Twenty years ago a deadly virus swept the globe, ravaging the population. People died and came back as monsters, and through the tragedy that rocked the world, survivors were born. 

Broken Stories is a compilation of short stories and novelettes that accompanies the Broken World series. From California to Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Colorado, listeners will get a glimpse at what other people went through before, during, and after the zombie virus outbreak. Some of the characters featured in these stories have close ties to the main characters in the Broken World series, while others are brand-new.

As the only child in an upper-middle class family, Rowan has had it easy. Doted on by a mother who never wanted anything but a child to love, she's never wanted for anything. Kiaya’s life, however, has been anything but easy. Parents who didn’t want her, followed by being torn away from her only sibling by the foster care system, she knows what it means to have to work hard for the things she wants. When a deadly virus sweeps the country, Rowan and Kiaya are away at college and far from everything they love. 

When Regan was a young girl living in the small town of Altus, OK, Kellan was just her brother’s best friend. Then the virus came, turning the world’s population into zombies, and he became so much more. They were only kids, but he saved her. Watched over her. Kept her alive. And nine years of living in the Oklahoma wastelands hasn’t changed that. Fighting both zombies and men, overcoming loss and heartbreak, and clinging to secrets that could rip their world apart, Regan and Kellan must work together to survive when a new and deadly group moves into the area. 

Three years after an incurable virus spread and turned a majority of the population into mindless and cannibalistic creatures, the world is a barren place. Society is broken, and most who remain have banded together in small camps and communities. Jon South is not like most other survivors. After losing his wife and son nearly two years into the pandemic, Jon now wanders the country roads and woods of rural Tennessee, a vigilante taking his revenge out on the undead monsters that took his family from him.

From the moment Andra hears about the mysterious illness spreading the globe, she knows it’s the end. Sheltering in place with her daughter, ex, and his new family, they watch in dread as the world begins to crumble around them, while rumors of survivors turning into monsters spread. When the dust finally settles, all Andra wants to do is keep her daughter safe as they build a new life for themselves. But a fresh horror awaits, and it’s going to take all of them working together to survive the new world they’re facing. And maybe not even then....

In the wake of the cataclysmic events that reshaped our world in 2020, a sense of relief washed over us all. By late 2023, I think we were ready to just live life again. I know I was. It was a time to make new friends and put the past to rest. Rayne and I hadn’t known each other long, but we were building a solid friendship, nothing more. It was our common interests that sent us on vacation together to my remote cabin. What we didn’t, couldn’t know, was that we were on a collision course with the end of the world as we knew it.

Alex Duncan is a mother, a sister - and the daughter of a doomsday prepper. She always thought her father was insane, raving about an apocalypse she never believed in, but when a plague hits the United States and the dead no longer stay dead, Alex discovers heeding her deceased father’s advice is what will keep her family alive. Before he died, Alex’s father created a compound in Montana just in case situations like this arose. The dead walk, hungry for human flesh. With little time to spare, Alex must make split-second decisions to prevent her family from being devoured. 

Two teenagers find a frozen corpse in the middle of the woods and decide to bring it back to town. They have no idea they just sparked the zombie apocalypse. In the morgue below the hospital, the dead begin waking up and attacking the living. The infection spreads rapidly, turning the place into a slaughterhouse as those inside fight to survive against the undead.

At the end of the world. Nick Peterson never expected to be stuck with a bunch of kids. A 17-year-old boy shouldn’t be responsible for keeping other people alive. But he didn’t have much choice in the matter. That’s what happens when everyone else dies.

While he sat back and watched the United States rattle swords with Korea, play chicken with Russia, and strong-arm China, he felt sure if the lights went out that he and his family would be ready and safe—whether it was due to a natural disaster or a man-made event. They had everything they needed at their homestead.

Clint Redshaw walks into a port facility meeting expecting an ordinary day arguing about the budget. When the shaking starts, he keeps calm. But as the tremors stretch on and on, the ground rips apart, the dock disintegrates, and chunks of land fall into the Strait. When the quake finally ends, there's only one thing on his mind: his daughter. Mika's singing songs and laughing with a gaggle of other sixteen-year-olds as they climb into the Pacific Northwest mountains for a scout weekend. One minute, it's sunshine and good vibes, and the next, it's screaming and chaos.

Bombs are dropping, and dead people are trying to eat him. But Weller just can’t seem to let go of the very human conspiracy that ruined his life before the world went to hell. Lucky for him, the zombie apocalypse has brought out some other undead fiends—the kind that have been living off of humanity’s scraps for centuries.

During the coldest winter on record, an EMP attack wipes out the nation's power and cripples the country. As the city spirals into lawless chaos, an investigative journalist, twenty-six-year-old Cassandra Drews, is forced onto the dangerous streets of Portland to begin the long walk to her parents' home in Oregon. But hypothermia and starvation aren't the only dangers Cass and her rescue dog, Daisy, face on their perilous trek.

The infection has begun, ravaging the American Southwest and leaving chaos in its wake. In this new world, there will be no last meal, no dying wish. The only reward left is to survive another day...The complete Contamination series - all in this one, special edition.