A New World Awakening Excerpt

The sound of feet slapping on the pavement is a familiar
one; one he has heard every night while on the hunt.
  The small pack he joined a while ago is
running ahead down the darkened street. 
A faint scent of prey lingers but the swirling of the air around the
buildings makes it hard to determine the actual direction.  He is hungry and the odor indicates a meal
that will feed the entire pack if they can get to it first.


Buildings pass as they turn down street after street searching.  The screams of other packs drift on the night
air in the distance.  Images of prey
found filter into his head but they are too far away to respond.  His pack leader has found food on most of
their nightly hunts so he is sure they will feed tonight.  The scent grows strong down one street and
the pack turns.  Adrenaline surges as the
thrill of the hunt takes over.

Several streets later, with the smell of food growing
stronger, he stops.  Grabbing his head
from the overwhelming pain, he sinks to his knees.  A dizzy feeling accompanies the deep ache
making him feel that he is going to fall completely to the ground.  He vaguely hears the sound of his pack
member’s feet stop.  The sense of them,
once strong and providing a sense of assurance, fades and then vanishes
altogether.

Where the hell am I? 
He thinks looking down at pavement below his head and slumped over
body.  How the hell did I get here?  Where is here? 
The last memory he has is of taking the flu shot and feeling like
shit.  He headed to bed and is now
kneeling on some unknown street.  The
only thing that comes to his fuzzy and confused mind is that he must have
sleep-walked in a feverish dream.

A loud shriek penetrates his thoughts and he looks up.  The night is dark but he can make out ghostly
figures running towards him a short distance away.  What the fuck?  He thinks watching them close in
quickly.  More screams issue from four
figures racing his way.  He knows a good
thing when he sees it and this definitely doesn’t fit in that category.  Adrenaline pours into his body and he starts
to rise with the flee portion of the fight or flee response taking hold.

He is only able to bring his arm up in an attempt to ward
off the bodies as the nearest ones leap into the air and slam into him.  The impact knocks him backwards and slams him
to the ground.  He is only vaguely aware
of the growling and snarling above him as his head contacts the hard, paved
surface bringing stars to his eyes.  His
mind is reeling from the confusion but is quickly supplanted with sheer
pain.  He feels more than sees teeth
biting into his face, neck, and arms.  He
recognizes a scream, which erupts over the others, as his own.

Pale, snarling faces, reeking of body odor, are close to
his.  He fights and squirms to get away from
those on top of him and the agony. 
Chunks of flesh are torn from his cheeks and throat.  A part of his mind wonders where this odd,
vivid dream came from.  He has never felt
pain in his dreams before.  Another part
of his mind knows this is not a dream but the confusion of suddenly being in a
foreign place doesn’t allow that thought to filter into his consciousness.  There is only the struggle and intense agony.

He feels another strip of flesh
ripped from his face.  Pain, colored red,
floods his mind.  His vision fades and
then goes dark.  He was right about one
thing, the pack would feed well tonight.

John
O’Brien Biography






John O'Brien is a
former Air Force fighter instructor pilot who transitioned to Special
Operations for the latter part of his career gathering his campaign ribbon for
Desert Storm. Immediately following his military service, John became a
firefighter/EMT with a local department. Along with becoming a firefighter, he
fell into the Information Technology industry starting two large
casinos in Washington as the Information Technology Manager and becoming the
Network Manager for the Washington State Legislature, the Northwest Information
Technology Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Network
Systems Manager for Hollywood Video.




Currently, John
is writing full-time on the series, A New World. As a former marathon runner,
John lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and can now be found kayaking out
in the waters of Puget Sound, mountain biking in the Capital Forest, hiking in
the Olympic Peninsula, or pedaling his road bike along the many scenic roads.




John O’Brien Links




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Amazon author page



http://www.amazon.com/John-OBrien/e/B005IDEPP0