When Amelia married the king, she had no idea about his terrible secret. Now a victim of his bloodlust, she must find a way to survive while navigating the strange new world of court life. 

There are twelve endings: 6 bad ends, 3 normal ends, 2 good ends, and 1 true end.

Elliot hears news that his aunt is dying. He has to trek through a forest haunted by his own memories in order to see her before she passes. There are two paths through the forest and two true endings. They are both clearly marked as 'epilogue.' The maturity level is probably a bit of an exaggeration but there's some material that is definitely mature in one of the paths.

When the scientists at HappyCo created a one time injection that makes you feel nothing but happiness for the rest of your life, people lined up to get it. Unfortunately, the world soon found out that happy people aren't motivated to do much of anything and the global economy collapsed. There's no real estimate on how many people didn't get the mandatory injection but Mike, a serial killer in Texas, is determined to find as many of them as possible.

Penthos, the Greek daimon of grief, begins destroying Seattle, forcing people to feel more grief than ever. There are three true endings, each clearly labeled 'epilogue.' This is my entry for the 2017 Chaos contest.

Warning: rated 7/8 for a reason. It's about the apocalypse, so naturally, there is gore. Not excessively detailed gore, but it is still present.

The goddess of an orchard has been alone with only trees for company for the last thousand years. Then one day, a little boy comes to her orchard. There is one true ending, you'll know when you find it because it says "true ending."

Jesse Jordan is the best mayor Cougar Valley has ever had, or at least that's what he's trying to make the people in his small town believe. With competition ramping up and an attitude not unlike spoiled milk, will Jesse be able to keep his squeaky clean reputation? More importantly, will he be able to win the election? 

I appreciate you so much.

Didn't your prime minister just get arrested? And you're worried about Serbian whores?

I think this is well written. Your use of imagery is great! I can almost feel MC's pain when you describe the wound. The story feels like the embodiment of whiplash and completely out of sorts while the MC is transported to all these scenes. Memories? Points in time? Dreams? Unsure. My only criticism is the ending. I suppose it works thematically having such an open-ended ending seeing as the whole story is out of sorts, but in my opinion it would be nice to have some sort of solid ground at the end to show that it's over. I am curious if this is a stand alone piece or part of a longer work. Overall, well done! 

Sign me up

The new guy hates new people? What in the world? 

Not only is the deus ex machina plot device used well, it’s used often. Jews need to escape Egypt and lose their pursuers? Boom: Moses parts the sea and so they can cross then drowns the army behind them. 

The authors didn’t feel like killing off the beloved character of Elijah? Boom: he’s whisked off in a fiery chariot. Some even claim that to this day he stops in on Passover just to drink wine and hangout. 

Jacob needs a new name? Boom: he fistfights God by a river. 

Ugh religious philosophy. I've always struggled with philosophy. I can't say I've ever heard of The City of God but you reminded me of a time I tried to learn a bit of religious philosophy.  I'm not naturally gifted in that way nor am I willing to put in the work to learn so I guess I'm sol. My Torah study group once decided to read the Nineteen Letters. I slogged through a translation of the first three but was so confused as to what I'd just read that I had to read them again. Unfortunately that didn't make it any easier. Gave up right then and there.

There's a lot Moishe doesn't understand. Why did COTBA team up with a group of meshugeners? Being part of a medic team, Moishe has cleaned up after the Steel Brigade more times than he can count and every time, he grows sicker of them. 

"Why did we leave them to protect a settlement? They're the ones the settlement needs protection from!"

His cousin, Yosef, lays on the couch, throwing a ball in the air and catching it over and over again. "Who? What are you talking about?" 

"The Steel Brigade! Didn't you hear about-"

"How slow are you? The Steel Brigade is dead."

Moishe's mouth falls open. "What?"

Sighing, Yosef sits up on the couch to look him in the eyes. "The Federalists picked 'em off. Now stop yapping, I'm trying to think. Something you wouldn't know anything about." 

"What about the settlement? I knew those no-good Brigaders wouldn't be able to protect them. I mean, oy vey, Lech said they were so irradiated, they were practically falling over." 

Yosef shrugs, "that's the least of our troubles, Moishe. Didn't you catch the latest," he uses air quotes, "radio announcement." 

He shakes his head. "I was up near the well. Another kid grew a third arm." 

"A war is brewing and we're mobilizing troops."

"We're...? The Coalition?!" 

Yosef nods. "I don't think we stand a chance against the Federalists but the-"

Moishe jumps to his feet. "A war?! We can't have a war!"

"Last I checked, you aren't the one that decides things like that. Besides, who knows what the Federalists will do next? They already attacked one of our towns." 

"We need to fix this." 

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Come on, Yossi. We've cleaned up after dozens of raids. If we can heal the injured, bury the dead, fix up the buildings, maybe this whole thing will blow over." 

"You're a shmendrick." Yosef rolls his eyes, but there's something playful in it. Moishe's inability to take bad news poorly has always been a point of fascination among those that know him. His undying, idiotic optimism is something not commonly seen after the apocalypse. "But I'd rather do something than sit around here waiting for worse news. Let's go."

An hour later, the ambulance is packed with supplies they "borrowed" from COTBA's storage facilities. It's not enough to be noticed but certainly enough to make it to the settlement. With a full tank of gas, the sound of Yosef noshing on dried turnips, and the beautiful sight of the open road, Moishe puts the petal to the metal.  

They’re only a few miles from Iowa City when they spot a vehicle on the side of the road billowing with smoke. Without hesitation, Moishe pulls up behind it. 

“Something’s off.” Yosef says. “They’re close enough to walk into town for help. Why are they just waiting out here?”

Moishe grabs the gun from under his seat. “That’s what this is for. Just in case.”

“Oh come on, what are you gonna do with that thing?” He scoffs, “you couldn’t even kill a pig with snouts for legs.” 

“And why should I? Did he not deserve to live?”

“He begged you, in perfect Hebrew, to put him out of his misery.”

“I think it was just a hallucination.”

Yosef throws up his hands. “The whole minyan heard it!” 

Before Moishe can defend his own bleeding heart, a rapping comes from the window. Their eyes widen in shock as they look out at a mammoth of a man tapping the tip of his rifle on the ambulance window. Not wanting to be impolite, Moishe rolls it down to talk face-to-face.

“What seems to be the problem, officer?”

Yosef hisses from the passenger seat, “you idiot, he’s not a cop!”

The man speaks in a gruff voice, “put down the gun, boy. I know you Coalition cowards are too pussy to use those things anyway.”

“Coalition?” Yosef’s voice squeaks.

“Cowards?” Moishe breathes, shocked at such a word being associated with COTBA. 

The man reaches inside the window and opens the door. “Get out.” He orders.

It’s not unheard of for outlaws and other, as Moishe puts it so eloquently, “bad men” to pretend to be distressed so they can lure in Coalition members and rob them. Though sometimes it’s not just a simple robbery. Good men and women have lost their lives simply trying to help those in need.

“We’re not Coalition!” Yosef cries out.

“You’re not?”

“We’re not?” Moishe asks.

Glaring at his cousin, Yosef continues. “We’re Hatzalah.”

The man steps back and eyes the side of the ambulance. “It says COTBA right… well, I guess… I- what does it say? Hat something?”

“Hatzalah,” they say in unison.

The man chuckles, “don’t tell me you stole one of their ambulances. I’ve never heard of your faction. Hatzbah?”

“Close enough.” 

“Ha! Well I’ll be damned.” The three of them laugh uncomfortably for a while before the man continues. “I’m still gonna rob you though.”

As an act of good faith for a small faction, the man allows them to keep their lives and the now gutted ambulance. He did however take the engine so Moishe and Yosef have to put it in neutral and push it all the way back to Iowa City. 

"Do you think we'll get in trouble for stealing supplies?" Moishe asks as they reach the city border.

Yosef wipes at the sweat pouring from his temple. "Forget the supplies. We're gonna be in trouble for going on an unsanctioned unsuccessful mission." He kicks a loose rock on the road. "This thing weighs a ton!"

"At least it's lighter without its engine." 

"If I weren't so exhausted, I'd punch you. Do you realize how ridiculous this is?"

Moishe, still catching his breath, looks at the horizon, the sun falling behind Iowa City's skyline. "Better ridiculous than dead, Yossi. And he didn't get everything." He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small, battered package of bandages and some antiseptic wipes. "At least we saved these."

Yosef shoots him a look, incredulous. "Oh, great. A first aid kit. That’ll totally make up for the fact that we got robbed by some asshole who thinks we’re in a gang called ‘Hatzbah.’"

Moishe offers a weak smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, at least he was polite about it. Could’ve been worse. He could’ve left us without our clothes."

"Or our lives" Yosef mutters, but then his expression softens as he looks at his cousin. "You know, you really are something else, Moishe. We’re in the middle of an apocalypse, got robbed blind, and you’re still finding the silver lining."

Moishe shrugs. "Someone has to, Yossi. If we lose hope, what’s left?"

Moishe has always been a nice but simple minded mensch. Sure, he’s no surgeon but he knows basic first aid, he can change a tire, and he’s the best driver COTBA has ever had. At least, that’s what his cousin said. Before the apocalypse, Moishe drove an ambulance for a local Hatzalah organization. A simple volunteer helping people of every creed, color, and religion free of charge. Things haven’t changed much for Moishe. Sure, he crossed out ‘Hatzalah’ from the side of the ambulance and wrote ‘COTBA’ instead. Then he realized that it’s basically the same thing so he crossed out ‘COTBA’ and painted on ‘Hatzalah’ again. Of course nobody knew what Hatzalah was anymore so he had to cross that out and once again paint ‘COTBA’ on it. The side of the ambulance is a mess but if you squint hard enough, people can generally understand that he’s there to help.

Other than the constant painting, he spends his time driving from town to town. A small specialized crew from COTBA often accompanies him and they provide medical attention to those in need. He used to be a huge fan of KSUI radio but not having a comms tower means there’s nothing to tune into on the ambulance radio. Though Moishe does occasionally roll down his window and listen to Orison Lech scream out his broadcast. If he closes his eyes, it’s just like old times.

I got all but two but one is only out on a technicality. I didn't realize how much I'd gotten my life together these last few years.