Apocalyptic Fantasy

In the year AD 3000, Earth is a dystopian wasteland, plundered of its natural resources by alien conquerors known as Psychlos. Fewer than 35,000 humans survive in a handful of communities scattered across the face of a post-apocalyptic Earth. From the ashes of humanity rises a young hero, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. Setting off on an initial quest to discover a hidden evil, Jonnie unlocks the mystery of humanity’s demise and unearths a crucial weakness in their oppressors.

With little warning, a solar super flare erupts from the sun. A billion tons of superheated plasma hurtles through space toward Earth. As multiple solar storms strike Earth, transformers explode, the power grid fails, and communication networks collapse. Half the world goes dark, thrusting the planet into utter chaos. With society crumbling around them, the survivors must fight not only for their lives, but for everything they hold dear - hope amid devastation, justice in the face of depravity, and ultimately, the perseverance of the human spirit against all odds.

Darlene Bobich, the zombie killer, is on a mission to save her family. Can she succeed, even as more obstacles are thrown in her way: survivors bent on their own selfish needs, evolving zombies, and the rotting world around her?

In 2025, the moon hatched and its child died. Things have since gotten worse. Some people have superpowers now, but so do the extradimensional invaders slowly wiping humanity out. By Julietta's eighteenth birthday, the war has been loss after loss for far longer than she's been alive, so she can't bring herself to be terribly shocked when the sky splits in half and weeps death. Surviving is the real surprise.

Bailey Monzac has just graduated college and is heading to her parents' ranch for the summer when dragons invade. Like something out of her worst nightmare, the fire-breathing beasts rain down chaos and devastation on unsuspecting human populations. One minute Bailey's planning her future; the next she's merely trying to survive. But it isn't long before she discovers she's different from the people around her - the dragons' destructive flames don't affect her.

With no power, no heat, and a total grid collapse, tough times keep getting tougher. But when America is struck with an EMP, this small group of survivors will be forced out of the frying pan and into the fire. Only there can they fight for their homes, their families, their community, and their right to be free from the restraints of an oppressive world force.

From the ashes of a devastated Boston, a harrowing legend emerges. Thirteen years prior, the colossal kaiju, Nemesis, ravaged the city in her relentless pursuit of retribution. Today, mankind's survival teeters on the sacrificial offerings atop a chilling monolith known as The Altar, where the condemned pay the ultimate price to prevent Nemesis's wrath from consuming humanity.

After a long and bloody battle, legendary Hell Diver Xavier Rodriguez reigns as the dutiful but reluctant new king of the islands. Advised by a council of former sky citizens as well as Cazadores, he works to assimilate the two societies peacefully. But not all Cazadores have accepted the new order. While X tries to ease tensions at home, a rookie team of divers, led by Michael Everhart, returns to the skies in Discovery, formerly the ITC Deliverance. Their mission: To locate other human survivors throughout the world and rescue them.

Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever, and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.

These stories and more are featured in the third short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, continuing the saga of survival in a world transformed by the arrival of the System. Humanity has adapted to a new reality filled with Classes, magic and monsters, but the struggle for life, love and purpose never ends. This anthology brings together gripping tales from returning authors and two new short stories by Tao Wong.

Riven Thane has survived nearly the first half of his journey into the Abyssal Descent, but questions are starting to arise. It seems the Blood God isn't as transparent as he pretends to be. Whispers of lost fragments of the Blood subpillar have surfaced, crucial knowledge that could elevate Riven above the rest of his generation—or brand him a heretic and see him torn apart by the clergy. But he's not alone in walking this sinful path. Elder Thune and his agents are plotting in the dark, and every move Riven makes draws the attention of rivals who're just as desperate to ascend in power.

As the United States unravels, the town of Fall Creek, Michigan struggles to survive. Hannah and Liam have endured the brutal winter and ruthless adversaries, but the threat has never been greater. Enemies from within have wrested control of the town — including what little remains of the food. Isolated, overpowered, and on the verge of starvation, the townspeople are faced with a desperate choice.

Katmai National Park: 7,000 square miles of rugged, isolated wilderness in southern Alaska. Vast stretches of frozen tundra, deep ancient forests, and impassable ravines ruled by the massive volcanic God, Devil's Desk. Despite the vigorous protests of Michael, the Talbots and the Tynes head to the park for a much-needed vacation away from it all.

Growing up, she was the girl down the street. Even then, I knew she was different. She was tough, rough, and had the strength to stop a speeding car with her bare hands. We were as thick as thieves, sharing every adventure. Then one day she revealed a secret. She wasn't from Earth. She was from a distant place called the Arcadia Multiverse. Her people lived under the rule of a god-like entity known as the System. That System had its gaze fixed on Earth. And it was only a matter of time before it came for us.

Arto has a problem. For one, he's a robot. He’s awoken with no memory of who he is, with nothing but a mysterious letter, in a world bereft of those fleshy, talky things that made him. So why is he alone, and where have all the people gone? He stumbles upon a lost, cheeky kitten and selects it as his best friend for the adventure of a lifetime, trying to make sense of all this existence stuff. Just as Arto begins to fear he's the only sentient thing left on the whole planet, a cantankerous robot falls from the sky. She says she's his sister.

Two years ago, the end began. In 2036, a rapidly destabilizing climate culminated in a worldwide snowstorm that froze the entire planet. Billions are now dead due to starvation, disease, civil unrest, and the plummeting temperatures. What remains of humanity now live in small settlements or isolated makeshift villages, carving out miserable lives in this grim new reality. Some, like Chris Weston, choose to travel among the vast winter wastelands between the bastions of civilization. In the aftermath of the great collapse, Chris finds himself strangely suited for this new world.

The aliens silently floated down from the skies in June of 2026, hovering there at a geostationary orbit above the earth for three months. Without warning on September 3rd, 2026, they attacked. Within three months, 85% of humanity had been wiped out. And we all learned the horrible truth regarding these aliens: "You just...don't...look."

Kris Ballard is a motorcycle courier. A nobody. Level Two trash in a multilevel city that stretches from San Francisco to the Mexican border - a land where corporations make all the rules. A runaway since the age of 14, Kris struggled to set up her life, barely scraping by, working hard to make it without anyone's help. But a late-day delivery changes everything when she walks in on the murder of one of her clients. Now she's stuck with a mysterious package that everyone wants.

Having cleared their first incursion, Lance and his makeshift team have received rewards and coins galore. Stronger than ever, they make their way to the next incursion in hopes of saving humanity and getting more of the amazing upgrades, knowing that the upgrades they are receiving will change the face of humanity itself.

The Earth lies in ruins in the aftermath of an extraterrestrial invasion, the land devastated by a desperate war with no winners between mankind and a race of vicious, intelligent creatures. The seas are drying up while the atmosphere corrodes and slowly cooks any life remaining on the now desolate rock. Food is scarce, trust even more so, and the only people left alive all have done horrific things to stay that way.