Empire's End - Time of Doors Season 1 Episode 4 (Book 3): Post Apocalypse EMP Survival - Dark Scifi Horror (Time of Doors Serial EMP Dark Fantasy Apocalyptic Book Series) Read online

  Title

  Empire’s End

  The “Time of Doors” Series

  EDDIE PATIN

  Season 1 – Episode 4

  (Book 4)

  Copyright

  “Empire’s End – The Time of Doors Series – Season 1, Episode 4 (Book 4)”

  Copyright © 2017, Lost Woods Publishing LLC

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  Published in the United States of America by Lost Woods Publishing LLC, 2017

  Table of Contents

  Title

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Book Introduction by Eddie Patin

  1 - Officer Harvey Swanson

  2 - Megan McKinney

  3 - Chad Murray

  4 - Arthur Kline

  5 - Tommy and Jody Shelton

  6 - Kayleen Lugo

  7 - Chad Murray

  8 - Arthur Kline

  9 - Kayleen Lugo

  10 - Megan McKinney

  11 - Tommy and Jody Shelton

  12 - Officer Harvey Swanson

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  A Message from the Publisher

  Book Introduction by Eddie Patin

  "Terrifying and unique! I've never seen an apocalyptic vision like this before--so creative and cool!"

  Our heroes struggle to survive what seems like the human EMPIRE'S END in the bizarre and horrid fusion of Earth with dimensions from all across the universe!

  After enduring the massive EMP bursts that accompanied the opening of Portal Zero and dimensional tears all across the globe, six groups of Americans across the country are starting to come to terms with not being the dominant species on Earth anymore. It's hard enough adapting to the destruction of the planet's electric grids, but now, they and the people closest to them are suffering the unrelenting attacks of monsters from other realms!

  Some of the characters are dealing with their homes being assaulted by monsters from their nightmares. Others are dealing with entire worlds seemingly invading our own--environment and all. And some poor souls are feeling like they're not exactly in Kansas anymore...

  As the survivors seek to understand and adapt to the crazy chaos around them, how will they deal with total societal collapse AND the variety of otherworldly terrors seeking eat their guts for breakfast??

  "Empire's End" is Episode FOUR of Season ONE of the "Time of Doors" (Book 4)

  What is the “Time of Doors”?

  Sometimes, things go horribly wrong.

  In the arena of worldwide politics and major scientific research, projects can be so big and all-encompassing that the little things can be missed.

  And when certain details are not anticipated—like the burst of a massive Electromagnetic pulse being an unforeseen side effect of the activation of an inter-dimensional portal—there may be unintended consequences.

  Especially when that EMP blast leaves the scientists disabled, and their new open gateway creates an out-of-control chain reaction of other portals to random dimensions and far-off places throughout the universe popping up all over Earth—each accompanied by their own EMP bursts as well…

  A whole world can change because of the little things.

  Worlds can collide…

  Entire pieces of a world can be lost into the dark, unknown spaces in between…

  These are the stories of the everyday Americans trying to survive on an Earth devastated by the total collapse of electronics and man-made power, and ravaged by the otherworldly dangers that emerged from the Time of Doors…

  The Characters:

  Arthur Kline is a family man and heavy equipment operator living in Colorado Springs, CO, desperate to find his missing wife and young sons. When the EMP hits his city, Arthur struggles to keep his wits about him as it soon becomes evident that there are much more dangerous things to worry about than the total collapse of society! Sometimes, the hungry and unrelenting darkness keeps coming, and it’s faster during the night...

  Officer Harvey Swanson is a disgraced LVMPD beat cop who’s lost everything he cared about while living in Las Vegas, NV. A short stint as a vigilante killer didn’t work out so well for Harvey, and now the Metro Stalker is trapped in the basement of a police precinct when the whole world turns upside down. The streets of Vegas are hardly recognizable anymore, and Harvey and his reluctant brothers in blue are only focused on one thing—survival.

  Chad Murray is the young, naive cameraman present at Portal Zero in Geneva, Switzerland, during the quiet initial experiment of the UEA’s newest technology that will usher mankind into an era of space travel—Dimension Drive. When everything goes wrong, he and a UEA soldier that survived soon find themselves traveling on foot through Manhattan, New York, trying to stay one step ahead of interdimensional monsters and a city that’s tearing itself apart!

  Kayleen Lugo is an art major at Portland State University, and only cares about veganism, the fight for social justice and political change, and a football player named Preston. When the power goes out, and Portland seems to be overrun with a dread atmosphere of slime and mist, Kayleen’s unexpected drive to survive takes her onto an adventure that will leave her much closer to the bizarre, eldritch powers invading her town than she ever wanted to be...

  Megan McKinney is a martial artist and physical therapist who long ago conquered her weight problem and took control of her life. On vacation (again) in Zion National Park, UT, Megan and her boyfriend are present when a strange, golden monolith appears in place of the park’s famous “Centennial Cottonwood Tree”, and nearly all electronics throughout the region are destroyed! As things turn weird and hairy in the park, Megan turns her focus to one thing that seems more and more out of reach—escape.

  Tommy and Jody Shelton, the children. Twelve-year-old Tommy and his little sister do their best to survive and stay together in Flagstaff, AZ, when tragedy befalls their family in a small, mountain town overrun with wildfires and terrifying, alien monsters! Soon, all the kids have are each other, but will it be enough?

  August the 3rd, 2017

  Finally-Episode 4! Things are really ratcheting up for the characters—I loved writing this book! Please let me know what you think of it in the reviews—it means a lot! I’ll be publishing Episode 5 soon, and the season finale will be not long after. Should I do a second season for “Time of Doors”? What do you think? Keep an eye out for more coming from me in the near future as well in dark sci fi, and I’m tumbling around an idea of a series involving monster hunters. ;)

  Welcome, readers, to another dark and adventurous tale. Thank you for taking the time to look at my book!

  As my author career develops, I’ll be working hard to make great stuff that will entertain you—stories I ho
pe you’ll love and remember. So, if you do like this book, please join my mailing list to get email updates whenever I publish something new. I also run contests and free drawings from time to time, and frequently come up with ideas for new giveaways.

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  Now … onto the good stuff…

  This is Book 4 in a Series!

  If you’re new to this series, you’ll want to read the previous books before you read this one, or the story won’t make sense!

  CLICK HERE to Find Book 1 – Portal Zero (FREE)

  CLICK HERE to Find Book 2 – Worlds Merge

  CLICK HERE to Find Book 3 – The Days Alive

  1 - Officer Harvey Swanson

  Las Vegas, NV

  Serpentine, yellow eyes that gleamed with fire in the crimson light outside the liquor store flashed at Harvey for an instant before disappearing into a drift of red sand on the wind...

  “The fuck...?!” Harvey whispered.

  He blinked, then shook his head. His stomach was empty, and the whiskey must have went straight to making his brain a little woozy...

  Was he seeing things?

  Looking across the entrance of the store to Officers Price and White, who were stationed on the other side of the counter, Harvey watched them both casually aiming their weapons out into the parking lot, full of abandoned and damaged cars.

  Harvey heard people screaming outside, and got behind his M60 machine gun, lowering his eyes to line up behind the sights. Up the street, a little out of sight, he made out a small group of people fleeing out into Swenson Street, presumably from the apartments just to the north, several sprinting zombies on their heels, reaching out to catch them with long, talon-like claws! The ghoulish creatures trailed flailing tentacle-like tongues behind them. Their terrible mouths grinned open into impossible maws, flashing long, jagged fangs...

  One man in a blue hoodie—more black than anything in the red light—was cut down with a rake of those long claws to his back. The poor man screamed, and Harvey watched the zombie jump on top of him. The sounds that man made became desperate and animalistic as the horror went to work, tearing apart and dissecting the guy just out of Harvey’s line of sight, hidden by the abandoned cars in the road.

  Harvey slowly put the front bead of the rifle onto the zombie’s center-mass.

  About 150 yards, he thought.

  Other zombies joined in, and Harvey saw one of the newcomers pull up a piece of torn blue fabric, toss it away, then lift up what looked like the man’s arm. Another ripped away a dark, slippery piece of meat that flopped around in its long claws before disappearing down the creature’s twisted throat...

  Harvey sighed.

  He’d better not shoot—he’d just draw the attention of the horde of them over here to his team’s position. They hadn’t been seeing many normal folks out on the streets. In fact, for a city literally going to Hell under constant attack from demons and other terrors, Harvey wasn’t seeing many bodies lying around...

  Any bodies, really...

  Harvey reached back to his rear jeans pocket and felt at the little plastic bottle of whiskey.

  He shouldn’t...

  It’s okay, he thought. He’d only have a—

  Harvey’s thought was interrupted by a sudden whistle through the air and movement through the open door of the liquor store that made him gasp, followed by a thunk near White and Price behind the checkout counter!

  He looked over at his teammates, only to see Officer White gasping, looking down in shock at an arrow or something sticking out of his left bicep!

  “Holy shit!!” Detective Price exclaimed. “Contact!!”

  Just before looking back to his huge, clunky weapon, Harvey saw the black arrow—sticking out of White’s arm—suddenly loosen up and go slack, then start whipping around like ... like a living snake with its head stuck in the man’s flesh!

  “Gah!” White cried with revulsion, dropping his shotgun with a clatter and trying to seize the sickening thing with his right hand. His eyes grew wide and his face stretched into an expression of horror. “Oh my god! Oh my god!”

  The hiss in front of the liquor store entrance drew Harvey back to his rifle’s sights.

  Two creatures were visible now, hanging back among the cars, very hard to see whenever the red sand blew by on the hot wind, but Harvey could see them now...

  They were strange women—snake-like creatures with long, lithe bodies, completely nude and covered in rough scales that shimmered and reflected the red sky and the multi-colored cars around them! The creatures moved like snakes—quick and lilted in sporadic bursts, and their finely-scaled human faces, dark and shifting in color with severe angles with fanged sneers and golden, serpentine eyes...

  Those were the eyes that Harvey thought he saw! The bitches were invisible or something, scoping them out just moments before!

  But the most striking features about the demon women were their hair. Both of them had writhing masses of serpents for hair, like slick and roiling dreadlocks that ended in hard-to-see flickering tips and points—Harvey knew that they had to be the heads of snakes!

  Medusas, he thought. They were like Medusa ... from fucking mythology or something...

  What the actual fuck...

  And the Medusa women were darting around, flirting with the idea of using cars for cover, training long, black recurve bows at him and his team’s position in the entrance of the liquor store...

  “Two Medusas in front!” Harvey shouted, lining his sights up on the one about to let loose an arrow.

  He pulled the trigger, and the gun boomed, making the air around Harvey shudder in the walled-up space!

  He barely heard Mendez reply from the back of the store. “Medusas?!”

  The first demon woman took some hits from the M60 square in the chest, and he watched the creatures torso implode and flecks of scales and strings of black blood scatter! He saw the rounds stitch across her sternum and through one scaled breast with a black nipple. She released her arrow wildly and fell into a heap with a loud, sputtering hiss behind the blue sedan in front.

  Then, Harvey felt his hair stand up for just an instant before a bright, green burst of light splattered in front of him, burning his arms and making him jump back away from his gun as if he just touched an open flame! He coughed, confused.

  A messy beam of green light sizzled through the air again, passing through where he was just lying prone before he had jumped away. The blistering energy splashed into a shelf full of boxed wine behind him, sending exploding cardboard and bladders of red, white, and pink wines all over!

  “Shit!” Harvey cried, and he suddenly smelled the odor of burning hair...

  He instinctively patted his forehead where he felt heat.

  It was his own hair!

  Harvey scrambled back to the M60. It had been knocked to the floor sideways, off of its bipod. He snatched up the heavy rifle and backed further into the store as Price started firing out into the parking lot.

  Looking outside, Harvey saw two snake women. He had killed one, he knew it! That meant that there were three—there must have been one hiding somewhere when he opened fire. Hell—there might be more, for all he knew...

  One of the demon bitches had a bow, the other had a pistol that he didn’t recognize, still aiming at his position as the creature strafed to change cover. Harvey lay down a few shots of suppressing fire as he backed away, hearing the large rounds impact with the vehicles out front. Price was still shooting.

  The sounds of Becker and Mendez running up behind Harvey comforted him.

  “What is it?” Becker demanded.

  “Three Medusa-things,” Price shouted. “One has a laser or something!”

  In the next moment, Mendez stepped up beside Harvey and opened fire with his shotgun, and the creature with the bow let out a vicious hissing snarl, glaring a
t Detective Price with all of the hellfire she could muster! The snakes in her hair stood out and writhed all around her. Harvey heard White whining and crying out in pain, struggling to remove the snake-arrow from his arm...

  Detective Price screamed and choked, like something was stuck in his throat! His AR-15 fire, chattering at the snake women, stopped suddenly, and Harvey watched with wide eyes and a growing cold feeling in his belly and his groin as the detective tilted his head back, grimaced in agony, then stiffened, crackling, slowing down until he froze up entirely—stuck in an expression of torture. Even his clothes stopped moving—the blue button-up shirt bleeding its color away until it turned grey, then seemed solid like...

  Like stone.

  “Oh god!” White cried, watching Price’s transformation in horror, holding the snake thing with one fist as it still whipped around and seemed to try to burrow itself into his arm. The thin, slick tail lashing back and forth from the end of his fist made Harvey think of parasite—some kind of demonic tapeworm trying to get into the man’s body. He finally snapped out of it. “Somebody help me!!”

  Becker broke his attention away from the statue of Detective Price, bringing up his AR up again and taking several quick shots at the Medusa creatures. He apparently upset the aim of the demon with the laser pistol, because she missed her mark and another sizzling bolt of poisonous green light, fraying at the edges, streaked across the store over their heads, splattering onto ceiling tiles behind them!

  Harvey turned back and laid down more suppressive fire while trying to move to new cover, suddenly very alarmed as he saw the end of the belt of 7.62mm ammo whipping around closer and closer to the receiver...

  He’d be out of ammo soon, and back down to just a pistol...

  Becker’s rifle stopped, and the big sergeant reloaded. “I’m down to my last mag!” he shouted.

  “I’m low, too!” Mendez cried, letting loose a couple of booming shots from his Remington 1100. The buckshot panged onto the back of a van, then exploded a window. One of the demons outside hissed, either from pain or defiance.