fantasy fiction | WANDA PARYLA

Storm Dwellers, chapter 7 – excerpt

“Hold on, y’all,” Lasso said. “I’ll get us some gloves.”

Lasso headed for his truck just as other South Padre Island police vehicles pulled up along with Texas State Police.

Covered with sand and grime a couple centimeters thick and caked with a sticky substance which had been splattered all over it, Terry’s car looked as if it had been driven through a slaughterhouse and out into a sandstorm.

“You can’t even tell by this car that it rained,” Hill said as she took a closer look at the hood and then the roof. “This gunk…how odd.”

“I…I think there’s some blood, for sure.” Lasso handed everyone a pair of gloves. “Here, just in case. Y’all be careful.”

Hill pulled on the gloves then touched the gooey substance on the car, rubbing it between her fingers. She held it to her nose and took a whiff.

“Yes, blood and…this stuff looks like…”

She stepped back from the vehicle.

“Like what?” Rob prodded.

The answer hit him, and he turned away from the car for a moment to gather himself then turned back.

“Awe, God.” Rob rubbed his forehead, fighting his emotions.

Greetings all,

Here’s a peek at what I’ve been working on for the Chicago Down back cover blurb. I’m still working on it.

*****

Salbatora vows to honor her father’s last request: find Eliot Ness to help free her brother who was wrongly arrested for Prohibition violations. She abandons her Texas home leaving behind memories, and the living dead.

Ness isn’t the only thing Sal finds. Chicago struggles under Prohibition. While its citizens covertly indulge in spirits, a sinister darkness grows. Born of greed, it’s more disturbing than a lust for alcohol. While gangsters battle over territories, the undead have no preference as they run amok, and the Illinois governor has lost his mind to a madcap plot to corral Chicago’s mounting zombie populace.

An unlikely team, Salbatora Guerrera, Eliot Ness, and Al Capone form an unusual camaraderie as they fight the Screamin’ Mimis, as Al calls them. They develop a strategy to deter the governor’s plan which will collapse the weakened city. But can they end the evil’s terrorizing hold? When they learn how the dead sprang to life, they must strike at the source to set Chicago free. And they may not survive alive.

Chicago, are you ready for your unsung heroes? (Note: this line is slated for the front cover, as opposed to the back blurb. We’ll see.)