Skip to content

Month: March 2026

Rules for Survival

Published by Sandra Lloyd Lewis on March 23, 2026

There’s a buzz in the outer hall, echoing around its rock walls and bouncing the urgent whispers from the low ceiling and Ash watches the advance scout, Morgan, just back from patrol, as she imparts her news to the those nearest the tunnel mouth. Whatever it is, its big, her gestures frantic, her mouth moving fast and people huddle around her, heads bent to catch the words.  Ash hangs back, comforted by the weight of rock, solid at her back, as the group passes the news from person to person, each mouth opening in shock, before passing the message on. Ash is tense and even before the news reaches her, she catches fragmented echoes: The Day patrol are coming back, wounded. Then: only one of them is wounded. And another: No, no-one is wounded; but they have someone with them. As the news approaches, she hears the dread word uttered but dismisses it, until she feels Ayla’s hot breath against her ear and she can’t avoid it: Outsider.

Continue readingRules for Survival

Escape

Published by Janet Johnson on March 23, 2026

Laura watched the children playing happily with the large, brightly coloured building bricks in the dim light; Poppy patiently helping her baby brother to build a tower as tall as she could, before he knocked it down with delight. She marvelled at how well Poppy had adapted to their new life and, for George, the only life he had ever known, but she worried about them constantly. They had been underground far longer than either Joe or she had anticipated and been prepared for, but they knew from the reports that reached them sporadically that they had to hold on for as long as they could. She had rationed the food and water for the last year, but the children were starting to show signs of malnutrition. Their skin was becoming translucent, anaemic-looking, they were increasingly lethargic, and they were so thin.  She knew in her heart that if they were to have any chance of survival, it wouldn’t be long before they had no option but to leave the safety of the bunker and face the horrors above ground. Hopefully, they had bought themselves enough time.

Continue readingEscape

The Final Battle

Published by Jason Davies-Redgrave on March 23, 2026

by Jason

This is part of the final battle sequence (!) These Peck scenes will be intercut with scenes where Emyr confronts Gloam and The Herald, Jynn and The Fang fight S’Uba.

Peck stepped over the threshold and realised that Emyr had vanished. This was not the plan. There was a moment of panic and then the nexus caught hold of Peck and carried her out and away from The Circle. The universe opened up a new conduit, just for her and catapulted her across the stars. Shifting chromatic patterns propelled her down a long narrow tunnel. The universe opened itself and expanded in every direction, revealing layers of sound and energy she had not sensed before. The tunnel she travelled down pierced the fabric of the universe, crossing into another realm where it passed through layer after layer of primal song till the stars blinked out and Peck flew on through an electric darkness. There were no reference points for her to cling to. If it had not been for the nexus force that still gripped her body Peck would have though she had stopped moving all together.

Continue readingThe Final Battle

The End of the Road – Martyn

Published by Martyn Winters on March 2, 2026

Part 1: Yasuk

At the edge of the village, the abandoned gallows stood silent, their ropes stirring in the desert breeze. The creaking wooden frame had bleached and cracked, its knots swollen with age. Doctor Muhammad Hosseini watched the ropes sway and wondered if anyone would use them again.

Since the world beyond the village had vanished, crime had dwindled to something barely perceptible. Greed and anger were never gone, but muted, like a low insect hum fading into the heat. In its wake, fear remained. Not panic, but something graver.

In the first days after the silence, men kept to the shadows while women drew their veils tighter and children slipped between houses without playing. Their laughter, once spilling through the streets had drained away, leaving the village muted and watchful. Even now, the air felt tense, as if it were waiting for something to happen.

After the lynching of the local platoon of Faith Guards, most crimes no longer seemed to matter. People increasingly forgot central authority, as it had collapsed into memory and, like the world beyond the hills, fewer people spoke of it each day. Now they spoke of it only in hushed tones, afraid it might return, and perhaps even more afraid it wouldn’t.

Continue readingThe End of the Road – Martyn

You cannot copy content of this page