Celestial Game

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by Abi Marie Palmer

 

The arrow pierced the angel’s chest. Damien smirked as it plummeted towards the vast grounds of his manor. Now nobody would deny his hunting skills.

His catch plunged into the lake. Its limp husk bobbed to the surface, charred but incandescent. An exquisite specimen. When stuffed, it would look impressive in the dining hall next to the Masai lion. Now to retrieve the carcass.

The angel’s eyes snapped open. It rose above the lake with a disgruntled roar and clawed the arrow from its chest.

Damien’s servants found his body that night. It was displayed in the dining hall, stuffed.

Abi Marie Palmer

Abi Marie Palmer is a freelance proofreader and editor with an English Literature degree from Cardiff University. She is training to become a secondary school English teacher and enjoys writing in her spare time. instagram.com/abimariepalmer

Cautionary Steps

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by Colleen Anderson

 

Sergei backed away from the greyish thing with flesh rotting off its body. It staggered toward him, moaning. “—rains.”

Trembling, Sergei moved onto the muddy road, water pouring in his eyes, nearly blinding him in the darkness. If only he could reach the carriage.

“—rrrrains,” the creature uttered, lifting its blackened hand and pointing.

Sergei turned, trying to climb through the carriage door when the horse, its eyes showing white, whinnied and reared at the approaching horror. As its hooves thudded into the earth, it tore away, the carriage wheels running over Sergei’s body.

“Reinsss,” croaked the zombie.

Colleen Anderson

Colleen Anderson’s writing has appeared in many venues. She has a BFA in writing and is a recipient of BC Arts Council and Canada Council grants. Her short fiction collection, A Body of Work is available online. She will be Creative Ink Festival guest of honor in Vancouver, BC. www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com

Bleeding, Blending, An Ending With The Living Dead

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by Steven Holding

 

Slow shuffle, like a senile senior citizen. Shoulder to slumped shoulder. Your own odour, Eau de decay, bothers you no longer.

You’re at one with the crowd now.

Amidst this apocalypse, you experience an acceptance never found in life: not inside, doing time, nor in padded asylums.

The herd swerve, having heard a scream, moaning, closing in.

A young girl swings, smashing skulls, crushing brains. It’s not enough to save her.

The pack collapses while attacking.

As she’s torn in two, you catch her eye, offering a smile as you dig in.

Happy that your appetite can finally be satisfied.

Steven Holding

Steven Holding lives in the United Kingdom. His work has appeared both online and in print. Most recently, his short story “ROUTE THIRTY-THREE” won the 2019 H.E. BATES SHORT STORY COMPETITION prize for best story from a Northamptonshire writer. You can follow his work at www.stevenholding.co.uk

The Unturned

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by Nicole Little

 

Holing up in this ramshackle cabin was our first mistake, but we’d run out of options.

Now we’re surrounded.

They pound on the door seeking entrance. And though they mumble amongst themselves, no words are discernible to us through the splintered wood. The children—our poor children; they cower, clutching at their mothers ragged shirttails. The stench of fear in the room is tangible.

We know this is the end.

With a thunderous crash the door gives and the mob breaks inside.

“Aim for their heads boys!” I hear them shout as they open fire.

The humans. The unturned.

Nicole Little

Nicole Little is an award winning short story writer living in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Her work has appeared in nine anthologies in the past year. In her spare time, Nicole has either a pen in her hand or her nose in a book. She is married with two daughters.
www.facebook.com/NLitNon

Saviours

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by Dustin Pinney

 

The last survivor screamed as the creatures brought him to the ground, reached through his flesh, pulled away his lean meat, snapped apart his ribcage, gripped his lungs, and dug out his final breath.

They devoured him without pleasure, leaving nothing but red and bone.

Now, the undead were without purpose. The Earth forced them from the soil to consume and cleanse its surface of the dangerous parasites threatening to destroy it. The task was completed.

The ground opened up. The saviours of Earth collapsed and were welcomed back into their final resting places.

All was as it should be.

Dustin Pinney

Dustin lives and writes in upstate New York. He has been more involved with zombie things than he ever expected and is surprised by how much he enjoys it.

Watch Where You Step

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by Jodi Jensen

 

“Mom! Dad!” Kelly’s shouts were met with a clattering noise from the other room. She raced toward the kitchen. “Mom? Dad? Let’s go!” Her foot hit the tiled floor and she slipped, landing her on her butt. “What the he—”

Feet shuffling, her mom turned, dead grey eyes staring, jaw chomping.

Kelly scrambled backward. Her hand smacked the sticky floor and something smashed beneath her palm with a pop.

Her stomach lurched as she glanced down.

An eyeball…

Her dad lay on the floor next to her, empty eye socket gaping, throat gurgling.

Fuck…

He reached for Kelly’s leg.

Jodi Jensen

Jodi Jensen is the author of time travel romances and speculative fiction short stories. With a passion for old cemeteries, historical buildings and sweeping sagas of days gone by, it was only natural she’d write about all the places that sparked her imagination.
Twitter: @WritesJodi

Time and Decay

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by Zoey Xolton

 

Rayne’s heartbeat thundered in her ears until the world fell away, and there was nothing but her shuddering, panicked breath, and the steady, hypnotic rhythm of blood roaring through her veins.

Plastered against a cold concrete pylon, hidden in the shadow of the interstate bridge, a hoard ambled by just feet away. There were hundreds of rotters, maybe a thousand; all stumbling along in an endless procession of decay.

The gurgling, rasping moans unnerved her, and she unconsciously side-stepped—a plastic bottle crushing underfoot. The crunch brought the hoard to an immediate stand-still and she froze.

Her time was up.

Zoey Xolton

Zoey Xolton is a Best Selling Australian author of Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Horror. She is also a proud mother of two, and is married to her soul mate. Writing is her greatest passion. Her debut short story collection ‘Darkly Ever After’ can be found on Amazon!
Link: www.zoeyxolton.com

New Beginning

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by Melinda Pouncey

 

It began with a worldwide contagion.Warning signs were ignored, governments slow to respond. It spread rapidly, overwhelming resources, crashing economies. Then, just as quickly as it started, it was gone; and most of the population with it.

They didn’t die, that would have been a mercy. Instead, they lingered on, blind, pale, walking corpses shut up in their homes, afraid to come out into the light. We left them there. We were used to living rough. Now in scattered communities far from the plague ridden cities, we share, we work together.

I never knew there were so many stars.

Melinda Pouncey

Melinda Pouncey is a retired psychologist who enjoys exploring the complexities and scope of the human imagination. She has written numerous short stories and poems in a variety of genres and is, most recently, focusing her attention upon horror and fantasy. Melinda has several drabbles in Black Hare Press anthologies.

The Last One Alive

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by Andreas Hort

 

Every day they trudge around the city on their endless journey for satiation of their hunger. I can imagine their suffering; I’m starving, too. Only not for flesh. For human contact. For the last six years, day after day, I’ve had no one to talk to but myself. I… I think I might be the last person alive.

But there’s a way to satisfy my hunger.

They always travel in packs, you know? They’re never alone. So, I’m gonna head out now, to join them. I’m terrified. Of the teeth, the pain… but I’m more terrified of another day alone.

Andreas Hort

Andreas Hort resides in the Czech Republic. In his free time, he writes and takes steps toward his goal to move to an English-speaking country. His works have been published in several anthologies. He likes chatting with people with similar interests, so feel free to get in touch:
https://twitter.com/TheAndreasHort

Obey

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by Paul J Scribbans

 

“Harry! You promised Dad!”

“I won’t shoot, I’m just using the scope.”

Charlotte glanced uneasily at her older brother. She’d learnt the hard way to obey her parents; Harry wasn’t. Her mother told Charlotte to be quiet last year. She disobeyed and her mom died terribly.

In the gorge below their father was stalking a zombie; machete ready to cleave its skull.

“I reckon I could take it!”

“No, Harry!”

It was too late. The shot shattered the silence. Their father’s knee exploded, and he went down screaming. The children watched in horror as the zombie devoured their incapacitated father.

Paul J Scribbans

Paul J Scribbans is a writer who has lived his entire life in the Lake District, UK. His working background is in Information Technology and he didn’t start writing seriously until his early forties. Apart from writing, he enjoys reading and absorbing himself in the local countryside with hobbies such as trail running and hiking. His genres are Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror which adopt strong environmental and survival themes.