Apocalyptic Short Stories

A severe solar storm causes all technological systems to shut down in a sophisticated city that relies entirely on technology. What do you think will happen?

A severe solar storm causes all technological systems to shut down in a sophisticated city that relies entirely on technology. What do you think will happen?

Existence Augmented is a dystopian sci-fi novelette and psychological thriller. The world outside is cold, hostile, and virtually lifeless. Human existence depends on sophisticated, technological living compounds. The people who don’t have them, once driven to theft and murder, are believed to be long since dead. Alden, a genius of physical and computer engineering, spends his time tending his hydroponics garden, maintaining and improving the complex systems critical to survival, and, in turn, continually refining the pleasant life he’s created with his wife, Laurel. Everything is following Alden’s plans until the power begins to fail....

The quirky mind of famous science fiction writer Lester del Ray gives us three wonderful tales ranging from zombies ("Dead Ringer"), time travel - how do you convince your earlier self it is safe to get into the time machine, eh? ("And It Comes Out Here") and eternal life ("The Dwindling Years"). Listen and enjoy.

If someone observed us from afar, they could claim that our civilization was a civilization of walls. That was its main purpose. Such observers would likely not be able to explain why. I cannot either. Walls do not protect. They just trap and kill. Three short stories about a dystopic future, about people turning into machines, about walls and fences, about the way history works. Three short stories about now.

Life is but a dream, a construct, an illusion of our minds. Space monkey to earth, over. No response, it's all inside my head. The moment before the moment, when I decided to be someone else, someone better. It's all a lie...Natasha is my witness. My head hurts, where am I? I don't remember how I got here. Perhaps, this is just a dream or something else. Perhaps a nightmare? Wake up, wake up little man. Reality is about to smash you against the wall.

Major Davis fully intended to return home and raise his daughter. But when the Avars rebel on the desolate, post-apocalyptic planet, he’ll have no choice but to face his own mortality—sooner than he ever expected.

In Frankenstein, King of the Dead, Book 1, an expedition to the continent of Antarctica started a chain reaction of chaos. Mr. Franklin Victor Castle, formerly known only as Dr. Frankenstein's monster, launches into action, continuing a mission he began more than a century earlier. He never counted on her entering his life. Now, in the besieged city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Frank's best friend and truest love is trapped by the living dead. Frank heads off with only one goal...to save her.

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

Esmeralda, one of the human survivors of an apocalyptic war, now lives a precarious life as a servant to a family of zombies. She knows she’s better off than many other humans, who are imprisoned in breeding camps and slaughtered for food. Her masters treat her well, and their young daughter reminds Esme of her own little girl, killed during the war. But Esme can’t forget everything she’s lost—or the knowledge that her masters could turn on her at any moment. When rebels interrupt the zombies’ supply of human food, Esme’s position becomes even more dangerous. And this time, the price of survival may be more than she is prepared to pay.

Some said the world would end in the cold. Some said the world would end in a fire. Some said when there was no more room in hell the dead would rise up to devour the living. Nobody thought it would be because of the corn.

A quirky collection of flash fiction based in the realm of post-apocolyptic fiction with forward by Daniel Humphreys. From the Pollenocalypse to zombies, you're sure to feel right at home with the end of the world.

She's a hacker with a disabled son, living in a martial state. The future looks dark, with no promise of relief from the tyranny, and when her son's life is threatened, the mother must fight back using whatever means necessary.

The perfect addition to the number one New York Times best-selling Red Queen series, Broken Throne features three brand-new novellas, alongside two previously published novellas, Steel Scars and Queen Song. Fans will be delighted to catch up with beloved characters after the drama of War Storm and be excited to hear from brand-new voices as well. This stunning collection is not to be missed.

The zombie apocalypse has already caused human civilization to be nearly extinct. Johnny, the main character, 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. This fictional short story book contains scenes of violence, guns, blood, profanity, fictional variant viruses, and graphic scenes of zombies that may be objectionable to some.

The crazy lady—Kyra—wanders and wanders and wanders, and without ever really going anywhere. The town looks so different now—what's left of it, that is—and is in such violent disarray, it's difficult to tell where one end of the town began and the other ended. Burnt-out cars and houses, empty, lonely streets strewn with trash—or worse. Makeshift graves in the front yards of former owners. Yes...something really bad happened out here, and now she has to navigate it all—somehow. She's just trying to get home....

One year after the Shattering and the great collapse, survivors in Columbus, Ohio, are barely holding things together. Then, on December 24, when all seemed lost, a new hero appears, and he is determined to protect all the children of the Earth.

How can you sneak past a horde of the dead with a screaming baby? The day Charlie Macomber is born is the first day of the zombie apocalypse. When the hospital in Harrington, Indiana is overrun by reanimated corpses, Charlie's dad must carry his son through the walking dead to safety. But when zombies roam the earth, can anyplace be safe?

In a time when a pandemic is threatening the entire population, Risa and her family apply for coveted acceptance into a new Safe City - a place designed to keep the virus out and to preserve a select few of the population. But getting accepted into the city may not be worth it - especially when she is sedated for secure transport and wakes up, unable to find her family. Meeting a few new friends and an intriguing soldier named Camsen Luck may help, but none of them can convince her that self-preservation is more important than finding her family; or that trying to escape is suicide.

Phillip (the Ghost) and his friends are in Taos for a fun weekend when they meet a weird artist named Goffrey and decide to spend the weekend in the mountains. You never know where you'll be when it's the end of the world as we knew it.