Written Reckoning by A.L. Parker

Genre: Mystery

Twenty years ago, a mysterious infection gripped the entire world, turning ordinary people into vicious cannibals. Until now, the pain, anguish, fears and losses suffered have been kept concealed by those too broken to relive their terrible ordeal.

While trying to escape his home of Pittsburgh, which had succumbed to the infection, young writer, Matt Everett, documented his harrowing struggle to keep both himself and his friends alive, while traveling across the country in search of safety and answers.

He did all of this to both preserve his sanity and describe the awful truth about a time when humanity was almost wiped out, for any future generations that may somehow exist.

This is that story. This is the truth. This is the world’s ‘Written Reckoning’.

I hit the top of the truck twice with my hand. “Just go!” I shouted back, still standing on the truck. There wasn’t time to get down.

Amber hit the gas as I kept shooting those nearest the truck, struggling to keep my balance while doing so. We weren’t moving very fast due to the abandoned cars surrounding us. Some of the Rots had caught up with us, we were that slow.

“Matt, look out!” I heard Danielle scream through the back window. I turned to see two Rots climbing onto the back of the truck to join me. I shot them before they could make it. They fell, still hanging over the truck, blood pouring from their heads. More of them were gaining on us, not that they had to move that fast. We were still surrounded by cars as we tried to get away.

I saw another Rot making its way onto the truck. I took aim but let out an exasperated shriek when, to my horror, the gun didn’t release a bullet, instead it just clicked; it was empty.

“Shit! Guys, I’m out of ammo!” I shouted.

But there was nothing they could do. If we stopped we’d be over-run in seconds.

“Just hang in there, Matt!” Darry yelled back.

That was much easier said than done. The Rot had made its way on board with me now.

“Crap!” I stood up, ready to fight it off. We locked arms as if it was a wrestling match and he tried to bring his bloodied mouth towards me, snapping his sordid teeth in anticipation. He was a strong fucker. He managed to push me over to the floor, which caused me to smash my arm against the side of the truck. I cried out as I felt the sharp edge slide into my skin.

I could hear the others screaming in fear for me from inside the truck. As soon as I was down, the Rot jumped on top of me, sensing an opportunity. I fought with everything I had to keep his mouth away from me, trying to punch and kick him off me. The truck had started speeding up now. We were out of the traffic but still not safe, the hordes of Rots were still chasing us. But for now, my only problem was getting this one off me.

Everything else faded from my concentration as the world around me ceased to exist. I reached around next to me for a weapon to use. All of the guns were inside the truck, but I felt around anyway, which meant I only had one free arm to keep him away from my face. As I kept searching with my hand, I felt a cold bar-like thing under my fingers and brought it up to the Rot’s head. I swung it towards him, missing a few times and even almost hitting myself. But on the next try, I got it right. I managed to hit him hard enough for him to roll off me, I quickly stood up.

He got back up and just kept coming for more. I pushed him against the edge of the truck, trying desperately to throw him off but I didn’t have enough strength. I could feel the blood making its way down my arm from my fresh wound.

Once the Rot noticed it, he began to go even crazier. Maybe he could smell the blood; making him want it even more. What a sight this would be for any passers-by, I thought. Man vs. Zombie on the back of a moving truck—just a bit of light entertainment.

At this point, we must have been far enough away from the rest of the Rots for Amber to feel it was safe to stop the truck. She put the brakes on hard, causing me to lose balance and fall over again. And again the Rot jumped on me, he wasn’t giving up. This time though, Joey and Darry were able to help. They got up on the truck with us and dragged the vicious thing off me, throwing it off the truck to the hard concrete road. As it stood up again, Darry aimed to shoot it. He shot it through the shoulder, not its head so it’s just kept going. Both he and Joey tried but couldn’t aim at its head properly.

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A.L. Parker is a writer and novelist just getting ready to release her first book, ‘Written Reckoning’. She has been published in Rock Sound magazine and on various music and gaming websites and currently writes for TrophiesonPSN.com. When not writing, Amy can be found listening to music too loud, watching hockey (LET’S GO PENS!) or playing video games. She also has a keen interest in horror, especially zombies and loves reading graphic novels and anything written by Hunter S.Thompson.

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