The Rot (Book 1): They Rot

by Luke Kondor

  Eventually, Joanna cupped a hand behind Sunny’s head and nudged him back around. Colin turned, and as they looked up for Anton, they were surprised to find an old man with white hair and a white beard perfectly shaped around his chin and above his lip, strolling down the jetty. His baggy shirt looked like he’d made it himself out of old bed sheets and it did nothing to hide his wiry frame beneath. Even in this cold morning weather, the man didn’t wear any shoes. His smile, though. His smile went from ear to ear, and something inside Colin told him immediately who this man must be.

  “Well, hello there,” the man said. “That’s quite a view, eh? Most of our newcomers find themselves drawn to the water.” He reached out a hand to them in turn. “The name’s—”

  “—Henry,” Colin finished.

  The man turned his keen eyes to Colin and smiled. “And you must be Mr Bolton.”

  Colin nodded. He noticed a couple more Hopefuls stopping behind Anton, watching with a smile and curiosity at the new guys. One of them welcomed Anton with a hug. A tall blonde woman in similar homemade clothing.

  Henry studied the newcomers for a couple moments in silence, his face bright and warm. He reached up and played with the hairs on his chin, then suddenly clapped his hands together, making them all jump (except Sunny). “Well, welcome, to our little town of love, happiness, and… well, it’s in the name, Hope. You must be famished. Come,” he said, as he turned and began walking towards Anton. “The feast starts soon, and I want you head of the table with me.”

  Colin and Joanna looked at each other and smiled. Sunny took Joanna’s hand and together they followed Henry, guided on their first tour around town.

  ~ 35 ~

  Sunny felt a cool wash as the atmosphere changed. The mixed voices of the adults had died some time ago, but he could still feel their energy in the air. There had been dozens of them. Dining around tables, chatting loudly as glasses clinked and plates emptied. He had turned and seen the kind-faced old man with a mouthful of meat turn to Colin and say, “A feast fit for Kings,” before they all started laughing.

  …The itsy-bitsy spider

  Climbed up the water spout…

  Not again…

  It was dark now. The three of them snuggled on a wide pile of blankets. Sunny wedged between Joanna and Colin. He could feel them all, though, in bunkers as far as six houses down. A palpable acceleration of everyone’s heartbeats. They thudded in his ears, falling like droplets of water in a crystal lake, disturbing his dreams. He rolled and kicked until the blanket that was keeping him warm moments ago became too much. He needed air, he needed…

  Sunny rolled over, his hand finding the flesh of Colin’s arm. Colin grunted, shuffled, then lay still.

  The warmth of his skin, the—

  It came in a flash. One second Sunny was in the land between dreams and wake, the next he was in a strange land. A place where buildings were suffocating, high-rises that reached higher and higher until they disappeared above. A place where streets were choked with cars and weeds burst through post boxes and crept up lampposts and traffic lights. Through the middle of it all, a wide river snaked, bleeding against its banks and dribbling into the roads and pathways nearby, as a clot in a bloodstream might burst and haemorrhage.

  He could feel it all. The cold as the dark clouds swept across the sky. He walked along the banks, toes splashing in freezing water. Across the way stood a bridge that crossed the river and led to a large clock tower that neared an impressive building that stretched across the far bank. He had seen them somewhere before, in picture books. The river Thames and the Houses of Parliament.

  …Down came the rain…

  “And washed the spider out.”

  Sunny turned and saw a boy standing there. He was older than Sunny. Maybe by about three or four years. He had blond hair and wore shaggy clothes that were ripped and stained around the edges. He looked straight at Sunny, and for a moment they just stared at each other.

  “Are you real?” the boy asked.

  Sunny didn’t answer, his attention already distracted by the woman appearing from a street to his right. She looked haggard, with dark brown hair that was thick with grease, and bags under her eyes. She looked around wildly, then locked onto the boy.

  “Fletch, oh thank goodness. There you are. Who are you talking to?”

  Suddenly the world shook. A tremor across the city. Sunny heard the sounds of clicking before the boy and woman disappeared entirely. In a snap, he felt Colin’s arm as he rolled in his sleep and slapped it across Sunny’s chest. Sunny jumped, sweating and found Colin watching him with concern.

  “Sunny? What is it?”

  “Who’s Fletcher?”

  END

  EXCLUSIVE BONUS STORY

  What’s happening in the London quarantine?

  FIND OUT NOW, IN…

  GET IN THE BUNKER! and get your hands on this exclusive story, ‘Keep My Bones’, set in the world of The Rot.

  You’ll also be the first in the world to find out about the release of Book 2, slated for release this Summer 2017.

  Available at:

  http://www.hawkandcleaver.com/bunker

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Firstly, let me just tell you, Colin may have made it to Hope but his journey has only just begun. The shit is well and truly about to hit the fan. The Millers are still out there. The rot will be coming back in a big way. And Sunny… the boy who sees things others don’t? Well, let’s just say he ain’t what he seems.

  Colin & the Hopefuls (a great band name, dontchathink?) are about to realise just how difficult a thing hope can be in a world that really wants you dead.

  They Rot has been a truly special project for me. It’s the first book that I co-wrote with my great friend, Dan, and it’s the first time I really got to walk around my home country in a… sorta… dead way. To see the same rolling hills and English lakes through the veil of post-apocalyptia.

  I’ve taken many a trek through Sherwood pines with a pack of our family border collies, barking into the distance, and have often wondered.

  Just what the hell are they barking at?

  Maybe they’d spotted a squirrel hiding in a tree, a bird feeding its chicks, or maybe… just maybe, they’d caught scent of something truly awful.

  And I’m not talking about mum’s roast dinner (I love you Mum. Your dinners are as Mr Jamie Oliver would say, ‘Pucka!’).

  No, I’m referring to those clusters in the tree tops or those bodies riddled with rot, hiding behind bushes, ready to click, click, click, as they pounce on you and fill you up with strands of white and spores.

  So yeah, if you’ve enjoyed this little romp and want to stay with me and Dan, you might want to sign up to the mailing list to be notified of the next books as they’re released, and also grab a free short story also set in what we’re referring to as the Rotverse – ‘Keep My Bones’.

  Okay, onwards to book two.

  They Live. They Fight. They... Remain.

  Luke & Dan.

  GET THE ENTIRE HAWK & CLEAVER CATALOGUE FOR FREE ON

  http://www.patreon.com/hawkandcleaver

  ALSO FROM

  HAWK & CLEAVER

  http://www.hawkandcleaver.com/

  Table of Contents

  ~ 1 ~

  ~ 2 ~

  ~ 3 ~

  ~ 4 ~

  ~ 5 ~

  ~ 6 ~

  ~ 7 ~

  ~ 8 ~

  ~ i ~

  ~ 9 ~

  ~ 10 ~

  ~ 11 ~

  ~ 12 ~

  ~ 13 ~

  ~ 14 ~

  ~ ii ~

  ~ 15 ~

  ~ 16 ~

  ~ 17 ~

  ~ 18 ~

  ~ 19 ~

  ~ 20 ~

  ~ 21 ~

  ~ 22 ~

  ~ iii ~

  ~ 23 ~

  ~ 24 ~

  ~ 25 ~

  ~ 26 ~

  ~ 27 ~

  ~ 28 ~

  ~ 29 ~

&nbs
p; ~ 30 ~

  ~ 31 ~

  ~ 32 ~

  ~ 33 ~

  ~ 34 ~

  ~ 35 ~

  Bonus stories