He faced back to his ultimate destination, and the retired bus driver in him did the trigonometry. He’d never make it. He’d be tackled, and his fragile little box would be shredded first, then his neck seconds later. He had to find shelter. A safe place. A wall to get behind,
An open boot.
The sedan with the trunk lid open was just seconds of dying run ahead, and if he got there, and grabbed the lid on the way down….
He went for it.
Ernest could feel the running feet of the monster getting closer, and just as he made the reckless, foolish dive into the boot of the cherry red, filth-covered sedan he felt her clawed hands grab the heel of his precious shoe. It came off, but that was the only pound of his flesh she got. Ernest landed hard on his shoulder, and he felt something come loose, triggering a blast of scorching pain that threatened to drown out his consciousness. He stayed with it though, and grabbed the lid of the boot, yanking it down with a metallic bang. The lock clicked, and he was safe. The monster’s scratching and smashing on the lid was feverish, and bizarre in the extreme when it wasn’t accompanied by the screams of rage.
Ernest’s chest and shoulder was on fire, and very soon after realizing he wasn’t going to be killed by the zombie, he closed his eyes and let his body give up.
The monster outside the sedan heard Ernest’s breathing change, and it immediately ceased its hammering on the now dented metal.
A presence flirted on the edge of what it managed as consciousness, and it turned around, returning to the bird bath, and the toppled paint and paint brush. Unaware of the why in what it did, the undead lady reached down, picked up the brush, and wet it with the aging yellow paint. She went to the wall, and painted the wings on the arrow opposite to what Ernest had intended.
It dropped the brush, and returned to its hungry oblivion.
Somewhere, something very evil felt a bit of satisfaction.
About Chris Philbrook
Chris Philbrook is the Amazon and Audible best-selling author of the Adrian’s Undead Diary series, The Reemergence series, COLONY LOST, and the fantasy world of Elmoryn. Chris has several years of experience working in game development and editing as well as writing fiction for several major game design companies.
Chris has authored ten novels in the horror/post-apocalyptic series Adrian’s Undead Diary, plus five urban fantasy novels in The Reemergence series and three dark fantasy novels in The Kinless Trilogy. His first science fiction novel; COLONY LOST has received stellar reviews. He writes young adult sci-fi under the pen name W.J. Orion.
Chris calls the wonderful state of New Hampshire his home. He is an avid reader, writer, role player, miniatures game player, video game player, husband, and father to two little girls.
Contact:[email protected]
Web:www.thechrisphilbrook.com
Facebook:facebook.com/PhilbrookAuthor
Twitter:@PhilbrookAuthor
Instagram:@PhilbrookAuthor
Also by Chris Philbrook:
Adrian’s Undead Diary
Book One: Dark Recollections
Book Two: Alone No More
Book Three: Midnight
Book Four: The Failed Coward
Book Five: Wrath
Book Six: In the Arms of Family
Book Seven: The Trinity
Book Eight: Cassie
Book Nine: The Dealer of Hope
Book Ten: The Last Resort
Book Eleven: No God
Book Twelve: Dead Cities
Tales from the World of
Adrian’s Undead Diary
Unhappy Endings
London Burns
Only the Light We Make
The Shed
An Ill Wind
The Other Side
Dead Lucky
Reemergence
Tesser: A Dragon Among Us
Ambryn: The Cheaters of Death
Fyelrath & the Coven’s Curse
Tesser: A Father Enraged
Zeud & the Prophets of Atomic Fire
Colony Lost
Elmoryn - The Kinless Trilogy
Book I: Wrath of the Orphans
Book II: The Motive for Massacre
Book III: The Echoes of Sin
Short Fiction:
Resurrections:
A Short Story Collection
Don’t miss Chris’s free e-Book:
At Least He’s Not On Fire:
A Tour of the Things
That Escape My Head
With David Moody & Mark Tufo:
THE BLEED
Book One: Rupture
Coming Soon:
Book Two: Rapture
Book Three: Armageddon
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and help make it all happen
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Adrian’s Undead Diary: Dead Cities
Copyright © 2021 Christopher Philbrook
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author. Your support of author’s rights is appreciated.
Published in the United States of America
First Publishing Date 2021
All characters in this compilation are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover and interior design by Alan MacRaffen
Can’t Wait for More?
Look for Chris Philbrook’s FREE short fiction eBook, At Least He’s Not on Fire.
Find it on Amazon, Goodreads, or Smashwords today!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JSGEKIK
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21948978-at-least-he-s-not-on-fire
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Dead Cities: Adrian's March. Part Four (Adrian's Undead Diary Book 12) Page 25
