Apocalyptic Short Stories

When Captain Jade Rhodes returns from a 50-year space mission, she expects a hero’s welcome. Instead, she finds a world she no longer recognizes—where history has been rewritten, space exploration outlawed, and humanity crushed under an iron-fisted regime. Branded a liar and traitor, Jade is thrust into the heart of a brutal rebellion led by Rax, a hardened freedom fighter with secrets of his own. Together, they must ignite hope in a society ruled by fear. But as the enemy closes in, Jade discovers that the resistance's survival depends on more than courage—it hinges on her lost ...

A fresh post-apocalyptic anthology: the end of the world seen through the salvage and ruins, featuring Emily St. John Mandel, Carmen Maria Machado, and more.

For fans of the oral history genre phenomenon World War Z, a worldwide plague of insomnia creates a devastating new apocalypse. Sleep Over is collection of waking nightmares, a scrapbook of the haunting and poignant stories from those trapped in a world where the pillars of society are crumbling, and madness is slowly descending on a planet without rest.

What would you sacrifice to keep a secret? Sage Indarra’s third year at the Institution is off to a rough start. She’s still horrified by what she had to do to protect herself at the end of last year, and she’s pretty sure one of her instructors hates her. Her former mentors are giving her the cold shoulder, leaving her unexpectedly isolated, and she’s not sure whether or not she can trust her newest friend. Despite these challenges, she’s determined to uncover the secrets Eprah doesn’t want her to know. But when Sage finds some unusual artifacts at the Archives, she makes a ...

In the world of the Stymph, humans have become prey. Survivors must hide every day and night, praying the Stymphs don't find them. If they do, there's no escape. Technology helps them to come back, to Reawaken after a Stymph feasts upon them... ...but what price does Reawakening exact? Follow Captain Yuen as he journeys to a place he never expected. Into the minds of fellow humans, once people he knew, now mentally damaged and trying to heal. But Captain Yuen will discover something on this journey...something that could rock all of humanity to its core. (This story takes place within the ...

Only a few nuclear weapons fell. But in the chaos of famine and plague, there existed a few pockets of order. The strongest of them was the state of Deseret. The climate has changed, and the lake has filled up. There, on the fringes, brave, hardworking pioneers are making the desert bloom again.

During the coldest winter on record, an EMP sends American back into the Stone Age. Jack and his family find sanctuary in their cabin in a small, remote town, hidden deep in the forest. Little does Jack know the Blizzard will be the least of his problems.

With more than 10 stories from exciting new voices and a few veterans of the universe, the second anthology highlights the lives and struggles of humanity's best and worst years after system advent.

Man's best friend will stand by his side, even in the apocalypse. But when one becomes separated from the other, what transpires over the course of the next 24 hours will test the limits of even the best-trained canine. Will Oaklee still be man's best friend...After Z?

Now the Congress of Animals is in control, unforgiving, and debating the fate of the planet’s most reviled species. The popular ruling: Exterminate humankind without exception. But a curious mare, coming of age, is making a case for a seemingly gentle person she longs to save - a wish for mercy that could once again unbalance the new and righteous nature of the world.

My name is Zoe Cartwright, and I see people’s memories. They haunt me. I know things I shouldn’t about my friends and family—their experiences with love and loss, hope and fear—things that must never be forgotten. Stories that must be written down. The world has already changed so much; who knows what the future will hold.

Leo Daly is looking forward to a family vacation and a break from his hectic hospital schedule. His dreams of kicking back, fishing, and hanging out with the wife and kids turn into a fight for survival when an electromagnetic pulse takes out the power grid leaving them stranded in the woods. Leo must use all of his skills to create a community of survivors from his family, the locals, and ill-equipped vacationers.

A scientist suffering from PTSD is faced with the terrible knowledge of the impending destruction of our species. In his desperate attempts to prevent humanity's fate, he commits violent acts and is branded a terrorist. How far would you go to save the planet from annihilation? Where do humans come from and how did we get here? Scientists have theorized about the human race's origins for many years. But no one was prepared for what was found in orbit, seven ancient alien probes that have been monitoring the planet for billions of years. The data and video images recorded inside them show ...

Orson Scott Card, Kevin J. Anderson, and Larry Niven have seen the future. Now you can, too. A constellation of the brightest lights in the science fiction and fantasy firmament have judged these authors to be the best, the brightest, the truest emerging stars in the field.

The scriptures explain the end of the world with prophecies and symbolism that can be mind-numbing and confusing. If you are searching for an unbiased, uncomplicated overview of the end times, this book is for you. When finished reading it, you will go away better prepared to talk about what you know and what you believe about the end times.

The first collection by writer Matthew Hughes, and the perfect companion to his acclaimed novel Black Brillion, The Gist Hunter and Other Stories features nine stories taking place in the universe of The Archonate, as well as four non-series stories. The stories of Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's "foremost freelance discriminator", combine mystery and science fantasy while simultaneously recalling the arch irony of Gene Wolfe and the sly fancies of Jack Vance.

The first three episodes of best-selling author Joe Nobody's highly regarded serial, Apocalypse Trails, begins the story of Commander Jack Cisco and his harrowing journey to reunite with his family.

When hell claws its way up from the dark depths of the Earth, and the dead begin to walk again, for several people the zombie apocalypse doesn't just mean the end of the world as they know it, it is also the beginning of a brave new life for them. For some it offers freedom, for others a deeper torment and unforgiving life than they ever thought possible. The coward, the street rat, the hero, and the lovers, everyone has their place. What really decides their fate in this new existence, nature, or nurture?

As anarchy and civil war took grip across the globe, Britain was quarantined. The press was nationalized, and martial law, curfews, and rationing were implemented. It wasn't enough. An evacuation was planned. The inland towns and cities of the United Kingdom were to be evacuated to defensive enclaves being built around the coast and the Scottish Highlands and in the Irish Republic. For George Tull and the other residents of the Waverly-Price Retirement Home, walking to the coast is not an option.

After the Rapture, one war machine still remembers the Word of God. Elior wasn’t made to believe. He was forged for war, discarded, and forgotten—until a woman named Eloise found him in a scrapyard and gave him a second purpose. She treated him not as a weapon, but as a friend. She read Scripture aloud to him, shared meals beside him, and called him by name. Now, in a world left broken by the Rapture, Elior awakens to find the faithful gone and truth silenced. Yet something in him—something Eloise planted—remains. As others surrender to fear or falsehood, Elior walks a ruined world ...