Shadows of Tomorrow: 2 Post-Apocalyptic Short Stories

By Ryan Lanz

Shadows of Tomorrow features two thrilling, post-apocalyptic short stories, Only One Mask and The Price of Art.

Only One Mask:

Nob only trusts two things: his knife and his breathing mask–the latter because he has to.

Ever since the world went crazy, he feels like he’s always on the run. Running from those who want to kill you. Running from those who want your food, your water, and your only way to safely breathe.

Tricia once said he takes things too seriously. That was a long time ago. Now taking things seriously keeps him alive.

He’s used to taking what he needs without an ounce of guilt, but now he’s faced with a moral dilemma that threatens his survival. They’ve never given him pause before, but this time, it’s different.

The Price of Art:

Jordyn prefers art to friends.

She remembered thinking that growing up, and it’s still true today. Art never let her down. Art never made fun of her. And art never tried to kill her.

She didn’t ask to live in a world where paintings are used for firewood, but that’s her reality. She’s constantly told to think practically–humanity can’t afford anything but the necessities to survive anymore. But she fought back and finally found a community who lets her keep every scrap of art she finds, anything to protect them from being destroyed.

But the day finally comes where she might have to choose between her survival and the survival of her art. The world isn’t a nice place anymore, and hard choices have become a part of everyday life.

Jordyn makes her choice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ryan Lanz
• Release date: Jun 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781944598778

Ryan Lanz

Ryan Lanz was born and raised on the island of Oahu in Hawaii until he was a teenager and then lived in California for a time. He enjoyed a brief experience with film before becoming involved in the performing arts, touring with a music performance group as a vocalist to a dozen countries on three continents over the length of five years. His first published work was Unknown Sender, and he looks forward to many more in a variety of genres. He also enjoys blogging about the culture of writing and brings on guest authors to share their writing tips. For more information, go to www.RyanLanz.com or @theryanlanz on Twitter.

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Shadows of Tomorrow:

2 Post-Apocalyptic Short Stories

by Ryan Lanz

Text copyright © 2018 Ryan Lanz

All Rights Reserved

This book is licensed for personal enjoyment only and is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or deceased, or places, events, or locales are purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the author’s written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews. The person depicted on the cover is a model, not related to any of the characters or actions, and does not necessarily endorse or condone the book’s contents. Individuals pictured are used for illustrative purposes only. The materials may contain language or situations that could be deemed graphic and/or offensive by some. All situations are fiction based. The author does not necessarily advocate behavior based on the happenings in this book.

Table of Contents:

Only One Mask

The Price of Art

Only One Mask

It happened again. For the third time that week, he woke from the same damn dream. It was the most beautiful thing he wished he’d never have again. It only made things worse, if Nob was being honest. Honesty was about all he had left.

Tricia wore that fluffy robe he’d gotten her for her birthday. She looked beautiful. It seemed every other minute she was smiling. He used to tease her about how often she laughed, not that he minded. In the dream, they always made breakfast together. Sometimes, it was pancakes, and other times bacon and sausage.

This time, it went on a little further. Just down the street from their house was a park that featured a pond. There were so many ducks out. He wished he had some bread or corn or whatever you were supposed to feed them. They’d just turn their heads and look up at you.

Nob’s shoulder ached.

They smoothed out the wrinkles in the blanket as they set out the picnic, delicately prepared by Tricia. She loved her cheese and crackers, little dainty things from the farmers market downtown. One of them was from France or something.

What’s that? Nob asked.

She smiled. It wasn’t fair how good she looked when she smiled. I asked if you’ve ever seen a more beautiful day.

I suppose not, he said. We picked the right day for it.

He grimaced and rotated his arm. The pain felt out of place. For a moment, her face blurred, and he felt like he was falling.

I brought your favorite, she said. Egg salad sandwiches.

It was far from his favorite, but she was so excited to make it for him that he didn’t have the heart to tell her. As long as it was something that came from her, he was happy.

Some orange juice? he asked.

She placed a jar of pickles off to the side. I’d love some.

He reached for a glass and poured. Halfway to handing it to her, he said, So what’s this news you’ve been waiting to tell me?

She looked like she was ready to explode. The sun glanced off her eyes in the most curious way. I wanted to wait until it was official. Yesterday, I–

Searing pain.

Nob struggled to open his eyes. Someone pounded at the door. He chanced turning on his side, and he paid for it. It felt as if the skin along his shoulder had ripped open. He reached up and felt through a tear in his shirt. It wasn’t wet, so no blood. That was progress, at least.

A crash came from the other side of the door, and the hinges sagged under the pressure. Cracks ran up and down the edges of it. He managed to