Dead Run (Dead Run Series)
By Vanessa Booke
Genre: New Adult Post-Apocalyptic Romance
Release Date: TBA
Book Description:
Carly
Carly Rios was
supposed to go to college, forget about her first love, and live a normal life.
That was the plan until the whole world went to hell and the dead started
becoming…not so dead.
Forced to live in the same quarantine as her abusive stepfather, Carly is hanging on to life by a thread, as she dreams of a normal world outside of the community. But when tragedy strikes home, Carly has no choice but to try and escape with her brother Michael. On the night that Carly plans to leave the community, chaos erupts, causing her plans to backfire, unleashing the undead inside.
Now, Carly must reach out to Joshua Tremell, a man from her past, and the one who left her heart in pieces. Trusting Joshua is one of the hardest things she’ll ever have to do, but without his help it’s only a matter of time until Carly loses her brother Michael to the undead.
Joshua
Two months after returning from fighting over seas and coming home to face a world overtaken by the undead, Joshua Tremell is accustomed to death and losing the ones he loves. But when fate brings him back to his childhood sweetheart Carly Rios, Joshua realizes there are some things still worth fighting for.
Carly is the last person Joshua thought he'd ever see again, let alone in the same quarantine. Facing off shufflers isn’t easy, but the thought of losing the only girl he’s ever loved again, is even worse.
With a second chance at redemption, Joshua would give anything to save Carly and help her get her little brother back, but Joshua has more secrets than he can tell, and his past mistakes are bound to collide with the future he's dying to earn.
For Carly and Joshua, crossing the wasteland is just the beginning…
Forced to live in the same quarantine as her abusive stepfather, Carly is hanging on to life by a thread, as she dreams of a normal world outside of the community. But when tragedy strikes home, Carly has no choice but to try and escape with her brother Michael. On the night that Carly plans to leave the community, chaos erupts, causing her plans to backfire, unleashing the undead inside.
Now, Carly must reach out to Joshua Tremell, a man from her past, and the one who left her heart in pieces. Trusting Joshua is one of the hardest things she’ll ever have to do, but without his help it’s only a matter of time until Carly loses her brother Michael to the undead.
Joshua
Two months after returning from fighting over seas and coming home to face a world overtaken by the undead, Joshua Tremell is accustomed to death and losing the ones he loves. But when fate brings him back to his childhood sweetheart Carly Rios, Joshua realizes there are some things still worth fighting for.
Carly is the last person Joshua thought he'd ever see again, let alone in the same quarantine. Facing off shufflers isn’t easy, but the thought of losing the only girl he’s ever loved again, is even worse.
With a second chance at redemption, Joshua would give anything to save Carly and help her get her little brother back, but Joshua has more secrets than he can tell, and his past mistakes are bound to collide with the future he's dying to earn.
For Carly and Joshua, crossing the wasteland is just the beginning…
*Mature
Content Warning: 17+ for language, intense violence against the undead and
adult situations.
About the author:
My name is
Vanessa Booke and I live with my husband Ryan and our three dachshunds Zer0,
Zoey, and Zelda just outside of Los Angeles, California. I love poetry and all
things Jane Austen. I've been writing since Jr. High, it started with poetry
and eventually in high school I began writing Fiction. My favorite genre to
write in would have to be young adult, or new adult. I currently work as a
communications coordinator for a charity, but I've also worked as a journalist.
I have my Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Cal State University San
Bernardino. In my free time, I like blogging about books, thrift shopping and
taking grand adventures with my partner in crime.
Additional links:
Chapter 1 - Teaser:
“The only
good human being is a dead one.”
-George
Orwell
CARLY
I knew
his gun was in the top drawer. I’ve watched him place it there. Tonight is the
last night I’ll ever let him touch me. I watch his breath rise and fall
rhythmically as he sleeps. From where I stand he doesn’t look so threatening,
anymore at least, not how he looked earlier that night. My cheek still burns
when I touch it. A bruise is starting to form underneath my swollen skin. I
step into the darkened bedroom cautious, as the wooden floors squeak beneath
me. He can wake at any moment. My hands tremble as I make my way toward his
nightstand. It has to be here unless…as I pull the top drawer open, I’m
relieved to see the gun is still there. It sits shining in the moonlight that
cascades down through the cracks of the boarded-up bedroom window.
I pull
the gun from the drawer but pause midway. My stepfather’s snoring has stopped.
Fear paralyzes me, and I freeze, still. Is he awake? Is he watching me? I hold
my breath, my eyes squeezed closed, waiting. Several seconds pass, and then
like clockwork, I can hear the sound of his snoring again. I look down at the
handgun and then back at my sleeping stepfather. I shiver in disgust at the
memory of his hands on me; no amount of soap could ever wash away how dirty he
makes me feel. My stomach rolls at the memory of the way he whispered how I
would always be his.
Not
anymore. I step into the hallway shutting the bedroom door quietly behind me. A
small sense of relief washes over me. I did it. Before I know it
I’m all the way down the hallway of our one story home. Tonight, is our last
night behind the safety of the community fences. It frightens me to think about
what’s waiting for us outside, but staying isn’t an option anymore. I stare
down at the gun in my hands. I’ve never held one until tonight. The sound of a
soft voice catches my attention.
It echoes
down the hall. Michael must be awake. I slip the gun behind me.
There’s no reason for him to see it; it will only scare and confuse him. He’s
been pretty quiet these past few hours. He keeps asking for our mother. I don’t
have the heart to tell him that she’s gone. The only thing left is a shell of
the woman she used to be. It’s been seven days since she became infected.
I made
her a promise when it happened. I promised her that no matter what, I wouldn’t
let her become one. I know what I have to do, and despite what my stepfather
Tom tells me, I know my mother is sick and she isn’t getting better.
Our home
is made up of three rooms. Tom sleeps in the master bedroom. I share a bedroom
with Michael, and my mother is in the guest room. We live in a town sectioned
off from the outside world. It’s better than what most survivors have, but it’s
temporary. Our emergency supplies were never meant to last past six months.
We’re going on our seventh month and our food and water is nearly gone.
Tom keeps
my mother isolated from everyone here. A cold draft hits me as I enter her
bedroom. I can hear her heavy breathing, her lungs crackling as she inhales.
Small white clouds of air escape her mouth. It’s freezing in here. I switch on
the emergency lantern near her nightstand. The fluorescent light reminds me of
a hospital room, as it chases away the darkness. I gasp at the sight of her;
she’s gotten worse. Her eyes are blood shot and her pupils are dilated. I touch
her skin to check for a fever, but she feels ice cold. I grab her hand and
place it in mine. Her skin is pale yellow and she’s starting to bloat like the
others. She has a day at most, maybe less. The bloated skin on her finger
engulfs her wedding band. It’s the one my father gave her before he died.
It wasn’t
the infection that took him away from us. He was in a motorcycle accident when
I was fifteen. He suffered an injury to the head and went into a coma.
I twist
the ring off her finger.
My mother
sold our old house to pay for his medical bills. She didn’t have the heart to
pull the plug. Not too long after his accident, they flew him to a fancy
medical hospital in Colorado. I thought he died. She told Michael and me that
he did, but a few days ago I found some old hospital bills stashed in a
shoebox. She lied. For the past three years she’s been paying to keep him
alive. At least, she was until the outbreak happened.
“Mom.”
She
stares at me blankly, making it clear she no longer recognizes her own
daughter’s face. I’m sure in her eyes I’m only a stranger, someone she’s never
seen before. I reach down for the wash pan at the foot of her bed, and I cringe
at the sight of the brown, murky water inside it. Tom refuses to clean her with
any of our clean water and instead subjects her to the dirty-brown, rusted
water from the faucets. As far I know it isn’t hurting her but she deserves
more than that. Tom wants to keep her around because of the food rations. Each
person in the community is given a certain portion of food, no more, no less.
He takes hers for himself. I hate seeing her like this.
A moan
escapes her lips. I pull the gun out from behind me fearful that she’s turning.
I have to do what she couldn’t for my dad. I have to let her go. I have to.
I raise the gun toward the
front of her face. My hands tremble, the gun is heavier than I expected.
Through her confused and sickened state, she looks up at me as if she has a
moment of clarity. I close my eyes and turn my face. I picture her as she was
before the outbreak. In my mind she stands radiant and beautiful as she smiles
down at me. I can almost hear her saying everything will be all right. They
say goodbye is the hardest thing you’ll ever have to say. So I don’t say it. I
breathe in and pull the trigger.
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