.

Its fingers caught the hem of my shirt, pulling me back as I struggled to get away. In a the briefest of seconds it was on top of me, weighing me down. I knew it was over and had kind of come to a sort of peace a while back.

No one could survive forever, especially not alone.

You want to know the funny thing?

We were both wearing the same concert t-shirt…

Copyright © 2014 Julianne Snow

UNDEAD MONDAY: Bacteria | #FreeRead #FreeFiction

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BACTERIA

The perfect killer. Small, invasive, self-replicating; it needs you, it loves you…

***

“Mommy, I don’t feel very well…” Angie whined as she rubbed a grubby hand across her nose.

Laurie placed the back of her hand on the little girl’s forehead, judging the severity of her illness by temperature. “Is it your tummy honey?”

“No Mommy.”

“What hurts sweetie?” Laurie looked at the pallid complexion of her daughter, beginning to worry at seeing the dark-rimmed eyes and runny nose.

“I just don’t feel we—” Angie barely got the words out before going limp in her mother’s lap.

Laurie shook her daughter, gently at first growing more concerned at her inability to rouse her. Placing her fingers on her neck, she felt for a pulse, growing alarmed at how cool her daughter now felt. “Angie? Angie! ANGIE!!”

Panicked, she laid her daughter on the couch as she grabbed for the phone. Dialing 9-1-1 quickly, she cradled the phone in the crook of her shoulder as she waited for the line to connect. Still she searched for a pulse…

“Police, Fire or Ambulance?”

“Ambulance!”

Laurie waited a few more seconds as the general dispatcher connected her to the correct department, growing agitated at the delay. She stroked her daughter’s face with one hand as she pushed deeper into her daughter’s neck with the other. Why couldn’t she find a pulse?

“Ambulance. What’s your emergency?”

“It’s my daughter. She just fainted and I’m having trouble finding her pulse, can you send an ambulance please?!?”

“Is your daughter breathing?”

“No!”

“Do you know CPR?”

“No!! Oh my God, she’s going to die isn’t she??”

“Ma’am, calm down and do as I say. Can you put the phone on speaker and put it down beside your daughter?”

“Yes, hang on a second…” Noise can be heard in the background of the call as Laurie fumbles with the phone. She comes back a moment later sounding a little farther away. “Okay what do I do?”

“I need to take your finger and scoop out anything that may be in her mouth first.”

“Okay, gimme a second.” More noise can be heard in the background, then a piercing scream echoes over the line.

“Fucking hell! She bit my finger!”

“Ma’am?”

“Angie! Oh thank God you’re awake! I was so worried!”

“Ma’am?”

“Let me get a towel for my finger.” Laurie’s voice seems farther away as she addressed the phone again, “Operator if you’re still there can send help for me? It seems my daughter’s bite reflex was a little stronger than I expected.”

“Your daughter bit you? Is she conscious now?”

“Yes, she seems to be alert, though she’s still very pale and seems confused. Sweetie, stay on the couch I’ll be right back.”

Copyright © 2014 Julianne Snow

UNDEAD MONDAY: Internet | #FreeFiction

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INTERNET

They sat in front of their screens, unable to tear their eyes away from what was unfolding. In some areas reports were sporadic, only coming through hours after the fact when safety and connectivity permitted. In others, they streamed live; shot from balconies and roofs as the world succumbed to the encroaching virus. The feeds were terrifying but the message was the same: the end is nigh…

Copyright © 2014 Julianne Snow

UNDEAD MONDAY: The Van | #FreeFiction

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The Van

It came out of the darkness, its headlights blinding us for the brief moment it stayed true to our direction. It turned sharply, responding to what it encountered.

The road was full of them and us as we struggled to stay that important step in front of them. We ran past it, not wanting to slow down, not wanting to hope that someone was willing to help us.

“Hey! Stop! What’s going on?”

How could they now know? Didn’t they watch the news? It was everywhere!

The dead had risen and now they were taking over. All you could do was run, try to stay ahead of them. But even then, so many had no idea what to do.

The van pulled up next to us. The driver, a young man with a beard, rolled down the window, “Where are you going? Do you have a plan?”

The panic in his voice was palpable. I didn’t want to stop and I wasn’t sure I wanted to waste precious breath talking to him either. Risking a sideways glance, I stared him full in the face, letting him see the terror, the blood that marred my once porcelain-coloured complexion. “Out.”

“Out? What does that mean?” I could read the confusion and I continued to run, his van keeping pace with us.

“We’re getting out.” I didn’t know why I bothered explaining it to him. It was unlikely he was really going to care.

“Look, get in and we can get out together. Deal?”

I could tell he was nervous, scared to be alone. I also knew there was no way I was going to be able to keep up this pace with a kid on my hip and another tiring at the end of my arm.

“I drive.” It was simple, I’d stated the rules and he acquiesced.

Copyright © 2014 Julianne Snow

UNDEAD MONDAY: Stalemate | #Horror #FreeRead

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Stalemate

As I stared at it, I saw the mirror reflection of Earth in its eye. I was probably fooling myself, but as I was hard pressed to move from my spot, all I could do was gaze into the bulbous vacuum it radiated. I knew it was in there; it hadn’t moved from its spot since it first noticed me but trust me, it had the upper hand if a fight ensued.

Massive. That’s the only word to accurately describe what faced me sideways, its eye flinching ever so slightly as it sized me up. I was going to end up a snack, of that I was sure. I couldn’t outrun this thing, especially not underwater. Instead I was going to die and it was going to eat me. Hell, I haven’t even been able to get a good look at its teeth yet. I could see them in my periphery, but there was no way I was going to look away from that eye. It was almost as if I was in a trance and by not moving, I had entranced it in return. I was willing to grasp at any straw at this point.

Stalemate. With neither of us moving, we were going nowhere. I knew I was running out of oxygen, but I had no actual recollection of the time I’d spent transfixed.  Even as I prayed, I knew it was not going to end well. I could feel its triumph through the cold and murky depths. It was going to devour me and I could feel how much it would enjoy it. Was that the flicker of a shadow behind me? I turned slowly, as if the sluggish speed would save me from my fate, only to come face to face with another gigantic cerulean eye.

Copyright © 2013 Julianne Snow

#FREE: The Dead of Penderghast Manor – June 25th to June 29th!

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TheDeadOfPenderghastManor_JulianneSnow_FinalCoverWhat would you do if you knew the Dead could talk?

For Chester Penderghast, it’s not the easiest of questions to answer…

Ensconced in the basement of his family’s mortuary business is the last place he wants to be, but when the conversation starts flowing, Chester’s the only living person who can hear it. What do the Dead want, and why is he the only one who can hear them?

This is not your average zombie tale—the Dead don’t want to eat your brains, but they will chew your ear off!

Amazon link: http://mybook.to/TheDeadofPenderghastManor

***

Phrenic Press is also offering the rest of it’s titles for free too!

Check them out at: http://wp.me/p3tJMJ-2l

Random Monday Mini: Regret

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Today’s random word is…

REGRET

She held the vial in her hands carefully, gazing upon it with love. Her finest achievement to date and the surge of pride she felt flushed her face.

This would be her legacy, a lasting contribution to the industry of medicine. Her long days and even longer nights would finally be worth it.

There was only one thing she would regret; not being able to scream her breakthrough to all those who doubted her expertise. Oh, she’d scream, but it would be for a different reason…

As patient zero, she’d scream right before she bit down on your flesh.

Random Monday Mini: T-Shirt

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This week’s random word is…

T-SHIRT

It came at me. From a direction I completely wasn’t expecting. Fucking zombie!

Sometimes you think you’re in the clear, you know? You look in front of you and all seems normal. That’s the problem with thinking you’re living in a normal world. Nothing is normal now.

I’d been surviving on my own for about a year now. In the beginning there were more people but you know when they say you can’t cure stupid? They’re right. Once, I watched this guy walk right into a grocery store without even checking first!

I mean sure, we hadn’t seen many of them that day, but it wasn’t like they had jobs to go to anymore. They just hung out sometimes waiting for the living to wander by.

I guess that’s their job though isn’t it… Hunting us. Who can blame them for getting a little smarter about it?

Geez man, now I’m giving them some intelligence. But I swear, if you watch them too long, you’ll see what I mean. They have an uncanny ability to sense things. I watched a few people walking down the street yesterday, doing the normal look-out and advance stuff we’ve all learned from watching movies.

The funny thing was that none of them thought to watch their back. Classic rookie mistake, but it wasn’t like any of us are rookies. Jesus, it’s been at least 16 months since everything went down. If you’ve survived this long the dumb luck has to have been tempered with a little skill.

And I was beginning to think my own dumb luck had run out.

Its fingers caught the hem of my shirt, pulling me back as I struggled to get away. In a the briefest of seconds it was on top of me, weighing me down. I knew it was over and had kind of come to a sort of peace a while back.

No one could survive forever, especially not alone.

You want to know the funny thing?

We were both wearing the same concert t-shirt…

All Rights Reserved © 2014 Julianne Snow