Apocalyptic Fears II: Select Bestsellers: A Multi-Author Box Set Read online

  APOCALYPTIC FEARS

  Volume II

  Select Bestsellers:

  A Multi-Author Box Set

  Reaper Press

  Dear Reader:

  You’re looking at the first page of a lot of good stuff: over a million words, around three thousand Kindle pages of fiction, by eleven talented independent or small-press authors. The stories range from straightforward apocalyptic adventure about the chaos after a nuclear war through twisted dystopian societies, zombie attacks, westerns, modern fantasies and cities full of plagues. In fact, along with its companion volume, Apocalyptic Fears I, there isn’t much in the genre that isn’t covered.

  Some works are violent, others “merely” psychologically disturbing. You’ll find some sex and rough language in a number of them, while others you could read to your children – if you dared. Some are written in British-style English, but most are in American English. Each author has his or her own style, so I hope you take the books as they stand. If you don’t like one, move on to the next, secure in the knowledge that you’re still getting great value for your dollar, your euro, or your pound sterling. The beauty of this buffet of fiction is that there’s something for everyone, and I sincerely hope you’ll discover at least one new favorite author here.

  Cheers, and happy reading!

  – David VanDyke, Reaper Press

  All works copyright © 2012-2015 by their respective authors. All material within this anthology, “Apocalyptic Fears II” not copyrighted by the respected authors is copyright © 2015 by David VanDyke and Reaper Press. All rights reserved, except those specifically granted to this anthology. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the authors’ imaginations or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, except for brief excerpts for the purpose of review or quotation, without permission in writing from the respective author.

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  Table of Contents

  Knights and Demons: Tanshuku

  Massacre at Lonesome Ridge: A Zombie Western

  You Will Be Like God

  Ink: Red

  Numbers Game

  Swarmers

  Thrown Away

  The Flense: China

  Zombie Maneuvers

  The Moon Dwellers

  No Kinda Life

  The Protectors

  Reaper's Run

  Knights and Demons: Tanshuku © 2015 by Greg Dragon

  Years of martial arts training never prepared nineteen-year-old Alysia Knight for the battle she has to face. War is raging in the streets of New Jersey, and surviving the apocalypse means staying clear of monsters preying on the citizens. As a teen, Alysia never dreamed her first years as an adult would be spent fighting demons. However, as the chosen warrior of the Turevila, she must defeat them in order to save the world.

  This Omnibus contains the five books that compose Knights and Demons, Season One.

  Knights and Demons is an urban fantasy, action/adventure, about one woman's struggle to save a world besieged by demons.

  Massacre at Lonesome Ridge: A Zombie Western, © 2014 by Samantha Warren

  Don't stop. Don't look back. Just RUN.

  Sheriff Connor McClane would like the world to leave him in peace at the bottom of the bottle he's crawled into. Unfortunately an army of the undead, lead by Charity Banks, former debutante and very unhappy transplant to the west, have other plans for him.

  In order to save the town he's sworn to protect, McClane will have to find it within himself to stand up to an enemy unlike any he's faced before. And when those he loves become embroiled in the zombie battle, and the lines between love and duty become blurred, the sheriff will face his toughest challenge yet.

  You Will Be Like God, © 2015 by Steve Stroble

  In 2095, being a parent is complicated but eliminating grandchildren is profitable. Bud Lee believes he has proof that his boss is plotting to decide Earth's fate by recruiting surrogate children into a think tank named The Club. Only one other agrees to help him: a ghost writer convinced that computers control him, Bud, and everyone else.

  Family relationships are anything but pleasant for the unlikely pair because of expectations placed upon them, so exposing a conspiracy, no matter how farfetched, is welcome relief from the constraints of a micromanaged existence. Their search for the truth eventually takes them around the world as they trace down the only ones capable of verifying Mr. Lee's story.

  Ink: Red, © 2015 by Al K. Line

  The needle buzzed. The nightmare began. Strapped to a gurney, Edsel watched in horror as they started to tattoo him bright red from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. No piece of skin would be left unmarked.

  His captors were overconfident; he escaped, only to be chased across the ravaged city as he tried to get home to Kathy before it was too late.

  She was dead. Kathy. Dear sweet Kathy. The only beautiful thing left in a world gone rogue after The Lethargy almost obliterated humanity. They’d taken her; taken everything away from him. He would have his revenge.

  Numbers Game, © 2015 by Rebecca Rode

  Treena isn't sure she wants to be Rated anymore. Sure, she's prepared for Rating Day her entire life. Sure, she's one of the top contenders in Level Three school. But this number will brand her forever—a valuable citizen, or a pathetic waste of space. And then there's the the issue of being within 100 points of her top-rated boyfriend if they'll attend the academy together.

  But Rating Day comes and her number is announced--and it shocks everyone.

  To get her life and boyfriend back, Treena must go undercover and expose a military spy. Doesn’t sound too hard, except that someone wants her dead. And then there’s Vance, the mysterious soldier with a haunted past and gorgeous brown eyes. Together, they discover a dark numbers conspiracy, one that shatters the nation’s future. Treena must join up with Vance if she is to survive the dangerous game of numbers—and the terrible war that rages within her heart.

  Swarmers, © 2013 by R. V. Doon

  A lethal virus with no known cure is awakened in a secret lab and goes airborne. When an unusual seismic event eclipses the first incident, people claim an evolutionary jump caused the twin disasters. Others call it Judgment Day. Both calamities lead to a haunting day of fear and carnage. Their world is forever altered, and the stunned survivors must keep fighting for their very existence. Night—everyone fears the looming darkness and the terror of being stalked.

  Thrown Away, Parts 1-3, © 2015 by Glynn James

  No one knows how the world died. They only know that it happened centuries ago. Among the remnants of mankind - the people that live and die scavenging in the ruins - it is thought that the strangers who live behind the barrier, inside their protected city, may still hold that secret. But no one taken by the hunters from the city ever comes back.

  For Jack Avery, living among the ruins of the outer zone and scavenging to survive is not the worst of nightmares. Something haunts him far more than any hunter patrol. In one short moment, two years before, something happened that changed him. Can Jack find the answer to his torment among the shattered ruins of the past?

  The Flense: China, © 2015 by Saul Tanpepper

  Hundreds die in a fiery train crash in northern China. A cargo ship smuggling refugees is los
t to calm seas off the Libyan coast. Entire villages in Ghana are abandoned overnight.

  Contracted by an apocalypse prepper group to investigate a series of seemingly disconnected global tragedies, a young freelance medical reporter, Angelique de l'Enfantine, uncovers a disturbing pattern: each event is preceded by the sudden spread of a mysterious ailment and is followed by the appearance of a man dressed in black and silver who witnesses claim is the devil himself. Are the tragedies harbingers of an impending biblical catastrophe or practice runs of a fanatical organization bent on global annihilation?

  Zombie Maneuvers, © 2015 by Griffin Carmichael

  Before the world fell apart, Janet’s life was already indistinguishable from Hell. In Connor, she’d thought she found a strong protector, someone who would take care of her.

  What she got was a controlling, brutal man who used and abused her. She felt trapped by her choices and the ravening dead, until the two joined up with some other survivors.

  Something changes in Janet as she travels with the group in search of a safe haven. Faced with the horrors of a zombie apocalypse, she begins to see a better path, if she just has the courage to take it.

  The Moon Dwellers, © 2013 by David Estes

  In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind is forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.

  After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

  Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

  No Kinda Life, © 2012 by Ryan King

  When the world as we know it falls, the New Texas Republic rises to face the harsh realities of holding civilization together, one town at a time. Such is the task before Austin Reynolds, Texas Ranger, as he rides into the community of New Hope where a shifty-eyed mayor, his alluring and beautiful assistant, and a blind prophesying preacher complicate an inevitable battle against wild northern raiders.

  The Protectors, © 2013 by Ryan King

  It’s been twenty years since the Great Plague. In a few months, Teal will turn sixteen and be able to Take the Chit from a Protector as so many have before her. In a cruel and dark world the Protectors supposedly keep away the violence and madness. But Teal is starting to realize that all is not what it seems, and her grandfather and mother harbor old secrets about Before and the Dark Years. As she seeks to stand for truth, Teal inadvertently sets off a chain of events that could destroy them all.

  Reaper's Run, (c) 2013 by David Vandyke

  When US Marine Sergeant Jill Repeth's blown-off legs begin to regenerate, she thinks it's a medical miracle. But the breakthrough that heals her war injuries is exactly what the government desperately wants to quash - by any means necessary. Hunted, she must cross an America wracked by strife to try to find a family who may already be dead, searching for the inhuman secret of what started it all.

  Reaper's Run is an origins story and apocalyptic novel, the beginning of one warrior's journey from tactical cop to freedom fighter and beyond. It leads the reader into the acclaimed Plague Wars futuristic thriller series.

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  Knights and Demons: Tanshuku

  GREG DRAGON

  BOOK 1

  And Then There Were Giants

  “He’s coming to our school; Tavi Michaels is coming to our school!”

  Alysia Knight and Lisa Cheung could not contain their excitement at the prospect. One of the most controversial figures of their generation was coming to the University to give a lecture.

  It was strange that a school as mired in tradition as Ellen Lok University would allow Tavi Michaels to step foot on their campus, but Lisa was a Journalism major, and she had gotten the scoop from a reliable source.

  The two girls planned to be some of the first students Tavi would encounter. Alysia had her trusty camera, and Lisa had her recorder, ready to capture anything that Tavi would say to them. She wondered if the police would escort him or if he would be alone. It was so exciting!

  At the front of the class, their professor had his back turned so he didn’t notice that the girls had slipped out. Lisa’s lookout had sent a text to her, saying, “Tavi’s entourage just pulled up,” so the heavyset girl snatched Alysia by the arm and pulled her out of class.

  She was intent on catching the icon before the other students swarmed him. They began to sprint. The University was large and the Journalism class was quite a distance from the entrance.

  As they ran, Alysia thought about Tavi and wondered if he would be willing to take a photograph with her.

  She was still in mid-thought when a firm tremor threw her and Lisa to the ground. Lisa looked disoriented as her recorder lay broken next to her and she began to panic. A second tremor came, but this time with an explosion, and before they could react, a large man pulled them to their feet. He retrieved their items before pointing back the way they had come.

  “RUN!” He shouted at them before taking off. People were rushing past them and Alysia feared injury if they didn’t join in the escape.

  “Those were explosions. Did Tavi do something at the entrance of the school?” Alysia asked between breaths as they ran from corridor to corridor.

  “He would never do that!” Lisa said. “If anything, someone attacked him, or tried to set him up for failure.” She was not having an easy time running and Alysia felt sorry for her.

  They broke into the center of the school where walkways lay crisscrossed amid a field of grass. Another explosion shook the school, and some of the bricks from the student hall broke off and fell into their midst. The refuse injured a few people, but in the chaos and the panic, no one stopped to help them.

  Everyone seemed intent on getting to the rear of the school, even though it dropped off into the sea. This realization gave Alysia pause and she veered away to investigate. Lisa joined a group of students running down the stairs towards the beach, not realizing that her classmate was gone. Alysia needed to see what was causing the explosions so she headed through the library and up to the roof.

  The roof of the University was in the style of an old medieval castle, and it was a running joke that the architect had loved ancient mythology. They had a centaur for a mascot and there were brass sculptures of nymphs all over.

  When she got to the rooftop something whizzed past her, and then one of the taller towers exploded. Loose stones and debris began to fall and Alysia ran to where she could see other people hunkered down behind the battlements. It seemed as if the attack was coming from the sea. What sort of sense would that make? she thought as she ran with her head down.

  Another shot flew above her head and smashed into the stairs, causing the entire building to shake. She wondered if Lisa had made it to the beach and whispered a silent prayer, begging her to be okay. She poked her head up to look over the ocean, her curiosity getting the better of her.

  The sky was on fire, its color a bright crimson, broken only by dark clouds that floated over the setting sun. It was near noon, according to her watch, but here was the sun, trying to retreat just like everyone else.

  Below the fiery sky were four ships, unlike any she had ever seen before.

  “Am I dreaming?” Alysia asked aloud as she saw what the ships were fighting.

  Within the ocean were three giants. These large, ugly, humanoid behemoths were swatting at the ships and shielding themselves from the missiles.

  “Oh my, and then there were giants,” she said, and sat back behind the battlements to think things over. It h
ad to be a dream. Why would there be giants fighting strange ships in the year 2048? What sort of sense did that even make? Why were the ships firing their cannons towards a University where America’s future studied?

  She looked again just to be certain, and a missile took a part of the wall off near where she knelt, causing her to fall back hard and twist her ankle. She crawled towards the hole where the earlier missile had broken up the stairs. She needed to get to the beach with everyone else; lower ground seemed to be the safest.

  Alysia got up, limped to the ruined staircase, and made her way to the bottom. She glanced up at the sky and saw it was overcast, where just an hour before it had been sunny. Dark clouds were forming a mass, as if they gathered to bear witness to the absurdity that the fight in the sea was.

  She reached the sand below the University steps and another missile hit the battlements on the roof. This time, the explosion was epic. Stone took to the air like hail, and the people on the beach were horrified as it fell within their ranks, killing some and injuring even more.