Blurb:
Hulking shadows emerge out of the chaotic flurries of the blizzard. Something is dying, and so they come, like vultures.
After months of struggling south to escape the zombie-infested
remains of New York, a snowstorm traps 23-year old artist, Emily, and
her son in an abandoned gas station. Starving and desperate, they
encounter Aaron, an Army medic on a mission of his own, who offers them a
ride to ease the journey.
The road is a long and dangerous place to travel, and every day
brings a new threat. But fear and adrenaline also drive the two closer
together; they find laughter and a budding attraction that starts to
thaw at their numb and deadened feelings. And that’s when the pain
really starts to hit, when places long thought lost prickle back to
life. Eventually, they will have to fight not just for survival, but for
a future together, or their broken world will swallow them whole.
About the Authors
Laila Blake & L.C. Spoering
L.C. and Laila met in 2010 on an online forum and have been
inseparable ever since. Having supported each other in their individual
writing projects for years, they finally decided to work more closely
together in a cross-continental cooperative writing partnership.
Together, they host the podcast Lilt and started their micropublishing
venture Lilt Literary in 2013.
L.C. (generally known as Lorrie) lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, kids, and too many pets. Laila is a nerdy German translator, living in Cologne with her kitten and a lot of sparkly lights.
Excerpt
“I dream of him dying over and over. Over and over they
jump him and he disappears under their bodies for so long…” Emily opened
her eyes, but stared ahead, wide eyed and holding her breath. “And I
hate… I hate that he was alone at the end. I should have been there, but
I… I left him alone. He was all alone.”
Aaron was quiet, and so she continued: “Song used to think he’d come
later, you know, find us. I never had the heart to… to really say the
word. I dunno. I guess I was jealous Song still had that hope. And every
time I dream it, I want to be faster but… I’m never faster.”
“You’re not gonna be, Em.” He’d not picked up that he’d shortened her
name, but it came out that way all the same. “It’s happened, and it’s
horrible. And I can’t tell you the nightmares get better, but you can’t
blame yourself, you know. That is never gonna help.”
“He really likes you,” she whispered then, unable to continue without feeling like her chest was torn apart. “Song, I mean.”
“I like him, too.” He smiled again, catching some of her tears with
his thumb and wiping them down her cheek. “He’s a good kid. You got
lucky, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” she smiled, wet and tired, but she leaned into his touch.
“He must have come out like this, all beautiful and smart and perfect.”
“He’s lucky to have you, too, you know.”
She couldn’t agree with him, and wanted to wave away the compliment,
but this time there was just a hint of a smile. “It’s good to have
someone…” she whispered and without meaning to at first, her lips
brushed over his wrist.
His hand froze in place, but just for a beat.
“Yeah, I think so.” He breathed out, the exhalation warm on her face,
close again, and the kiss that followed it was less of a surprise to
them both, than the one just a couple nights before. It was wet and
sticky with her tears, if less so than before, and they eased into each
other faster, harder. Emily cradled his large face in her small hands;
they had always been calloused and rough from her work with hard
materials, and now they were cracked and dry. They could be tender
though, girl’s hands still.
It was likely the wrong time to be kissing, but there seemed no right
time for anything, not anymore—and both of them were lonely and aching,
and whatever small amount of connection a kiss afforded seemed like
enough, in the cold clear of the night, hidden off the road.
Aaron didn’t push further, but, at the natural break, didn’t pull
away, top lip resting on her bottom one, eyelashes clotted with the
moisture from her cheeks. Her fingertips brushed over his jaw, found the
stubble of this beard. Her hands were shaking and she held on tighter.
“I like you, too…” she whispered finally.
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