Bonded in Blood by Adam Hulse
from Betrayal: a PUNK NOIR Magazine series
Duane lay on the dirt with a double barrel shotgun pointed at his chest while his revolver lay just out of reach. He rubbed his swollen cheek.
“It didn’t need to come to this, Emmett.”
“Is that so?” the man with the shotgun grinned.
“What we were offering was more than fair for your mediocre land.”
“If it’s mediocre, why does your boss want it?”
“You know damn well why!”
Emmett wiped sweat from his brow with the back of a dirty sleeve. Finally, he was in control. After all the demands and threats from Duane and his like. Not to mention the incessant nagging from his wife, Mary, he had all the power
“You all seem to forget one thing,” Emmett lectured as the wind rushed the plains. “This land was passed down to me by my father. Hell, it’s bonded in blood.”
“So you won’t sign?”
“Nope.”
To Emmett’s surprise, Duane sat up slowly and reached for his gun. Further astonishment was administered by the empty click from his shotgun. His wide eyes took a picture of Duane’s steady gun hand.
“Your wife sure did want that money,” Duane smiled and blew the farmer away.
This story appears as part of Betrayal, a PUNK NOIR Magazine series, originally published May 2024.
Bio
Adam Hulse’s debut the Tales of Tupuqa three novella horror series was published by Raven Tale Publishing in 2021. His poem The Summit made Punk Noir Magazines “21 Essential Punk Noir Stories and Poems” list for the same year. Adam’s flash fiction and short stories feature in highly successful anthologies 206 Word Stories Horror, Something Bad Happened, A 3-B Halloween, Sinister Stories By The Ten, and The Nightmare Never Ends. May 2023 saw the release of his Dystopian horror novella, Below Economic Thresholds (3-B Publishing) while his debut horror/sci-fi collection Not A Good Fit At This Time (Infested Publishing) was also released in 2023.
The Growth Ultimate Edition was released through Infested Publishing in 2024. Adam’s Bonded in Blood micro fiction was published by Punk Noir Press in May 2024. January 2025 saw the release of his sci-fi novel, The Forgotten War (Infested Publishing).
Adam lives in a small town in decline (St Helens) in the North-West of England where he is learning everyday thanks to his two strong daughters. He is currently hoping to uplift working-class voices by running Infested Publishing with his partner.
Twitter – @HulseAdam
Instagram – ratty_writer
TikTok – @infestedpublishing
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