Apocalyptic Short Stories

Tensions between multiple nations continue to erupt, while the coronavirus variants continue to spread throughout the world. A vaccine initially meant to cure infected patients from the variants causes them to have a chemical reaction with the radiation of the nuclear blast. Bus riders find themselves between life and death as an outbreak occurs on the bus during a nuclear attack.

When the æristocracy decides to withdraw their blimps from the Venusian economy and head back to an abandoned Earth, the surf-turned-æristocrat Sir Thomas begins tearing down their entire economy in order to save millions of lives. A dystopian sci-fi about class warfare, The Blimps of Venus shows us the true motives behind eugenics and other evils.

A collection of short stories featuring characters from the world of The Broken Gods trilogy by fantasy author Aaron S. Jones. Blood feuds in the Borderlands. Murder mysteries in the United Cities. A heist gone wrong in the East. Meet some of the weird and wonderful characters of the world of Takaara and they fight, love, and survive in A Long Way from Home.

The story of The Scarlet Plague takes place in 2073 in the San Francisco area, 60 years after an apocalyptic pandemic called the Red Death or Scarlet Plague has depopulated the Earth. James Smith, one of the survivors, lives with his grandsons who are hunter-gatherers in a tribal world. He relates the horror of the plague to them, and tells them of the time when he was a professor of English, and of the start of the pandemic. His grandsons, who are of limited cognitive ability, refuse to believe him; they cannot believe that the disease was spread by germs.

Fighting in the streets, corruption at the highest levels, collapsing infrastructure, brutal police, a daily threat of nuclear war: few of us thought we’d find ourselves here, so far into the 21st century. What’s next? Are we really going to be “great again,” however that’s meant? And if we are, what does that mean for those of us on the receiving end of the less-than-great? In this diverse and vigorous mix of stories by newcomers and luminaries, writers offer their takes on what life might hold for us in the next few years.

The ZARG Chronicles is a collection of zombie short stories collected by the Zombie Apocalypse Resistance Group ("ZARG"), led by a man named Devin Gorski, also known as General Serpo. The ten stories here will shock, scare, excite, and most importantly entertain you. If you are any kind of zombie fan at all, you will absolutely love this book.

Steven E. Wedel offers four short stories that run the gamut from pure horror to shocking hilarity. First, in "The Zombie Whisperer", a young lady living in a secure compound with a few fellow survivors of the zombie apocalypse invites in a man who says he can communicate with the walking dead.

A military VR trainer, wanting to keep her relationship with a fellow scientist hidden, must pass a security inspection in her lab by the vicious Atlas Crusade that has swept to power. When the leader of the security team demands an unusual VR request in her lab, Prof. Meliss must decide between keeping her lover safe or secretly undertaking a consciousness swap that could end the Crusade’s five-year long relentless rule.

Waiting for Martin is set in a nebulous future-never in which catastrophic environmental change has returned ancient beings to Earth, as well as raining down a disastrous helping of new ones. A family of children try to make their way home to their older brother, who is their guardian, when a bit of environmental fallout gets in their way.

Monkeypox zombies infect the world with their deadly capability to eat brains and turn other humans into zombies. Johnny, the main character, must survive as he tries to get out of his high-rise office building filled with zombies. Later, Johnny is in a homeless hideout under the bridge and deals with the homeless political groups while barely surviving. Finally, he takes shelter with his ex-wife, Jennifer, her house stashed with guns and supplies. Herds of zombies break through into their home and they blast their way out by using grenades and guns.

In a story set in the distant future, Planet Earth is visited by strangers from Planet Xanadu, claiming to have been sent by our own future selves to warn present-day Earth of the dangers that lie ahead. After the initial shock and disbelief, followed by much debate, the world’s leaders agree to put their faith in these Future People, with the hope that they can help to avoid impending disaster and save Planet Earth and its inhabitants.

Generations after a bloody nuclear civil war, the United States is not as we know it. The inhabitants of the Northern states live as normal, but the South, after being decimated during the Second Civil War, are a changed people. Nuclear fallout has stolen any vestige of humanity. When the aircraft carrying the President of the Northern United States takes an erroneous detour, it is shot down somewhere over the south.

A future America has become a horrific place, all in the name of creating the perfect society. Mass graves and interviewing for your life have become the norm, and one man is coming to grips with the implications of his silence in the face of evil.

In this short story, which takes place directly before The Change: Life, you will meet Jacob and Mia and get a tiny glimpse into how their very lives are tied in to the fate of the world - to the Changed themselves - and to the enigmatic creature that appears out of nowhere to destroy all that it sees, both humans and Changed alike.

Only Alpha can fix this. Alpha and Kyle have toiled all day to carefully construct the perfect dinner date for Tina, whose crippling depression has bedridden her for months. Why is Tina so miserable, and why does she place so much blame on Alpha, whose dominance of humanity has solved all of the world's problems? Throughout the course of the evening, logic clashes against depression. Rationalizations against uncompromising morality. Love against revenge.

In desperation, mankind constructs a rescue spaceship to escape a doomed planet. But will it save them? Or will they discover a secret that unravels everything they've ever believed to be true? A science fiction short story that will challenge you and have you thinking for days after you listen to it. Originally part of the anthology A Plague of Dreams, and it exists in a forest I call "Dreamwood Tales".

The city is bombed and the survivors escape on a military plane that lands on an aircraft carrier offshore. The ship runs out of food and supplies and they must dock at shore. A team of Navy seals is sent to search for food but they are killed by the largest horde of zombies ever encountered. Rochelle, Zac, Will, and James volunteer to leave the ship to search for food and supplies but escape the zombie onslaught and make it to a safe community for refuge. Except the leader of the refuge will not let them leave.

No declaration of war or acts of aggression have been made against our nation. Our military is on the highest alert. We will do everything in our power to protect our people.... What I say next is of the most importance. We must remain calm. I cannot express this enough. This is integral to our future and way of life. As we get more information, we will be in contact with broadcasts like this one. Let me assure you, your nation and this government has made prior arrangements for this awful circumstance we find ourselves in. All will be taken care of.

Don't believe everything the characters tell you. Recommended for fans of John Crowley, Paul Park, and Michael Swanwick.

Notions of the undead have fascinated and terrified humanity for centuries, and none more so than those tales revolving around zombies. From the very root of the zombie myth back in the Haitian slave days to a saturation through popular culture, zombies have crawled their way up out of their graves, refusing to stay interred. Now, as their hordes increase and their hungers grow, the undead plagues cannot be stopped. It isn't just a case of no room left on Earth. The apocalypse is here.