Karma by Zack Zagranis
A twisted game of revenge where every choice can be your last.
Take It
by Jacqueline Moran Meyer
Dad and I hid underneath a burned-out hovercraft, taking cover from the drone spraying us with hydrocarbon needles, which not only kill but turn the dead into fuel for the Cyborg’s vehicles.
“Take it,” Dad murmured after being hit.
When he died and transformed, I rummaged through his remains, swiping my hands over the slick oily goo, searching for his life’s work. Finding the chip, I ran through the destroyed city clutching Dad’s creation, humanity’s lifesaver.
While sprinting towards the tunnel, the explosions around me intensify.
I will either reach and destroy the Cyborg’s main computer grid or die trying.
Jacqueline Moran Meyer
Jacqueline Moran Meyer lives in New York, enjoying the company of her husband and three children. She had been published in many Black Hare Press anthologies, Bewildering Stories, Iron Faerie Press anthologies, Eerie River Publishers, Blood Song Books, Flash Fiction Magazine, Grinning Skull Press, among others. Visit her website www.jmoranmeyer.net.
If Thine Eye Offend Thee by Mike Adamson
Dr Janice Meyerson confronts her most perplexing case: Carol Creed, a self-mutilating patient shaped by societal demands.
The Tyrant
by Andrew Kurtz
“I have been chosen by the people as a representative. Your tyrannical ways must cease!
“Executing women who are pregnant to avoid population increase, instead of getting an abortion, is monstrous!
“Publicly burning the old and sick alive because they are unproductive to society goes beyond inhumanity!
“The people chose you to govern us because we felt you would be beneficial to society; however, we were mistaken,” Nicholas said as he removed a shotgun from his coat.
In an instant, a blue light disintegrated him, leaving only ash.
“Your requests have been denied,” responded the computer system that ruled society.
Andrew Kurtz
Andrew Kurtz is an up-and-coming horror author who writes very graphic and ultraviolent short stories published in numerous horror anthologies. Since childhood, he has loved horror films and literature. His favourite authors are Stephen King, Clive Barker, H.G. Wells, Richard Matheson, and Edgar Allan Poe. Check his latest works here.
Watcher at the Tide by Ash Tudor
A seemingly innocent family beach day takes a turn into the uncanny when they stumble upon a mystery that defies explanation.
Danse Macabre
by Joshua D. Taylor
Max looked around the room that was covered in Jennifer’s splattered remains. He had no idea what happened. One minute he was trying out the new salsa dancing skills he had downloaded. The next thing he knew he was covered in gore.
A notification from the developer popped up in his vision: You may have received the incorrect skills with your recent purchase. Your account has been refunded.
Max scrolled through the list of new skills in the salsa dance program and saw one titled “Dismember.”
He looked around at the mess and hoped that Jennifer had a backup body.
Joshua D. Taylor
Joshua D. Taylor is an author from Southeastern Pennsylvania who does not know how to keep his stories in one genre. He lives with his wife and one-eared cat. He loves to mix-n-match things from different genres and story elements to achieve a madcap hodgepodge of the truly unexpected.
With Great Power
by Darlene Holt
When CyDocs became a thing, they needed volunteers to test out the new ware. I was among the first, opting for a cybernetic arm which promised never-before-seen strength.
I won arm wrestling contests with ease, effortlessly ripped doors from hinges, and threw blows like a sledgehammer with my fist.
One night, I challenged a stranger with neuralware processors to a fight. He hacked the arm before I could even swing. It turned on me, titanium fingers clutching my throat, constricting with every attempted breath. The stranger’s laughter lingered as the metal hand tightened, my human arm powerless to stop it.
Darlene Holt
Darlene Holt is a writer, editor, and educator. Her most recent fiction appears in Sirens Call Publications, The Raven Review, and Horror Tree’s Trembling with Fear. She especially enjoys writing drabbles with several appearing in Eerie River Publishing’s forthcoming drabble anthology Dark Magic. She currently resides in San Diego, California.
The Story of Life by Bill Davidson
Mairi MacSkimming, a seasoned anthology editor, stumbles upon a manuscript that defies her reality. As she delves into the pages of The Sgeul Beatha, she is drawn into a narrative that transcends time and space, challenging her understanding of life and destiny. The manuscript, arriving under mysterious circumstances, becomes a mirror reflecting her deepest fears and desires.
Roots
by Colleen Anderson
The layering of nanobytes into his hypodermis laced Nirved’s nerves with lava. The pain muffled him. The nanotechnologist paused.
“No,” Nirved grunted. “Continue.”
The protective barrier had been set. Planting came next.
Large swaths of jungle lay barren, plants crisping under the sun’s inferno. Trees toppled throughout countries, and oxygen thinned. People died with the trees.
At best, this experiment could save the world. At worst, Nirved would die before Earth did.
Colleen Anderson
Colleen Anderson writes fiction and poetry, and her works have appeared in such publications as Polu Texni, Pulp Horror Book of Phobias, On Spec, and Cemetery Dance. A Body of Work was published by Black Shuck Books. She lives in Vancouver, BC, where she watches for mermaids and mould monsters.
Inclusion
by N.E. Rule
My stomach growls in anticipation of the U8-rations downloading to my dwellment dispenser on sign-on.
I push down memories of Mom’s last warning during her D-leet ceremony: Don’t accept it. But living as a grid-free hacker during the Great Overpopulation is a struggle.
Employment is impossible without it. Convertors say it opens doors, literally. Also, GloBank downloads cash creds to your braindrive directly.
The SysCtrl swipes at the bloodtear after the microchip’s implanted. He smiles reassuringly as LiFi starts up. The eye-con app for D-leet registers 9125. Now that I’m assimilated to the system, I’ve ten years to break it.
N.E. Rule
N.E. Rule attended Ryerson University in Toronto for creative writing and business communications. Her writing portfolio includes software specs, marketing copy, and training materials. However, her passion is creative writing. The characters in her head are getting louder, refusing to wait for her spare time to come out and play.