The End of the End

When the world ended, we tried to rebuild.

For years after the Cull, we strove – we fought the slavers and exploiters, we stamped out the crazies, we broke the soil again and farmed like our ancestors. Could it ever be enough? History has broken, the old orders and certainties have lost their hold. Now it seems bad, cruel men will always rise, and chaos will always return.

Journal of the Plague Year brought you three tales from the first days of the Cull; now The End of the End revisits old friends, years after their adventures, as they still struggle to shout their defiance against the darkness.

Fall Out, by Simon Guerrier

Jack Bedford may be the rightful King of Britain, but he’s going to have to work for it. Uniting the various tribes and communities that have formed since the Cull will be an uphill battle. Now, Heysham power plant, in Lancashire, has suffered a catastrophic meltdown, the aging safety mechanisms failing after years of neglect, and an emergency council is called to deal with the implications.

Children of the Cull, by Cavan Scott

He fought his way from a secure block in London, across the ocean to New York and eventually to a bunker under Lake Erie, destroying a vast cult in his search for his lover. She ran and bargained her way from Lake Erie across to Cuba and back to Vegas, looking for him in turn. The trails are cold, and there are enemies to fight. Until, in a secret lab conducting terrible experiments, their lives are thrown together one last time.

Flaming Arrow, by Paul Kane

Rob Stokes – the Hooded Man – has seen off Britain’s would-be conquerors, thrown his support behind the newly-restored Crown, and extended his peacekeeping force onto the Continent. He’s getting old, feeling like retiring. But trouble is brewing in the newly peaceful Britain. King Jack’s soldiers go armed with guns and armoured vehicles, even as Stokes’ Rangers disarm the people. Shots are fired. A fire is about to start...