They're After You: Dystopian Short Stories

By Jeremy Gravilore

How would you escape powerful forces out to annihilate you? Could you survive without losing your soul? Jeremy Gravilore reveals what happens to individuals on the run and making their last stands in dying civilizations. 

 

The hunters and the hunted never rest. Loved ones capitulate to brainwashing and opportunism, and enemies drag their prey into trials and experiments. Various beings are not who think they are. 

 

Witness a range of chilling dystopian tales that fuse different genres in this one-of-a-kind collection of short stories. Amid the crime, fantasy, mystery, apocalypse, aliens, robots, demons, and nightmares… they're after you. Get your copy today! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oceannapolis, LLC
• Release date: Oct 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781962768009

Book preview

THEY'RE AFTER YOU

DYSTOPIAN SHORT STORIES

JEREMY GRAVILORE

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OCEANNAPOLIS

Copyright © 2023 by Jeremy Gravilore

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-962768-00-9

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Published by Oceannapolis, LLC.

www.oceannapolis.com

Book Cover Design by ebooklaunch.com

Dedicated to a bright future for mankind

Contents

Preface

MAZE OF AMNESIA

DYING METROPOLIS

SPACE CAPSULE

THEY'RE AFTER YOU

DEATH CAMPS

TAKING UP THE GAUNTLET

SHOTS FIRED

MAD SCIENTIST

A COLD SATURDAY IN DECEMBER

ANIMATE

THE WILDERNESS

FAMINE

CONFESS

MY BROTHER HAS DOWN SYNDROME

SACRIFICIAL HUMAN

THE FLYING ZEPPOLE BROTHERS

ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER RIOT

KALEIDOSCOPE

HYENAS APPROACHING!

UTOPIAN JUSTICE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BOOKS BY JEREMY GRAVILORE

Preface

An era of great promise and ingenuity expands. Merely in its infancy, the era grows hoping to last for a geological if not an astronomical timeframe. Life flourishes in the cities, suburbs, and countryside. Abundant food and shelter give the people the feeling of perpetual safety and happiness.

The people sense the upcoming murder of a tenuous peace and camaraderie. Minds at genuine ease regress into minds naïve, numb to the inevitable down cycles of civilizations. The specter of frenzied hatred becomes palpable to the sixth sense. Fear mixes with denial and hope, to tranquilize society for what lies ahead.

Society dries up… no warning of the combination of silence and chaos about to arise. The cultural irrigation system collapses. The lush terrain of understanding and wisdom wilts and a barren landscape usurps the once indelible flowering.

A series of afflictions plague civilizations across time and space. Some afflictions are self-inflicted through unbounded rebellion. Other afflictions reveal themselves as shadows of the complacent.

People descend into zones of predation and scavenging. They feed loved ones to the monster of cultural decay, assuming they will not fall prey to the same monster or its loyal ghouls.

Actions and reactions become predictable. The once honored dynamism of human interactions disappears.

The individual slips into the morass of a hopeful hopelessness… a desired state of mind without regard for striving and satisfaction. People rest their individual hopes on the shared blindness of the visionless. All yield to society’s growing psychotropic conformity. The impending irreversible power subsumes the human will.

Years of entrenched animosities dismember the great physical and literary marvels. The gods rewire the past, twist the present, and shunt pathways to a brilliant future.

How would communities survive? They experience families and friendships torn asunder, with mistrust sewn among the closest kin.

A new beginning emerges from the ashes of dead civilizations. Survivors cobble together the best of the past to create civilizations resurrected, but vulnerable to dying yet again in the blink of a comet’s light.

Despite an embryonic hope, mental anguish intensifies, much as a star’s elements fuse in the lead up to its collapse.

The memory of societal disintegration warns us about the potential destruction of future generations.

Jeremy Gravilore, October 2023

MAZE OF AMNESIA

Adam Winters is lost.

His car breaks down on a poorly lit city road in the middle of the drizzling night. A cell phone flashlight beams across his face on the driver’s side. Adam looks out the window just in time to shift to the right.

An axe smashes the driver’s side window. Another axe smashes the front passenger’s side window, and Adam jumps back in his seat.

Four thugs surround Adam’s vehicle. The first thug grabs him through the driver’s side window. Take off your seatbelt.

Adam looks into his eyes. Not today.

The second thug threatens Adam. Take it off. We’re ripping you out of there, one way or another.

Adam relents, clicking open the seatbelt. But then, he throws open the driver’s side door, and the top corner catches the first thug in the mouth, knocking him backward into a puddle. No sooner does Adam run away, than the third thug trips him. Adam falls to the pavement and scrapes his right forearm and right cheek. Shocked by the jaggedness of the pavement, he cries out in pain. The second and fourth thugs race around from the passenger side to yank Adam up by his arms. The second thug still has his axe. While the third and fourth thugs pull out their knives, the first thug stands up and grabs his sharp, wet axe, lying in another puddle.

The precipitation picks up in the broken and desolate neighborhood. It quickly turns to mini-sized hail, pinging off the windshield, and pouring through the broken windows. Clouds collide, and a cumulonimbus covers the sky.

The first thug approaches Adam with a devious smile, while his partners hold Adam in position for a beating.

Adam watches the axe reach the top of the first thug’s motion to strike.

Lightning strikes the first thug and electrocutes him upon impact. The deafening thunder forces the remaining thugs to drop their weapons and hold their hands over their shattered ear drums.

Adam gets thrown back into the car through the open driver’s door by the force of the lightning and thunder.

With ringing ears, the second thug motions to his remaining partners to flee the scene. The ringing in all their ears grows louder. The thugs disappear, leaving their weapons behind, along with their dead partner, the leader of the group.

A stunned Adam takes a moment to get his bearings in the driver’s seat. With his legs hanging out of the car, he pulls himself upright, using the sides of the broken window. The hailstorm stops, and drizzle returns. Adam looks past the frame of a broken window into the night, seeing an abandoned apartment building across the street.

Adam walks toward the boarded-up building, spotting a homeless couple just outside. Can you help me? I just got into a terrible fight, and I’m all cut up. My phone’s broken. Please call the police.

The couple says nothing.

C’mon, my hands are all cut up, and they slashed my jaw.

The couple remains silent.

You saw the whole thing, didn’t you?

Finally, the homeless man speaks. The police can’t help you. They won’t drive by here, no way. You need a doctor, and then you need a psychiatrist. You must be crazy comin’ round here in the middle of the night. Do you even know what neighborhood this is?

The homeless woman chimes in to spare Adam additional embarrassment. He knows where he is. He knows he’s lost. This man ain’t never been in this hellhole before. We heard that engine blow out. Sounded like a shotgun, and now you’re stuck here.

Adam looks around, bewildered and anxious. Where is here? Where am I stuck?

The homeless man surveys Adam’s body. "You give me your jacket, and I’ll let you skate by here without getting hurt some more. You might be stuck, but you’ll get out of this conversation and still be alive.

I’m not giving up my jacket.

The homeless woman laughs. You don’t have to give it up. My man gonna take it from you anyway.

Adam turns to walk away, but the couple pulls him back by the jacket.

A crowd of homeless nearby spring to Adam’s defense.

One man in the neighborhood rushes to the front and scolds the couple. Let him go, or I’m gonna throw you outta here. We’ve got enough trouble as is, you idiots.

Adam gets safe passage to leave the neighborhood. Walking for several minutes, the area looks cleaner and safer than where Adam got attacked in his car, and almost attacked again. Still, the entire area looks unfamiliar to him.

A short siren catches Adam’s attention, as do the flashing lights of the police car. Adam steps off the sidewalk and onto the street.

An officer steps out of the vehicle. Where are you headed, young man?

I don’t know, and nobody can tell me. I’m lost.

The officer raises an eyebrow. Have you ever been here before?

I haven’t. I don’t know where this is.

What’s your name?

What’s my name? I’m not sure.

The officer unfolds his arms and turns off the police lights. Check your wallet, son.

Adam checks his pockets. No wallet in his jacket or pants. I have nothing. My phone is gone, too.

You got roughed up a little, huh? How long have you been out in the rain? Your clothes are soaked. Tell me what happened, step by step.

Adam relays the details with pinpoint precision. The details go back only as far as driving lost along the city streets. Before the drive, I have no memory. Officer, where are we? What’s my name?

I can’t answer those questions, but we’re going to figure out what’s happening and find out who your attackers are.

Can we find out where I live?

We will. First, let’s get your wounds treated. An ambulance is on the way. You’re not well, son. You’re not well.

Officer, what are you talking about? I have some scrapes and cuts. It’s nothing more.

Ah, the ambulance is here. Get on in and they’ll give you the treatment you need.

As the driver waits, two paramedics help Adam into the vehicle.

Adam looks back at the officer. Officer, are you going to follow up with me on this case? How will I know how to reach you?

Son, the medical staff is taking over your case. They’re in charge of making sure you find out where you are and get to where you need to go.

Wait a second. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy!

Adam feels a shot in his upper right arm. His eyes roll up into his head as the officer gets back in his cruiser. The ambulance doors close, and Adam falls into a deep sleep.

A doctor whispers. Adam, you’re awake.

Where am I?

You’re in a special hospital.

Is that my name? Is Adam my name?

Why yes, you’re Adam Winters. We’re fixing the problem for you.

What problem? I don’t have a problem. I just can’t remember—

Hush. Of course you cannot remember, but that’s our fault, and nothing to concern yourself with figuring out.

Nothing to concern myself with figuring out?

You have a vivid imagination. Too vivid. We’ll take care of it, so you stay right here in bed as we fix you. If you don’t want to be treated, then you’re free to leave.

You won’t stop me?

Not at all.

Then why was I drugged on the way over?

That was for your own good. You were in shock, and that imagination of yours got the best of you. We already fixed your dreaming nature. We’re simply working on your memory problem, if you’ll let us. You caused quite a stir this evening, and we can’t have any more dead bodies. We don’t want to force you to do anything further. Least of all, we don’t want you to harm any more of our precious commodities, including yourself.

The officer. Where is the officer?

Oh, there’s nothing that he can do to help you.

But I was attacked.

We know all about it. We have the full story, and believe me, we will run a full investigation on their behavior.

Police run investigations. Hospitals treat people. I haven’t lost all my memories or understanding. I know you’re lying.

You could not be any more correct than you are… when these situations involve people.

Doctor, will you tell me what’s going on or not? If not, I’ll be leaving now.

Mr. Winters, I don’t think we can allow that to happen.

I thought you said I was free to leave any time.

Did I say that? Well, I guess I did. I changed my mind. And now it’s time to change your mind.

Adam once again felt a needle, this time from a nurse, in his upper right arm.

After the injection, the doctor and two of his assistants hovered over Adam. "It’s good to see you awake. This surgery was a lot riskier than the first,