Horror
Feral
I lost track of how long it's been since the world ended. I just wander from ruin to ruin looking for food and anything else I can use. I was lucky enough to find a Zippo lighter, shotgun, and Army MREs in some former militant's home. I also stumbled across some weird silver locket shaped like a heart that was in one of the bedrooms. The locket shined brightly enough that it also blinded me. I realized that something like that could expose me in the hellscape I'm stuck in. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to hang on to it regardless.
By Adam Wallace3 years ago in Fiction
My Mother's Locket
“Liz,” Michael hisses from behind me. I ignore him, hoping he’ll get the hint. “LIZ!” “Shhh!” I say, whipping around to glare at Michael. He’s pale, face blending with his white-blonde hair. We’ve all grown cold and clammy-looking from living inside the mountain, our skin losing the shine it must have had when we were out in the sun, enjoying the breeze and playing in the green grass.
By Rebecca/R.K. Fisher3 years ago in Fiction
The Only Choice
Josh Lam sits in the waiting room and tries, painfully, to catch his breath. His knee bounces. He scrolls through his feed, blind to the headlines and posts. A number in the corner of the phone pulses: Four. Four. Four. When he’d arrived this morning, the nurse at reception had smiled tightly and swiped the number over to his cell. It had been one hundred forty-seven then.
By Griffen Bernhard3 years ago in Fiction
Hot Light
Ashes fell from the blackened sky. Sulfur scarred the lining of his nostrils as he struggled to breathe the inhospitable air. Falling to his knees his gaze fell upon a locket, he reached out. Fingers writhing in pain. As he neared the locket, he noticed its heart shape glowing a faint red, almost beating. Reaching closer toward the locket he watched as his flesh peeled from his bones evaporating into ashes as his muscles touched the locket he was enveloped in a bright, hot whiteness.
By Casey White3 years ago in Fiction
Scavengers
I wake before the sun. It's the best time to scavenge. The beasts sleep at this time. They come out at night but they hide in the hills before the dawn. I sneak a quick glance out the window. It's dark and still. I throw my hair up and nudge Antoine sleeping beside me. "Leah." With one word, he sits up and rubs his eyes. He told me once that he liked to sleep late in his past life, before the change. Now we wake at the slightest noise, we are always on alert. We have to be.
By Alexandra Mullen Palacio3 years ago in Fiction
Game Over
It is quiet. Unusually quiet tonight. No dogs barking. No guns clapping in which would signify someone's death in the news in the morning. No fire trucks, and no police cars whirring in the night. It is peaceful outside, "Which makes it peaceful inside", thought Marcus as he played his video game Infection. It is a game that allows you to infect the world with different diseases. You could set up the symptoms, how fast it spreads, and more. Marcus loved this game. He played it off and on when he was upset with the world about something. Tonight, Marcus was disturbed by something. Marcus wanted to go on a field trip to the colleges. It was arranged by his Math teacher Mr. Davis who believed Marcus was a genius at this subject. He told Marcus it would not cost them a thing. Mr. Davis was willing to pay all of his expenses. That is how much he believed in Marcus and his mathematical skills. All the other students knew Marcus was more advanced than them. They accepted how advanced he was and encouraged him to go on the trip. The entire school supported him.
By C~Marie Rhodes3 years ago in Fiction
The Ninth Circle
When evil took over earth, we didn’t anticipate a landscape of frozen tundra, ice, and life lost in time. I personally expected — and now find myself longing for — blazing heat and dust. We weren’t worthy of that, though. Media outlets and prominent political figures tried to blame it on environmental disasters and human irresponsibility for the Great Freeze. They pointed to scientists to back up the claims who — when put on the spot — denied any of it having to do with humans.
By Kaitlin Oster3 years ago in Fiction