Special excerpt from The Dead Survie by Lori Whitwam

We’re wrapping up the week with a special excerpt from the zombie / post-apocalyptic novel Fallback: The Dead Survive, Book 2 by Lori Whitwam.

During her virtual book tour, Lori will be awarding (1) one prize pack consisting of a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card, plus a signed print copy of Fallback, as well as bookmarks and magnets (international) to one randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

A little bit about the author:

Lori spent her early years reading books in a tree in northern West Virginia. The 1980s and 90s found her and her husband moving around the Midwest, mainly because it was easier to move than clean the apartment. After seventeen frigid years in Minnesota, she fled to coastal North Carolina in 2013. She will never leave, and if you try to make her, she will hurt you.

She has worked in public libraries, written advertising copy for wastewater treatment equipment, and managed a holistic veterinary clinic. Her current day job, conducted from her World Headquarters and Petting Zoo (her couch) is as Managing Editor for Limitless Publishing, as well as editing for a select list of indie author.

Her dogs are a big part of her life, and she has served or held offices in Golden Retriever and Great Pyrenees rescues, a humane society, a county kennel club, and her own chapter of Therapy Dogs International.

She has been a columnist and feature writer for auto racing and pet publications, and won the Dog Writers Association of America’s Maxwell Award for a series of humor essays.

Parents of a grown son, Lori and her husband were high school sweethearts, and he manages to love her in spite of herself. Some of his duties include making sure she always has fresh coffee and safe tires, trying to teach her to use coupons, and convincing the state police to spring her from house arrest in her hotel room in time for a very important concert. That last one only happened once—so far—but she still really, really appreciates it.

A little bit about Fallback:

After being rescued from a brutal band of marauders, Ellen Hale rebuilt her life in the fortified neighborhood that became her home. A heartbreaking decision and devastating loss pushed her to become a fierce fighter, because weakness only got you and those you loved killed.

Now her community is facing a deadly threat, and Ellen has another choice to make.

Ellen volunteers as a member of fallback team three, tasked with establishing a temporary refuge for their citizens in the event their community is overrun by the enemy. As the danger intensifies, she and her adopted sister, Melissa, set off with the rest of their team on the road trip from hell.

Their mission is cloaked in secrecy, but suspicions of a traitor arise.

Something is affecting the zombies’ migration patterns, and when blacksmith Tyler Garrett is discovered trapped in a farmhouse, the team refuses to trust him. But Ellen believes his story, and it’s not just because of his rugged, blond good looks and soft-spoken manner—his skills can greatly benefit their team.

As the team struggles to reach the fallback, previously secure locations are overrun, and their chances of success seem remote. With the likelihood of a traitor nearly certain, and the lives of everyone she loves at risk, Ellen must figure out who to trust before the traitor—or the zombies—destroy them all.

Is there a spy among the fallback team,or is there another threat lurking in the Kentucky hills?

An excerpt from Fallback:

Chapter Three

“You couldn’t have stopped him,” I said gently. I was familiar with Mason’s sadistic nature and penchant for blood. I’d been his damned bloody canvas too many times.

“I know that now,” Melissa replied, “but I didn’t then. I started struggling, and the guy hit me. Mom started screaming again and fought like crazy. She caught Mason a good one in the face, and he lost it. He hit her, and she fell. Then…” She swallowed and looked back and forth between Rebecca and me, not speaking until we raised our eyes to hers. “Then he cut her. He took that butterfly knife of his, and he cut her throat.”

Rebecca uttered a soft fuck and stood, moving stiffly to the kitchen window.

I couldn’t help it. I was crying, tears silently burning down my cheeks, even if Melissa’s eyes were dry. I flashed back to Mason shooting Matt in the warehouse, and his body sliding to the floor. It was…too much.

“So that’s it,” Melissa said. “We stayed where it was familiar, like as long as we were quiet and patient nothing bad would find us. You can’t get hung up on familiar. You have to think about changing, even if you don’t want to, before you decide what to do. Falling back on familiar just because it feels safe is a sure way to get killed.”

We both stood up then, and I pulled her to me in a tight hug. And finally, she cried. Rebecca stood stiffly a short distance away, looking very much like she needed to kill something. Or several somethings.

Once the tears subsided and faces were mopped, I said, “I get it now, honey. I see why you’re willing to go, and I know how hard it was for you to make that decision.”

Rebecca grabbed her sword sheath and strapped it over her back. She gave Melissa a hearty slap on the shoulder—again, comforting wasn’t really in her skill set—and said, “Well, chicks, it’s about that time. Let’s go find out if we’re hittin’ the road.”

Fifteen minutes later we had our answer. We were leaving the Compound. We were all officially part of fallback team three.

Time for a post-apocalyptic road trip.

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