Hello Lovelies, 

Welcome to my stop on the October Frights blog hop. This is a super fun hop that has been put together by A. F. Stewart, and there are so many great teasers, short horror stories, interviews with characters and authors of horror, and so much more. Be sure to check out all the fun stops at A.F. Stewart’s blog. 

 This event is tons of fun and I have done it the last several years and find all sorts of fun new content, so be sure to check out the other stops on the hop! 

Alright, on to my delicious offering for the hop. This is a small sample from Survivalist Bible- Genesis, which just released in the Power of Words Anthology. The anthology contains three other novellas that are absolutely awesome and show the power of words. You should definitely check it out! this scene is when the world collapses around our protagonist’s ears. Gabe Llewellyn is a modern, sophisticated, civilized man. He is not prepared for a world in which survival of the fittest becomes the norm. Now onto the excerpt: 

     I awoke unexpectedly, but couldn’t place what had woken me. The tv was playing some sort of infomercial. I fumbled for the remote turning the tv down. Scanning the room, the bedside table clock flashed 2 am. As the volume went down, another noise took its place. At first, I thought it was the crowd down below. Then I realized that is seemed to be coming from the hallway. My skin prickled with alarm, even as I stumbled out of bed half-awake. Looking through the peephole, I tried to see something through the fisheye warping. I managed to see a few people running by the door, but couldn’t see what was creating the panic. The commotion seemed to be coming from by the elevators.     

A chill ran up my spine and I locked the chain, trying once again to get a view out the hole. No dice. Opening the door as far as the chain would allow, I tried to peek out. There wasn’t enough room to see anything beyond a sliver of the hall to my right, but the sounds of what was unmistakably a fight echoed into my room. My blood ran cold as I thought of the thousands of angry protesters slamming into the window as I walked by in the lobby earlier that very evening. As I began to close the door, it was slammed back when someone crashed into it and slid to the ground. I realized the person was in the hotel security uniform.     

I recoiled in shock. The man was covered in blood. He turned terror-filled eyes on me, his mouth agape in horror. A gash split across his head and oozed blood into his eyes.     

“Help!” he gasped, reaching up to me.   

 I tried to force the door closed, but his full weight was upon it. “I gotta undo the chain,” I pleaded, but he didn’t seem to understand. Before I could make him understand, bloody hands snatched his shoulders ripping him away from the door. As the body was pulled from in front of the door, it slammed shut. I fumbled to remove the chain, but a howl of pain and terror froze me in place. Snapping the chain back into place, I stuck my eye to the eye hole again. A mass of bodies was flailing about and it was hard to tell what was happening. It looked like the security guard was taking a pretty bad beating. I ran to the hotel phone to call the lobby, but there was only a strange hissing at the other end.     

I grabbed my cell phone off the bedside table and dialed 911. A busy signal! Something slammed into the door and I jumped. Another thump echoed throughout the room. Slinking up to the door, I looked out the peephole and stifled a scream as my vision was met with a bloodshot eye trying to look in. Biting my knuckles, I forced down the hysteria that was embroiling within me and slid against the wall. I remember thinking, What in God’s name was happening out there?     

Trying to steel myself, I looked through the hole again. The man had moved toward the middle of the hall. His back was to me and he was staring at something on the ground. Because of the whorl of the glass I couldn’t really tell what it was, but based on the color, I suspected that I didn’t want to know. I tried to call 911 again and wilted at the pre-recorded message. “All lines are busy. Please try your call again later.”     

Suddenly the door reverberated, knocking me sideways and I dropped the phone. I couldn’t help the yelp that escaped. A steady pounding began and grew in volume and intensity. The door reverberated with several strikes, and I put my eye to the eye hole again.Cold horror trickled down my back. There were at least seven people outside my door, all slamming into one another, and into the door. They were splattered in blood and looked… strange. The one in front of the door raised his head as he charged and I realized that he had what looked like a chunk of bloody raw flesh hanging from his mouth.     

I won’t deny, I was in full-on hysterics at this point. Backing away from the door, I tripped over the settee, tumbled into the seat and slammed my head against the wall. I could see the door trembling and sagging further with each strike and I knew it was only a matter of time before they made it through. Frantically I scanned the room for some escape. The bathroom door to my left and the balcony behind me were the only doors in the room. Given that we were on the fourth floor, I wrote off the balcony and bolted for the bathroom.     It’s strange what you don’t notice about the places you go every day. I had been in this hotel room going on four days, but couldn’t tell you anything about the bathroom except that there was a toilet, a decent-sized garden tub, and a sink with a wall of mirror behind it that had good enough lighting to shave.     

I flipped the light switch on, scanning the small room. There were no windows, and the two vents were too small to fit more than an arm through. Being trapped in here would be worse than being trapped in the room. I spun out of the bathroom, and froze as a giant crack echoed through the small room. Two days ago, I would not have considered this a small space. I thought it was quite palatial when I rented it for the event. I had wanted a space that would impress a female guest.   

 Now, it was closing in on me fast. I circled around the bed, past the couch and hesitated in front of the TV at the foot of the bed when another loud crack echoed from the door. I thought the doors were reinforced steel and marveled that I could see gaps of light coming through the door. The gaps expanding with each crunch of the mob outside. If they’d made that much progress in ten minutes, I didn’t have much longer before they got in.     

I needed a weapon! The closest potential weapon was a standing lamp next to the mini-fridge. Grabbing for it, I thanked God that it wasn’t attached to the floor. Still, the thing was awkward. I figured the weighted base was my best defense, most certainly heavy enough to bludgeon someone.     

I took a step back and tested a swing. It was heavy and unwieldy. Another large crack from the door had me stumbling backward. Scanning the room, there were no better weapons. The bedside lamp next to the clock was too small, the TV too large. No, this behemoth was my only defense.   

 Staring transfixed, I flinched with each slam of the door. Every time the crack of the hinges giving echoed through the room, I involuntarily took a step back.     

I found my back pressed against the balcony window. The interminable waiting was killing me. Staring avidly, I realized that the top hinge was almost completely ripped from the wall, the middle hinge was only holding by a thread. I could see arms and shoulders forcing through, scrabbling for purchase, for a way to force the gap wider even as others continued to crash against it, opening that dismal gap more now with each thrust. I had no idea what I would do once they got through. It couldn’t be long. Glancing at the clock I was shocked to see 2:30 am flashing at me. The assault had been going on for at least 30 minutes. Where were the cops? As another crack echoed, I readied myself. I doubted that they would come at me one at a time like they did in the old Kung-fu movies.     

The lock on the door seemed to be holding. Perhaps that would slow them down? Maybe I should be closer to the door, so I could take them out as they forced their way through. My brain screamed at me to move the dresser to block the doorway and slow their approach, while another part demanded that I go nowhere near the mass of tangled body parts trying to squeeze and pull themselves through the door. Terror gripped me almost as hard as I gripped the lamp in frozen knuckles locked white and straining with the tension.     A quick rap on the glass behind me caused my heart to explode. I whipped about in terror, and the lamp slammed into the wall. The reverberation caused me to drop it. I may, or may not, have let loose a very loud and very unmanly scream.

This is just the introduction to Gabe’s world coming unraveled. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to read the rest of the story, pick up Power of Words or come and join me on my Patreon Channel where I will be releasing each segment of the serial a month before other readers can get it on Amazon.  $1 a month will get you access to the rest of the Survivalist Bible series, and each of my members are included in the Thank you page when each segment releases on Amazon.  Hope to see you enjoying the fun! 

 And Speaking of fun, don’t miss out on the rest of the awesome stops on the October Frights Blog Hop! 
Until next time, 

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