The crooked Judge: This is a job George takes on for the bookie. The bookie has a friend who is a pimp for high dollar call girls. The judge has killed one of his girls and hushed it up through his buddies in the NYPD. This angers George and he takes the job. It turns out this story is the truth, but killing a judge has its consequences. Every law agency in the area is investigating. One of the cops who helped hide the truth remembers threats from the pimp and tells a cop buddy while drinking. That cop is an ear for Ben Larkin and relays the information to him.
Andrea, back in her humble dwelling, noticed it too. The birds, usually a raucous chorus at dawn, were unnaturally silent. The insects, a constant hum of life in the humid air, seemed to have retreated. The vibrant colors of her small herb garden appeared to have dulled, as if a fine layer of dust had settled upon them, a dust that wasn’t visible but could be felt, a muffling of the world’s sensory output. She found herself looking over her shoulder, a habit she had never possessed before, an instinctual awareness of being observed, even in the solitude of her own small space. #Dystopian #ApocalypticFiction #PostApocalyptic #Survival #Kindle #Audible
The collapse had been a swift, brutal amputation. The surge, a cataclysmic event that had not only silenced our digital world but had also plunged vast swathes of the planet into darkness and disarray. The immediate aftermath had been a blur of panic, of desperate attempts to comprehend the incomprehensible. The abstract threats of cyber warfare or economic collapse had been replaced by the terrifyingly concrete realities of starvation, disease, and the primal struggle for survival. In the early days, the focus had been singular: survive. Find food, find water, find shelter. My technical skills, so vital in the old world, were largely useless. I learned to scavenge, to ration, to move with a stealth born of necessity. I learned the silence of the wilderness, the language of rustling leaves and snapping twigs. But survival, I was discovering, was not an end in itself. It was a means to an end, a precarious foundation upon which something more must be built. It was a recognition that to truly survive, I needed to do more than just exist; I needed to be.
Before Candace could speculate, a low, guttural growl echoed from the far end of the depot, followed by the distinct sound of heavy boots crunching on gravel. It was a sound of human origin, but there was an aggression to it, a territoriality that sent a prickle of alarm through Candace. “Someone else,” Elara whispered, her hand tightening on her pipe. Candace nodded, her gaze fixed on the source of the sound. “And they don’t sound friendly.” She could see them now – a group of figures emerging from the gloom, their silhouettes indistinct against the muted light. They were armed, their weapons glinting dully. Their movements were coordinated, purposeful, suggesting a trained unit rather than a disorganized band of scavengers. #Dystopian #Apocalyptic #Epic #Survival #Amazon #Kindle #KU #Horror
Chronicles from the Wastelands 03
The world ended not with a bang, but with a sickening lurch. One moment, Mike was wrestling with a stubborn garden hose, the scent of cut grass and impending rain filling the air. The next, the sky ripped open. Not with thunder, but with a silent, violent tear that bled impossible colors across the horizon… #Dystopian #ApocalypticFiction #Horror #DellSweet Dell Sweet, Apocalyptic, Dystopian, horror
Chronicles from the Wastelands 04
As they were bagging their meager findings, a sudden sound echoed from the front of the store – a faint scuff, like a boot on loose gravel. Both men froze, their bodies tensing. Mike slowly raised his rifle, his finger hovering over the trigger. Ben drew his machete, his knuckles white. The silence that followed was deafening, stretching out, each second an eternity. Then, another sound, closer this time – the unmistakable creak of the store’s front door, the one they had pried open. #Dystopian #ApocalypticFiction #Horror #DellSweet Dell Sweet, Apocalyptic, Dystopian, horror
The Jail Job: The intended guy is in Rikers Island doing a year. George uses Juanita’s computer skills to access the inmate Database and have him released early. Vinnie tells him he is a snitch and a suspected child molester, but the truth is he is an undercover ATF officer investigating Vinnie’s interests in Rikers Island, where he controls the drug and sex trade in the huge jail. When he is taken to the prison ferry and released, he has no idea what has happened. He finds himself on the street with no funds, phone, walking after he is dropped off by the prison transport bus. He resolves himself to the thirty block walk to the ATF offices. George catches him on the way and kills him.
The end has come for most of the world’s population. Small groups of survivors are picking up the pieces… Learning to live again…
When the sun began to peek over the top of the ridge on the opposite shore of the Black River, everyone filed out to the two remaining trucks. It had been decided that Mike and Jan would stay behind while the others went in search of the stolen truck. They switched on and tested two sets of F.M. radios.
“Hey,” he said. A young guy. Unshaven. Wild hair. I could smell the street on him. His teeth were yellowed and chipped. Looked to be blackening in places I saw. His tongue continuously licked at his cracked lips. I couldn’t speak. Wouldn’t have known what to say if I had been able to, and I was having a very hard time keeping my eyes open. The lights were too bright.
“Hey,” he said again. “I didn’t know you would be naked… In a bath tub… He didn’t say that… I’m sorry…. I really am sorry.” His hand swam into view as I watched. Normal except a black lump seemed to be fused to it. A black lump with a blacker hole in the end of it. Fire spat from the blacker hole. The lights went out…#Audio #Book #SamWolfe #DreamTravel #Readers #Listeners
For Billy Jingo, living in Glennville is a dead in life. His trailer home next to the county dump. His dead-end job. The boring life he lived. And then on Friday morning his whole world turned upside down. He suddenly found himself emerged in crime that was so far above his normal reasoning range that, at first, he couldn’t even comprehend the implications on it. In a heartbeat he found himself in a fight for his life. On the run with someone’s drugs and money and a girl he had not even known just a few hours before. Buckle up, enjoy the ride. Fast paced pulp style fiction… #Crime #Audio #Pulp #Readers #Listeners
Ethen and his wife pick up bits and pieces of newscasts: Some-things are prowling the streets at night #Zombie #Apocalypse #ZombieApocalypse #ZombieFiction #Readers #Thriller #Drama #Horror
This is an acoustic guitar build with a bunch of twists. I replaced the top with a Spanish Classical guitar design that was reversed. I Also used multiple sound holed as opposed to one sound hole. I also added peizo discs under saddle. I made the saddle from a brass blank. I also installed two humbuckers to blend with the peizo discs. I also built a control and tuner pod got the body. And I split the bridge into a bridge and a string pod to make the string length longer and for aesthetics as well. I replaced the nut with bone and the pegs with bone too.
I stripped off the fret board, made a new fret board and slotted and fretted it. Standard dots and side markers with plastic rod. The frets are harder than a normal acoustic blend. I also redesigned the neck pocket to make the neck bolt on. I installed a pre-amp in the side.
The photography is my own on a digital Kodak. This was before I forced myself to use a phone to do it because I truly hate phones.
The video work is also my own. And the model is once again my own wife Amber Smith. She was actually a model at a very young age, like 11. A good sport to let me use her material. She is also an author, artist and an advocate against child abuse.
The Music is my own. The studio version of A minor which is an extended and electric version. An extended version of Rode the Limited and an extended version of Solution Six as well. All three from the master AIFF for the EP in 2016. Enjoy, feedback is welcome.
And last. This build is in a book you can get at Amazon:
