Here is another Chasing Bedlam teaser since people seem to be enjoying those. I wanted to do one for Legends of Windemere: The Spirit Well, but I really couldn’t find anything that didn’t have spoilers. Enjoy the carnage!
Cujo
“This is the worst day of my life!” Lloyd screams as they race down the abandoned streets of Mobile. Wearing a medical mask, he has trouble breathing and nearly trips over a heavily chewed femur. “What exactly did we drive into? It’s like a horror author’s wet dream. Pretty sure I know which one too.”
“Shut up and focus on running,” Cassidy gasps, wiping sweat from her brow. The summer heat makes her muscles ache, but she knows stopping will get her killed. “This is why I told you to keep driving and not stop to give that puppy a sno-cone. Didn’t you see that it was acting funny?”
“That explains the title,” he replies, glancing over his shoulder. Not seeing any of their pursuers, he is about to relax until his friend smacks him in the arm. “I know, I know. Have to keep running and find a place to hide. Why don’t we dive into the nearest building before they show up?”
“Because they can still follow our scent and I’ve yet to see a place without a broken window,” the mercenary says, skidding to a stop. At the sight of a stray dog in the distance, she leads the way down an alley and climbs up a fire escape. “Inside might be bad, but the roof could give us a breather. Not to mention a better look at the place. Always thought Mobile was one of the few cities to avoid destruction.”
At the sound of a hissing cat, Lloyd moves quicker and nearly shoves his partner onto the rooftop. “Considering the guard towers and wall, I’m surprised this place went down. What do you think happened?”
Walking to the edge of the building, Cassidy waves for him to join her. Billowing smoke from fires can be seen in every direction and the only sounds are those of animals that remain out of sight. There are no birds in the sky even though there are feathers and droppings on the concrete eaves. Several buildings have been crashed into by vehicles, the facades threatening to crumble even more. The cars and trucks that remained on the road have been abandoned, some with their doors left open and drag marks leading to the alleys. When the wind shifts, the travelers catch the scent of rotting garbage and rancid meat that have been made infinitely worse by heat exposure.
A howl drifts from the south before a pack of stray dogs wander into an intersection, their sounds met by the territorial snarls of cats. Using her binoculars, Cassidy gets her first good look at the animals that have been chasing them for the last two hours. A few of them are missing patches of fur from recent fights, but they move like any normal canine. The only difference is that they appear to be highly aggressive and on the verge of rampaging like they did when the ice cream truck’s music went off. Catching sight of a sleeping cat on a dumpster, she finds it hard to believe that these beasts forced them to abandon their vehicle and run for their lives.
“I remember running into this problem in Maine with my mom,” Cassidy explains, lowering her binoculars. She walks around the rooftop to check for any animals that may be approaching from another side. “They’re called carrier beasts or, to be more colorful, the pets of Typhoid Mary. Nobody is sure where they come from, but they are very aggressive toward humans. Even if you get away alive, a single bite can infect you with a disease that rarely has a cure. The virus or bacteria or whatever tends to differ by location too. Some may have a new type of flu while others are carrying an enhanced version of Ebola. As you can see, cities can get wiped out by a pack if they don’t react fast enough.”
“I vote government conspiracy. Not sure which government though,” Lloyd says while keeping an eye on the pack. More cats are appearing on the street, the felines surrounding the dogs while staying out of reach. “Be nice if they fight and give us a chance to escape. Are they typically dogs and cats?”
“From the stories I’ve heard, urban areas get them as pet species and the more rural regions have wild animals like wolves and deer,” the mercenary answers, waving for Lloyd to join her at the far end of the roof. She points at the other building, which is only a narrow alley away. “If we had a river to wade through then we could lose them that way. Since we don’t, I suggest jumping across and climbing down the other fire escape. We go to the opposite street and take a car that still has gas. There can’t be more than what we’ve already seen, so crossing the bridge over there should take us away from the worst.”
“As long as the dogs and cats don’t work together.”
“Please tell me you’re referencing a movie.”
“Never saw that one, so no.”
“Jump and don’t look back.”
Legends of Windemere 
I like plague dogs. We reference that in the workplace for disgruntled employees. I think it sounds awesome as a story idea.
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Curious how it comes up for disgruntled employees. The Carrier Beasts are a ‘fun’ danger in the Shattered States. I haven’t used nearly enough.
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It’s a great idea. I’ve been dwelling on using swarms and plague in a story for a while now. Death gets all the good press, but the other horsemen have merit too. I admit I was more geared to rodents, but this is pretty cool. I’ll assume you pushed the Windemere stuff back for now?
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Until next week. I’m going to do it no matter the situation. I might just the one with you until the book is coming out because that’s the big one. Still feel like crap about things not working out right. As far as Carrier Beasts go, there are rodents out there too. Anything can be a Carrier Beast if it’s infected . . . including some of the escaped zoo animals.
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You can delay as long as you need to. No sense using them when there isn’t a purchase link of some kind. I suppose a Carrier Lion would at least offer an option of going quickly. A carrier anteater might take a bit longer.
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My only concern is that some people might need it for Christmas promotions, which is what worries me. I’ve learned my lesson on this one. A Carrier Lion would be pretty nasty. My fear is still reserved for a Carrier Hummingbird.
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I don’t have any promo going on right now, so you get a pass with me. You might have to avoid Hawaiian shirts so the hummingbirds stay away.
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Still have no idea what happened to Shattered States Hawaii. Doesn’t seem like it would come up though.
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Might make a fun supporting story with different characters. Say around 5000 words just for fun.
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Maybe. Wouldn’t have any of the mainland characters. That or a mysterious stranger claiming to be from there.
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PH Soloman released two short stories to support his series. It seems to have worked for him. It’s all somewhat guesswork though. I would like to think revisiting novel characters in my short stories drove a few sales, but there isn’t really a way of knowing.
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True. Reviews would be the only way to tell. Even then the chances are slim.
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“I remember running into this problem in Maine with my mom,” Cassidy explains.–This line made me laugh out loud for some reason. What a life Cassidy has led.
I love the idea of dogs carrying a disease.
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I didn’t realize it at the time, but that could be a ‘Cujo’ reference. Stephen King does use Maine a lot. Think my subconscious did it. Cassidy has had an interesting life and it’s only going to get wilder.
It’s more than just dogs too. 🙂
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Yay! This is great!
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Super excerpt, Charles. I got the Maine reference (King) but not dogs and cats working together. I really enjoyed this one and the carrier beast concept is terrifying.
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Think there was a Cats vs Dogs movie, but it wasn’t really referenced.
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Ah got it.
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Hard to say though. Might have also been Peter Venkman’s line ‘dogs and cats living together!’
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Okay.:-)
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Whatever Cassidy does to the blue-haired one isn’t enough.
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Took me a second to realize who you’re talking about. It will be an entertaining meeting. 😁
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Turns out that, commenting without dropping any spoilers is as hard as posting about a book 😀
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Imagine trying to do promo work for the 12th book of a series. Not fun. Though the blue-haired one will kind of be mentioned in the blurb.
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Lol- I can imagine 😀
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