Hurst
By Robin Crumby
This was an ancient place, remote and desolate. Peaceful, yet witness to centuries of warmongering, standing ready to do its duty. A never-ending vigil set to the rhythmic rise and fall of the ocean. It was only a matter of time before all this would be swept away. The castle’s resolute defences were imperceptibly weakened by every breaking wave, sweeping in from the Channel, sent crashing against the groynes and stones. A pale sun rose silently and unnoticed over Hurst Castle. Shadows stretching over the rippled tidal waters that all but surrounded it bar a narrow finger of shingle linking the fortifications to the mainland.
Hurst’s seventy-four occupants were slumbering in their quarters. The more recent arrivals were camped out in the east wing. Tents pitched where grass and space allowed. In the dorm room in the main building, a shaft of sunlight pierced the makeshift curtains. Two grey blankets strung across the large stone window aperture prolonged the darkness. The shaft of light fell across the pillow of one of the iron-framed beds, bathing the unshaven face of a man in white light as he began to wake. Zed stretched and yawned, looking around at his companions.
Packed tightly together, a sleeping mass of washed-up humanity snored gently. There was a low snuffle of someone stirring in the corner, heavy breathing, and the universal stench of unwashed bodies and morning breath. From outside came the low sound of waves breaking gently over the rocks and shingle spit, seagulls soaring above the castle that spoke of a new morning, bringing new hope. For many, the sounds reminded them of former lives, holidays by the seaside, and long-forgotten memories.
Genre: Science Fiction
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Robin Crumby
Robin Crumby is the British author of ‘The Hurst Chronicles,’ a post-apocalyptic series set on the south coast of England in the aftermath of a deadly flu pandemic.
Biography.
Since reading John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids as a child, Robin became fascinated by end-of-the-world dystopian literature and was inspired to start writing by Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ and Emily St. John Mandel’s ‘Station Eleven’. Why? Because post-apocalyptic fiction fires the imagination like nothing else. Pondering what comes next, who would survive, what would life look like? Much of the best fiction in this popular genre focuses on brain-eating zombies or events unfolding in the USA, so Robin is determined to write a story set in the UK.
His Eureka moment came wandering the shingle beach at Milford-on-sea, inspired by the beauty and rich history of the Solent. Where better to survive the world’s end than a medieval castle surrounded by water? Robin spent much of his childhood in boats, exploring the Isle of Wight’s many waterways, harbours, and military forts, where ‘The Hurst Chronicles series is set.
Robin Crumby
