Sci Fi

Crater Charlie's Magpies
Magpies were the lifeblood of Crater Charlie. They flew in from afar or crawled across the tangled carpet of unchecked plant-life, and they descended on the suspiciously perfect circle of Charlie’s crater; the one for which he was named, in case there was any doubt about that. Creative nomenclature had been one of the first casualties of the apocalypse, much to everyone’s surprise. Admittedly it did have to wait in line behind the enormous loss of human life, the devastation of various major settlements, and the utter collapse of global society as it had been known for hundreds of years, but those ones were so expected that they barely warranted a mention. It was the loss of nuanced naming conventions that really hit the survivors hard, because they were going to have to live with the consequences forever and it really wasn’t clear why it’d happened in the first place.
By Iain James Read5 years ago in Fiction
Paz and the Past
The ground in the Past was still dead, but tall, tough grass had returned in patches, making it more difficult to search. Paz never brought anything with her when she crossed the shimmering border, so she had to be content with scratching and kicking the ground to make it speak.
By Bev Potter5 years ago in Fiction
1V0RY T0WERS
David Gomez woke the same way he had for the last two years: perfectly refreshed, at the precise conclusion of his fifth sleep cycle. He slid out from beneath the hood that stretched across the headboard, careful not to disturb his wife as he shifted the covers. He let his feet slap against the wood floor; his own little fireworks show.
By Steven A Jones5 years ago in Fiction
One Less
Sighing, I glance outside across the hardened sand and fierce spires that litter the horizon line. It’s a beautiful view, believe it or not. Sure, the whole landscape is a delightful shade of beige, but it’s the only landscape we’ve known for the past twenty years. Ever since the Ruin. And trust me, in today’s society, you’ve really got to appreciate the little things. For me, it’s the view from this godforsaken room.
By Elle Ware 5 years ago in Fiction
The Squire and the Botanist
Young Talbot's valour makes me smile at thee: When he perceived me shrink and on my knee, His bloody sword he brandish'd over me, And, like a hungry lion, did commence Rough deeds of rage and stern impatience; - Lord Talbot, Henry VI Part 1 [4.7]
By Jamie Finfer5 years ago in Fiction
A Knot of Fate
She counted the time it took her tear to fall to the ground. It seemed to take about a second, she thought, before habitually analyzing the accuracy of this statement in her head. Thankfully, the sun was just rising.
By The Emergency Procedure5 years ago in Fiction
The Phoenix Virus
October 21, 2032 The world has changed. Talk about an understatement right? Speaking of talking that’s what I’m doing now, talking into digital voice recorder. I got the used Sony recorder at a trading post along the interstate about an hour ago. An old timer had traded it to me for a bushel of apples. Not sure why I had done that. Maybe I needed to get some things off my chest. Call it therapy.
By Mike Garrity5 years ago in Fiction
Futile
We had woken up, but perhaps it would have been better to stay asleep. The room around Cecilia was dark, dank and damp. Shadowy light fixtures hung from the rafters, dangling as if ready to end their lives, but not quite ready…swaying in the hot breeze that snuck in the barred yet shattered windows. Her blanket, a shade of green that reminded her of mold, held spatters and speckles of mildew, so she kept it pushed down at the foot of the cot with her combat boots that were too large by at least two sizes. Too big was better than too small, she had reminded herself when she scavenged them a few weeks earlier.
By Lacie Perry5 years ago in Fiction
The Boy in the Mainframe
Human history began with a straw scratching ancient skrit on clay, arced all the way through battles and Band-Aids, spanned pyramids and elegant skyscrapers, and then was doomed by some snotty nerd tippity-tapping his LED keyboard at work. There were many nerds, of course, and many keyboards, but one particular dingus ran the over-the-weekend script to kickoff yet another experiment that unwittingly birthed the great A.I. Singularity: Ada.
By Christopher Fin5 years ago in Fiction
Aries
The pain pounded at Caelum’s temples, a sensation that he’d never felt before in his life. No one felt anything other than a serene fog with muted emotions. He remembered being a small child and cutting his knee on the playground. The skin split open, the blood welled up, a stark contrast against his pale complexion, and he only stared at the wound, curious at the change in his body.
By Jamie W.5 years ago in Fiction
Tiny Suns
They watched their world burn through the cockpit window of the ship that was supposed to save them. Nora stood with eyes the color of despair, her heart-shaped locket burning a scar into her palm. The ship’s metal hummed with the engines keeping them alive; the push and pull of sorrowed lungs breathed echoes that spoke nothing of the hellscape miles beneath them.
By Britney Paterson5 years ago in Fiction
Love in The Time of Post Apocalyptic Moulds
Author's preface: Below find the (almost) original version of the story published as (almost) intended with the artwork intact and in the correct position in the story. Apologies for the first version which omitted the arts for reasons partly of idiocy on the author's part, but mostly due to the poor functioning of Vocal's editor. He was too stupid and impatient to take the time to figure out how to include images in the body of the text and Vocal's editor still refuses to display the "+" sign needed to embed something no matter what I do. I have found if I type some text then highlight it then hit backspace (but not delete) it will appear about 50% of the time. I tried just copy pasting the images in but they were distorted badly. In the original they were smaller and positioned next to each other in grouping of four. Yet another frustrating limitation of Vocal's wonky editor. I mean come on? Resizing images? That is basic stuff. Gheesh. The text also still does not have the exact formatting of the original story as I cannot figure out how to center or change the spacing or even if it is possible. In any event. Enjoy!
By Everyday Junglist5 years ago in Fiction