. . . The final words of Chief Scout Morr were “You’re my last apprentice. I’m done.” And then he was crushed by a boulder. The rolling stone ripped through grass and scattered birds, then crashed into a tree downhill and split. His apprentice turned his eyes to his master, to a pair of eyes …
. .This story was first told on a school trip, in a desperate attempt to keep a restless class from overwhelming their teachers and parents. Each child (real names not included) explained their worst fears, and in accordance to the rules of narrative causality, had an entire chapter dedicated to facing them. Except Davie. Davie’s …
. . Anton sprung to his feet. “Then you’re behind everything!” Chuck laughed. “Yup. I planted one of those little seeds on every single one of you and my trackers followed all of you home.” “But we have nothing to do with anything!” Daniella screamed. “And you’d have been perfectly safe if you just ignored …
. . “Well, I hope you’re feeling better after getting that off your chest,” the Caretaker said, “and good call running away from a stranger, especially when you’re on your own like that. Now, before I call your parents to come in and take you all home, perhaps Chuck might entertain us with one final …
. . “I haven’t used the toilet at home since,” Nina said. “I wait until I’m at school now.” Chris pointed to his finger. “Was the ring black? And you said… what was that word?” Nina nodded. “Iridescent? It reflects different colors when you turn it, like holographic paper.” “The ring my dog was given …
. . Ian squeezed the last of the gray water from the mop and leaned it against the wall. “My parents didn’t want me going to school for a few days after that,” he said, “but I had to see. I checked that grave on the weekend with Trystyn — the one I saw the …
. . “Interesting tale, Freya,” the Caretaker said, “but like I told young Helen here, I’ve got a feeling your troubles are over tonight. It’s Halloween after all, and you know what that means.” Freya said nothing, and the nod she gave was noncommittal. Half the hall floor was clean now. Only the other half …
. . “So,” Chuck said. “You’re really a wimp after all. Shouldn’t have told me you wouldn’t hurt me, wimp.” “I said I don’t want to hurt you,” Trystyn said, “but try anything and I’ll keep my promise. You’ll spend the rest of your life drinking dinner through a straw.” The Caretaker pulled them apart. …
. . “Something tells me your sleeping problems will be over tonight,” the Caretaker said. Helen hung her head. “I don’t think so.” “Oh, I do. First, anybody putting in this much hard work is going to have a tough time staying awake. Second, it’s Halloween. This is the night all lost souls and wayward …
. . “Well, that explains how you got all those new clothes then, don’t it, poor boy?” Chuck said. The Caretaker snapped his eyes at him. “Don’t start, kid.” Chuck scoffed but said nothing more. The Caretaker pointed at the bags. “Alright, everyone, line up between here and the bins, and we’ll relay these bags …
. . The Caretaker tied a trash sack shut and tossed it onto a growing pile of sealed rubbish. “Did you ever find out what it meant?” he said. Daniella shook her head. Behind her, Chuck chuckled at something McQueen whispered, and the Caretaker sighed. “Care to tell us what’s so funny, McQueen?” “Nothing, sir. …
. . “That dog’s been following me,” Chris said. “Wherever I go, I see him. He’s probably watching now.” “So where is he then?” Chuck said, shading his eyes with one hand and making a show of scanning the room. “Here, boy. Come on.” He whistled and patted his lap. “Try looking out the window.” …
. . “And that’s what happened,” Wyllow said. “Yeah, right,” a voice from the other end of the hall said. Probably Chuck. A boy from the year above shot Chuck a scowl. “She’s telling the truth,” he said, then turned to Wyllow. “My dad read about that in the paper. We’ve been keeping an eye …
. . “That’s a load of crap,” Chuck said. “You have to be nuts to think we’d buy that.” Livia shook her head. “It really happened. I swear to you.” “You fell in the canal and banged your head. You can’t trust what you remember.” Livia shrugged. “That could also be true.” A sharp whistle …
. . The Halloween Ball had been, as it had been every year, a resounding success. The students were worn out by six-thirty and the staff got to relish the only night of the year children had nightmares about them for a change. The Manic Maze, a set of narrow cardboard tunnels and budget-costumed teachers …
A new web serial, set around a dark fantasy bubble universe of primal, carnal, biosphere islands. But before we delve into those waters, a short story for those Halloween nights of trick or treat, and the horror of missing out when you’ve been placed in DETENTION
. . The serene landscape, flawlessly white and still, stretched endlessly in all directions. For the first time since its birth, the earth was a perfect sphere. No mountains broke the surface, no oceans collected its waters. Life had left the world. The humans had escaped to space, taking animals and plants and their technologies …
. It’s been a long journey, following the lives of Earth’s last people, surviving the End of Days in a world turned literally upside-down. Upturned is a rewrite of a story originally titled Topsy-turvy. Intended to be written for NaNoWriMo 2011, it was abandoned and left unfinished for almost ten years. This online draft was …
The world was a white void, blanketed in snow and mist and silence. Nothing remained of the city, not one spire or skyscraper or fairground ride broke the plain landscape. Only the cracked and flattened peaks of mountains spoiled its uniformity, although one in particular had weathered the storm better than others. From beneath its …
. Reece and I strapped ourselves into the Chinook and waited for the green light. A stream of updates over the coms kept him informed of their progress, which he translated from code to Chloe after each squawk. “Alrighty, as soon as we get the okay, this entire section of the hanger is gonna drop …
As the backdrop of infinite sky churned beyond the edge of the world, and a background of cracked earth erupted into lines of molten mud and lava, the players of Earth’s final story gaped down at the hole gaping up at them from the center of their cliff face stage. “Well I’m out of ideas,” …
Catch you on the flipside. My reports had never caused a stir before, certainly not enough to end an online argument by stint of crashing the server. In my heyday, two, maybe three viewers would message per week to garnish my stories with their expert opinions, but then this was the first time I’d ever …
With the bridge no longer threatening imminent collapse, Wendy and George finished hugging it out before they secured it to the side of the building with stray cables. Once satisfied it wouldn’t slip down to crush its builders, they slid inside, an easier task now the world was off kilter. At the absurd angle the …
While we sat around a cluster of viewing screens to keep tabs on Earth, the people on its surface managed to lose even more of their number. We had eyes on the largest group, a dozen or so lucky bastards from my old hometown, but quickly found a few hundred smaller gatherings and families dotted …
It was a dark and stormy night; the frost churned in torrents – except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it was in Shipyard City that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flames of what remained …
It took just as long to recompress as it did to decompress, a whole day spent pacing around the room. And by pacing the room, I mean kicking off the walls around my cylindrical little cubby hole, all while giving James hell over the intercom for locking me in while survivors roamed free. In my …
Holden sent Rhea and George away, firstly to find out if the subway tunnels could provide a shortcut through the park, and secondly, the real firstly: to get them out of the sight and minds of what was rapidly devolving into a crazed mob. Their departure was recorded by the drone, whose reappearance without offering …
The human mind has great capacity for self-deception, capable of tripling twenty hours and reducing an already cramped space to the width of a sardine can. After working a solid week to catch up on all my blog work, and chatting to Reece and Nina online, I was depressed to discover my half a dozen …
For all the dry heat venting through the cracks in the ground above, Alfredo and Bobert stood cool as could be while Holden and George poked and prodded their first solo build. The grins on their faces spread ear to ear, unabashed as they unspokenly showcased a block-spanning platform that incontestably put their teachers’ attempt …
My head still rang from James’ plea to share responsibilities, and Charlene’s surprisingly nihilistic lecture, when Reece beeped up on my screen. Logging everything first for later editing, I tapped his recording and got the closest message to a booty call I’d had in months. “Girl, when you’re done doing whatever it is you’re doing, …
George Travers started a new day holding a dead woman’s head. From their pallets between piles of splintered furniture, the heads of the living rose to search out the newest fuss interrupting their shuteye. In the time it took to nab forty winks and ten, the number of survivors had decreased by one, and their …
After James left, I stayed in the boardroom on my own, in the dark, running everything he’d told me in circles until my head hurt. How dare he put that kind of pressure on me. On us. If the world, or the ArkRing around it, knew what he expected from us, trust in his leadership …
The crowd gathered around the window in shared shock and a silence broken only by gasps when someone remembered to breathe. The remaining half of the bridge swung on frayed cables, it’s poles wrought out of shape and still burning in chemical fire. Despite the smoke stinging his eyes, George refused to face the eyes …
Caught up musing on my not too distant history, it took whoever was phoning me a third ring to break through the thoughts I’d been sifting through in my haze. When the call finally registered, though, I managed to hit pause on those mental reruns to give a voice other than my own mind’s the …
While Jamie ferried tools and poles, and basked in the physical strength bestowed by the lower g-forces, hoisting weight that stumped the average man in normal climes, Cynthia claimed the role of guard to the remainder of everyone’s food. Taking her cue from both Jamie and the dregs of the Crayson gang, she packed the …
My photo of the doc holding a weeping man, no less than James Kinsley himself, went viral. In my attempts to expose his underlying agenda, I’d humanized humankind’s enigmatic benefactor and turned him into a saint. Yet when I tried to speak to him again, he ran away, screened my calls and refused to be …
George felt a new emotion, a particular feeling he had no name for. It made itself known when the mob of expectant eyes turned to hear his news, and the only news he had was bad. Maybe it had a name, probably one that wouldn’t do it justice. Like feeling smothered, the word that defined …
After the tour of the space farm, James took me to meet some of his heroes. This time it was in a separate building, so we took the TurboLift down to my office level, only this time we turned towards the COCK & PUSSY, or as James showed me on the map, now called the …
Rhea tore from George’s arms and skidded to the edge of the floor, gripping it hard before the momentum carried her out the window. She leaned out to call “Daddy?” through the wrecked bridge. It dangled by a few frayed lines and scaffold caught on rebar. George and Holden joined her, one calling for the …
After showing me the giant space eye, and telling me not to name it the All-seeing Eye in the Sky, James led me away to show off another one of his toys, I tried to picture what a survivor on Earth would see. Would the shell of ice freeze the surface of the world, obscure …
The pistols were old, practically antiques, yet clean and oiled and well maintained. Holden didn’t doubt the damage the bullets would make of his heart, which was exactly where both the muzzles were pointed. Nobody moved, nobody breathed, and when they did the intake was slow and on the quiet. Then Lenny cocked back the …
Reece read his file from beginning to end. When he was done, he pushed the monitor away in disgust and rocked himself on my desk with his fingers hooked under the edge to counter the missing gravity. He then shook his head and mumbled under his breath on repeat while yours truly sifted through decades …
Holden and Cheppard balanced themselves on the narrow span of wood, silhouetted against the clouds swirling miles underfoot while Holden rose to his. They held onto their handholds until the burst of wind died and the pressure equalized through the space the roof had left. Through the hole in the wall, next door’s attic reflected …
Reece came to see me when his first shift was done. He’d been given a tour and a rundown of his duties, none of which he’d be needed for until later phases. When he floated into my chamber, he gave an impressed whistled at the setup. “Y’know, I got a cubicle in the stacked levels. …
George and Rhea left her room, treading carefully through the shattered memories of her rekt home. She took little. Her father’s photo album. Her hard drive. Warm clothes, “just in case,” and whatever could be salvaged from the fridge. George excavated the fichus from under the hallway carpet and left it by her window in …
Worried about what to do, now it’s the end of the world? Struggling to accept the tragedy that’s befallen Mother Earth? Convinced life has no meaning? Well, it’s time to make one! Introducing KESPPR, the Kinsley Foundation Eight Step Plan for Planetary Reformation! From the creators of FreeNet, Streamlined Streaming, and the ever popular Goldfish …
Cheppard beamed at his impromptu congregation. His teeth and eyes glowed an unnatural white. There was nothing sinister in his gaze, nor wrath behind his eyes. They washed over everyone without judgement or his trademark righteous fury, and settled on Rhea with a conviction she felt in her bones. His eyes were earnest. They sparkled …
I watched a ballet of buildings interlace with one another, skyscrapers floating above the sky, slotting together like a Lego sculpture shattered on the surface of a pool, and someone had reversed the footage. Whatever chemicals the Foundation had added to the glass reinforced it against the unfathomable mass of entire buildings bumping and grinding …
Once again George found himself dangling over the sky with nothing but a rope between him and a one way trip. Rhea squawked incoherently from her side of the street while he clutched his tether and wailed at the drop. On the plus side, he was now sober. “Nuh-uh!” He said. “No, no this shit …
Earth. My whole world. The only world any of us had ever known sat silently below, encased in ice, flashing with lightning against a black void. It reminded me of that famous NASA picture, Blue Marble, and I could think of no more apt description for what I was seeing. Kinsley, or James, unbuckled his …
It was the greatest storm in Earth’s history. Wind, ice, garbage, garbage trucks, they all cut through the air. Some cut through walls, others through George. Blind luck kept the worst at range, only small shards sliced his skin, tiny lines of red cross-crissing his forearms and rear neck or ass, anything left exposed from …
Fire erupted around the windows again, only this time from below. It shot up from the moat, surrounding the lobby’s three-sixty view. I kept my cool only thanks to our newly hardened wraparound glass, the physical representation of being tossed from the frying pan into an oven. Anxiety had never been a factor in …
George stood in mid-air. He’d never done that before, not in all the years Holden had known him. As visuals went it was worth a snap from Wendy’s camera. The only problem was George wouldn’t stand still. He kept rising away from the Earth. Holden flung the winch at him and George grabbed at it, …
When the world finished melting, what was left was unrecognizable. The buildings were metal skeletons of their former selves, covered in scabs of stone. The superstructures had bent under their own weight during the event, then twisted higher than before when strength returned to the metal, sans the weight of their outer layers. Even the …
The shell of the Toy Store’s basement groaned. Whatever was happening outside pushed inward on the room. It popped ears and lay heavy on the senses. George crept up to the cellar door and placed his hand on the lock. The wood shuddered, creaking at the slightest touch, threatening to unleash whatever fresh hell it …
Reece returned from his enquiries to find me rearranging my bandages, ruminating on everything we’d been through. Almost all of it was beyond control. Of what little remained that was, he was easiest to deal with. “Guards confirmed it.” He said as he got back. “Helicopter hanger really is twenty floors below ground.” I didn’t …
From the air, the surface of the world was black and smoking. Down on the surface, the air was black smoke. Plastic fumes submerged the city in a hot, toxic fog, filtering the sun’s rays through its murky depths. The thick vapor flooded the streets, blanketing the half cremated corpses of those who’d celebrated its …
When he was sure I wasn’t looking, Reece snuck out of the toilet, edging against the wall like an espionage cliché before disappearing around the corner. He didn’t come back that day, or the next. When he did return, it was to see if I needed anything, skirting around half mumbled apologies and passing …
It was the waiting room that time forgot, devoid of chatter between patients and staff, sterile in emptiness rather than cleanliness. The reception desk sat unmanned. A large circle of unbleached paint stained the wall where an ostentatiously large clock no longer hung. Rhea stared out a window, shut in her head while George shook …
It was a silent bang, all dazzling, blinding light. The black pyramid flashed, every color on the spectrum, then scored by an oscillating roar. It blasted down from above, blowing dust across the hilltop and flattened the remains of the tents. It buried the dead. I didn’t close my eyes. Despite the wind I locked …
Chloe held everyone’s gaze through the screen as the timer hit zero. She didn’t blink when the screen flashed and her transmission cut out. The flicker of a hazy, spectral afterimage faded to black. Back in the cavern, the overhead lights did likewise. Those watching were left in the dark. “The hell?” someone cried. The …
“And there’s less than six minutes left on the countdown.” The words slipped out without drama, without inflection. My delivery was off, tinged by a rising, fatalistic apathy, but the words were good, the kind that grabbed viewer attention. A little pep behind them wouldn’t have hurt. After all, my employers expected a professional. “For …
.. . Like everything on Shipyard Island, West Station suffered from a distinctly uncultured local efficiency. It stood at the crossroads of West Promenade and Westward Road, carried across West Bridge to the mainland’s West Shore. Then as the pattern implied, the branching roads took cars and coaches around the mountainous coastline in different directions, …
The throb in my jaw pulsed in time with my heartbeat. The impact had knocked me out cold, but instead of circling stars and birds, all I saw in my mind was a thick mustache and a firing squad. God only knows how long I was out, but when the setting sun seared through my …
. . George loved a dawn run by the sea. The rising sun rendered the world in serene hues with golden highlights while the breaking waves calmed the heart and stilled his mind. Solitude, focus and the steady drum of foot after foot in the twilight allowed his dreams to linger, setting a peace of …
. . While the rest of the world slumbered, a select few scrapped it out for scraps of rumor. Tanks invading cities? Children being abducted along with their closest relatives? My sources didn’t believe in being subtle. I’d been the Shipyard Island weather girl for over three years, scouring additional stories from what few contacts …
. . Before the world ended, those who knew where to look saw the clues. For regular folk, everyday distractions were circulated, drama that draw their eye, to keep plans running smooth and unscrutinized behind the scenes. But not every omen could be ignored. That night was quiet, a rare treat in Shipyard Bay. No …
. . If you’d asked me just two weeks ago, to picture the End of the World, it wouldn’t have looked like this. Call me unimaginative or color me naive, but every doomsday prediction I know of came inked in paperbacks or through the glow of a screen. Where are the zombies or demonic hordes? …