Blogging – Page 61 – Linda Nelson

Flash Fiction

by Linda Nelson

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Jason’s hands shook while he tried to hold the screwdriver steady against the screw. He only had a few more hours to go before the sun would be up. It had been years since he last put a bike together. The darkness made it hard to see as he assembled it by the light of a flashlight.

He had to be quiet or they would hear him. That was the last thing he wanted. If they heard him, it could be the death of him. If only he had a better place to build this thing, like a garage, shed or some type of shelter. Instead he was outside, in the open, hidden only by trees and brush. They’d come too if they saw the light.

This bike was a lucky find for him. He’d been on foot for nearly a week when his car had run out of gas. That was when he and Carrie found themselves going different ways. She was now his dearly departed, yet she still followed him from a distance that he hoped to widen by miles.

All had been going well up until they came across what had been a roadblock on the highway. Unfortunately for the officers, their tactic didn’t work in their favor. The dead had gotten them, eaten them or, just bitten them. So much for keeping the virus contained. Was there no safe haven left? Carrie had told him there had to be somewhere they could go, somewhere safe. But what if she were wrong?

He promised her he would keep looking. She opened the car door, saying how she needed to go pee. Figuring if she remained close to the car, nothing would happen to her. But she never saw the Biter two car lengths away. It grabbed onto her arm and pulled her from the car as she began to climb back inside, sinking its teeth into her arm.

There was nothing Jason could do for her. Of course, he was scared. He was scared of the Biter and now he was afraid of her. He couldn’t keep her in the car with him now that she was bitten. She would be one of them in a few hours. He couldn’t risk it. The Biter ripped her from the car and he stomped on the gas, leaving her behind. He could still hear her screams for help. That was two weeks and states ago. Since then he had to give up the car that ran out of gas and made it on foot.

He rarely slept. When he did, he tended to sleep in a tree, out of their reach.

This was the last screw he needed to tighten. A branch cracked close by. Jason stopped what he was doing, holding his breath, he waited and listened. A rasping sound would come from the Biters. He wasn’t sure if it were breathing or throat gurgles he had heard. But one could hear them coming, most times.

There was that crack of the branch again. Jason didn’t want to take any more chances. He pocketed the screwdriver and grabbed onto an overhead branch, pulling himself up. He didn’t stop there either. He kept climbing until he had some distance between himself and the ground. Here he would stay until daylight. Then he’d be able to see clearly in the distance and know if the Biters were close by.

One more crack, then the sound of a Biter coming close to the base of his tree. Maybe the Biter could smell him, but that was unlikely. Biters were walking rotting flesh. Nothing smelled as bad as them, except for the bear it stumbled across. Jason peered down from his branch and watched the showdown between the bear and the Biter. He wasn’t sure at first, but the bear did win, tearing the Biter to pieces with its claws, never once affected by Biter. Apparently a bear hide was pretty thick and effective armor.

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I hope you enjoyed my little story. Writing about zombies is out of my comfort zone. They say that people need to get out of their norm from time to time to widen their horizons. If you can’t tell, I’m a Walking Dead Fan. I also fell in love with Fear the Walking Dead that aired last Sunday night. I love the shows because it’s not all about the zombies. It’s about survival and relationships and the writers have created well rounded characters.

If you did enjoy this story and you’re looking for more to sample before trying one of my many novellas, you can find Time Pieces: A Short Story Collection free on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple. Look under my above tab for books if you need the link to your favorite store.

ROW80:

I haven’t been working much on my work in progress. I’ve been messing with my blog again. And as you can see, playing with a bit of flash fiction. I did hit my word count today of 500 words +, so I guess I’m heading in the right direction and away from my Writers’ Block.

I don’t want to call it Writers’ Block. How about empty head syndrome. Time to fill the well and think up new ideas. My character in my work in progress has been behaving like a stalker. I don’t want that. So, it’s time to stop where she is at and make her take a big swallow and step out into the light. Something big has to happen to make her realize, its now or never and your never going to be able to turn back the clock to the way things once were. Get over it sweet heart and move on with your life. I don’t know what she’s waiting for? Me? Maybe – I like the unexpected. I have to catch this character off guard. It’s the way I act.

I will continue to ponder on how to motivate my character. Until then, I’ll keep on writing some thing. It might not be the work in progress, but it is something.

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Sam, he wants nothing to do with pipsqueak Keelaa

Gracie recently departed at the age of 19. She lived a great life.

I’m an animal lover. Our home is blessed with two dogs, one cat and a flock of laying hens. We, not just the pets, are firm believers in table scraps for pets.
I’m not one for eating leftovers. Except for the special occasion of either pizza or Chinese food. I can eat the Chinese food cold, but the pizza has to be warmed up a bit to soften the cheese.
We don’t feed our dogs, or our cat can food. Do you know what goes into this stuff? Maybe the cat food is a bit safer if it is of the fish variety, but should he snub his nose at it, he’s done so for a good reason.
The dog food has gotten scary. Too many recalls have happened over the past ten years. The recalls aren’t all for canned food either. When dry food is recalled, there’s a problem. Many pets died a few years ago when food companies in China were using a product in the food that was banned in the United States. How these products were able to make it on the shelf in the first place with the added ingredient is beyond my understanding. Many pets died because of this food.
When something like this happens to human/people food, you better believe, the recall is quick. And if health problems related to the recall happen, the food company reimburses the individual promptly and adequately. This doesn’t happen where pets are concerned. Feed this food to your pets at yours and their own risks.

Have you ever taken a good look at what the canned dog food looks like? The stuff is nasty. You can see chunks of stuff in it that isn’t recognizable. Was that a piece of an intestine? I’m not sure. I wouldn’t eat that. How could you feed it to your loved one, your pet? They are part of your family too, aren’t they?
Recently a woman posted a picture of kibble she served to her dog. It had what she thought were strings coming out of the dry food kibble. Upon closer inspection, she found this to be not string but wires. Since when do we need to wire our pets? I wonder why Fido recently died in his sleep? Had he been suffering from a severe case of indigestion?
When did the pet food industry decide they needed to kill off their best customers? How is that good for business? It just doesn’t make sense.

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We feed our pets table scraps. Even when the vet says not to. If I eat it and it is good for me, then it has to be good for my pet. Except for those items that my pet is allergic to, like chocolate, avocados, grapes, and such. I tell my dogs they will break out in hives and get horrible bumps on their faces. They pout but accept the fact that these foods look delicious, but it’s just something we can’t share with them.
Our table scrap ratio is: older dog is 100 pounds there for she gets the equal portion to a five-year-old child. That’s not very much. Our other dog is no more than 25 pounds. She gets a portion equal to that of a one-year-old child. That’s even less, but enough to be equal to that of a meal.
We feed dry kibble on the side. – I know, yes. But I do look at it and make sure there are no foreign objects hiding within. This is their free for all food. They can eat as much as they like. Usually, they snack on it over the course of the day and wait for supper every night.
Hot days they’ve been getting to share a dish of vanilla ice cream. They love their ice cream. Other days their snack is popcorn. Don’t forget the seasoning, with olive oil and salt. They like it fixed the way you eat it.
We used to heat up our pets table scraps. Recently our little dog decided she would only eat cold food. That’s fine, it’s summer time anyway. She may change her mind when the cold weather comes rolling in, within the next few months.

Our pets are our family and we will always treat them as such. What we eat, they eat, because we love them so.