Apocalypse Survival

The year I hit rock bottom, I got sucked into a game. The rule was to survive a week on 50 dollars, and the winner would walk away with one million dollars. Everyone else was desperate to win, but I was the only one trying to escape. What they did not know was that I was the previous round's winner, and killing me meant they could steal my 500 million dollars.

Esme Wynter’s marriage to Lennox Mercer was written like a business plan. He gave her protection and power; she gave him peace and a convenient alliance. She told herself she didn’t need love. He made it clear he didn’t believe in it. But when the test site collapsed, Lennox threw himself over her without hesitation— and Esme’s last memory was his heartbeat against hers before everything went dark. When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by blinding white light, unable to move forward, and unable to return. Then a guide told her she and him were not fated, and their connection had become a curse, one that doomed them both whenever they tried to love. And then came the rules: You must not fall in love with him. You must ensure he finds his destined partner in each lifetime. You must not intervene beyond your designated role. Break them, and one—or both—will die. Fail all five lifetimes, and your souls would be erased forever. Each time Esme awakens, she forgets the last. Each time, she meets him again— as a king, a freedom fighter, a general, a mercenary. And each time, her heart betrays her before her mind can remember. And in his own distant eyes, there is the hidden craving for her love, like a man trying to recall a dream he’s not supposed to have. She was never meant to fall for him again. But perhaps… he never stopped loving her.

When the apocalypse struck, Ray Morley was brutally murdered and eaten by his wife's family. Only in his dying moments did he learn the cruel truth—his beloved son wasn't his own flesh and blood. He had been nothing more than a pathetic stand-in, a fool used and discarded. But fate gave him another chance. Reborn three months before the end of the world, Ray awakened to find himself in possession of an enormous, otherworldly storage space. This time, he wasted no time—he divorced his venomous wife, won a massive lottery prize, stormed into the stock market, and earned billions. He built fortified shelters and hoarded mountains of supplies. In this new life, he would make his ex-wife and her family pay—every last one of them. No more groveling. No more weakness. This time, Ray would rise above it all.

As a zombie outbreak spreads across the world, my boyfriend insists on delaying our evacuation so his drama-queen childhood sweetheart can catch the last rescue chopper. However, this is the last evacuation after the outbreak, and our team's only chance to survive. When she still doesn't show up, I knock my boyfriend out and haul him onto the helicopter. In the end, his childhood sweetheart is devoured by the surging horde, while I seize the opportunity to escape and start a peaceful, quiet life with him in the safe zone. The night before I am to take command and lead a massive counterattack against the undead, my boyfriend laces my drink with a tranquilizer and dumps me into a swarm of zombies. Thousands of zombies tear me apart, and I die in excruciating pain. He stands on the fortress wall, a cold smile on his lips. "Had you not been so selfish, Esmeralda would've survived. Now, you'll experience her suffering and atone with your life!" Given a second chance at life, I wake up on the day my boyfriend refused to evacuate on time. Since he's so determined to stand by his childhood sweetheart through thick and thin, I'll make sure they both become zombie food!

Our entire class gets dragged into The Tyrant's Atonement game. The only way to escape alive is to reach a 100% atonement score. The system lets us choose our roles. The class belle, Isolde Adler, picks the tyrant's first love. Her atonement score shoots straight to 99% on the first day. The class president, Asher Brooks, chooses to be a loyal chancellor. His atonement score jumps to 80%. Spectators watching the game flood the screen with comments. "This new batch is smart and way better at picking roles than the last. They might just clear the game in three days." "Even if just one person hits 100%, the whole class goes free. I'm looking forward to seeing who finishes first." "My money's on the first love. She's already at 99%." Just as everyone starts celebrating, the next morning hits us with bad news. All 20 classmates who picked their roles are dead, and Isolde suffers the cruelest fate of all.

During a long holiday, my husband booked flights for a family vacation. On the way to the airport, I suddenly saw numbers appearing on everyone’s head. The numbers on my husband’s head indicated sixty years, but my parents and I had only six hours indicated on our heads. While I was puzzled over the meaning of those numbers, I noticed that the driver next to us only had six seconds indicated over his head through the car window. Five… Four… Three… Two… One. When the number turned zero, a massive truck immediately rammed into the car next to us. I saw flickers of fire, flesh and blood exploding before my eyes. People were screaming for help, but I could not hear anything. I trembled as cold sweat drenched my entire body. It was because my flight would be taking off in six hours.

The entire world froze. Overnight, the city plunged to –40 °F. Yet, in the middle of this frozen apocalypse, my mother, my sister and her son moved into the home I bought for my marriage. Even my own husband took my sister’s side. They threw me out into the freezing cold to scavenge for supplies. I came back frozen half to death, and they had not even saved me a bowl of warm soup. Then, my sister shoved me straight off the fifth-floor landing. In that bitter cold, my body hit the ground and shattered like glass. When I woke again, I found myself back in the week before the apocalypse struck. This time, I resolved to cut them all off. I would make every last one of them pay.

It is the third year of the apocalypse. All water sources have been thoroughly polluted, making even a single bottle of clean water extremely rare. Every base has to send out search teams to find new water sources for all. My husband, Jasper Curran, is a geologist, and so, he is able to locate water sources that are still pure and unpolluted. However, when someone holds a knife to my throat for the last bottle of water—thinking that he will do anything to stop them—he hands the only bottle of clean water to Avery Grayson, the person who claimed she was my parents' real daughter instead of me. "Ave is thirsty. She's been suffering since she was little and she even had her parents taken by you, Arianne Grayson," Jasper says. "Just let her have the water." Jasper's expression is too calm and collected, as if my life is not on the line because of him. "They're just trying to scare you. You've enjoyed so many years of being spoiled with a luxurious lifestyle anyway. So what if you get bullied a little?" The people then kick me to the ground in a fit of rage as I watch Jasper huddle Avery into his arms and disappear into the desert. I get beaten up so hard that my chapped lips crack and start bleeding once again. I look at the menacing faces around me and quickly exclaim, "Wait, wait! I can help you find clean water too!"

Poppy died from exhaustion at work, lying helplessly on her cold desk. She died a virgin who had never been with a man, leaving behind many regrets, and because of those regrets, she was given a second chance. When Poppy opened her eyes again, she found that she had transmigrated to another world. She was overjoyed and intended to find a handsome man in this new world. However, all of Poppy's hopes were shattered when she realized that this world was in the midst of an Apocalypse! [Welcome to the Virgin Survival Guide System!] [To survive in this frozen world, the Host must seek warmth from the affection of others. If the Warmth Meter reaches zero, the Host will die.] Poppy was stunned, not only did she have to survive in the middle of a frozen world, but now her life was also in danger!

‎I died on Christmas Eve. ‎Betrayed by the man I gave everything to, poisoned by my own sister, and mocked for loving too deeply, death should have been my end. Instead, it became my beginning. ‎ ‎When I wake up in a blood-soaked alley, a cold voice welcomes me to the “Demon Games" —a brutal survival arena where one hundred humans fight monstrous trials for a chance at rebirth. The prize? Ten years of life restored… and one impossible wish. ‎ ‎I am weak. Near-blind. Unwanted. ‎But someone keeps saving me. ‎He wears a mask, smells of danger, and commands fear without speaking. They call him a demon. A king. A monster. ‎And worst of all—he claims I belong to him. ‎ ‎As the games grow deadlier and the audience thirsts for blood, I uncover a terrifying truth: the man protecting me is the “Lycan King" , an overlord bound by rules that demand my death. ‎ ‎In a world where love is forbidden and survival demands sacrifice, I must choose— escape hell alone… or drag the king down with me. ‎