Writing Apocalypse and Survival
Page 13
The monster ate his face like the main course at a four-star restaurant
Growls of frustration followed me as I ran from them
She sank her bloodstained teeth into the living meat
Her teeth ripped off a hairy hunk of his arm
The zombie's eyes closed in ecstasy as it chewed noisily on the entrails
The unkillable cannibals howled and surged to the sound of my voice
The pasty-faced ghoul scrabbled after me, biting at air
The cannibal dead cried out for blood in the language of the grave
Her unholy fingers curled into claws
I awoke to the sound of pounding fists and breaking glass
Bullets knocked some of the sick people down, but they kept getting up
He was moving fast for a dead guy, closing the gap with long strides
Its fingers splayed out, questing for my flesh
The lower-half of its jaw was sheared away
The faceless ghoul's tongue licked at lips that were no longer there
Grime-covered hands clawed at my leg as its beady eyes glared up at me
The creature's mouth gaped wide, eager to devour
A half-dozen ghouls ran forward and yanked at the trailing guts
It shoved the girl's arm into its mouth and bit down―hard
The flesh-hungry mob batted the air and growled
The swarm surged in all directions, an endless line of teeth and claws
Dozens of hungry ghouls pressed into the gap
Sticky, infected fingers smeared blood and bile across the window glass
Her jaws snapped shut spasmodically, trying to gnaw through the glass
He hissed through the pulsing ruin of his ripped-out throat
The zombie charged forward on unsteady legs
More zombies―shadows in the moonlight―spilled out of the store
The ghastly horde closed in, intent on eating them alive
The ghoul exploded on impact like a blood-filled water balloon
His chest was a raw wound I could see through
Gore-guzzling ghouls gaped and moaned
The flesh-ripping feast had begun
It was an orgy of toxic hunger
The infected horror shambled to meet me, ghastly lips drooling gore
It chewed into her neck with a savage grinding sound
The hungry corpse bit down, drawing blood
The dead creature's jaws clamped shut on my arm
It was ripping and tearing at a piece of bloodied flesh between its teeth
The ravenous undead swallowed its meal and came back for more
The gut-ripping horror got up on jerky legs and staggered toward me
The zombies were a shambling mass of mindless hunger
The diseased army of death staggered, shambled and crawled
Infected spit and gnashing teeth came up to meet me
His eyes were murky, the life bleached out
The shambler with the missing jaw led the pack in my direction
The creep with the oozing eye socket blindly staggered forward
The zombie mob moaned in frustration as I ducked back out of sight
Hungry eyes and half-rotten faces leered back at me
The milling mass of hungry dead made it impossible to go forward
The city streets were choked with smashed cars and living dead
The street was teeming with the walking dead
The dead came pouring out of every car, every building
A crowd of zombies pulled him from the wrecked car, tearing him apart
A blood-red rain drooled from its crimson lips as it fed
The zombie's teeth came away glistening with their scarlet prize
The dead thing gnawed on her body, sucking up the last of life's juices
The zombies grew smaller and smaller in our rearview mirror
There were too many zombies to fight
The rotting dead kept coming until there was no escape
They were living corpses that fed on death
A thousand slack-jawed Satans stared up at him
Their hungry mouths promised damnation
Intestines leaked from him in a hopeless tangle of doom
The dead clutched frantically at the exposed intestines
Steaming ropes of blood-smeared intestines spilled through his fingers
The first yellowish loops of intestine squirmed from the wound
The first ghastly worm of intestine peered from the gaping hole
Blood and bile broke free from the wound–her guts were soon to follow
Frantic fingers clutched and clawed at her mutilated belly
Pulled apart, all he could do was die
The zombie's teeth snapped down on her manicured fingers
The head tumbled away from the spurting stump
Blood spilled from the wound in a relentless red rush
The arm tore free from the shoulder with a sickening crunch
He yanked on the dangling limb, twisting it free from its socket
The eyes burst and black fluid gushed
The zombie’s head disappeared in a red mist
Blood and brains burst out of his shattered skull
The first slug shredded the trachea just at the hollow of her throat
The bullet smashed through the bridge of his nose, pulping brain
The back of his skull burst open like a ripe melon
A hole in its head, the torn body crumpled sideways
Melted brain leaked out of the corpse like clumps of gray jam
He clutched at the mangled ruins of his face
The brain was gone, scooped out like ice cream
WHAT’S NEXT?
NOW THAT YOU’VE mastered the basics of creating monsters and maniacs, it’s time to move on to more specific goals:
Writing Dynamite Story Hooks walks you through how to emotionally hook readers step by step, line by line regardless of what genre you write.
Writing Heroes & Villains covers how to create all kinds of heroes and villains, as well as supporting cast, teams, and minor characters. You’ll also learn how to quickly master writing realistic men and women in your fiction.
Writing Monsters & Maniacs takes you into the world of alien and fantasy races, psycho cults and killers, robots, demons, ghosts, mutants, undead, and more! Includes 150 plot ideas, plus lists of magic, psychic, and supernatural strengths and weaknesses.
If you need help describing things—and I do mean anything—than be sure and grab my Writers’ Phrase Books:
#1 Horror
#2 Post-Apocalypse
#3 Action
#4 Fantasy
#5 Fiction (a short series sampler)
#6 Science Fiction
#7 Romance, Emotion, and Erotica
Note that the phrase books are intended as standalones, so all but the Romance one repeat a lot of the same action descriptions. You may not need to own more than one or two of these phrase books.
That’s all till next time. Thank you for buying my book and I hope to see you again soon.
— JACKSON DEAN CHASE
Get a free book at
www.JacksonDeanChase.com
P.S.: If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review to help others on their author journey.
POST-APOCALYPTIC READING AND WATCH LIST
Ready to get your read on? On this fiction list you’ll find classics like Earth Abides and On the Beach, along with ridiculously fun ‘80s romps like Doomsday Warrior and Endworld, all the way up to recent books. I’ve purposely restricted the fiction list to works from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
While there are older works from the 1800s and early 1900s, such as H.G. Well’s The Time Machine and Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, they are beyond the scope of this book.
Note that I’ve kept vampires, mutants, and other monsters on the regular post-apocalyptic lists, but segregated zombies onto their own.
As for nonfiction, thr
eats and technology can change quickly. That’s why I’ve kept that list short and mostly recent.
BOOKS (FICTION)
After the Rain by John Bowen (1958)
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (1959)
All Fool’s Day by Edmund Cooper (2014)
Bird Box by Josh Malerman (2015)
The Black Death by Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr (1978)
Blindness by Jose Saramago (1995)
The Book of Eli (2010)
A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison (1969)
C.A.D.S. (Computerized Attack/Defense System) by John Sievert (Series, 1985-91)
Cannibal Reign by Thomas Koloniar (2012)
A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1964)
The Children of Men by P.D. James (1992)
Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence (1985)
A Choice of Gods by Clifford D. Simak (1955)
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (1955)
Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny (1969)
The Dark by James Herbert (1980)
Dark Universe by Daniel Galouye (1961)
Davy by Edgar Pangborn (1964)
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)
Daybreak 2250 by Andre Norton (1952)
The Death of Grass (aka No Blade of Grass) by John Christopher (1955)
Deathlands by James Axler (Series, 1986-2015)
The Deep by Nick Cutter (2015)
Domain by James Herbert (1984)
Doomsday Warrior by Ryder Stacy (Series, 1984-1990)
The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard (1962)
Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham (2007)
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (1949)
Emergence by David R. Palmer (1984)
End Times Alaska by Craig Martelle (Series, 2016-17)
Endworld by David L. Robbins (Series, 1986-2015)
Engine Summer by John Crowley (1979)
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt (2009)
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey (Series, 2013-2016)
Floating Dragon by Peter Straub (1982)
The Fog by James Herbert (1975)
From the Ashes by William W. Johnstone (Series, 1983-2003)
The Gas by Charles Platt (1968)
The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch (1955)
A Gift Upon the Shore by M.K. Wren (1990)
Heiro's Journey by Sterling E. Lanier (1983)
Horseclans by Robert Adams (Series, 1975-88)
The Hot Zone by Thomas Preston (1995)
How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It by James Wesley Rawles (2009)
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954)
Junk Day by Arthur Sellings (1970)
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (1963)
The Last Ranger by Craig Sargent (Series, 1987-89)
The Last Ship by William Brinkley (2013)
The Last War by Ryan Schow (Series, 2017-present)
Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald (1981)
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (2008)
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett (1955)
Long Voyage Home by Luke Rhineholt (2012)
Lucifer’s Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven (1977)
Malevil by Robert Merle (1975)
The Marauders by Michael McGann (Series, 1989-91)
The Maze Runner by James Dasher (Series, 2009-2016)
Nature's End by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka (1987)
Nomad by Matthew Mather (Series, 2015-17)
On the Beach by Nevil Shute (1957)
One Rainy Night by Richard Laymon (1991)
One Second After by William R. Forstchen (2011)
Parasites Like Us by Adam Johnson (2004)
The Passage by Justin Cronin (Trilogy, 2010-2016)
Path to Savagery by Robert Edmond Alter (1969)
Patriots by James Wesley Rawles (1998)
Phoenix by David Alexander (Series, 1987-88)
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle (1963)
The Postman by David Brin (1985)
The Prince in Waiting by John Christopher (Trilogy, 1983)
Rebirth: When Everyone Forgot by Thomas C. McClary (1951)
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban (1998)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2007)
Roadblaster by Paul Hofrichter (Series, 1987-88)
Quake by Richard Laymon (1995)
Quake by Rudolph Wurlitzer (1974)
The Rest Must Die by Richard Foster (1959)
Shiva Descending by Gregory Benford & William Rotsler (1985)
Slow Apocalypse by John Varley (2012)
Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys (1978)
The Stand by Stephen King (1978)
Storm Rider by Robert Baron (Series, 1992-93)
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon (1987)
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (Trilogy, 2009-11)
The Survivalist by Jerry Ahern (Series, 1981-1990)
The Terry Henry Walton Chronicles by Craig Martelle (Series, 2016-2017)
Tomorrow! by Philip Wylie (1952)
Traveler by D.B. Drumm (Series, 1984-87)
Triumph by Philip Wylie (1963)
War Day by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka (1984)
The Warlord by Jason Frost (Series, 1983-87)
The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson (1984)
The Wind from Nowhere by J.G. Ballard (1961)
Wizard of the Wasteland by Jon Cronshaw (Series, 2017)
Wool by Hugh Howey (2012)
Year Zero by Jeff Long (2002)
Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien (2007)
BOOKS (NONFICTION)
Armed Professions: A Writer's Guide by Clayton J. Callahan (2016)
Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag by Creek Stewart (2012)
Can I See Your Hands: A Guide To Situational Awareness, Personal Risk Management, Resilience and Security by Gav Schneider (2017)
The Extreme Weather Survival Manual by Dennis Mersereau (2015)
The Emergency Survival Manual: 294 Life-Saving Skills by Joseph Pred (2015)
How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It by James Wesley Rawles (2009)
The Green Beret Survival Guide: For the Apocalypse, Zombies, and More by Bob Mayer (2012)
How to Survive Off the Grid by Tim MacWelch (2016)
Outdoor Life: Hunting & Gathering Survival Manual by Tim MacWelch (2014)
Outdoor Life: The Ultimate Survival Manual by Richard Johnson (2014)
Post-Apocalypse Writers' Phrase Book: Essential Reference for All Authors of Apocalyptic, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Prepper and Zombie Fiction by Jackson Dean Chase (2015)
The Practical Bushcraft Survival Guide by Robbie Jones (2016)
Prepping For Life by Grant Cunningham (2017)
Put 'Em Down, Take 'Em Out by Don Pentacost (1988)
Science Fiction Writers’ Phrase Book by Jackson Dean Chase (2016)
Survival Medicine & First Aid by Beau Griffin (2016)
Survive Now Thrive Later by Bob Mayer (2016)
Survival Hacks by Creek Stewart (2016)
Survival Medicine & First Aid by Beau Griffin (2016)
Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual by Tim MacWelch (2017)
Violence: A Writer's Guide by Rory Miller (2013)
Violence of Mind: Training and Preparation for Extreme Violence by Varg Freeborn (2018)
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (1999)
Writing Dynamite Story Hooks by Jackson Dean Chase (2018)
Writing Heroes and Villains by Jackson Dean Chase (2018)
Writing Monsters and Maniacs by Jackson Dean Chase (2018)
MOVIES
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)
2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)
Aftershock (2012)
Air (2015)
Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
Battletruck (1982)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
The Birds (1963)
Blindness (2008)
The Blood of Heroes (1989)
A Boy and His Dog (1975)
By Dawn’s Early Light (TV, 1990)
Carriers (2009)
Cherry 2000 (1987)
Children of Men (2006)
Chosen Survivors (1974)
The Colony (2013)
Contagion (2011)
Damnation Alley (1977)
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
The Day the World Ended (1955)
Dead End Drive-In (1986)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Def-Con 4 (1985)
The Divide (2011)
Doomsday (2008)
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Escape from New York (1981)
Escape from the Bronx (1983, aka Bronx Warriors 2)
Exterminators of the Year 3000 (1983)
Goodbye World (2013)
The Handmaid’s Tale (1990)
The Happening (2008)
Hardware (1990)
Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988)