Fiction Survival Stories

A catastrophic tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. It was part of a larger tornado outbreak in the spring of that year and reached a maximum width of nearly one mile during its path through the southern part of the city, killing 158 people, and injuring over 1,000. It caused damages amounting to $2.8 billion, making it the costliest single tornado in US history. Lauren will bring her signature intensity to this distinctly American natural disaster, placing a young boy in the middle of one of the deadliest tornadoes to strike the United States since 1947.

The Yellowstone super-volcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors' constant companions. When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster....

Emily, David, Mason, Lisa, and Mark head to the California coast to find a boat back to Canada. They all felt that it would be much easier and quicker to sail home rather than go over land with the others. They were wrong. The trek through the lawless city to get to the coast is only the first step. Hardship and loss await as the teens struggle to overcome both the challenge of the journey and threats from within. The trip home will change them all - for good or bad, as the stranded teens make for home by sea.

The graphic, coming-of-age tale of a modern Eskimo lad and his consuming vision quest and harrowing struggle for survival. Troubled by changes in his Alaskan village, 14-year-old Russell Suskitt seeks the counsel of the village elder - and only dog team owner. After his training in the ancient arts of hunting with bow and lance, handling sled dogs, and surviving arctic dangers, Russell embarks upon his lonely search for Eskimo manhood.

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business. But the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need figure out what this killer is after.

Rick is like many Americans. He's concerned with what he sees on the news, and how the country seems to be ready to tear itself apart. His biggest concern has been civil unrest. Already an avid camper, he sets out to secure his future, and career, by finding his own Eden.

Mrs. Moore knew that leaving the city was the best chance that she and her students had to survive the EMP, but when half of her charges refuse to leave she knows she has to stay and try and protect them. Fighting against time and the people in her group that refuse to face the reality of their situation will be a huge challenge. Even after finding a safe haven to wait out the destruction and chaos they are threatened and have to flee for their lives. With her group's numbers lessening at every turn she must lead them on the 1500-mile journey back to Canada.

The courageous groups of teens made their way home in a post-apocalyptic adventure story of survival after an EMP had virtually shut down modern technology across North America. What they find there after their long, dangerous journeys leaves them stunned. Their reunion begins in a hail of gunfire and only gets worse from there. The teens are shocked to learn that their town is under siege and their families, friends, and neighbors are being held hostage and some used as slaves.

The crew felt a new wind. The bitter cold added to the bite of a ship that had never gone this fast. Sharp eyes stayed fixed on the dim horizon. There was no time for caution, though they knew dangerous ice lay ahead. The Carpathia raced into the same ice field that had just claimed Titanic. Henry Cromwell dreams of becoming a reporter. Armed with a homemade radio, he spent the first three days of Carpathia’s voyage listening in on the North Atlantic’s radio traffic—eagerly jotting down notes and being a general bother to the crew. But nothing prepared him for what he would hear at 12:30 am.

Charlie West just woke up in someone else's nightmare. He's strapped to a chair. He's covered in blood and bruises. He hurts all over. And a strange voice outside the door just ordered his death. The last thing he can remember is that he was a normal high-school kid doing normal things. How long ago was that? Where is he now? Who is he really?

It was bad when Jake found out his brother was one of them. A Human-Controller. A slave. But that was nothing compared to this. When the Animorphs decide to visit the Yeerks' new base, it seems simple. But then they get caught, and Jake falls - just for a moment - into the Yeerk pool. Now they're out, and his friends can't see it. To them, he's just like normal. But Jake is screaming for help. His worst fear has finally come true. He's become the enemy.

When 13-year-old Valor is sent to jail, she couldn't be happier. Demidova's prison for criminal children is exactly where she wants to be. Valor's twin sister, Sasha, is serving a life sentence for stealing from the royal family, and Valor is going to help her escape...from the inside. Never mind that no one has escaped the prison in centuries. Valor has a master plan and resources most people could only dream about. But she didn't count on having to outsmart both the guards and her fellow prisoners.

Alex Sawyer has escaped his underground nightmare to discover the whole world has become a prison, and Alfred Furnace is its master. Monsters rule the streets, leaving nothing but murder in their wake. Those who do not die become slaves to Furnace's reign of cruelty. Alex is a monster too. He is the only one who can stop Furnace but in doing so he could destroy everything. Is he the executed or the executioner? Who will die? All Alex knows is that one way or another, it all ends now.

Esna Donovan was stranded on a planet full of people that didn't look like her as a child along with her brother. Their father was murdered, leaving them sitting in their spaceship waiting for his return. They remember almost nothing from before that time, when two Calavari who were business associates of their father took them in and told them they could never be seen outside their full body armor. They've honored their father's dying wish, living and working on the Calavari's farm while exploring the barren wastelands looking for bits of technological salvage.

In the aftermath of a war, America’s landscape has been ravaged. Fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn and his family were among the few that survived. But when Stephen’s grandfather dies and his father falls into a coma, Stephen finds his way to Settler’s Landing, a community that seems too good to be true. There he meets strong, defiant, mischievous Jenny. When they play a prank on the town bully’s family that goes wrong, they find themselves in the midst of a battle that will change Settler’s Landing forever.

The story begins when the young teen who suffers a head injury emerges from a sailboat that ran aground during a hurricane. The trauma of discovering she is amnesic is soon dwarfed by the realization she is totally alone. Gradually, her expectation that people will return to the community they evacuated is replaced with the startling truth that everyone is gone. Vanished from the face of the Earth. Hindered by a selective memory that affords only brief glimpses of her past, Ivy and her new friend Tonka—a West Highland White Terrier—set off on a quest to find other people.

Torin Ten-Trees and his closest companions, Bryn and Grimsa, set out to join The Gatewatch and become trollhunters. When a troupe of meddling dwarves throws them off course, they are captured by trolls, and taken as prisoners to a secret gathering deep underground. There, they learn that an ancient giant has crowned himself king of the trolls, and he plans to utterly destroy The Gatewatch. Their perilous journey back to the land of sun and stars will stretch their strength to the limit, strain their wits, and demand an unspeakable sacrifice. Will it be enough to defeat the Troll King?

Rifka knows nothing about America when she flees from Russia with her family in 1919. But she dreams that in the new country she will at last be safe from the Russian soldiers and their harsh treatment of the Jews. Throughout her journey, Rifka carries with her a cherished volume of poetry by Alexander Pushkin. In it, she records her observations and experiences in the form of letters to Tovah, the beloved cousin she has left behind.

Lily, Simon, and Michael are still trapped in their Minecraft game, but with new friends and a better understanding of their arch enemy, Mr. Anarchy, they're getting closer to finding a way home. But before they can fight the evil griefer and escape the game, the friends need to replenish their resources - and that means trekking deeper into the Overworld. When their mining party is attacked and hostile mobs reveal surprising new powers, it looks like the end for the trio - and for all their friends in town.

The Polaris is on a mission to explore new lands, and its crew is eager to bring their discoveries back home. But when members of the advance landing party mysteriously disappear, the remaining adults abandon ship, leaving behind the young cabin attendants and deckhands - none of them older than 12. With whispers of mutiny, a strange tropical illness, and perhaps even a wild beast shadowing them, the young sailors are desperate to steer the vessel to safety.