Ella and Mo

By Annie Reed

Survivors come in all shapes and sizes. Take Ella. A normal kid before the undead destroyed Las Vegas, now Ella packs a gun instead of a teddy bear. Or how about Mo? A small-time hood before Ella took over his life, Mo spends his days driving his kidnaper around the back roads of Nevada and his nights locked in the trunk of his own car.

In this latest story story in Annie Reed's popular zombie apocalypse series, two wary strangers form an uneasy partnership, an alliance that's put to the test beneath the unforgiving desert sun.

This edition of "Ella and Mo" includes a BONUS copy of Annie Reed's zombie story "Bait."

"The appearance of a new Annie Reed story is a treat. Try one and you'll be hooked." -- Dave Hendrickson, author of CRACKING THE ICE, forthcoming from WestSide Press

"A friend recommended the works of Annie Reed. I was not disappointed. In fact, if her other shorts are as good as this one, I plan to read many more." -- Carol Davis Luce, author of NIGHT GAME (reviewing Annie Reed's short story CHANGELING)

Author Annie Reed is a prolific, award-winning writer whose stories have been published in numerous science fiction and fantasy anthologies, as well as in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Previous stories in Annie's zombie apocalypse series including PATIENT Z, BAIT, and JESSIE.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thunder Valley Press
• Release date: Sep 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466108455

Annie Reed

Award-winning author and editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch calls Annie Reed “one of the best writers I’ve come across in years.”Annie’s won recognition for her stellar writing across multiple genres. Her story “The Color of Guilt” originally published in Fiction River: Hidden in Crime, was selected as one of The Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016. Her story “One Sun, No Waiting” was one of the first science fiction stories honored with a literary fellowship award by the Nevada Arts Foundation, and her novel PRETTY LITTLE HORSES was among the finalists in the Best First Private Eye Novel sponsored by St. Martin’s Press and the Private Eye Writers of America.A frequent contributor to the Fiction River anthologies and Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Annie’s recent work includes the superhero origin novel FASTER, the near-future science fiction short novel IN DREAMS, and UNBROKEN FAMILIAR, a gritty urban fantasy mystery short novel. Annie’s also one of the founding members of the innovative Uncollected Anthology, a quarterly series of themed urban fantasy stories written by some of the best writers working today.Annie’s mystery novels include the Abby Maxon private investigator novels PRETTY LITTLE HORSES and PAPER BULLETS, the Jill Jordan mystery A DEATH IN CUMBERLAND, and the suspense novel SHADOW LIFE, written under the name Kris Sparks, as well as numerous other projects she can’t wait to get to. For more information about Annie, including news about upcoming bundles and publications, go to www.annie-reed.com.

Book preview

ELLA AND MO

Annie Reed

With complete bonus story

BAIT

ELLA AND MO

Copyright © 2011 Annie Reed

BAIT

Copyright © 2011 Annie Reed

Published by Thunder Valley Press at Smashwords

Cover art Copyright Igor Shmatov | Dreamstime.com

Cover and layout Copyright © 2011 Thunder Valley Press

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

These stories are licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Ella and Mo

Bait (Bonus Story)

Copyright Information

About the Author

ELLA AND MO

I met Ella when me and Jimbo come outta one of them flat-top houses a couple of miles off The Strip. Jimbo had his arms full of stupid shit he thought he could sell. Me? I had a couple of cans of tuna somebody left behind because they was dented. These days, tuna's worth more in Vegas than blurays and TVs and jewelry, but there was no telling Jimbo that.

Ella got the drop on us 'cause we wasn't paying close enough attention. See, those sick fuckers that want to eat everybody don't come out much during the day. Too damn hot in Vegas for 'em. Too damn hot in Vegas for everybody now that the power don't work right half the time and the AC ain't on, but I'd rather be hot than hungry, and Jimbo, he'd rather be rich than anything. So we always did our business during the day when we didn't have to worry so much about something that used to be alive wanting to eat us.

I don't know what Ella was doing that day. She never said and I never asked. All I know is that one minute me and Jimbo was walking past some old lady's garden gnome sitting as pretty as you please in the middle of a stand of cactus in her front yard, feeling pretty proud of ourselves even though the sweat was pouring off us, and the next minute I see this kid with a gun standing