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Smashwords
Category:
Young Adult/Teen
Publisher: Smashwords
Type: Fiction
Pages: 190
Copyright: November 29, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781311100764
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Set in a post-Cthulhu apocalypse, Dell, Saeko, and Kelsea, three nineteen year olds, must struggle to survive against human-sacrificing cultists, monsters, and an unknown menace closing in on their bunker town of Arkham.
Five years ago the monstrous god Cthulhu awoke from his slumber under the sea, sending most of the world into madness. In the aftermath, terrifying creatures entered into our world, a cult of human-sacrificing Cthulhu worshippers emerged, and humanity has struggled desperately to survive. Saeko, Dell, and Kelsea are three such survivors, young adults who have lived in the underground bunker of Arkham since they were fourteen. As a new threat closes in on Arkham, these three must race to combat it and save their home and families.
This horror story features no love triangles and no brooding monster men drawn to frail damsels in distress. The protagonists are in a fight for their lives against monsters that kill and sometimes eat people. If you enjoy an adventure with monsters and ethical dilemmas, this book is for you. It is the first in a trilogy inspired by the works of classic horror author H.P. Lovecraft, but you don't have to be familiar with his works to enjoy it. If you are, however, you may enjoy finding elements of The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Lurking Fear, The Unnameable, and more in this book.
Excerpt
Odd, uncomfortable colors blossomed across the sky at irregular intervals, as though strange, unknown dimensions briefly pushed on this one and then gradually retreated. Other than that, the forest appeared no more ominous than anything else since the ancient monstrosity dreaming under the ocean had awoken. There was menace radiating from the woods and the trees grew in protuberant masses that blocked much of the inconstant light and shrouded the forest depths in shadow, but their topmost branches swayed slightly in the light breeze, the ground was covered by a blanket of smooth snow, and a flock of geese slowly winged their way over the woods. It was a relatively pleasant day, all things considered. The snowmobile gliding along the path winding its way through the woods coasted to a stop when the trail ended in a piecemeal wall surrounding a small village filled with ramshackle houses and faded storefronts. ‘Welcome to Bennett’ declared a large wooden sign in flaking blue paint. The sign was supported on either side by posts set into a small decorative mound edged with carefully landscaped bricks and was flanked by empty flower planters. It sat a short distance in front of the hastily erected and fortified wall, which looked uglier and cruder by comparison. The wall ramparts were empty and no movement could be seen in what was visible of the streets through the gaps between its boards.
“Hello!” called one of the two riders as she dismounted the snowmobile and took off her helmet, revealing a bold young woman, half Japanese with the dark hair and eyes of her mother’s people. Both riders wore winter camouflage snowsuits with tactical vests strapped overtop as well as sturdy boots and gloves, and only the height difference indicated which was the male and which the female of the two; the woman was slightly over five feet and her male companion towered over her at nearly six. Her greeting remained unanswered but for the wind ruffling her raven black hair. She turned to her companion, a young man with shaggy brown hair and warm chocolate eyes to match, her brow furrowed in concern.
He shrugged. "Maybe they're having a town meeting," he suggested, steam wafting from his breath in the chill air.
The woman frowned and started climbing over the wall. “I guess it’s possible,” she allowed doubtfully. She dropped onto the rampart and surveyed the silent buildings. “Let’s check the town hall. Keep your eyes open. I don’t like this quiet.”
“It’s a little too quiet,” he intoned dramatically, waggling his eyebrows and climbing past her down to the street.
"Actually, Wen, it is. Especially considering what happened to Tobey."
He scowled at her, irritated. "Don't call me that, I've told you I hate that. It’s Dell. And this doesn’t look anything like Tobey, the wall is still standing."
She smirked at his pique. "Wenny, until I saw Tobey I’d never seen anything that looked like Tobey. Keep your guard up."
He stuck out his tongue. "Screw you, Psycho. See, I can be a dick about names, too."
Grinning, she retorted, "Like I’ve never heard that before. Not even always as an insult, either, Americans just have this inability to pronounce foreign words correctly. Anyway, Wendell, it's not my fault your mom gave you an old, weird name. What is this, 1920?"
They’d walked the length of William Bennett Boulevard, Bennett’s main street, and the claustrophobic storefronts crowding one after the other had all proven to be empty. Dell rolled his eyes as they approached the crossroad that branched off towards the residential area. "For your information, Saeko, my dad picked it out, and it's not some old weird name, it's a family name. I'm the fourth Wendell Eustace Johnson, thank you,- Shit! SHIT!! There they are!!!"
They stopped dead in the middle of the intersection, stricken silent by the devastation to their left. The earth had opened up under Bennett’s houses, swallowing them into a staggeringly large pit. Worse than the destruction wrought by this sinkhole, however, was the evidence of some more sinister threat; blood and limbs were liberally strewn the length and breadth of the sinkhole. There were no full bodies, just a multitude of bloody pieces. Bennett had been a hamlet of about seventy-five people and something had ripped apart, chewed on, and tossed all of them onto the ground.
Saeko paled. "Wen-Wendell- Dell, sorry," she spoke quietly and quickly, tense but controlling her fear. "We have to get back to Arkham. We have to tell Frank."
The silence stretched and Saeko cast a questioning gaze at her partner. Silent and trembling, Dell was fixated on the bloody tableau before them. Saeko reached over to him and gently shook his shoulder.
"Dell, we've gotta tell Frank."
Dell started, then turned to her, blinking quickly. "Yeah," he breathed. "Yeah, let's go." He shook his head, trying to clear it, and gulped the crisp air. As they walked grimly back to their snowmobile he voiced the thought troubling both of them. “You were right. It’s just like Tobey.”
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