This is Volume 2. Look for Volume 1 in the series for more great stories!When the world falls apart, when civilization collapses, when life as we know it ends, our greatest terrors becomes real. Perhaps it's nuclear war with its poisonous radiation, hideous plagues or chemical contamination, rogue artificial intelligences controlling killer robots, or zombies that turn our friends and neighbors into inhuman monsters. What can the common man or woman do in the face of apocalyptic fears?Apocalyptic Fears I and II are collections of bestselling, award-winning or just plain exciting stories by some of the best independent authors of today.Knights and Demons: Tanshuku by Greg DragonSurviving the apocalypse means staying clear of monsters. 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.Massacre at Lonesome Ridge: A Zombie Western by Samantha WarrenSheriff 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, led by Charity Banks, very unhappy transplant to the west, have other plans for him.You Will Be Like God by Steve StrobleIn 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.Ink: Red, by Al K. LineThe needle buzzed. The nightmare began. Strapped to a gurney, Edsel watched in horror as they tattooed his entire body bright red. His captors were overconfident; he escaped, only to be chased across the ravaged city.Numbers Game by Rebecca RodeTreena isn't sure she wants to be Rated anymore. This number will brand her forever. But Rating Day comes and her number is announced-and it shocks everyone.Swarmers by R. V. DoonA lethal virus with no known cure is awakened in a secret lab and goes airborne. Their world is forever altered, and the stunned survivors must keep fighting for their very existence.Thrown Away, Parts 1-3 by Glynn JamesAmong the remnants of mankind 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.The Flense: China by Saul TanpepperA fiery train crash in northern China. A sinking off the Libyan coast. Villagers vanish in Ghana. 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.Zombie Maneuvers by Griffin CarmichaelBefore 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 brutal man who used and abused her.The Moon Dwellers by David EstesSeventeen-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 and find her family while being hunted by a deranged killing machine named Rivet.The Protectors by Ryan KingIt's been twenty years since the Great Plague.

    Losing their hearts? Not without a fight. Lady Vedma wakes on an unknown spaceship with a tattooed mystery man beside her. There's a dead alien on the deck and empty cryo-bins nearby. When her bunkmate rouses, Vedma recognizes him. Just her luck, he's the one man who can ruin her plans, but only if he can capture her hardened heart. Dyr's head throbs. Waking from cryo-sleep and getting kidnapped is bad enough. Add in Lady Vedma, the anathema of the Teras Dominion, and few things could be worse. But try telling that to his battered and aroused body—or his aching heart. Left on a derelict ship in the outer reaches of known space, Vedma and Dyr must rescue each other before their kidnappers return and jeopardize their precious future. Sarda is a prequel novella in The Ladyships series. This science fiction romance has action, humor, tender moments, and steamy close encounters. Contains explicit themes and is intended for adults only. No cheating. No cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed.

    An experimental medicine. A clinic full of feral patients.As a college freshman, I can’t wait for my first day of class. But when my routine health exam turns into a medical emergency, my dreams become a nightmare.And as my past tumbles back into the present, I’m horrified when patients devolve into animals and attack the medical staff. Desperate to find my way back to consciousness and safety, my anxiety holds tight and doesn’t go away.Will my life go back to normal, or are these terrors here forever?Strange Start is the short story prequel that portends the catastrophic zombie apocalypse to come in the Jane Zombie Chronicles. Reading this hair-raising, first-hand account of a brave survivor reveals the soul-stirring plight of those caught in the epicenter of the madness.Sink your teeth into Strange Start now!

    If he had his way, he'd be working closer to home, on a planet where it wasn't so infernally hot... But orders are orders, especially when they come from the very top. If he's going to be on Earth for the long term, Iskar needs to learn more about its strange inhabitants. That's why he's reluctantly agreed to hit the streets of Darkside. It's an observational visit, nothing more. So why has this blue-haired temptress targeted him of all people, and what is he going to do about it? Criminals must be punished, and Iskar has always done things by the book. A Darkside Interlude is a novella set after the Dark Planet Warriors series. It can be read as a standalone, but it'll probably make more sense if you read the original series first.

    With good reason--he's one of the elite Tyger navigators trusted to bring ships like Orion through the deadly asteroid belts around his home planet, and he's the best … until he shifts into a feral half-man, half-cat with only one thing on his mind. They'll never make it to safety, unless they bring him the one woman who ran from him.Calla Fellura is a novice interpreter. The young Tyger loves her job on this state-of-the-art space cruise ship, but she's in uncharted territory when it comes to Jag. The virile alpha can have any woman he wants--why would he choose the naïve, shy female who turned their first hookup into a snarling disaster, humiliating him in front of his entire planet? Unless she’s the only one of his kind available.This time, she'll have to stay… and let him take her any way he wants.* This novella, first published in 2008, has been re-written with added material. *

    so why can't she keep her hands off him?A junior nurse aboard the Combined Fleet Ship Valkyrie, Samara's days are usually filled with minor bumps and scraps and the occasional health or workspace check. But when a dangerous prisoner is transferred aboard, she finds herself on brig duty. Dealing with the big, lethal looking military grade cyborg should be terrifying, but one look into his green eyes and she can't think of anything other than what his big, hard body would look like under the grey ship suit...She's small, soft...and his enemy. He should keep his hands to himself and forget her. Captured and en route to a medical facility for dissection and study, cyborg Lyon expects nothing but pain and degradation from his captors. But Samara isn't like the others, treating his wounds with care and igniting a fire deep within. When she neglects to ensure his cuffs are locked tight, all hell breaks loose. A hot, sensual hell against the cell wall. When his team arrives, Lyon knows he should walk away...but he can't. His little human has gotten under his skin. He'll take her as payment for his suffering, keep her in his bed and pleasure them both for as long as he has breath left in his body.However, the universe, and the Fleet, have other ideas. A tracker on board brings a horde of fleet ships down on their heads. Can Lyon and Samara survive betrayal, a fleet attack and their own suspicions, or will their happily ever after disintegrate under fire? NB: THIS TITLE WAS PREVIOUSLY RELEASED WITH ANOTHER PUBLISHER AND HAS NOT BEEN SUBSTANTIALLY ALTERED OR EDITED IN ANY WAY.

    Please see author Penn Cassidy for new edition plus continuation of the series.

    To make ends meet, Dane and his crew take up mercenary jobs. Yet wherever they go, trouble never seems to be far behind.On what should have been a routine cargo delivery, the ship is forced to make an unexpected pit-stop on the barren wastelands of Earth. There Dane meets a young man with no name or past, whose only companion is a leopard by the name of Spot. Feeling a connection to him, Dane takes the duo onto his ship, unaware of the trouble he has invited in.When the young man's memories begin to surface, Dane leads his crew across space in search of a hidden past, to a backwater planet where something is very amiss.Original Prompt:Dear Author,He was wrong, that's why his family left him on Earth. It was for his own good. The Elders would have taken him away, tried to 'fix' him. It wasn't safe for him on his home world, ever.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is Always Write" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    Previously difficult for readers to discover in its new modes, urban fantasy is represented here in all three of its distinct styles—playful new mythologies, sexy paranormal romances, and gritty urban noir. Whether they feature tattooed demon-hunters, angst-ridden vampires, supernatural gumshoes, or pixelated pixies, these authors—including Patricia Briggs, Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint—mash-up traditional fare with pop culture, creating iconic characters, conflicted moralities, and complex settings. The result is starkly original fiction that has broad-based appeal and is immensely entertaining.ContentsIntroduction by Peter S. Beagle Mythic FictionIntroduction: “A Personal Journey Into Mythic Fiction” by Charles de Lint “A Bird That Whistles” by Emma Bull“Make a Joyful Noise” by Charles de Lint“The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman“On the Road to New Egypt” by Jeffrey Ford“Julie’s Unicorn” by Peter S. BeagleParanormal RomanceIntroduction: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Urban Fantasy” by Paula Guran “Companions to the Moon” by Charles de Lint“A Haunted House of Her Own” by Kelley Armstrong“She’s My Witch” by Norman Partridge“Kitty’s Zombie New Year” by Carrie Vaughn“Seeing Eye” by Patricia Briggs“Hit” by Bruce McAllister “Boobs” by Suzy McKee Charnas “Farewell, My Zombie” by Francesca Lia BlockNoir FantasyIntroduction: “We Are Not a Club, but We Sometimes Share a Room” by Joe R. Lansdale “The White Man” by Thomas M. Disch“Gestella” by Susan Palwick“The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” by Holly Black“Talking Back to the Moon” by Steven R. Boyett“On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks” by Joe R. Lansdale“The Bible Repairman” by Tim Powers“Father Dear” by Al Sarrantonio

    Can this checkout girl learn how to survive in a world full of zombies?Tabitha Alexander is an 18 year old that has just graduated from high school. Working as a checkout girl in the small town of Pleasant, her long-term goals for the future don't go beyond enjoying the upcoming summer and enjoying her freedom.Fate has something else in store for her, though.One night, right before closing time, her world is turned completely inside out with the first screams and sounds of gunfire that tear through the dark night. Nothing will ever be the same again..... If they even survive.This is book one in a new series called, Territory of the Dead. Best suited for ages 16 and over.This book tells you how the nightmare began...... Pleasant will never be the same again.

    Must be comfortable with the mystical and at home with haunted spirits. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you.) Previous buyers haven’t lasted the night— will you be the one to tame the teeming shadows of this lovely Victorian mansion?Will Ryan and Davis survive the ghosts of the Maberly sisters to win a shot at owning this historic inn? Or do they have a ghost of a chance at finding something else entirely? When things go bump in the night at this inn, it might just be the headboard...LGBT Romance Short Story approx 18k words.

    Her fears come to fruition when a sudden storm capsizes their boat, rekindling her old terror. She awakens to a rescuer who is anything but human - and he refuses to let her go. Treated like a curiosity and a possession, she's desperate to go home. Yet Macy is undeniably drawn to this strange creature. Can she give up her old life, her family and friends, to embrace this adventure… and Jax? Her Saviour And Her Captor... Jax the Wanderer is a hunter, an explorer, and an oddity among his kind. While other kraken are content near their dens, Jax is driven by a deep need to journey far and wide, discovering the unknown corners of the sea. Macy challenges everything he's known; she is the most alluring creature he's ever seen on his travels. He must possess her, though he knows it can only end in disaster. How much is he willing to forsake for the female he desires?

    It will take all his connections and strength to protect Lana and keep from falling in love with her.

    An elite Special Forces unit has known they exist for over a hundred years, and has been quietly and expertly keeping the monsters at bay… until now. The sole survivor of the massacre at Fall Creek joins this elite unit to combat the single greatest threat our world has ever known. Even as victories over the walkers mount, true evil still lurks in the hearts of men, and at the last, only a brave few may survive. A character-driven series similar to The Walking Dead on AMC, the first book, The Dying of the Light: End was a Top 5 Finalist in Kindle Book Review's “Best Indie Books of 2012” competition. The sequel, Interval, was a Top 5 Finalist in 2013. The final book in the series, Beginning is now available!

    Raf struggles to keep his thoughts about her private, but secrets are something that only zeros like Kira can keep. As he works up the nerve to ask Kira to the mindware Games, his friends have other games in mind for him.Mind Games is Raf’s origin story.MINDJACK: KIRAOpen Minds (Mindjack: Kira Book One)Closed Hearts (Mindjack: Kira Book Two)Free Souls (Mindjack: Kira Book Three)MINDJACK: ZEPHLocked Tight (Mindjack: Zeph Book One)Cracked Open (Mindjack: Zeph Book Two)Broken Wide (Mindjack: Zeph Book Three)