The After Novels & Stories

" The pharmacist was frantic, shouting, but I might as well have been deaf. Had he not known I was her mother, he might have thought I was a criminal. I bought some bandages and painkillers from him and headed home. To my surprise, Laura was awake only three hours later, tearless and pain-free. At the same time, Alicia's live stream had come to a halt because her phone overheated and shut down, and she could not keep up with the broadcast. Nonetheless, Tony had genuinely walked across half a desert. Alicia became an instant sensation with a million followers.

I noticed only the approaching, blinding light, and I closed my eyes, not wanting to witness my entry into the afterlife, if this indeed was heaven and I was truly gone. "Celeste!" I froze. My heart rate slowed. When I reopened my eyes, I was left speechless as Arik stood before me, swiftly removing the bomb strapped to my body along with the chains. I saw and heard him commanding his men to defuse the bomb outside, and I spotted the black Ford Raptor behind him, its high beams casting a brilliant glow. I wasn't dead. I was still here. "Oh, God. Fuck it!"

She rolled her eyes but put the gun on its stand. ‘It is unloaded, and the safety is on. It isn’t my first time holding a gun.’ She said, reaching for the MRE packets and reading them. I went to the small bathroom and checked the faucet and lo and behold there was running water still. Alice came to see when she heard the sound of water. ‘What is that place?’ She signed her eyes wide with wonder and excitement. I chuckled. “I think this place belonged to one of those survivalists, but I guess he wasn’t living in this world anymore.” Alice hummed and went back to the supply room.

I know that it has taken me a long time to get to this point but I'm ready now. I'm not even sure who the leader of this pack is. I don't even think they have one. The pack is having a meeting to decide on its future. It has been a week since the attack. It has been so quiet. Those that were injured are finally healing with the power of Landon and me. We healed all those that we were able to. There were innocent lives lost but their lives will be celebrated.

She stared at me for a while and shrugged. 'If you want'. And with that she turned and headed back to where she came from. Maybe it won't be so bad after all. I smiled. ¶•¶•¶•¶

Sebastian Morrison was the most famous fireworks designer in the world. We'd been together for seven years, and countless times, I'd hinted that I wanted a fireworks show that belonged only to me. Every time, he just ruffled my hair. "Next time it's your birthday," he'd say, "I'll design you the most beautiful one yet." The night of my birthday, I rushed to the beach, my heart full of anticipation. Instead, I found Sebastian standing under a sky full of fireworks, his arms wrapped around Victoria Grey. The fireworks burst over the water, dazzling, like a dream. Just not one that belonged to me. I stood frozen at the edge of the crowd. Someone nearby laughed and said, "I heard this des

We ate berries that tasted of sunlight and memory. This was not an afterlife. It was an after. The chapter that comes after the story's climax, the quiet denouement that is often skipped but is, in its way, the most important part of all. It was the living embodiment of the rest we had given the Astropheles.

He says my name knowing it will rile me up because he and everyone in the clubhouse has seen me get pissed off with Killer when he uses my name. “Leave my chick alone, she's on a roll,” I hear After tell Zero and a small smile creeps in as I carry on walking toward the trees. Maybe she isn't so bad. The red bead on the grass almost goes unnoticed as I step into the small forest of trees. After is the one who picks it up with a tissue in her hand. Zero steps forward and my eyes take in his cut, and the snake eyes on his back feel like they're staring daggers at me. While the pistol reminds me of all the deaths I have to my name.

The day after forty-five is a Wednesday. She runs at six-fifteen. Same circuit, same park, same plane trees in October, going gold at their own pace. The birthday is behind her. Life continues. This is the thing she most wanted to know about forty-five: not the arrival — she has been thinking about the arrival for twenty-four years — but what comes after it. In the first life, there was no after. Forty-five was the end. In the second life, forty-five is a landmark in the middle of something still happening, and the day after it is the first day of the rest of the second life with the full view from the landmark available.

“Okay.” The rest of the night went on without incident. We watched the bands and hung out with our friends. Z and I hung out and talked a little bit throughout the night, but mostly did our own thing. Once the last band finished, we were all finishing up our drinks and planning on what to do after. Hannah had shown up about 30 minutes into the first bands set. I had noticed her hanging around or all over Z a few times tonight. I tried not to think much of it, but I could barely contain my eyerolls at her overly friendly behavior. “You are heading home Ash?”