Solstice
Author: Donna Burgess
Genre: Horror/Zombies
Release Date: May 7, 2012
Blurb:
On
the eve of winter Solstice, a massive flash envelopes the Earth and then
there is nothing. The sun no longer shines and civilization is plunged
into unending darkness. Those exposed to the mysterious flash have
changed—they have become bloodthirsty, cunning, and determined to devour
anyone who is not infected. They are Ragers.
In Sweden, a
group of uneasy travelers hears a broken broadcast. There is hope.
Something called Sanctuary waits, but it is thousands of miles away,
somewhere on the shores of the British Isles.
Meanwhile,
in a London supermarket, a high school English teacher from the States
finds himself stranded along with a handful of students on a senior
trip. Outside, hoards of hungry Ragers await, ready to tear them limb
from limb. Their only hope is to find Sanctuary.
Solstice is a tale of hope, terror, survival, and finding love at the end of the World.
Tana was disoriented by the complete darkness. It was impossible to
decide what time it was—what time it reallywas. She loved the sunrise,
so where the hell was it? She was a true sun worshipper, often dragging
her boys out into the rays despite their protests about leaving their
precious video games. At times, she found even heavy cloud cover
jarring. She found the current darkness went well beyond jarring and
right into bloody creepy. With no clouds in the sky, stars twinkled like
fairy dust.
The similarities to any kind of fairy tale ended
there. The world had become mad, and there she was, a single woman alone
with two kids, trudging down the street in the freezing cold. She had
deadlines to meet. The lack of sun and an ill child would not get her
out of meeting those deadlines. How would she pay the lease? How would
she put food on the table?
The lack of light was an annoyance, at
most. It was an eclipse, perhaps. She never paid attention to the news
networks. In a while, things would settle back into their normal
routine. Aiden had a touch of flu and would have to stay home from
school. He was given to serious bouts of flu a couple of times a year.
She
would buy a few extra days. Self-employed web designers often begged
for time. Well, the poor ones did, anyway. She wasn’t quite poor, at
least not yet.
What she wasn’t used to was the inability to get
through on her cell phone. She’d tried the pediatrician several times,
but each call was answered with the dull beep beep of a dead signal. She
wanted to sit down and rest, but the few people who were out acted
funny, running back and forth, huffing and grunting. Stopping might draw
attention from one of those crazies.
Aidan was small for a
six-year-old, but at the moment, he was as heavy as lead. Her
bedroom-slippered feet padded along the litter-strewn sidewalks, robe
billowing behind her like a cape. Three steps behind, ten-year-old Davis
trotted along, dressed in his Chuckie-T sneakers, Spider Man pajamas,
and heavy coat.
The lack of electricity was a bigger issue than
the lack of sunrise. The apartment would be freezing when they returned.
Luckily, the stove was gas, so they could eat, and she could have her
coffee. Even the streetlamps were out. The sidewalks were gloomy, and it
was beginning to sleet. She wished for some traffic. Headlights to cut
the heavy darkness would be a small comfort.
She wasn’t sure what
had happened. She’d dozed on the sofa in front of a recorded episode of
Being Human and was happily dreaming of becoming Mitchell’s next victim
when Davis awakened her. He stood over her with his Luke Skywalker light saber. The pale blue light brightened his small face like an Avatar alien.
“Aiden’s sick, Mummy.”
She sprang to a sitting position. “Sick? Is he throwing up?”
“No. He’s breathing weird. It woke me up. When I looked at him, he looked… scary.”
“Scary?” Tana’s mouth felt dry. “Were you holding that thing? The blue light makes everything look scary.”
“Just
come on, Mum.” Davis took her hand and pulled her from the sofa, down
the hallway and toward their bedroom, the light saber a beacon in the
shadowy apartment.
Aidan looked worse than scary. A weird
burn-like rash ran along the side of his face. Fat, shiny blisters were
already forming on his check. Tana touched his forehead and found it
alarmingly chilled. He wouldn’t respond when she tried to rouse him.
Increasingly panicked, she dialed the family doctor. Nothing. Next, she
tried emergency. More nothing.
Her Fiat was in the shop, where it
stayed more often than not. There was nothing else to do but take to
the street and hope to catch a cab or a bus.
She considered a
blackout of the city. How terrible would it be? The looting. The crime.
It would be chaos. They’d be safer locked away inside the apartment, but
with a sick kid, waiting was not an option.
Outside wasn’t what
she expected. There was no chaos, no looting, no raping. There was just…
nothing. The feeling of complete aloneness was more chilling than the
sleet and the gloom. The crunch of the ice beneath their steps and the
clicking of sleet hitting the unmoving cars and the sidewalk were the
only sounds aside from the wind and their increasingly labored
breathing. Tana’s lips and cheeks became numb, and her teeth chattered.
“Are you okay, Davis?” she asked.
“I’m cold.”
“Me, too, baby. Just keep going. We’ll be there soon.”
Someone
screamed, and she flinched, nearly dropping Aiden. A teenaged boy
dashed past, sobbing. He wove between a pair of stalled cars, then
glanced back at Tana, his eyes wide with horror.
“Hide,” he hissed. Then he was gone
.
Tana grabbed Davis’s shoulder and pressed him back against a wall, attempting to vanish into the shadows.
Next,
a burly man lumbered into view, wearing a wife beater shirt and dirty,
ill-fitting undershorts. No shoes. His big stomach swayed, peeking from
beneath the shirt. Drool hung from his parted lips, frozen in mid-drip.
Once
the man passed their hiding place, Tana stepped from the shadows and
removed the blanket from Aiden’s face. Her stomach tightened. She wanted
to cry or to call out for help, but what the hell good would it do?
“Aiden?” She kissed his icy forehead. “Hang in there. Mummy’s going to get help.”
She thought she heard a soft groan. Thank the angels above! He’s wasn’t gone, at least not yet.
“Mummy?” he whispered.
“Yes. Mummy has you.”
Aiden’s
eyes slid open, but something was very wrong. His irises were nearly
white, the same color as his pallid face. The hollows beneath his eyes
were so dark they appeared like deep bruises on his smooth, baby-round
face.
Then Aiden, her sweet baby, dropped his head back until his
chin pointed to the sky, and he howled. He writhed in her arms until
her hold on him loosened, and he slithered to the sidewalk. Davis
stepped forward, took her hand, and pressed against her side, trembling.
Together, they watched as the boy struggled to free himself from the
tangles of the woolen blanket.
Once loose, he stood and glowered at her. He screamed again, and Davis screamed with him.
“Hush, babies. Shh,” Tana cried.
Aiden
lunged, spittle spraying from his lips. He bared his teeth and
screeched again, shrill and horrifying. Tana stepped backward, pulling
her oldest child with her. “Aiden. Calm down, baby!”
Behind the
mad child, a slumping figure approached. As the spindly shape drew
nearer, Tana realized it was only an elderly man. Dressed in what would
have normally been a smart gray suit and tie, he was covered in
splattered blood.
“Run, woman! They’re monsters, now!”
Aiden
spun, and in a flash, he sprang and was on the stranger. Blood flew,
inky in the darkness as Aiden ripped out the man’s throat.
Tana watched for a moment, frozen with shock. Then, she came to her senses, realizing she had to get her other child to safety.
“C’mon.
Quickly!” She gripped Davis’s small, cold hand and fled down the
street. She didn’t dare look back. The gruesome sounds told her more
than she would ever have wanted to know.
About the Author:
Donna Burgess lives with her husband, daughter,
son, many cats and one goofy Golden Retriever in Pawleys Island, South
Carolina. When she is not writing, she can be found on her longboard,
behind a good book or on the soccer field. She is the president of
E-Volve Books. She holds a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Journalism and
is currently pursuing her M.F.A. in Creative Writing.
Connect with Donna:
No comments:
Post a Comment