Getting back into the swing of things. Even if I am a day late. The release of Hunger kept me a little busy causing me to put a hold on WIP Wednesdays. But it's back, and I have a snippet from Starved, book 2 in the Jane Thornton Trilogy coming soon. Enjoy!
Excerpt:
I reached the bottom of the stairs to find my mother in the kitchen, her back to me, humming a meaningless tune as she stood in front of the stove. As usual, she had pulled her long silver hair into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She’d gone prematurely gray in her late twenties. I had a clear memory of her threatening to dye it on many occasions, but my father would beg her not to, telling her how much he loved it just the way it was. She’d blush, slapped his arm as if she believed he was joking. But she had never use a single drop of dye. Not even after he passed.
“Jane. Are you ready?” she asked.
Ah, this part of the dream hadn’t changed. She was asking me if I was ready for my first day at a new job. She hadn’t actually been present in my home that day, but she had called.
Instead of answering her, I just watched, my anxiety growing.
“Don’t be upset with her. She only wants what’s best for you.”
I turned to my father who sat at the dining room table reading a newspaper. His words were out of context, but it was something I’d heard him say many times. My eyes glued to the sandy haired man. By now he should have had more gray, but he’d still been young when he died. I’d only been eight years old at the time.
I wanted to go to him, or at the very least stare at him a little longer. But as usual, I had no control of my dream. My head turned away just as a knock sounded on the back door. I sucked in a breath, knowing exactly what was about to happen.
“No,” I tried to say, but it only sounded in my head. I wasn’t allowed to speak, or take action. There was nothing I could do to stop her as she opened the back door.
“Well, hello, John,” she greeted her neighbor just before they both fell to the floor. She didn’t scream. It was over too quick for that. His face was hidden in the crease of my mom’s neck, his fingers gripping tightly to her arms as he fed.
I trembled with sadness, my body weeping in my sleep as I watched my mother be murdered. It would be over soon. The dream. This was the end of it. But as the dream lingered, I began to panic for another reason. I should have woken up by now.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, another change happened. The flesh eater pinning my mother to the floor stopped feeding. His head lifted and turned slowly to face me.
I thought maybe the twist was that I would find the same fate as my mother. Would he attack while I stood paralyzed? I would have preferred that outcome. Instead, I woke with the image of Mason’s dead milky eyes staring back at me.
***
Catch up with book 1!
Hunger is the first book in a new series by C.E. Black. Set in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, this story introduces you to Jane Thornton. Born mute, she's always been a survivor. But she never thought her disability could be so useful.
This is available at Amazon, and FREE with Kindle Unlimited.