by Nana Malone
Terry was already badly wounded when he and Jimmy met in battle. They attacked with such ferocity that the rats from both sides gave them a wide berth. Terry took Jimmy’s blows and slashes, and dodged his bites, waiting for the chance to make his attack count. Slowed by his injured leg, the cat fang and Jimmy’s fear of it were his only edge, and he used to good advantage.
Jimmy knew it, too. He focused every attack on disarming Terry until a lucky blow knocked the cat fang from Terry’s hands. He seized the moment to bowl Terry over and pin him to the ground. Jimmy spared a couple of seconds to gloat over his triumph, before leaning in to bite Terry’s throat out.
Terry saw a dark blur move behind Jimmy, and Alice stepped into view with the bloody fang in her hands.
“Terry,” she cried. “Catch!”
Both rats watched the weapon soar toward them, and both dove for it. Terry had little hope of reaching it first with Jimmy sitting on top him. Jimmy had position and speed on his side, but Terry was a more experienced brawler. He pushed up as Jimmy reached to catch the fang and bit deep into his shoulder. Jimmy dropped his wounded arm and fumbled the fang with one hand, unintentionally dropping it into Terry’s grasping claws.
It was in the perfect position for the attack. Terry plunged it straight down through Jimmy’s neck, plunging it into his withered, black heart. Instead of blood, shadows and dark hued ribbons of light sprayed from the wound, making him appear to glow and sparkle with scintillating colors. Jimmy smiled with a hopeful expression at its mesmerizing beauty, just before he disintegrated into a pile of greasy, grey ash.
The remaining vampire rats reverted to normal animals upon their creator’s demise, and were promptly shredded by their attackers. The lair fell silent as Terry stood and brushed himself off. All of the rats, white and brown, watched to see what their savior would do.
The Cobra bowed its head to Terry, showing him the wound the cat fang left in its head. Terry couldn’t be sure, but he thought it was thanking him for removing the painful cat tooth from its head, and probably for freeing it from the humiliating domination of the rat that had enslaved its mind. With that, the battle was over.
Cheers erupted for Terry, the Rat King, but Terry stopped them.
“Giles! Where’s King Giles?” Terry asked. “Where’s my brother?”
He was nowhere to be seen.
“Giles renounced his title to Jimmy,” Alice said, “You killed Jimmy. That makes you the King. Terry! King of Rats!”
“King of Rats!” the rest shouted.
Terry looked around at his subjects and at the giant snake towering over them with a hungry, if controlled gleam in it eye.
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~Part Five: Children of the Earth~
Terry led the rats out of the serpentarium accompanied by his new king cobra friend. They swept through the streets and alleys like a growing shadow, their numbers increasing as they went. He wondered if he should be giving orders, but his pack was fast becoming a swarm, and seemed to know what to do. They celebrated with games and feasting, finding unguarded food and delicious trash everywhere they turned.
He watched every cockroach he saw, wondering if it was Skit. He never could tell one roach from another, to be honest. At best, a cockroach was a meal. But Skit would know where Giles had gone, and Terry desperately wanted to see his brother again.
Giles had been a legendary king. The old rat might not want the job anymore, but with his advice, Terry might not be as horrible a king as he feared. The world was different, though. They all felt it. Maybe… maybe it was different enough that he could be a good king, too.
A strange, but oddly pleasant tension filled the air. The humans’ accursed lights had all gone dark. Nothing roamed the streets but Terry and his rats. Every so often, the musical shrieks of terrified humans would sing through the night, but no dogs, cats, or humans showed themselves. For the first time ever, decent burrowing folks tasted freedom on surface world. Rodents and insects, the children of the earth, walked the open night without fear.
Terry led his pack to the only place he knew. A lone mannish figure stood at the far end of the alley, cloaked in comforting darkness and swirling shadow. He wasn’t there for Terry or the rats, even if they shared an inexplicable bond. He was a guardian.
Terry had no idea what the benevolent giant was guarding against, but he supposed it didn’t matter. If they needed a guardian, then there were still enemies, and that was something even Terry understood. This wonderful new world of peace and plenty would still have to be fought for, but for now, the children of the earth would have their day.
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~Epilogue: Eternal Love~
Giles’ head felt like it was splitting in half, and he wished it would. He had fled Jimmy’s attic lair, dragging Serra along with him. How could he have known that the trail of food he found would lead to a deadfall into one of the prisons that the pathetic white rats had recently escaped?
It was a tiny cage. A lever on one side opened a trap door in the ceiling that dumped food down on top of them, and a lever on the other side poured water into a tiny depression in the floor.
Serra, his constant companion, ate and drank continually, unless she was talking. There was still something in her eyes that forced him to listen to and obey her. She had eaten the flesh of the gods, too. He considered trying to eat or drink himself to death, but Serra must have read his mind, and now closely monitored everything he consumed as she talked and talked and talked about Jimmy and Alice, and how pretty their kittens were. He hoped for death, but he knew it would be a very, very long time coming.
~ ~ ~ THE END ~ ~ ~
A Note from Gregory Carrico:
I would like to thank you for your support in purchasing and reading this book. While the experience is still fresh, I hope you’ll take a moment to leave a quick review at your retailer’s site or on Goodreads.com? Independent authors need help from our readers to help spread the word. Just a sentence or two will do to increase this story's visibility in online booksellers.
And here's a taste of my new Young Adult/Urban Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic Horror book series, 'Children of the Plague':
'Children of the Plague'
By Gregory Carrico
In the darkest corners of lower Manhattan, a battle like no other rages. The city is home to a hidden group of survivors of the nanite plague, and a brother and sister born to defend their race. With a touch that destroys nanites, Lanni, sister of Alex, is their last chance. Can she save her brother? Can she protect mankind's only hope? Or will she be responsible for the destruction of the last humans on earth? It's going to be another long day...
Excerpt:
The energy that nearly killed her was still there, inside her. But now, it felt no different than her arm or leg. It had become just another part of her.
Alex breathed a relieved sigh as she started to act normally again. “Come on,” he said. “We have to get out of here.”
Then she remembered her mother, and the screams, and the pain. But where had they gone? The house was still silent. Even the moaning and whimpering had stopped. The waves of energy still rolled through the house, but they didn’t hurt her anymore. They broke against her like water on a stone.
Alex must have understood what she was thinking, because he shook his head. “No. Stay beside me,” he said. “We have to leave.”
“Leave? We have to help Mom! Find a phone,” she said. “Call 911. We need that ambulance here, now!” She ran to her mother’s room without waiting for him to answer.
“Lanni, wait! Don’t go in there,” Alex said. “You can’t help her.”
“Alex! Mom is dying. Get the damned phone.”
“You don’t understand, Lanni. It’s her. This is all coming from Mom. I don’t know how or why, but she’s been doing it for weeks. It’s never been this bad, but I’ve felt it, and I know it’s her.”
“What are you talking about? Please don’t go crazy right now. I really need you.” Sh
e started crying. Why was everything going so wrong?
“I thought I was going crazy, too. I keep hearing voices in my head. They sound like you, and Mom, and Dad, and other people, too. It’s mostly just bits and pieces, but now I know they’re real. One of them makes me want to do things… terrible things, but I think I’m stronger. I get these urges, and…”
“GET THE PHONE!” she yelled. He was raving. It was ridiculous to blame their mother, or anyone. It had to be a freak power surge, or a solar flare, or something, but that didn’t matter to her. Nothing mattered except getting to her mother. She pushed the door open, and her heart sank.
“Oh no. Please, no,” she sobbed.
“Lisa Ann! It’s not safe, yet. Stay with me.”
Lisa Ann. She hated her name. He always called her that when he wanted to sound important, or if he was nervous about something. It was an odd thing to notice, given the scene she had just stepped into.
Blood covered everything. It dripped from the ceiling and down the walls, and soaked the bed. Her mother’s contorted, blood-spattered face gazed vaguely in Lanni’s direction, frozen into a rictus of horror. Her legs were both twisted to one side at an unnaturally sharp angle, and her belly looked like it had been scooped away with a giant grapefruit spoon, leaving only an empty red cavity.
Her father’s feet stuck out beyond the footboard on the other side of the bed, toes down.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Lanni took small steps around the foot of the bed, not wanting to see what awaited her.
“Daddy?”
One of his feet rocked gently from side to side. As his body came into full view, she knew that she was losing her mind, just like her brother. An impossible creature stood on her father’s back. It looked like a wrinkled, black football with four bowed bulldog legs and yellow clawed feet.
Glistening with blood and gore, it made wet, slurping sounds as it rocked back and forth, clinging to her father like a demonic tick.
I must be dead. This is Hell.
Blood poured down her father’s side from beneath the little monster, and his body jerked as it tugged him from side to side. It pulled away from him and sat back on two legs.
The center of its chest was split open from top to bottom and filled with several concentric rows of pointy shark-like teeth. Each row opened and closed in turns as they shredded an apple-sized chunk of her father’s flesh, working it deeper into its body. If it had a head or any sensory organs, they were very well camouflaged.
Ignoring her, the monster dropped down on all four feet and bit into her father’s back. It must have hit a big vein or artery, because blood sprayed from the new wound. He was still alive!
In a blind rage, she screamed and charged at the creature…
~ Children of the Plague~
Young Adult/Urban Fantasy/Post-Apocalyptic Horror
Available now at most eBook retailers
Including Amazon.com
Also available - a special offer from Gregory Carrico:
Also available at Amazon.com:
~ Apocalypstick ~
By Gregory Carrico
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About Gregory Carrico
Gregory Carrico is an Amazon.com best selling horror and science fiction writer, and 2013 HFA (Horror Fans Asylum) Author of the Year Finalist. He loves crafting despicable bad guys that can capture readers’ sympathy as well as their loathing.
When not creating new worlds and plotting their destruction, he advocates for adopting rescue dogs, and politely urges slower drivers to get out of the passing lane.
Social Stalk Greg:
Web: http: //www.GregoryCarrico.com
Blog: http://www.gramico.com/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GregCarricoAuthor
Twitter: http://www/twitter.com/gregorycarrico
Pinterest: http://www.Pinterest.com/GregoryCarrico
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/GregCarrico
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Gramico
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Other Books by Gregory Carrico
Apocalypstick
Children of the Plague
King of Rats
The Shadow of the World (Sand)
Tales From the Mist
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A Superhero Ninja
Nana Malone
~ Reluctant Protector ~
Our first house in the neighborhood is a deceptively ordinary looking one. If you ring the doorbell, a mild-mannered woman will come to the door, charm you with her smile, and hand you a piece of candy. But this isn't just any old house, but the home of Nana Malone, USA Today Bestselling Author, and what she writes are kick butt heroines --many of them enhanced with superpowers.
Sneak quietly up to her doorway and peek in through the transom before you knock. Who knows what you'll see? Perhaps you'll catch Nana dressed as her favorite superheroine alter-ego, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or some other Superheroine/Ninja.
(Navigation Stars)
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Reluctant Protector - Back Cover Description
For five years, Cassie Reeser has been her brother’s personal lab rat. Peter’s experiments have made her a stronger, faster, better human. And she’s not the only one. To rescue her friends, she’ll have to depend on former war correspondent, Seth Adams. Cassie might not think she needs his protection, but he’ll die before he lets Peter have her back.
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Reluctant Protector
The Protectors Series
Book One
COPYRIGHT © 2012 by Nana Malone.- All Rights Reserved
Published via a temporary license for the purposes of this boxed set via Addictive Reads
eISBN: 9781452473031
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Kimberly Killion
Edited by Mystical Press
Published in the United States of America
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This erotic romance is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY (18+). It contains sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.
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Dedication
To my loving husband, Erik, and my beautifully brilliant daughter, Siaki. I love you both more than I can ever express. Thank you for giving me the family I have always dreamed of.
To my mentor, sister, friend, Misty Fanderclai, thank you doesn’t even begin to cover it. I maintain that I would never have made it here without you. Cheers (with a fabulous cocktail) to the next step in our journey to Louboutins and St. Tropez.
To Tendayi, Megan, Marcie, Fritz, Derrick, Naardy Doo, and Cyn. Your unending support is the reason I have the courage to fly off this cliff of writing madness without thinking twice. I love you.
To Mom, Daddy and Nortey, thank you for showing me what true courage actually looks like. I’m proud of you all.
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Chapter One
Frigid cold settled into Cassie Reeser’s bones. She lost track of how long she’d been in her brother’s Sensory Chamber. More than three days certainly. Maybe a week. Maybe more. Peter never ceased dreaming up ways to punish her. The acrid smell of antiseptic filled her nostrils. In her chamber, an elevated stationary palette occupied the center of the room and a commode lurked in the corner. No desk and no light, except for the overhead fluorescents. Not even a blanket. Nice and homey.
Sometimes Peter pumped extreme heat into the chamber. Sometime
s extreme cold. Right now the temperature hovered around sixty degrees. But the earlier chill made her mind lethargic and her muscles ache. Usually, to stave off hypothermia, she had to keep moving.
Peter never understood that the more he tried to break her, the more she would fight. Even as she lay on the hard slab of her palette, her muscles were coiled and ready for her next chance at escape. Someone was coming for her.
In the distance, the suction of the air lock reverberated against the barren walls. She wasn’t supposed to hear anything outside the lead-lined chamber, but as usual, her brother underestimated her abilities. If she calmed her mind, she could pinpoint the guards’ voices in the lobby of Gentech Labs. As footsteps and a rapidly thudding heartbeat approached the door to the Sensory Chamber, Cassie closed her eyes. Please don’t let it be Peter.
It was either Peter or one of the Trackers. An involuntary shudder stole up her back. The last time the Trackers came for her, they came armed with Nisulin guns and shot rounds into the chamber before she could fight back. She didn't want a repeat of that experience. The milky green liquid that filled their bullets hurt like hell and stripped her of her powers, but at least they weren’t fatal. But one day, Cassie knew, they’d switch to lead bullets. She had to be long gone before that happened.