by Kristin Lennox Dr Shepherd gently covered the body, the sheet blossoming red over the eyes and mouth. Exhausted, he spoke into a hand-held recorder. “Patient 47 entered end-stage I-GRID after experiencing continued seizure activity throughout the night. Death was rapid following complete organ failure.” “This concludes the Thymenozine trials, as Patient 47 was our […]
by Liam Hogan It was easy to catch and we willingly caught it. A disease that consumed fat, leaving us pounds, stones, lighter. Spread by saliva, spread by touch; tables of finger food which the infected browsed before everyone else tucked in. Epidemiologists threw up their hands in horror at these super-spread parties, but weren’t […]
by Louisa King Lena couldn’t bring herself to swallow any more of them, despite their sugary coating. Even scorched black and long dead, the thought of them scuttling down her throat persisted. But four years of post-flood crop blight and stem rot disease had left little choice in the supermarkets. She stroked her nascent bump, […]
by Katherine Sankey The winter was the harshest the village had seen. Drifts choked the houses. Blizzards blew. Each home was isolated and fearful of the howling at night. Desperate to feed his wife and child, Bram dared to go out and hunt. He returned late that night with a large wolf, which he had […]
by Fred W. Barlowe Dennis stood on the hilltop and surveyed the endless forest. Stars flickered through the darkening twilight. To his left he heard panting and turned to find a man stumbling towards him. “Do you know…how to get out of…this hell?” “Hell? This beautiful land?” “Every night there’s a full moon…” The man […]
by Megan Larson Crack. Snap. Squelch. Bones break. Intestines writhe into place as I take on the small dog’s shape. “Buddy?” Lydia’s call echoes. I’ve studied them for weeks. Buddy wouldn’t bark, wouldn’t linger. No, he’d run straight into her arms. So, I run. Lydia waits with the door open as I emerge from the […]
by Kat Leeshue Upon the rocky shores stood a lighthouse. A beacon. I crawl onto the shores first, leaving my scales for the pearly skin the men love so much. The waves try to draw me back, but to go back means starvation—and I will not die with an empty belly. With new legs, I […]
by Kristin Lennox Charlie peeked through the kitchen door: his mother was at the stove, humming, stirring a tantalising garlic tomato sauce, by the aroma. Sneaking up behind her, Charlie zapped her with the taser. Duct-taped to a chair, the creature thrashed, flashing rapidly through forms like a vintage home movie: Charlie’s mother, Grandma Ruth, […]
by Ann Wuehler I shivered inside my human skin. My mother fell to the floor, my father bending over her, his belt in his fist. She took several blows, hiding her face, quiet, not even grunting as my father would strike harder if she whimpered. My face grew a snout. My body bent, locked into […]
by Sara Omer When the hunger clouds my mind, I disappear into the woods, putting distance between my wife and the wolf. I lose myself in my transformation, pushing my lupine muscles to exertion. Exercise soothes my rage, but nothing satisfies my appetite except hunting. I pick up the scent of blackberries and musk. I […]