I just have to stay alive.
In the distance, I hear the sound of the back door opening.
Mum!
I keep slithering towards the noise, towing Thea on my back, blood now pooling around my head.
I hear footsteps on the tiles of the kitchen floor.
“Help me, Mum,” I try to shout with strained, barely audible words. “Please!”
My vision starts to blur, the noise of slurping and swallowing becomes a distant echo. I can barely keep my eyes open.
But I have to.
I have to live.
I hear feet trudging up the stairs.
Mum.
In the haze, I see a figure standing over me.
Mum?
Thea retracts her head from my neck. A gush of air hits my lungs as she dismounts me. I slowly turn my head around to see Thea standing next to someone. A woman.
But it’s not Mum.
My eyes strain and the fog begins to lift. The woman is Kate.
She smiles at Thea and kneels down in front of her. My little girl returns a smile. With her fingers, Kate wipes some of the blood off Thea’s lips.
“Help me,” I say, trying to reach for them.
Kate looks at me, licks her fingers, and then shakes her head.
“What are you doing?” I ask as she takes Thea’s hand.
She doesn’t reply as they start to walk away, heading for the stairs.
“Come back! Where are you going?”
Kate stops, turns her head and glares at me. “I’m sorry, Sarah. But she belongs to me now.” She carries on down the stairs, disappearing out of sight. “You don’t deserve her.”
“What are you talking about? Come back here. She’s not yours.”
The fog returns, but much thicker. I fight hard to keep my eyes open, but I end up losing.
I see Thea and Ivy playing outside in the garden. The mound of dirt above Jared’s rotting body has gone. In my head, there is no death, no sadness. Just my two angels.
The images begin to fade. The light of my family disappearing.
I try to hang onto it, but the darkness takes hold, and I’m left with nothing.
And the last sound I remember is the back door slamming.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steven Jenkins was born in the small Welsh town of Llanelli, where he began writing stories at the age of eight, inspired by '80s horror movies and novels by Richard Matheson.
During Steven's teenage years, he became a great lover of writing dark and twisted poems—six of which gained him publications with Poetry Now, Brownstone Books, and Strong Words.
Over the next few years, as well as becoming a husband and father, Steven spent his free time writing short stories, achieving further publication with Dark Moon Digest. And in 2014 his debut novel, Fourteen Days was published by Barking Rain Press.
You can find out more about Steven Jenkins at his website:
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OTHER TITLES
BY STEVEN JENKINS
FOURTEEN DAYS
Workaholic developer Richard Gardener is laid up at home for two week’s mandatory leave—doctor’s orders. No stress. No computers. Just fourteen days of complete rest.
Bliss for most, but hell for Richard… in more ways than one. There’s a darkness that lives inside Richard’s home; a presence he never knew existed because he was seldom there alone.
Did he just imagine those footsteps? The smoke alarm shrieking?
The woman in his kitchen?
His wife thinks that he’s just suffering from work withdrawal, but as the days crawl by in his solitary confinement, the terror seeping through the walls continues to escalate—threatening his health, his sanity, and his marriage.
When the inconceivable no longer seems quite so impossible, Richard struggles to come to terms with what is happening and find a way to banish the darkness—before he becomes an exile in his own home.
"Gripping, tense, and bloody scary. The author has taken the classic ghost story, and blended it faultlessly with Hitchcock's Rear Window."
COLIN DAVIES
DIRECTOR OF BBC’S BAFTA WINNING: THE COALHOUSE
"Fourteen Days is the most purely enjoyable novel I've read in a very long time."
RICHARD BLANDFORD
THE WRITER’S WORKSHOP & AUTHOR OF HOUND DOG
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BURN THE DEAD: QUARANTINE
(BOOK ONE)
It’s a dirty job - but someone’s got to do it.
Robert Stephenson burns zombies for a living.
It’s an occupation that pays the bills and plays tricks on the mind. Still, his life is routine until his four-year-old son becomes stranded in a quarantined zone, teeming with flesh-eating rotters.
Does Rob have what it takes to fight the undead and put his broken family back together?
Or will he also end up in the incinerator…
…Burning with the rest of the dead?
“If you’re looking for a fast-paced zombie read, I highly recommend Burn the Dead by Steven Jenkins (5-STARS)”
K.C. FINN
READERS’ FAVORITE
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BURN THE DEAD: PURGE
(BOOK TWO)
There are those who run, while others hide.
And then, there are the Cleaners.
The living dead have staggered straight out of hell, and all that keeps humanity from crumbling is a small team of men who catch the rotters, before cleaning up the mess left behind.
Catherine Woods might not be a man, but no sexist, out-dated nonsense is going to stop her from following her dreams and joining the war against the undead.
The only problem is—even the best dreams can become nightmares in an instant.
“Filled with the perfect mix of crazy, jaw-snapping zombies, heart-stopping horror, Burn the Dead: Purge is a 5-star read for any zombie fan who is looking for something that isn't your typical rotter story.”
A.J. LEAVENS – Author of Death’s Twilight
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BURN THE DEAD: RIOT
(BOOK THREE)
A sold-out stadium.
A virus unleashed.
For 17-year-old Alfie Button, today was always going to be a memorable day.
The cheers of excited fans soon become desperate, bloodcurdling cries for help as a legion of the undead overwhelms the stadium. Panic erupts as 21,000 people rush for the exits, only to find them sealed.
With nowhere to run, suffocating in a torrent of blood and chaos, all Alfie and his friends can do is fight for survival—and pray that help will come.
But in every game, in every stadium…
There has to be a loser.
“I love the world the author has created—lots of action and real characterization.”
JAMIE WHITE – Author of The Stains Trilogy
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SPINE
Listen closely. A creak, almost too light to be heard…was it the shifting of an old house, or footsteps down the hallway? Breathe softly, and strain to hear through the silence. That breeze against your neck might be a draught, or an open window.
Slip into the pages of SPINE and you’ll be persuaded to leave the lights on and door firmly bolted. From Steven Jenkins, bestselling author of Fourteen Day
s and Burn the Dead, this horror collection of eight stories go beyond the realm of terror to an entirely different kind of creepiness. Beneath innocent appearances lurk twisted minds and scary monsters, from soft scratches behind the wall, to the paranoia of walking through a crowd and knowing that every single eye is locked on you. In this world, voices lure lost souls to the cliff’s edge and illicit drugs offer glimpses of things few should see. Scientists tamper with the afterlife, and the strange happenings at a nursing home are not what they first seem.
So don’t let that groan from the closet fool you—the monster is hiding right where you least expect it.
“If you love scary campfire stories of ghosts, demonology, and all things that go bump in the night, then you’ll love this horror collection by author Steven Jenkins.”
COLIN DAVIES
DIRECTOR OF BBC’S BAFTA WINNING: THE COALHOUSE
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ROTTEN BODIES
We all fear death’s dark spectre, but in a zombie apocalypse, dying is a privilege reserved for the lucky few. There are worse things than a bullet to the brain—much worse.
The dead are walking, and they’re hungry. Steven Jenkins, bestselling author of Fourteen Days and Burn The Dead, shares six zombie tales that are rotten for all the right reasons.
Meet Dave, a husband and father with a dirty secret, who quickly discovers that lies aren’t only dangerous…they’re deadly. Athlete Sarah once ran for glory, but when she finds herself alone on a country road with an injured knee, second place is as good as last. Working in a cremation facility, Rob likes to peek secretly at the faces of his inventory before they’re turned to ash. When it comes to workplace health and sanity, however, some rules are better left unbroken. Howard, shovelling coal in the darkness of a Welsh coal mine, knows something’s amiss when his colleagues begin to disappear. But it’s when the lights come on that things get truly scary.
Six different takes on the undead, from the grotesque to the downright terrifying. But reader beware: as the groans get louder and the twitching starts, you’ll be dying to reach the final page.
“Utterly hair-raising, in all its gory glory!”
CATE HOGAN
AUTHOR OF ONE SUMMER
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Table of Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
About the Author
Other Titles by Steven Jenkins
Fourteen Days
Burn the Dead: Quarantine (Book One)
Burn the Dead: Purge (Book Two)
Burn the Dead: Riot (Book Three)
Spine
Rotten Bodies
Thea: A Vampire Story Page 12