Title: Survivor: A Santuary NovellaSanctuary End Times #2
Author: Pauline Creeden Published: March 31, 2015 Genres: Horror, Post Apocalyptic, Young Adult Excerpt
“The worst part about the end of the world is the thirst,” Hailey said as she swiped a dirty blonde curl from her forehead and put it behind her ear. Even though she was Rory’s fraternal twin sister, her hair was a few shades lighter than his and wavy instead of curly. Red model paint from her fingers smeared on the edge of her ear, and Rory couldn’t help but hate the color. It looked too much like blood.
Water everywhere and not a drop to drink… Wasn’t that a poem or saying or something? Even though water still poured from the tap in every single apartment, everyone knew it was completely undrinkable. It still made Rory salivate for it just thinking about it. He shook his head and tried to think on something else. Tion shoved the window down on the last of the T-shirts in apartment 4F and pushed away from the window. “Shut up. We don’t need to talk about it. Talking about it makes us think about it. And thinking about it just makes it worse.” He dropped down on the floor beside them and sat cross-legged. When they all were on the floor together like this, it was funny how they all sat at about the same height. Tion was two years younger than Rory and Hailey, but, at fifteen, he still towered over them both by more than six inches. All legs. “I wonder what it looks like from outside,” Rory said, picking at the dried paint on his own fingers. Any transport that happened by wouldn’t be able to miss the four white T-shirts with red letters that spelled out “HELP.” At least, that’s what they hoped. “Not like we could go out and take a look.” Tion stretched out on the floor and leaned on his elbows. He’d lost weight—they all had. But Tion hadn’t had weight that he could afford to lose in the first place. At 6-foot-2, he’d played basketball for their high school and had even made varsity his freshman year. Now, his legs and arms could have belonged to a grasshopper instead of a teenage boy. For a long while, they sat together in silence except for Hailey’s humming. Rory continued picking at the paint on his fingers. Tion had his eyes closed as if napping, and Hailey sat humming every Top 40 song she could think of. Faded white light came through the window, the sky a cloudy hue that hovered between gold and gray. Mrs. Foster’s apartment smelled faintly of cinnamon. The plug-in air freshener in the wall hadn’t yet lost its ability to fill the room with the scent of freshly baked pastries. Rory’s stomach growled, and he moaned. “Hang in there, bro. We’ve got at least two more hours until dinner.” Tion laid himself all the way to the carpet. Rory swallowed the saliva forming in his mouth. Some choice they had. Suffer in the scent of non-existent baked goods or head on down to the first floor where everyone wallowed in the rank odor of sweat and feet. While it was daylight, the teenagers had split into two groups to continue searching for supplies, but it was slim pickings. It had been over three weeks since the aliens known as Shisa were let loose on the population of Newport News, Virginia. No one had been let in the building or out…except Mr. Harris. Now they were running out of water and food fast. My Thoughts
Once again, Pauline Creeden delivers a fast-paced tale! This is a fascinating - yet terrifying - story filled with alien creatures and their zombie creations.
I have a love/hate relationship with the aliens, called Shisa. They are so terrifying. But, what I love about Pauline's descriptions of them is that I got a good sense of what they look like, how they move, how they sound, and what they would feel like if I was close enough to one to touch it. I pray that doesn't happen, though. Being that close to one would probably mean I'd end up a zombie. They really creep me out ... but they are so cool that I can't help admiring them! Three-dimensional characters make the story feel real, despite the fact that we're dealing with an alien invasion. They make decisions - some smart, some really stupid - but that's what it means to be human. I definitely recommend this novella for zombie fiction fans as well as science fiction fans. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Rating: 5/5 About the Author
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