Found Footage, Horror, Apocalypse
Date Published: May 4, 2013
Publisher: Chelshire, INC.
Seth is laid
off from work. His wife Lara just found out they are expecting a baby this
summer. Seth plans on documenting the entire pregnancy with his brand new
digital camcorder. During an evening home watching television, the news reports
that a swarm of cicada (Brood Ten) are expected to overwhelm the entire
Northeast. Brood Ten is vicious and ready to invade. During a sweltering summer
night, Brood Ten emerges and wreaks havoc with the electric grid, phone and
cell service, wi-fi, food and water supply. Civilization as they know it is
gone. Seth and Lara are thrown back to the stone age in their own home with
trillions of cicada trying to deposit their eggs and breed. Fast paced and
filled with tension, Brood Ten is the perfect summer read when you’re sitting
outside listening to the cicadas sing.
Excerpt:
The wail of sirens
rent the air, and Seth burst through the front door holding the camera to see
what was happening. Lara followed him out with a dishrag clenched in her hands.
“What’s going on now?”
she asked nervously.
“I don’t know,” Seth
responded. “I heard a crash.
It was loud. Look
there it is,” he pointed to the end of the block. “Stay inside.” Lara retreated
into the house.
A crowd of people had
gathered around two cars that had hit each other head on. The black BMW was
badly banged up. The chassis was nearly bent in half and steam rose from its
hood. The air bag deployed and filled the entire front of the car. The door was
open and a man was sitting in the driver’s seat, talking on his cell phone.
A silver Prius rested
atop a broken fire hydrant.
A geyser of water
roared as it shot ten feet into the air.
Sitting on the curb, a
dazed woman was holding a towel to her bloody nose. His neighbor Cathy
dashed out of her
house to comfort the woman.
“Are you OK?” Seth
wandered over to the stricken woman.
“I don’t know what
happened,” the woman replied. “I was driving and out of nowhere the whole
windshield was covered by bugs.”
“Cicadas?” Seth
inquired.
“I don’t know what
they were. But there were a lot of them. The wipers couldn’t get rid of them
quick enough. They
just kept coming.”
Seth walked away as
the woman started cry. He looked at the totaled car. A brown residue of bug
guts smeared the
windshield.
Police cars started
rolling down the street and pretty soon the chaotic mess got sorted out.
A cop walked over to
survey the scene next to Seth. He turned to the policeman and asked, “What do
you make of this?”
The officer shrugged
his shoulders and replied, “Probably just a swarm.”
***
Later that night, Lara
curled against Seth’s side, they watched the evening news.
The newscaster was
concluding a segment, “There are widespread and unprovoked bug attacks all over
the tri-state area today causing accidents and mayhem everywhere. Although it
was very disturbing, the governor is assuring everyone to remain calm. Cicadas
usually die within a day or two. He is urging people not to panic.”
“I feel so bad for
Cathy,” Lara’s blue eyes welled with tears. “She loved that dog. This is
getting scary, Seth.” “You heard what the cops said. They probably disturbed a
nest. That’s what happened in Arizona too you know, with the killer bees. They
have people there who just take out the nests for a living.”
“What about the car
accident?” Lara asked.
Seth put a finger over
her soft lips. “They told us not to be concerned. The cops were here in four
minutes, and animal control said not to blow it out of proportion. Enough!” he
kissed her lightly. “I said enough.”
About The Author
Michael
Phillip Cash is an award-winning and best-selling novelist of horror,
paranormal, and science fiction novels.
He's written ten books including the best-selling “Brood X”,
“Stillwell”, “The Flip”, “The After House”, “The Hanging Tree”, “Witches
Protection Program”, “Pokergeist”, "Monsterland", "The History
Major", and “Battle for Darracia” series. Michael’s books are on the
Amazon best-seller list and have also won numerous awards. Additionally, he is
a screenwriter with 14 specs under his belt. Michael resides on the North Shore
of Long Island.
Contact Information
Website: http://www.michaelphillipcash.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelpcash
