by Jay Brenham
She pushed the door open slowly with the rake, which made a tiny scratching sound on the wood. The door opened wider but she still didn't see anything. Suddenly Bobby lunged seemingly out of nowhere. She didn’t want to do any permanent damage to her son, no matter how sick he was. She put the rake against his chest and shoved him to the floor.
Bobby scrambled to his feet and charged her again. He had more room to gain speed this time. It was as if every ounce of his energy was devoted to attacking her, and he was surprisingly strong. She aimed for his chest again but he was moving so fast that he pushed her backwards, out of the room. Her foot missed the edge of the stairs and she fell, grabbing the banister to keep herself from falling all the way down.
Bobby lunged after her, but he also stumbled, and thudded down the stairs head first. Gloria pulled herself upright against the railing, automatically worried for her son’s safety. Her motherly instinct quickly vanished when Bobby jumped to his feet and charged back up the stairs toward her. She grabbed the rake, braced herself, and rammed it at Bobby's chest.
I have to get out of this house, she thought. I won’t survive if I stay here with him. In that moment, she knew Bobby would never be her little boy again.
Gloria was still holding him off with the rake but she couldn't stand like this forever. She gave Bobby one last hard shove, turned, and ran into the bedroom, slamming and locking the door shut behind her. Bobby was throwing himself at the flimsy bedroom door. He would break through any second.
Gloria fumbled with the latch on the second story window. She threw the window open and tossed the rake out. Then she put her feet out first and lowered herself as far as she could until she was hanging from the sill. There was a crash as Bobby broke through the door and then she dropped, rolling as she hit the ground.
Moments later, her son tumbled out the window and hit the ground on his side, his arm and shoulder twisting at an odd angle beneath him. Gloria let out a cry at the sight, but grabbed the rake just in case. Bobby was on his feet again, as if he’d felt nothing from the fall.
Gloria screamed. This was not her son. Gripping the rake, she sprinted down the street, still screaming while tears ran down her face. The noise was sure to summon other infected but she couldn't keep the crying in.
Bobby was gaining on her, she attempted to shove him to the ground with the rake but each time it only bought her a few seconds.
As Gloria ran, she knew these would be the last moments of her life, brought to an end by the son she loved. She hoped her mother and daughters could find a way to survive.
Thanks for reading Survival in the Seven Cities! I hope you enjoyed my story. Reviews really help drive sales for indie authors like me. So if you liked Survival the Seven Cities, please leave a review so other readers can connect with my work.
Don’t stop reading! There are two more titles in the series and more to come! If you liked what you read you can get the novella, Fall of the Seven Cities, and read more about this infected world. Just follow this link to my Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/Jay-Brenham/e/B014R4NZT2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1444302531&sr=1-1.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, even though this isn’t enough to express the extent of my gratitude, I want to thank my wife. Without her, I would never have been able to make any of my stories publishable.
Thank you to my family for supporting me and, in particular, my mother and father for being good beta readers. C.T.C., thank you for your boundless enthusiasm and for throwing me a launch party.
In no particular order, I would also like to thank:
My childhood friend, Mike, as well as his father, for introducing me to a genre I love. As well as Mike’s mother for pretending not to notice we were watching age inappropriate horror and action movies.
My good friend, Nick, for painstakingly reading what I produce and for volunteering to edit. I hope one day I get to repay the favor.
I owe a significant thank you to my beta readers: Sander, Casey T, Vic, Dave, James S, and my college roommate, M.K.
James Cook, author of the Surviving the Dead series, for sharing his pre-publishing checklist with a random fan. His books are a great read and anyone who’s interested in the survival horror genre should check them out.
Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant, for replying to me when I asked for advice. Their book, Write, Publish, Repeat, was a key factor in getting my book finished.
And last but not least, Orson Scott Card, who is my favorite author of all time. When I’d written no more than a single paragraph, I wrote to him asking for advice about feeling self-conscious with my writing. To my surprise, Card wrote back to me and essentially told me to get over myself. That was exactly the kick in the pants I needed.
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CTA
Acknowledgements
