Dystopian

by Drew Faraday

At the height of the Oregon Meltdown, a simple mistake along an evacuation corridor leads to disaster. Less than a week before the military plans to cordon off the last bridge over the Columbia River, Nate finds himself stranded along a wilderness ravine with little more than the clothes on his back. His only hope of reuniting with his family and continuing up the coast to safety is to survive a fifty-mile solo journey on foot through a lawless landscape devastated by warring factions.

by Sammie Settlemire

Sadie Harper is barely keeping her life together. Between the heat, the exhaustion, and the constant feeling that she’s falling behind, she’s convinced she’s just one bad day away from breaking. But when a strange symbol forms in the sky — sharp, metallic, and pulsing like it’s alive — Sadie realizes the world is breaking first.Her phone begins rearranging its own numbers. Clouds twist into shapes that point directly at her. And no one else seems to see it.As the sky’s signals intensify, Sadie is pulled into the hidden world of the Watchers — rare individuals born with a connection to the sky’s ancient language. Some can bend light. Some can stabilize storms. Some can read the patterns that shape reality itself. Sadie, however, is something different. Something the Watchers haven’t seen in generations.Her awakening draws the attention of an older force — a presence that has been waiting for her since before she was born. It knows her name. It knows her past. And it knows what she’s capable of, even if she doesn’t.Now Sadie must navigate a world she never asked to enter, uncover the truth behind her connection to the sky, and decide whether her gift is a warning… or a weapon. Because the signals aren’t random. They’re a countdown. And Sadie is the one they’re counting down to.

by Nicholas Scott

**This is a short story during the aftermath of the outbreak**   It started with a viral attack, glass vials shattered in the heavily trafficked corridors of Grand Central Station. Within a month the virus was the deadliest attack the world had ever witnessed. But it was only the beginning. The survivors, what few remained of the planet's 7 billion, would come to realize the virus attack was the easy part; it killed outright, but the Blight was a different story altogether. The end wasn't just the beginning.

by Bradley Brown

**HOW WE SURVIVE: THE FALL** **Book One of the How We Survive Saga** The world does not end in a single moment. It begins with warnings. Tensions rise between nations. Russia mobilizes. China conducts military exercises. Markets become unstable. Governments increase readiness. Rumors spread faster than facts, and beneath the ordinary rhythm of American life, something is moving into place. Most people never see it coming. John is one of them. On an ordinary Saturday morning, John is home with his wife, Jessica, and their three children—Amanda, Sean, and baby Layla. Their morning is filled with the kind of chaos that only a family can create: children, noise, arguments, laughter, and the small frustrations of everyday life. Nothing about the morning suggests that their world is about to disappear. Then everything changes. Across the country, attacks begin striking critical infrastructure. Power grids and treatment facilities are targeted. Communications and essential services begin failing. What first appears to be a series of isolated disasters quickly reveals something far more deliberate. America is under attack. As the country struggles to understand what is happening, John watches the destruction unfold. California suffers a catastrophic disaster, with massive waves overwhelming portions of the coastline. Television broadcasts show Americans fleeing, praying, and trying to understand how their country could have been struck so severely. For a brief moment, something unexpected happens. People stop fighting with one another. Churches open their doors. Christians pray. A synagogue and a nearby mosque in Chicago hold joint prayers. Political arguments and cultural divisions become meaningless in the face of catastrophe. But the unity does not last. John begins to understand that the attacks are not random. They are coordinated. Someone planned this. Someone understood America’s weaknesses and knew exactly where to strike. Then John receives his activation notice. His military instincts immediately recognize what many civilians cannot: this is not simply a disaster. It is the beginning of a war. While John prepares to face whatever is coming, another story is unfolding inside the military. Jeffery Scott is an Army National Guard soldier, an E-5 and later First Sergeant, accustomed to responsibility and pressure. In civilian life, he drives trucks across the country. In uniform, however, his world is defined by his soldiers. When the military is activated, Jeffery and his unit are thrown into a rapidly deteriorating situation. At first, there is still humor among the soldiers. Jeffery and his friend Scayes joke with each other over the radio, using humor as a way to keep fear at a distance. But the joking becomes harder to maintain as the reality of their mission becomes clear. Jeffery’s unit moves toward California as the country struggles with flooding, destruction, and widespread chaos. Hundreds of soldiers from Louisiana are being moved into the crisis, with buses carrying dozens of men at a time. Then the mission changes. The devastation is too severe for normal operations. Roads are blocked. Flooding has transformed entire areas. Boats are needed where vehicles once traveled. Jeffery is no longer simply a soldier following orders. He becomes a leader trying to keep people alive. And leadership comes with a price. During one of the military engagements, Jeffery’s unit is attacked in darkness. Suppressed gunfire tears through the night. Soldiers fall. Confusion spreads. Jeffery has to make decisions while knowing that every order could determine who lives and who dies. Scayes is among those lost. Jeffery survives, but survival does not feel like victory. He carries the weight of the men he could not save. That burden follows him into the disaster-relief operation that comes afterward. Jeffery becomes increasingly organized and relentless. Search grids are mapped. Day and night crews are established. Survivors are processed. Medical transfers are coordinated. The operation becomes almost mechanical. But Jeffery is not a machine. The stress eventually catches up with him. He clashes with another First Sergeant who questions his methods. Later, accumulated anger erupts into a physical confrontation with Adume’. There are no ranks in that moment—only exhausted men who have watched their world collapse and have reached their breaking point. Eventually, they reconcile. Jeffery emerges from the experience changed. His men begin calling themselves **Iron Will**. They are not simply responding to the disaster anymore. They are becoming something harder—soldiers who understand that the old world may not be coming back. Meanwhile, John’s world is collapsing in a much more personal way. His family disappears. When John returns home, there are signs that something happened, but there are no bodies. No blood. No definitive evidence that his family is dead. That uncertainty becomes its own kind of torture. John refuses to believe Jessica and the children are gone. He believes they may have been taken. And if they are alive, he intends to find them. John’s brother Aaron is experiencing a similar nightmare. His own family has vanished, leaving him with grief, anger, and questions that have no answers. John and Aaron are forced to confront the possibility that their families may have been swallowed by something much larger than the collapse itself. Their search eventually brings them together with Charles. Charles is a husband, father, and correctional officer whose ordinary problems—money, frustration, responsibility—suddenly become meaningless. His priorities become brutally simple: keep Melanie and their son alive. At a gas station, Charles discovers just how quickly civilization has changed. Money means almost nothing when people are desperate for food, fuel, and protection. When Derek and Reggy threaten Charles and his family, Charles is forced to act. He takes Reggy’s pistol, shoots Derek in the shoulder, and makes it clear that he will protect his family by whatever means necessary. When Melanie tells him, “You saved us,” Charles realizes that the man he used to be may not be enough anymore. The three men—John, Aaron, and Charles—begin moving through a country that no longer resembles the one they knew. They travel through Denham Springs and Florida Street. They search homes, gather supplies, look for information, and try to understand the new rules of survival. But the danger is not limited to foreign forces. Something is wrong inside America itself. There are signs of collaboration. People are being manipulated, recruited, or offered opportunities to switch sides. The enemy does not simply want to defeat America militarily. They want to break its people. The infrastructure continues to fail. Communications become unreliable. Power disappears. Water becomes difficult to obtain. Businesses close. Authorities struggle to maintain control. And then the occupation begins to become unmistakable. Foreign forces are no longer something seen on television. They are becoming part of everyday American reality. John realizes that hiding will not be enough. Survival requires movement. It requires intelligence. It requires trust. Most importantly, it requires people willing to fight. John’s military instincts begin resurfacing. Aaron becomes the brother willing to stand beside him even when fear and grief threaten to overwhelm him. Charles brings his own toughness and practical experience. None of them are prepared for what comes next. But they are learning. As they move toward John’s home and uncover more pieces of what happened to their families, the story shifts from simple survival to resistance. The question is no longer whether America has fallen. It has. The question is what happens after the fall. John, Aaron, and Charles begin taking the first steps toward something that will eventually become much larger than the three of them. At the same time, Jeffery and the soldiers of Iron Will represent another side of the same struggle. While civilians fight to survive and find their families, soldiers are fighting to understand what remains of their country and what their duty means when the normal chain of command is breaking down. Their stories are moving toward the same inevitable collision. The old America is disappearing. The new world is dangerous, fractured, and unforgiving. Yet humanity has not disappeared with it. People still pray. Families still search for one another. Soldiers still protect their brothers. And ordinary people discover that they are capable of extraordinary things when everything familiar is taken away. By the end of **The Fall**, John, Aaron, and Charles are no longer simply three men trying to survive. They are beginning to become resistance. They move forward knowing that the enemy is organized, the country is occupied, and the people they love may still be somewhere out there. John does not know whether he will ever see Jessica or his children again. Aaron does not know what happened to his family. Jeffery does not know how many more soldiers he will lose. Charles does not know how long he can protect the people he loves. But none of them have surrendered. The world they knew has fallen. Now they have to learn **how to survive what comes next.**

by David Speer

Sophia Akpo was only five when her white great-grandfather Lazarus Bye passed away. Now she is 21 and curious about a strange book he left behind, which he had named The Sartanic Verses and kept hidden until his death. She cannot read what he wrote, the secret for that having died with him, but the book speaks to her on a much more primal level. Between this book and a playlist he had assembled, she learns more than she bargained for and stumbles across spiritual potential that she didn't know she had.

by Jake Korum

In a post-apocalyptic California, a stray dog struggles to survive amid the ruins left by a mysterious disaster that has upended the world for humans and animals alike. Taken in by a group of animal rescuers, the Initiative to Save Humanity (ISH), the dog—soon named Swayze—finds a fragile sense of safety and community in their care. As Swayze and the rescuers navigate the dangers of this changed world, they cling to hope and the bonds they form, determined to protect one another and rediscover what it means to belong.

by Sammie Settlemire

After dying, waking, and dying again, Sammie watches her own body from above as doctors call her time of death and prepare to let her go. What follows is a chaotic, brutally honest journey through survival, brain damage, disability, humor, trauma, and the stubborn refusal to stay gone. From waking up with tubes down her throat to navigating life in a beat‑up RV with a misunderstood XL bully service dog, Sammie fights her way back into a world that keeps trying to erase her. This memoir is a raw, unfiltered account of the moments between life and death — and the messy, ridiculous, painful, beautiful fight to keep living once you return.

by F.J. Blooding

Victoria Armstrong is running for senate on a promise she can't keep. Something in Kins City's water finds the para gene and turns it into a death sentence, and proving it means going after the men who own the labs, the insurance companies, and the ballot. Winning means becoming the thing her wife and best friend may no longer respect, but if it keeps her alive... does it matter? October Sky reads tarot for a living and insists that's all it is. When a fourteen-year-old slips her a note about the people going missing, she lands in a vigilante crew run by a detective and starts seeing disasters her cards deliver just late enough to watch. Dannika once hunted paras for the government. She was sent to infiltrate a youth center, and now the man who runs it is helping her with her own para abilities, and she has no idea how to tell him what she came there to do. Everyone standing in their way believes they're the hero. Before it's over, one of these women will erase a mind to save a life. One will erase a nation's records to save a people. And one will ask to have her own gift taken from her. *For readers of M.L. Wang, J.D. Evans, and Krystle Matar.*

by Jassamine S. Kelly

A girl comes home from school to find a crime scene from her mother's death and she grows up to avenge her mother's death by creating a device a ai chip to find her mother's killer but sadly she never gets them in the first book

by KW Chaproniere

Aurelia Greenlaw is a twenty-two year old Captain in the 13th Recon Division, and she is a Radio. In Palvera, the nation built on the ruins of North America, that word means something specific. Centuries ago an experiment on the human mind produced a mutation that never went away. Now there are six kinds: Builders, who rearrange matter with their hands. Washers, who put thoughts in your head and let you believe you thought them. Shifters, who change what you see. Sensatives, who read what you feel and can turn the dial on it. Nets, who move what they can see without touching it. And Radios, who read the world in waves, who hear a signal a mile out and can put a voice inside your skull. The Centre calls this humanity, perfected. Everyone born without it is a Blank, and the Centre has built a country on that distinction. Arra has spent her whole life on the useful side of the line. Then a bomb takes her unit apart on the mountain and leaves her the only one breathing. The Centre searches forty-eight hours for a missing soldier. After that, she’s a name on a list. She wakes on day three, strapped to a gurney in a stronghold carved into rock, listening to the people who found her argue about whether she’s worth the water it would take to keep her alive. They’re Blanks. They’ve also done the one thing no Blank should be able to do. They’ve blocked her. The waves are gone. The world has gone flat and quiet, and the part of her that made her worth keeping has been cut out. Arra is going to get home. She’s willing to be patient about it: count the turns in the tunnels, memorize the faces, learn who can be used and who can be turned. What she doesn’t account for is how long it takes, or what months of it do to a doctrine that was never meant to survive contact with the people it was written about.  *Radio* is an adult dystopian novel about inheritance, indoctrination, and what’s left of a person when the thing that defined her is taken away.

by Meridian Lyra

How exactly did Io get into this predicament in the first place? Oh yes, that's right, by stupidly volunteering. Now she was the future bride of an alien King, and about to be the queen of an entire planet. *Her* planet, if one wanted to be technical- he wasn't from there, nor did anybody want him there. But there he was.  Sixteen years ago, they came. The Imdalians. War was waged and was lost. Well, humans were the ones on the losing side of that battle, and just over half a decade later they'd officially lost control over Earth. His Majesty took over, redrew borders, renamed countries, established themselves so well it was like they'd been there to begin with.  But with further bloodshed and riots, continued rebellions over the years, something needed to be done about it. Earth history was scoured for a solution, and that solution was a peace treaty- one that was solidified by a royal wedding. How lucky Io was, to be the human to marry the queen. But was she really that lucky, or was she about to find herself in way over her head?

by D.C. Pope

Find more of my Fictions at ChapterTrail.com  Lucas Cadalain had never expected much from his life. Born into a world controlled by corporations and the implants they used to manage nearly every aspect of society, his future seemed simple: work, survive, and remain useful enough to be left alone.\ \ Then a dying stranger placed an impossible implant in the back of his neck and shattered everything Lucas thought he understood.\ \ Within hours, Lucas is branded a dangerous fugitive, hunted by Aethis, and driven from the only city he has ever known. His new implant refuses corporate control, learns without permission, and can seemingly undo the restrictions built into other implants. Worse, nobody seems to know exactly what it is capable of, including Lucas.\ \ His escape brings him to Amiri, a stranded engineer whose own implant has been disabled by the corporation she once worked for. Together, aboard a half-repaired shuttle that was never meant to leave under fire, they make a desperate attempt to reach the freedom waiting beyond Aethis-controlled space.\ \ For the first time in Lucas’s life, there is no schedule waiting for him, no corporation assigning his place, and no clear path forward.\ \ He has no idea where he is going.\ \ He only knows that, for once, the future belongs to him.\ \ And an unknown future may hold far more possibilities than the life that was chosen for him.

by L J Temple

To those who have felt the crushing weight of societal expectations, the seductive whisper of digital validation, and the gnawing ache for a life that feels undeniably *real*. This story is for the dreamers caught in the gilded cage, for the navigators of blurred lines and curated realities, and for anyone who has ever questioned the actual cost of chasing a dream that glitters but may not satisfy. May you find your own truth beyond the screen, your own voice in the silence, and your own irreplaceable worth in the quiet spaces between the curated moments. May this narrative serve as a mirror, a cautionary tale, and ultimately, a beacon of hope for those seeking genuine connection and a life lived with authenticity and courage. To the unwritten chapters of your own story, may they be filled with purpose, peace, and the undeniable beauty of simply being.  Curated Self: The idealized, often selective, presentation of an individual's life,\ particularly on social media platforms, designed to elicit positive external validation.\ Digital Footprint: The trail of data left behind by a user's online activity, encompassing\ everything from browsing history to social media posts and digital transactions.\ Fulfillment: A state of deep satisfaction and contentment derived from living a life\ aligned with one's values and authentic self, rather than the pursuit of external validation\ or idealized outcomes.\ Societal Pressures: The external expectations and norms imposed by society regarding\ success, appearance, behavior, and lifestyle, often amplified by digital platforms.\ Vulnerability: The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of attack or harm,\ either physical or emotional; in the context of relationships, it refers to the willingness to\ share one's true thoughts and feelings, even those that are imperfect or uncertain.

by L J Temple

To the seekers of wisdom, the tireless questioners of existence, and the diligent builders of a more enlightened world. This work is a testament to the enduring power of foundational principles, gleaned from the echoes of antiquity and offered as a compass for our contemporary journey. May these Articles of Life illuminate your path, sharpen your discernment, and inspire you to contribute your unique verse to the grand, unfolding narrative of human civilization. May your inner kingdom be well-governed, your community bonds strengthened by unwavering morals, and your understanding of the cosmos deepened by the profound mysteries that lie both within and beyond. To those who tirelessly strive to balance the scales of justice, to preserve the sanctity of knowledge, and to learn from the grand tapestry of history, this book is humbly offered. It is for the scholars who humbly begin their quest, the masters who grapple with the complexities of ethical living, and the seekers who gaze into the infinite possibilities of existence, daring to understand our place within the celestial dance. May you find within these pages not mere information, but illumination; not simply knowledge, but wisdom; and not just guidance, but the courage to embody the timeless truths that have guided humanity towards meaning, order, and enduring prosperity since the dawn of time. This is a tribute to the enduring spirit of inquiry, the profound capacity for growth, and the unyielding human desire to live a life of purpose, integrity, and transcendence. This book is for the following: Readers interested in philosophy and ethics. Those who enjoy exploring foundational moral and societal principles, the nature of good governance, and the pursuit of a meaningful life will find the in-depth exploration of the Articles of Life compelling. Students of comparative religion and mythology. Individuals fascinated by the blend of biblical narratives (Enoch), ancient legal codes (Hammurabi), and mythological references will appreciate the synthesis of these elements. Readers seeking a structured and wisdom-driven narrative. The book's organized structure of articles and progression levels will appeal to readers who enjoy clear frameworks for understanding complex concepts and a journey towards self-improvement and transcendence. Academics and researchers of ancient law and governance. The detailed inclusion and analysis of Hammurabi's Code, alongside other historical and philosophical underpinnings of civilization, make it valuable for scholarly exploration.

by Draxber Faber

Humanity was locked in a desperate war against the vicious Lyracken race and their god, Lycanther. As total defeat loomed inevitable, a mysterious group stepped out of the shadows calling themselves the Evolved. These were humans who had concealed their extraordinary powers for generations. Some generously shared their knowledge with the rest of the world in the hope of turning back the Lyracken tide, while others selfishly guarded their abilities and refused to let them spread. Jareth and his sister Mia had lost almost everything in the war, his home, and his parents. The only thing Jareth had inherited was a weird-looking advanced computer. When Jareth had unlocked the computer, he was granted “The Draven System,” it granted him power that was similar to a video game but in real life. When Jareth received the system, it made contact with its creator, Joseph Klein, before its completed bond, notifying a very powerful force of its activation and location. Now, forced into military school at age fifteen, Jareth enters a high-tech academy built on salvaged enemy technology where students are ranked by their Evolved powers and the rich buy powerful Evolved powers from special books. He must hide the Draven System inside him, its stats, experience points, quests, daily tasks, and growing skills, because powerful people are hunting for it. With a mysterious bracelet from his father, a tampered Evolved tablet giving him the rare “Jack of all Trades” power, and a strange egg that could change everything, Jareth begins to uncover a family secret tied to an ancient name: Draven. As tension rises and the old war threatens to restart, Jareth has to protect his sister, survive the academy, and figure out why the system chose him before the wrong people find out what he truly is. If he is discovered, the biggest war in the known universe may ensue, against the once strongest empire of the known Universe.

by T. Barnes

### **The Drowned World and the Lifeline** **In a flooded wasteland, a young engineer must protect her brother and floating home from a ruthless warlord targeting their resources.** When catastrophic sea level rise turns the Bay of Bengal into an endless grey expanse, nineteen-year-old Anja and her younger brother, Sami, are left clinging to the crumbling rooftop of their submerged home. Armed only with her late father’s engineering wisdom and a desperate drive to keep Sami alive, Anja navigates a sea of rot and false hope until a floating sanctuary—the **Lifeline Cooperative**—offers them a second chance at life. But peace on the water is short-lived. When a toxic red tide poisons the flotilla's water supply and power systems fail, Anja uncovers a terrifying truth: the disaster isn't natural. A militarized empire operating out of a rusted northern refinery is waging a covert war of attrition. Led by the calculating warlord Voss, the refinery seeks to starve the Cooperative, breach its defenses, and seize its most precious asset—a pristine pre-Collapse seed bank. To save her new home and her brother’s future, Anja must evolve from a quiet mender into a key operative. Navigating traitors inside the gates, covert infiltration missions, and high-stakes tactical warfare, she learns that surviving the drowned world requires more than sharp tools—it requires the courage to stand against the tide. ### **Why You'll Love This Story** - **Gritty Atmospheric Post-Apocalyptic Fiction:** A grounded, realistic look at technical survival, resource scarcity, and community resilience in a flooded world. - **Smart, Engineering-Minded Protagonist:** Anja relies on logic, salvage mechanics, and strategic thinking rather than superhuman combat skills. - **High-Stakes Conflict:** Featuring espionage, sabotage, complex moral choices, and an immersive cat-and-mouse game between two surviving factions.

by Stephen Sulkey

In the summer of 1863, a single bullet kills Colonel Joshua Chamberlain at Gettysburg—and changes the course of history. The Confederacy wins the Civil War, the United States is absorbed into a new Southern nation, and slavery survives into the modern age. By 2001, the Confederate States of America has become a powerful global empire of fifty-two states, governing through tradition, racial division, and an increasingly ruthless central authority. Thomas Mann is a hard-drinking New York Times reporter and a Southerner by birth, accustomed to living with the contradictions of his country. But after returning from a bloody revolt in Puerto Rico, he is approached by a frightened abolitionist carrying a mysterious message. Before Mann can learn more, the man is dead. Drawn to Washington by the promise of a story that could shake the nation, Mann meets the intelligent and captivating Laura Dane and is pulled into a secret struggle against forces willing to kill anyone who threatens the established order. Pursued by a relentless assassin and agents of the government, Mann must uncover the truth before it disappears forever. What begins as an investigation soon becomes a fight for survival—and a journey that forces Mann to decide whether he will merely report history or risk everything to change it.

by Misery Walker

In a future society, every citizen must choose a single color upon turning eighteen. From that day forward, nearly everything they own, wear, eat, drive, and decorate with must be that color. The only exception is that citizens earn the right to use additional colors by performing verified acts of kindness, sacrifice, or service to others. Over time, a person's color palette becomes a public record of their character. A person who reaches middle age with only one color is widely suspected of being selfish, narcissistic, or unwilling to help others.

by Sean Runyon

**Synopsis: *The Last Witness*** *"This war did not begin with a nuclear flash swallowing billions into the footnotes of history. History rarely grants us that kind of honesty. It began with secrets stamped NATIONAL SECURITY, with lies folded into origami excuses, and with men who had already sold your future branding the transaction as stability. It began with a population drowning in noise until it mistook confusion for intelligence. And the greatest lesson Liam Roberts would learn was this: people do not fear tyranny for what it is. They fear uncertainty. Tyranny simply learns to disguise itself as relief."* These are the opening words of investigative journalist Liam Roberts' final broadcast As the last witness to civilization's collapse, Roberts explains that the world did not end in a blinding nuclear exchange or a single catastrophic event. Civilizations rarely collapse in fire first. They collapse in ink, paperwork, euphemisms, and administrative language polished clean enough to disguise the smell of decay. Before revealing how the world unraveled, Roberts takes his audience back to where it all began with a phone call from a man named Thomas Riker, a soldier whose existence has been systematically erased from history. Roberts has built his career exposing corruption and uncovering stories others wanted buried, but nothing prepares him for what lies beneath the surface of the modern world. What begins as an investigation into one impossible man quickly becomes a fight for humanity's survival. Riker reveals that behind every major conflict since the Second World War stands the Doctor, the hidden architect of the Syndicate, a clandestine organization that has transformed wars, governments, and human suffering into decades of experimentation in pursuit of a single objective: Project Helix. Following Riker through classified military operations, abandoned facilities, and forgotten programs, Roberts begins to see a pattern stretching across generations. Every trail leads back to Facility 47, where the Doctor's work has evolved beyond biology into something far more dangerous: understanding, predicting, and ultimately directing human behavior itself. With every discovery, Roberts realizes the Syndicate's greatest weapon was never military power. It was its ability to shape what people believed to be true. As the evidence grows, Roberts confronts the Doctor's most devastating discovery: people rarely surrender to force; they surrender to fear, convenience, and the promise of safety. By manipulating information instead of relying on violence, the Syndicate has quietly conditioned entire generations to mistake certainty for truth and security for freedom. By the time Roberts understands that humanity itself has become the experiment, the conditioning is already complete. Unable to remain an observer, Roberts joins a small band of resistance fighters determined to expose the Syndicate before its plan reaches its final stage. As they dismantle hidden facilities and uncover decades of deception, they make a devastating realization. They are no longer trying to stop the Doctor's plan; they are witnessing its completion. Their search ultimately leads them to Bastion Zero, where Roberts learns the Syndicate has already succeeded in ways the world has failed to recognize. The Doctor never intended to rule through armies alone. He intended to build a civilization that would willingly participate in its own conditioning, believing every decision was freely made while every outcome had already been engineered. Riker finally confronts the man who transformed his life into an experiment, while Roberts makes the only choice left to him. Rather than allowing the truth to die with him, he broadcasts it across every remaining frequency, preserving a final record of how humanity surrendered its future one compromise at a time. The novel ends where it began. Alone inside Bastion Zero, Liam Roberts delivers his final message  not in the hope of saving the world, but to ensure that someone, somewhere, might one day understand how it was lost. Whether anyone survives to hear his testimony remains uncertain. The truth, however, endures.

by Calvan L Starling

An Ongoing Saga Following the exploits of Zakary Sevendust and his found family on a hostile violent world known as Jistoa.

by Calvan L Starling

Ten year old Zakary sevenfust walks with his father into the premature ending to his childhood. Set on the harsh unforgiving world of Jistoa. Zakary learns the weight of his bloodline, all the while a shadow watches in the distance, ancient and hungry for souls.

by Rory North

by Rory North

No one knows the real identity of the hospital's Plague Saint is sixteen-year-old Winter Pierce. No one knows she's a fraud. And no one knows she's a killer. While floods and heat waves devastate the southern lands, the northern cities face blizzards and plagues. Up until two weeks ago, the Plague Saint of Devil's Pass was a real doctor. But when Winter learned he was only saving the rich and planned to let her mother die, she confronted him. And killed him. The death was an accident, but taking his place to save lives was a choice. Then, Winter's forced to kill again to save her brother. Her double life, already doomed to fail, is complicated further when her assistant insists on tracking down the murderer. Attempting to cover her tracks leaves Winter tangled in a political web. All the while, people are getting sicker, and trying to find the cure leads her to an enemy far smarter and more dangerous than she is. Powerful people want to see Winter fail. There's more to the plagues than meets the eye. Winter is rapidly running out of time, but she's determined to save her brother from death and her city from corruption. And she'll kill anyone who gets in her way. PLEASE NOTE: Only the first book in this series is available for free here on Readerful. All books in the series are or will be available in ebook and paperback format. Check out my website [rorynorth.com](http://rorynorth.com) for more details.

by Maurice Huff

When the Time Comes (WTTC) is a grounded dystopian epic exploring how control is maintained not through open tyranny but through comfort fear and gradual compliance. Following the collapse of traditional governance the United States is reorganized into 9 centralized authoritarian districts under the Continuem of America. A regime promising stability and survival in exchange for obedience surveillance and erasure of the old world. Behind the Continuem operates a technocratic cabal leveraging artificial intelligence institutional capture and predictive modeling to shape outcomes rather than rule openly.

by Maurice Huff

When the Time Comes explores how ordinary people, acting through extraordinary institutions, can gradually build a world none them intended to create. Institutions gradually stop serving their stated purpose and begin serving their own preservation. How ordinary people respond when confronted with power, uncertainty, fear, and ambition.

by Maurice Huff

When the Time Comes (WTTC) questions if modern life has robbed us of the ability to prioritize the appreciation of living. WTTC asks how do Intelligent well-intentioned people build systems whose long term consequences they cannot fully forsee?

by Maurice Huff

When the Time Comes is a grounded dystopian epic exploring how control is maintained not through open tyranny, but through comfort, fear, and gradual compliance. Following the collapse of traditional governance, the United States is reorganized into 9 centralized authoritarian districts under the Continuem of America. A regime promising stability and survival in exchange for obedience, surveillance and erasure of the old world. Behind the Continuem operates a technocratic cabal leveraging artificial intelligence, institutional capture and predictive modeling to shape outcomes rather than rule openly. The story centers on siblings Rose and Maurice, divided by ideology yet bound by blood, whose choices force them into irreversible defection and collision with resistance networks, nomads, and defectors-all making understandable but incompatible choices. Each book in the series is titled by the consecutive era's that occur within them.

by Maurice Huff

When the Time Comes is a grounded science fiction franchise that explores how civilizations rise, fall, transform and redefine themselves under extraordinary pressures. Rather than following a single hero or villain the story to follows engineers, scientist, journalist, soldiers, politicians, religious leaders and ordinary citizens whose individual choices gradually reshape the world into something any of them never intended.

by A.S Thomas

Welcome to the Dome of Dreams aka the Dollhouse In a world where reality has become a twisted form of entertainment, Gia, an orphaned girl, finds solace in the escapist allure of Doll TV. This highly popular program offers a tantalizing glimpse into the lavish lives of the beautiful inhabitants of the Dollhouse – a domed utopian city where perfection reigns supreme. Gia's obsession with the show stems from a deep longing to escape the harsh realities of her own existence. Little does she know, her fervent wish is about to be granted in the most perverse way imaginable.

by Shawna K. Whaley

Billy goes back in time to try to stop his older brother from turning evil. If he succeeds, he'll not only save his brother - he'll save the world. If he fails, the future is doomed to the fate Billy grew up in. It's a terrible future, one he'll do almost anything to avoid. Almost, because he's not willing to lose his brother in the process of trying to save the world. The only thing standing in his way is his family. They don't trust him and want him gone. He can't tell them who he really is so he's got an incredibly difficult task ahead of him.

by L.A. Peña

Kaelin was bred for control, a subject engineered with a fragile spine augmented by ruthless technology. When the Cradle burns and her world shatters, she escapes into the inhospitable wasteland of Ashkaru with a silent, feverish child whose eyes see too much. The Drifting Truth, an old patched ship, becomes her sanctuary - but the Core reclamation teams are relentless, their reach stretching into the broken edges of space. As alliances shift and secrets emerge, Kaelin must navigate a maze of trust, technology, and survival. Will she protect those she loves, or become the weapon they made her to be?

by Fergus Hume

Archie Hope is desperately trying to win the approval of the irascible Professor Braddock so he can marry the professor's ward, Lucy Kendal. To satisfy the professor's archaeological obsession, Archie procures a rare and valuable Incan mummy. When the packing crate containing the artifact finally arrives at the professor's estate, the mummy has mysteriously vanished and been replaced by the murdered body of the assistant sent to fetch it. Detective Inspector Heatherstone takes on the confounding case. With the assistant dead, Archie immediately becomes a prime suspect in the crime, throwing his engagement to Lucy into jeopardy. As the detective delves into the investigation, he discovers a bizarre cast of characters. The story becomes a thrilling cat-and-mouse game involving the cursed or uncanny reputation of the mummy, hidden motives within the household, and multiple twists before the real killer is finally exposed and justice is served.

by Shawna K. Whaley

Kathleen Smith decides it's time for a vacation. After carefully checking the weather for possible storms, she and her daughters fly to California. She was expecting fun and relaxation but Mother Nature had other plans.  Chris thought he was going to spend a weekend with his best friend hanging out playing video games and relaxing at home. He was wrong.  Join Kathy and her daughters, along with Chris and Brian, as they navigate this new world devastated by tornadoes, flooding and earthquakes. Can love blossom in this new world or will survival be their only focus? This story started as a recurring nightmare that I decided to turn into a story to help process my fears.

by S. J. Malave

Felicity Ponce grew up thinking that she was a clone just like everyone else. However, after a random genetic code test was conducted, she begins to realize that nothing is what it seems and her world changes drastically. Now tasked with keeping this secret, she must find a way to avoid getting caught by government officials, find reliable allies, and understand what it means to be a unique individual. But, hey, what else could go wrong?

by Sarah Bantu

**About the Story** What if the key to your survival was locked inside a secret, ancient bloodline?\ Spun from a fascinating true piece of Russian history and set against the brutal, breathtaking backdrop of the frozen north, *Daughter of the Falcon* blends gripping suspense with an unforgettable romance.\ For centuries, deep within the endless, snow covered forests, an elite and hidden clan of warriors lived by their own laws. They did not just survive the winter they ruled it, training lethal military falcons to hunt, fight, and protect secrets hidden from the world. Today, that fierce bloodline legacy is alive, but the isolation of the frozen north is cracking. A dangerous, unpredictable threat is closing in, forcing old secrets into the light and testing the loyalty of a clan that has never bowed to anyone.\ Filled with high stakes twists, deep betrayal, and a slow burn love story that burns hot against the bitter ice, this fiction novel proves that some family histories can never stay buried. Step into a harsh, beautiful world where danger hides in every shadow, trust is a luxury, and you never know what's going to happen next. Discover what happens when the frost bites deep, and the falcon finally takes flight.

by Melanie Kallai

Beyond the walls, nothing is as they told her.  More than a century after global eruptions plunged the climate-fragile world into chaos, seventeen-year-old Barrett is destined for a Noble life in the coastal stronghold of Nuevo Leben, until Ronan, a dangerously perceptive rogue, shows her evidence that her mother is alive and captive in Old North America. Barrett's perfect future shatters. She must cross a deadly wasteland to find her, guided by the last person she should trust. As they face a forgotten world of hostile tribes, vicious predators, and unexpected allies, Barrett questions everything, including her growing feelings for Ronan and her place in this fractured world. But the further she travels from Nuevo Leben, the more she wonders whether its walls kept the world out, or kept her in.

by Maria Linn

Twelve-year-old brown bear Cara Dyson has always been drawn to Homo sapiens: dangerous creatures who roamed the planet long ago. Cara inherited this dark, unusual fascination from her father Buick, Animalia’s most renowned historian. He set out on a secret mission two years ago to gather definitive evidence that climate change was humanity’s undoing, and no one’s seen hide nor hair of him since. When Cara finds a clue to her father’s last known whereabouts, she runs away to find him.  But the sheltered young bear isn’t prepared for life outside the gates of her highly regulated, vegetarian society. In the wilds, animals react to Cara in baffling ways: fish flee, rabbits rebuff, hyenas tease. When a starving snake tries to steal her provisions, Cara realizes food—something she never had to think twice about back home—is scarce. Standing between Cara and the truth about her father is a herd of zealots led by Dunkin, a cruel predator who’s trying to bring back a more natural, animalistic way of life. If Cara can’t stop him and expose the shocking secret her father uncovered about humanity’s extinction and the rise of the animals, history will repeat itself. Before Cara can stand up to Dunkin, though, she must conquer an even more vicious enemy: the nasty voice inside, whispering that her famous, brilliant father abandoned her because she wasn’t worthy of his love.

by Johnny Tabales

In a city where immortality is a subscription and police officers are heavily augmented weapons, Silas Vane is a terrifying anomaly: a Baseline. He suffers from Type-4 Host-Graft Rejection Syndrome, a rare biological condition that causes his immune system to violently attack any cybernetic implants. In a precinct of chrome-plated gods, Silas is rotting, un-augmented meat. When his failing, analog body causes a high-stakes raid on a Chrome Jackal chop shop to go sideways, Silas is handed a brutal ultimatum by his superiors: undergo a mandatory Class 3 Ocular and Neural Suite upgrade, or turn in his badge. Refusal means immediate involuntary termination and exile to the toxic, decaying slums of The Sump. A death sentence for both Silas and the woman he loves, Elara. Desperate to keep his job and protect his fragile life, Silas turns to the only surgeon he trusts, an underground doctor named Aris Thorne. Silas agrees to go under the knife, gambling that his stubborn biology can be forced to accept the cold steel of progress. But the city of Obsidian Heights doesn't accept payment in good intentions. As Silas lies strapped to the surgical chair, he is about to discover exactly what it costs to buy a future in a world that wants him erased. *Lazarus Zero* is the gritty, neon-soaked novelette prequel to the biopunk noir thriller *The Lazarus Defect*. It explores the tragic origin of the city's most broken, dangerous detective, and the day Silas Vane died and decided to keep living anyway.

by Anthony Egerton

The end of civilization few surviving humans. In the aftermath a power emerges promising to bring humanity back and rebuild civilization from the rubble. A new start a better way could this be heaven on earth. A reflection back to us in this present from a very near future crying out for mankind to inspect the governments that they continue to place over themselves for the past 4 thousand years all ending in disaster only to be repeated in hopes of a better result with nothing changing. That people is the clinical definition of insane.

by Judah Ray

In 1955, a secret experiment at the Large Hadron Collider tore open a doorway to another realm.\ \ Extradimensional beings came through, possessed the top scientists and military officials in the room, and kept the portal open.\ \ One of the first crossed over and took a human infant as its host. That infant was Christina.\ \ The only issue is that Christina forgot what she was,  and the others could not enter or control her, but she could see them. So they declared her unstable and institutionalized her.\ \ Years later, world leaders, billionaires, media figures, and political dynasties are all possessed. The New World Order is not a conspiracy theory. It is literal possession.\ \ A decade later, Christina escapes and resurfaces in Berlin. The forces that have tracked her since childhood want her reclaimed or eliminated.\ \ With the help of Jory, who has been able to see the entities inside people since surviving a near-death experience as a child, Christina uncovers a power structure that has ruled humanity from within for generations.\ \ When she learns she is one of them, she must choose between her own kind or the man she loves and the humanity she chose to protect.\ \ They have ruled the world from inside us.\ Now one of their own stands against them.

by Christina Farley

***What was buried is awakening…*** Do not question the Paladins.\ Do not cross into the Wilds.\ Do not seek the Magic. Tara has spent her life following those rules. On an island where obedience is survival, she’s learned to swallow her doubts, hide her powers, and pretend Eden is the paradise everyone claims it to be. But a secret always has a pulse. And Eden’s secrets are starting to beat louder. When Tara is chosen to train as one of the isle’s revered Paladins, she believes she can make a difference. But the moment she steps inside the Paladin stronghold, her whole world turns upside-down. Tor, the man she confessed her love to, is haunted by secrets he refuses to share. Rune, another trainee, starts to awaken feelings in her that are both thrilling and terrifying. And there are whispers of rebellion and forbidden passageways that lead to dangerous secrets. So when Tara discovers something she wasn’t meant to find, it shatters the foundation of everything she believes. Now she’s trapped between loyalty and truth, two men with different agendas, and an island she swore to protect. Darkness is rising. Magic is awakening. But her people are dying. Tara must become the Paladin she was destined to be or lose everything she loves.