The Kingdom: A Horror Novella

By Emily Walker

For centuries man has been the predator over the animal kingdom, until today. What happens when the deer kills the hunter and pets turn on their masters? Is it evolution, or something far more sinister.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emily Walker
• Release date: Sep 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311639097

Emily Walker

Emily Walker loves creating worlds and stumbling around in them. She is constantly losing her chap-stick, and has an obsession with the color pink. Currently a resident of the mountains and loving the view she writes mostly paranormal fiction, horror and some romance. Her small family consists of her red bearded other half, a rat terrier named Rebel, and a cat called Graveyard.

Book preview

The Kingdom

By

Emily Walker

The Kingdom

Copyright © September 2014 Emily Walker

Interior Formatting: Alexia Purdy

All rights reserved

www.authoremilywalker.com

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. If you did not buy this e-book, please purchase your own copy.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious and are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events, or locales or persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.

Dedication

To my Red Beard for inspiring some sick shit to pop into my brain, I love you.

To my boss, Mike Corelli for giving me Chase’s theory.

To my brother for helping me get the hunting scene just right.

To all the authors, bloggers, and fans that helped encourage me to keep writing.

To my street team who always pep me up.

To animals for being so damn unpredictable.

To my sister who helped with the prologue.

And to Alexia Purdy who rocks at pretty much everything.

Prologue

In 2009, a women's pet chimp tore her apart. The 200-pound pet tore most of her face away and left her critically injured.

In 2010 in London, a fox attacked nine-month-old twins, and permanently disfigured their faces.

In America a Killer Whale dragged a woman across the bottom of his holding tank and scalped her along the side. The movement took the top of her head off. Once the woman had died, the whale played with her body until the crew found her. During the play, he dismembered her, and completely mutilated her body.

In 2011 in Pennsylvania, a Bengal tiger attacked a park employee. Leopards mauled sixteen people in India. A rampaging monkey in Tennessee injured two people who barely escaped with their lives.

In 2012, a mountain lion attacked a hiker in Big Ben's National Park. An otter attacked a woman while she was swimming in St. Paul, Minnesota. In Sun City, California, coyotes randomly attacked a woman and they all tested negative for rabies. An Australian woman was attacked by a kangaroo while walking to get her daughter at school, and the same kangaroo attacked both her dog and her husband on separate occasions.

In 2013, in California’s Wild Animal Park, a woman was killed when a lion , which escaped his cage, broke her neck. A South African farmer was killed when he fed his pet hippo. An elephant attacked and tossed a British tourist's car while it was speeding down the road. A wolf in Idaho attacked a bicyclist when he was out on a ride. A cat completely deformed a woman's face in Michigan after she kicked snow on it over and over again.

Over those five years, animal attacks were more common than they had been in the past. Freak accidents involving animals seemed to be on the rise, and no one had an explanation for it. Some scientists maintained that we were encroaching on their land more than ever, and they were retaliating. They also thought that perhaps they were struggling due to a lack of food, and shortages of their natural resources. Could it be the Kingdom was just finding a way to fight back?

Chapter One

Ron Hamrick's pulse quickened when he noticed the familiar outline of a deer in the undergrowth from his tree-stand. Slowly, he moved the rifle to his shoulder so as not to alarm the prize buck. Locking eyes on his target, the moment finally arrived to take his shot. Seemingly unaware of his presence, the buck slowly moved closer to the tree. Rod crinkled his forehead, preparing to squeeze the trigger.

The deer never saw the bullet coming as it sliced through the air straight into its flesh. As soon as the bullet hit, the deer took off through the trees leaving a slight trail of blood behind.

Rod cycled the bolt on his rifle and eased back to a comfortable position. He would give the deer a few minutes to die so he wouldn't scare it further away.

A light movement of air rustled the leaves around him, and they danced, cascading to the ground. They were an array of colors—red, yellow, and orange, a sure sign that fall was on its way.

When enough time had passed, he felt sure the deer would have bled out, and he began his dismount. Slowly, he put one boot on each wooden step of the tree-stand, followed by the other. The tree-stand creaked with his weight as he descended from the tree. Tiny needles prickled beneath his skin as his legs awakened from the movement. They were angry from being scrunched up on the small wooden platform.

As he walked in the direction the deer had fled, he inhaled deeply, allowing the crisp air to fill his lungs. A squirrel jumped out in front of him, its beady eyes trained on his as he moved towards it. A slight chill ran up his spine and he brought both arms above his head, waving them quickly, thinking it would run. Squirrels usually hid from sight, scattering at the slight hint of footsteps, but this one seemed to be looking for him.

As he glanced around, he noticed more squirrels were around him. They sat still, tails straight up in the air, their beady eyes also staring at him. He thought of calling for his hunting partner Dale, but didn’t want to admit that a squirrel was making him nervous. Snapping off a tree branch, he waved it in front of him, instantly feeling foolish. He quickened his footsteps over the leaf-covered floor to find the deer and retreat back to the safety of his warm home.

The air in the woods felt heavy as Ron anxiously looked around at the little brown statues. The sky was half covered in grey clouds, and cast a dull light over the cold floor of the woods. The crunch of his boots against the crisp fallen leaves and sticks were the only sounds that reached his ears.

He came upon the deer lying in amongst the trees. Blood spread slowly from beneath it and crept over the fallen leaves, staining them. This would provide food for his family for several meals, and his wife was the best cook. Thankful he would be home in time for his beloved’s delicious cooking, he circled around the deer slowly looking it over. He admired its size, and the span of its antlers. He was pleased with the eight-point, imagining how great the head would look mounted over his fireplace. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He planned to send a picture of the kill to his buddies.

You’re a beaut, he told the deer as he waited for the familiar insignia to show up on the screen of his phone.

The distinct crack of a branch broke the silence of the woods, and he spun on his heel. The breeze blew through the trees, causing the leaves to rustle. For a moment, he just thought he was hearing things. He turned back around to take the picture. He waited impatiently as the focus zoomed in and out repeatedly, refusing to show the deer clearly.

*

In another stand, Ron’s hunting partner, Dale, heard the sound of the shot ricocheting around the trees. An hour had passed since that time, and now Dale wondered why Ron wasn't at his tree, bragging about his amazing shot. Usually by now Ron would have needed his help, unless he was embarrassed to admit it got away from him.

Dale Frady waited a little longer, listening to the silence of the woods for any trace of approaching footsteps. Any hope he had of bagging a deer of his own had disappeared with the rifle thundering through the woods. Other game would have high-tailed it clean out of sight for a while.

As he looked around the branches of his tree-stand, the only thing he saw were squirrels. Securing his rifle by strapping it to his back, he prepared to descend the wooden steps. The little brown rodents were everywhere and they seemed to stare at him from the trees surrounding him, causing an uneasy feeling to settle in his stomach. As his boots hit the crisp leaves on the floor of the woods, he headed towards the direction of Ron’s stand, to see if he could be of some help. If he lost the trail he would have to admit it, and they would find the fallen deer together.

The only sounds in the woods were the rustling of the leaves beneath the little squirrels as they leapt from branch to branch and his footsteps. It seemed as though they were following him through the trees. Chuckling to himself, he shook off the notion and continued forward.

The two tree-stands were about six hundred feet from one another. They had been hunting in the same spots for as long as he could remember. It didn’t take him long to reach Ron’s stand, and see a faint trail of blood leading into the woods.

Following the trail of crimson through the fallen leaves, he moved slowly, careful not to lose it. A few feet into his tracking, he saw the deer lying with its tongue hanging from its mouth. It was quite a trophy. His admiration turned into terror when he saw his friend lying just beyond the deer. Once he got over the shock of all the blood, man and deer’s mixing together on the leaves, he moved forward to see what had happened to his friend.

Ron’s eyes were open to the sky, fear frozen on his face.

Although it was hard to tell with the massive amount of blood gathered on the camouflage T-shirt Ron wore, he had to be wounded on his torso. It spread down the sides of his jeans and puddled beneath him. The rifle that had struck the blow to the deer lay to his side with his open cell phone.