The
daughter of a radical doomsday prepper, Leo Marrok spent her entire
life preparing for the end. A skilled fighter and perfect marksman,
Leo is her father’s second-in-command when Armageddon comes to
pass. Together, they lead a group of survivors to a secure bunker
deep in the Appalachian Mountains.
Vincent
Marrok is willing to take extreme measures to repopulate their broken
world. Leo’s refusal marks her as a traitor. With father and
daughter at odds for the first time, their frail community is thrust
into turmoil. Until the unthinkable happens, a blood-thirsty horde
arrives. The impending attack will destroy all that they have worked
for.
To
protect her home and everything she believes in, Leo puts her faith
in the arms of the enemy—a creature only rumored to exist—the one
she calls Halloween. An alliance born out of necessity evolves into
feelings Leo is ill-equipped to handle.
The
Dead Days Journal is a post-apocalyptic story of love and family
told through Leo Marrok’s first-hand account and the pages of
Vincent’s personal journal, giving two very different perspectives
on what it takes to survive.
Mature
themes, adult language, sexual situations, violence and gore. 18+
I’m
alive, but I should be dead. I’m moving but not walking…
Someone’s carrying me.
The
sounds of the forest were all around me, except there wasn’t a
single footstep rustling the forest floor. I only sensed the movement
through the person who held me—superior strength and superior
grace. I felt his powerful strides advancing as he clutched me to his
solid chest, the strong arms that cradled my damaged body.
Can
the dead dream? No.
There
was no way of knowing how long I’d been unconscious. My memories
were slow, spotty, coming back in short blasts of terror that started
with the recollection of my father’s demands for a grandchild. I
remembered running away, being attacked by a man in a mask, and
waking up on the ground alone, the hungry beast dropping out of the
tree.
Are
the attacker and the monster one and the same?
I
tried to recall the struggle. I’d stabbed the strange monster in
the gut and made it bleed.
I
hurt it.
The
monster had retaliated by taking a chunk out of my neck.
It
hurt me back.
I
cringed as I remembered the terror and the agony I felt while it fed
from my vein. An odd sort of throbbing in my neck quickened as my
heart raced. How am I still alive? Panic stole my breath and
uncontrollable twitches jerked at my limbs. The arms holding me
tightened in response, restraining my erratic movement.
Something
slid past my lips into my mouth. I tried to turn my head, working to
keep my mouth clamped shut but failing. Nothing stopped the
intrusion, which I thought to be a finger, from the size and feel.
Whatever he forced me to eat left a sticky residue on my tongue that
tasted sweet and bitter, like a bad dessert wine. I wanted to open my
eyes to see who carried me, but I couldn’t. So I tried to call out,
several times, but nothing came out of my mouth.
He’s
taking me somewhere I don’t want to go.
“Is
she going to be okay?” It was a man’s voice, a voice I knew. I’m
not in the arms of the monster. Jack must have heard my screams.
He saved me and now he was taking me home to Ben. A sob of relief
pushed past my lungs to escape my mouth.
Sandra
R. Campbell lives along the tranquil waters of the Chesapeake
Bay with her husband and weight challenged cat. She can trace her
passion for the macabre back to reading Edgar Allen Poe as a
child, with her pet crow, Big Fellow, by her side. She has since
submerged herself in a wide range of dark literature. An
avid thrill seeker, Sandra is always looking for her next big
adrenaline rush, and when spelunking, diving and monster hunting
fails to deliver, she turns to the creation of
through-the-rabbit-hole worlds and sends her characters on their
own adventures. Sandra also writes children's stories, is
a member of the Maryland Writers' Association, the head of a
M.W.A. critique group, and the founder and co-author
of Waterfrontwriters.com.
(1) ebook copy
of
The Dead Days Journal.
Open internationally.
Contest Ends April 25th.
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