Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

by Platt, Sean;Wright, David

  “What if you don’t make it?” Luca said.

  “I will.”

  “But you only have one bullet.”

  “Boricio don’t need guns,” he said, handing the gun to Linc. He opened the door and roared, then charged from the truck like a raging bull. The monsters followed. Rebecca counted to five, then opened the door and raced for the barn. Like Boricio said, they were clear. Every one of the fuckers was following him.

  Luca watched Boricio a moment longer. Boricio was still in full sprint when he suddenly dove to the dirt, landing between a pair of fallen brothers. He picked up one weapon and carefully aimed, then emptied it of its few remaining bullets, dropping two of the demons. Boricio grabbed another gun, then rolled away just as a demon landed beside him. Boricio stood and blew off its head, then pivoted his body and pulled the trigger twice, sending a pair of charging monsters into the snow.

  Luca had seen enough and looked at Linc, “OK, I’m going.”

  Monsters were crawling over the The Sanctuary’s stone walls from all sides, black shadows over white snow, like a sun setting on forever.

  Luca got out of the truck and ran for his life.

  He reached the barn, Linc just behind him.

  Someone screamed, but Luca didn’t dare look behind him.

  He darted through the smaller of the barn doors, where Rebecca waited.

  Her eyes were wide in horror.

  Luca turned to see a creature about to pounce on Linc. Somehow, Linc managed to roll and avoid its swipe, but slipped and was unable to get up before the monster descended on him.

  Luca grabbed a pitchfork leaning against the inside of the barn, and raced out toward the demon before it could kill Linc.

  Just as Luca was about to plunge the pitchfork into the demon, a second one came out of nowhere, and slammed into him, sending him to the ground, and knocking the weapon from his hands.

  Luca screamed as the creature rolled on top of him, mouth gnashing and shrieking.

  Four shots rang out and the monsters fell to the snow, their hot black blood steaming the cold ice. Boricio appeared, gun in hand, and scooped Luca up and shoved him inside the barn. Linc followed them inside, just as more of the things appeared behind him.

  Linc slammed the door shut just in time, and pressed his weight against it, trying to keep them from breaking through. The door rattled and shook, as the creatures pounded.

  Little pig, little pig, let me in.

  Only now it wasn’t Boricio trying to break down the door, but the demons outside.

  Luca looked around. The barn appeared to be sealed off on the ground level, but there was an open door up top, in the hayloft. If the demons were able to get up there from the outside, there would be no way to keep them from getting inside.

  Boricio looked at the hayloft, then at Luca.

  “You got any miracles in that noggin, you better crack ‘em open and get to scrambling.”

  Luca said nothing.

  And just then, two creatures appeared in the hayloft’s opening.

  They’d gotten in, and more would follow.

  * * * *

  WILL BISHOP

  Will put a bullet in the last of the monsters. Then wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He took a final look around the store, then ran to the car outside and climbed in.

  He pressed the pedal as far as it would go, as though pushing the car harder would change the future’s history.

  Will had seen a lot of yesterdays go by. Even if the dreams didn’t decide the future, they never lied. When you tried turning the dreams into liars, they snitched to Fate and that fucker, Fate made everything worse.

  Will didn’t know how it could be worse than what he’d seen, but he also knew it could be. He couldn't argue with the dreams, couldn't try to turn them into liars. He could only hope there was something else on the other side of the vision, another angle to the prism he couldn’t quite see. Not a loophole, but an opportunity to do something.

  Will kept on driving because the alternative was letting that fucker, Fate, make everything worse. The dreams showed that Will had to be at The Sanctuary. He should have been there already, in fact.

  He was late.

  What would that mean?

  After 10 minutes, Will saw orange on the night’s horizon where The Sanctuary should have been.

  It’s burning.

  Will drove faster, until he arrived at the gates that were no longer there, and drove into where The Sanctuary used to be. There was nothing standing or breathing. Every building was cinder or ash, trails of smoke snaking into the darkness above. Charred remains of structures and corpses littered the snow in black and red.

  It was worse than he’d seen in the dreams. Much worse.

  Will got out of the car and stepped onto the death grounds, searching for any signs of life.

  His heart ached as he looked around. A little girl, maybe six, lay in a pool of blood just outside where the main house had been. Her stomach had been gouged open, and blood still poured from her mouth. She was clutching a burnt doll, and her eyes were open in a permanent death stare. She was but one of the corpses, and but one of at least three children he could see in the immediate area.

  Oh God.

  The only building still standing somewhat was the barn, but flames were quickly lapping at what was left of it.

  Snow continued to fall, faster now, as if it could cover the dirt, grime, and blood.

  Will moved toward the burning barn as two figures appeared, silhouetted in fire.

  Boricio and Luca, blackened from smoke, and bloody.

  Will approached them.

  Luca’s eyes were wet, his mouth struggling to make a sentence.

  Finally, he stared at Will, then swallowed and said, “They’re dead . . . They’re all dead.”

  Will looked away, hedging for a second.

  There are no loopholes.

  “Not everyone,” Will said, reaching into his jacket. A tear rolled down his cheek as he pulled out the pistol, aimed at Luca, and pulled the trigger.

  TO BE CONTINUED . . .

  JUNE 19, 2012

  YESTERDAY’S GONE: SEASON THREE

  * * * *

  GONNA MISS YOUR WEEKLY SERIAL FIX?

  WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.

  NEXT WEEK WE RETURN WITH OUR NEXT SERIAL THRILLER,

  FORNEVERMORE

  Noella was born into this world under the shadow of death.

  Her mother died minutes after she was born.

  Her father was murdered in front of her when she was seven.

  And she’s been haunted by voices and visions of death until a year ago, when she was put on an experimental medication to make her life “normal.”

  Now Noella lives with her aunt in the sleepy town of Aurora Falls, where she spends her school days hiding from the people who torment her, and her weekends working at a coffee shop in quiet misery, harboring a secret crush on her best friend, Sam.

  Noella's only happiness comes in her dream world, where she still sees her father and where she is deeply in love with a guy who’s not even real.

  On the night before her 17th birthday, she wakes with the feeling that she’s being watched.

  Across the street, a light is on in the previously vacant house. And in the window, she sees him: the guy from her dreams. But it can't be him, can it?

  The next night, tragedy will strike again.

  Death is not done with Noella. Dreams are about to crash into reality in a paranormal mystery which threatens to unravel her.

  And she will know love and happiness ForNevermore.

  FORNEVERMORE

  THE NEXT SERIAL THRILLER FROM SEAN PLATT & DAVID WRIGHT

  FEBRUARY 28, 2012

  http://collectiveinkwell.com/fornevermore

  * * * *

  WANT A SNEAK PEEK OF SEASON THREE OF YESTERDAY’S GONE?

  Join The Goners, a FREE exclusive newsletter for fans of Yesterday’s Gone, and be the first to get sneak peeks, hear about Yeste
rday’s Gone-related news before anyone else!

  Visit:

  http://serializedfiction.com/be-a-goner

  THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO …

  Well, for us, anyway.

  We thank you for reading our book. You’ve already rocketed to the top of our Favorite People In The World Category, a list currently populated by J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Craig Ferguson, and whoever first thought to put cookies in ice cream (someone give that person a Nobel Prize!)

  But there’s one more thing we’d appreciate if you have a few minutes…

  If you enjoyed Yesterday’s Gone, or even if you kinda liked it, please LEAVE A REVIEW TODAY.

  WHY REVIEWS MATTER

  Listen, we hate begging you like an NPR pledge drive, but we’re new writers, and still making names for ourselves. In today’s publishing world, with so many great writers out there trying to get noticed, reviews can be the difference between making it and writing in obscurity.

  The truth is, we’d probably write even we only had five readers. I (David) wrote for years while working the graveyard shift at a gas station, dreaming of a day I’d have people getting lost in my worlds and words. We’re writers. We have stories to tell, and are gonna do it no matter what.

  But the better our books do, the more we can write for you.

  MOST PEOPLE

  Most people who read a book will never review it. Maybe they don’t have time. Maybe they don’t like leaving reviews. Or maybe they don’t think it matters to an author. Or maybe they’d never even considered leaving a review. Whatever the case, we don’t take offense. Honestly, we’re just thrilled that they’re reading.

  We’re thrilled that YOU are reading!

  But … if you have a few minutes, you can make a huge difference in how our story as indie writers unfolds.

  You really came out for Yesterday’s Gone: Season One, and we THANK YOU from the bottoms of our hearts. Between reader email, tweets, and reviews, you rocked!

  We’d love it if you can help again.

  The biggest challenge for indie authors is finding an audience. Word-of-mouth and reviews at Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Goodreads, and similar sites can make all the difference in the world between whether a new reader will find and purchase our books.

  So please consider leaving a review today.

  Thank you,

  David Wright

  & Sean Platt

  * * * *

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  * * * *

  POST-SEASON INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHORS

  Our editor, Matt Gartland, worked like a madman keeping pace with us this year. (Thank you for the awesome job, Matt!) After the dust settled and the last episode was complete, he decided to interview us as a bonus for the season compilation.

  If you haven’t yet read Season Two, and you’re one of those weird people who reads the back of the book first, you might want to wait and come back to read this AFTER you finish the season.

  In other words, spoilers below!

  MATT: So, after that ending, what’s next?

  DAVID: I can’t say anything other than find out on June 19.

  SEAN: Ditto.

  MATT: Season 1 was a tremendous success. How did that challenge you in Season 2 to at least meet, if not exceed, your high standard of creativity?

  SEAN: Season 1 was an amazing creative experience, and really drove us to do something different than a lot of what was happening with self-published fiction. Season 1 was about establishing the world and proving it would work. Proving that readers would return week after week, then come back after hiatus hungrier than ever.

  Season 2 was about building on that world, and rewarding returning readers with a narrative that was tighter and better, and grew along with them. We wanted to do more and say more, and do everything better. We wanted to start strong, and finish with an ending that made readers say, “WOW! What happens next?!?”

  DAVID: The big fear lurking in my mind was the whole “sophomore effect” you read about where musicians, novelists, and TV and movie producers attempt to duplicate what worked so well the first time only to come up short, or worse, fail miserably. But when it comes down to it, I saw areas for improvement over season 1, things we’d learned during the first season, that we could apply to the second. So, in my mind, Season Two would be better. And looking back now, I believe it was.

  Now the trick will be topping an insane season finale! I’m glad we have a month or two to think about it!

  MATT: How did your process change from Season 1 to Season 2? And more generally, how do you both continually look to tweak and improve your process Season to Season and episode to episode?

  SEAN: The exchange between Dave and I gets better by the day. A weekly series is a demanding task, so communication must be fluid, honesty must be everywhere and professional shorthand must be tight. Season 1 started out making it up as we went along. Dave would write his characters, I would write mine, then I’d polish them all and he’d blend them together. This worked beautifully.

  Season 2 was more plotted, and has gone even better. Dave is pencils and I’m ink. Some stuff he writes note for note, and some stuff is just a sketch. I fill in the blanks and color the pages. We’ll be carrying this flow with us to our next serial, ForNevermore.

  Also with Season 2, we’ve had the awesome work of our editor, Matt Gartland, who has helped us have great copy produced at a tremendous clip.

  DAVID: The overall process was relatively the same, but we had to work much faster with a goal of releasing a new book each week. As for tweaking, I believe the more you write, the better you get. So we keep writing and aiming for that perfect blend of story and character that defines serialized fiction for us.

  MATT: What new inspirations did you weave into the fold of the storytelling in Season 2 that weren't there in Season 1?

  DAVID: Our opening sequences in Season One weren’t exactly gripping. Between seasons, we were watching back-to-back episodes of Breaking Bad and LOVED how that show often opened up with something compelling and then circled back to deliver WHY it was compelling. LOST did that with its flashback openings from time to time, also.

  So we opened up Season Two with the attack on the farm where the Drury group was staying. That was the biggest shift in writing this season, the opening sequences. Start strong or start compelling, or start weird, even, and then come back and tie that into the current timeline. We didn’t follow that formula in every episode, but overall, I think the openings were much better this season.

  SEAN: I think our inspirations were mostly carried over from one season to the next. The biggest change was that we were writing for an active audience the second time around, and that changed the mood. It was wonderful to have readers waiting each Tuesday. One of the best parts of my year so far for sure.

  MATT: What "magic" can you share about how well you produce such captivating stories at such a high velocity?

  SEAN: I think speed is our key. Dave and I have written together for three and a half years, and I’ve had to write thousands of words a day professionally for all of that time. The velocity has always been there, as has the quality. That’s how I made my living. But now I’m getting to point that velocity toward something I love, while doing it with a creative partner who makes the writing fun, and deep, velocity isn’t the problem so much as deciding which stories we want to tell next!

  DAVID: Trying to keep up with Sean! And prodigious amounts of
diet soda.

  MATT: What was the hardest scene or episode for each of you to write, respectively, and why?

  DAVID: The hardest episode was Episode 11, “The Loophole.” I wanted to write a romantic storyline with elements of fate, destiny, and choice which would set the stage for the season finale in a big way.

  The big challenge was that we were asking readers to care a lot about Will, who had to that point been only a background character. So we had to slow down the plot to introduce Will’s back story. Initially, the Big Reveal at the end of Episode 11 was that Will had foretold his own death. But there was no parallel in that and what happened with his boyfriend, or in Episode 12.

  Sean and I brainstormed and then it hit us ... Will didn’t see his own death. He saw Luca’s! Will wasn’t trying to protect himself, he was trying to protect someone he loved. That revelation changed everything, bringing not only Episode 11 full circle, but it set up the season finale perfectly.