✨️❗️NEW NOVEL EXCERPT❗️✨️

Hi lovelies! Please enjoy an excerpt from chapter 10 of my novel DOG DOWN, and please let me know if you would like to read more!

CW: mentions of death, mentions of zombies, animals in danger, guns, blood, some gore and violence

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Mira was playing with Indigo and Benji on one of the rare nights she wasn’t busy, the chill in the air a nice bite against the warm fur that covered the dogs’ bodies. Indigo especially had always enjoyed the cold, as she had a rather thick coat all year round, and she was content to be outside and active for once. All in all, it was a pleasant day, and things were quiet at the complex, other than talk of the supply party that was supposed to return later that day.

And then the shouting began.

Mira immediately dropped the ball she’d been tossing to Indigo and Benji, who both leapt for it before Indigo grabbed it. She did as she always did, trying to nuzzle it back into Mira’s hand, but the human was distracted, her attention turned towards the front entrance of the complex as the other humans around them also turned to stare. Everyone stood still, frozen. Indigo was confused as she looked from face to face about what was wrong.

Suddenly, everyone broke into action, quickly, frantically, each person moving with a clear yet unknown purpose. Mira and a few others bee-lined for the main entrance while the others hurried away from the scene.

As they got closer, Indigo could hear the racket of someone trying to open the gate. “Let us the fuck in now!” someone else shouted over and over until the gate squealed open. Two men stumbled in, one leaning against the other, as Erin, James, Guillermo, Mira, and a few others gathered around. Indigo noticed that James was pointing one of the longer loud objects at the men who had just come in, and she looked around frantically for the kids. Something in her gut told her something bad was about to happen.

 “What fuck were you two doing out there?” Guillermo started shouting then, trying to lean forward towards the two men. But two of the other humans standing nearby grabbed his shoulder. “What the fuck? Let go of me!”

“Keep it the fuck down!” Erin hissed, her own loud object in her hands.

 “What the hell, can you just help Jeremy? Please?” a shorter man with a beard holding up another man said, a twinge of desperation in his voice.

 “How’d he get hurt?” James hissed, dripping with suspicion.

 “For fuck’s sake, he fell! He fell down some stairs, th-that’s all!” the unnamed man said again as the leaning man began to groan.

“Erin please! This is my son you’re talking about!” Guillermo continued to squirm.

 “Jeremy and Martín knew the rules when they went out,” Erin said, and Indigo could tell she was holding back from being louder. “You know this is protocol for anyone, especially when you come back injured and missing two men!”

 “Oh god… where are Anthony and Kevin?” one of the men holding Guillermo back voiced then.

The short man holding Guillermo’s son bowed his head. “There were… There were too many of them. B-but I got us out!” he looked back up, almost pleading. “Please, it’s just a cut! He wasn’t bit!”

 “We’ll have to verify that later,” Erin sighed. “In the meantime—”

A piercing wail sounded down from the back of the complex, a shriek that Indigo knew all too well.

Every human in the complex froze momentarily, and then like before, began to scatter, each rushing towards a different part of the complex. “GRAB THE WEAPONS! SNIPERS TO THE ROOF NOW!” Erin shouted this time, not holding back in volume now that the dead-walkers were already headed their way.

Mira turned and bolted. “Come dogs!” she shouted, barely glancing back to see if they had obeyed before she was running up the stairs and into one of the apartments. There were already several other people there, all grabbing loud objects before feeding them smaller bits of metal, the room clicking and clacking viciously.

The wailing sounded again from down the back alley, louder this time, and joined by more wails from more dead-walkers.

Mira headed back to the apartment in a rush, patting her thigh all the while. As she turned down the side-corridor, she met Rosa and Juan, who were huddled up with a few other kids about Juan’s age. “Take them to 34. You know the drill by now, right?” Mira asked Rosa, who had her own loud object.

 “Yeah, I know what to do,” the girl nodded, her eyes wide and shiny.

“Okay good, take the dogs with you. I can’t bring them on the roof,” Indigo listened as Mira instructed Rosa, her voice confident despite the growing danger.

 “Come!” Rosa said then, patting her thigh as Benji began to trail behind her and the kids. Indigo followed too but took a last glance back at Mira. Once the kids weren’t looking, Indigo was sure she could smell fear in Mira’s movements, but then the woman was gone down the corridor.

Rosa led the pack of children and dogs down the side corridor and into apartment 34. There were at least two other adult humans there, each with loud objects, guarding the door as the kids tumbled through. Rosa continued to pat her thigh, and Indigo followed close behind with Benji in tow through the closing door. At the last moment, Indigo noticed Kandy slink into the apartment just as the door was slammed shut.