Showing results by author "Nicholas Sansbury Smith" in All Categories

The best-selling Extinction Cycle series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith first introduced listeners to a world ravaged by an engineered virus that turned men into monsters. Humanity's only hope was not a cure, but another bioweapon. When deployed it killed 90 percent of the infected, but the remaining 10 percent transformed into even more terrifying creatures called Variants. Here's a collection of Extinction Cycle short stories that explore the human spirit and the fight for survival in the face of overwhelming odds from some of the leading voices in the post-apocalyptic genre.

Master Sergeant Reed Beckham has led his Delta Force Team, codenamed Ghost, through every kind of hell imaginable and never lost a man. When a top-secret Medical Corps research facility goes dark, Team Ghost is called in to face their deadliest enemy yet - a variant strain of Ebola that turns men into monsters.

The war continues…Two days after the events of Extinction Aftermath, European Unified Command calls on Team Ghost for a top secret mission. The residents of a small Inuit fishing village in Greenland have gone missing and reports of Variants unaffected by Kryptonite have surfaced. Fatigued, injured, and unaware of the events back in the United States, Master Sergeant Joe Fitzpatrick leads Team Ghost into the remote and alien winter landscape to determine the fate of the missing villagers.

Six months after the deadly attacks on Fort Golden and Estes Park, Colorado is on the verge of collapse. Sam “Raven” Spears and Calvin Jackson struggle to rebuild and protect their families and friends that have remained. Sheriff Lindsey Plymouth and the Rangers desperately fight to hold back the marauders penetrating their borders. And all the while, the bioengineered Wild Fire plague continues spreading through the New Frontier and beyond.

The dust from Dr. Kate Lovato's bioweapon has settled. Projections put death counts in the billions. Her weapon was supposed to be the endgame, but it turned a small percentage of those infected with the Hemorrhage Virus into something even worse.

Newly christened as the leader of Delta Force Team Ghost, Master Sergeant Joe Fitzpatrick arrives in Normandy over 70 years after Allied Forces joined the fight against the Nazis. The war to free survivors and eradicate pockets of adult Variants and their offspring is underway by the European Unified Forces. But as the troops push east, rumors of a new type of monster spread through the ranks. Fitz and his new team quickly realize that the fight for Europe might be harder than anyone ever imagined.

The deadly hunt continues as the hunters become the hunted.... Five days ago North Korea detonated three nuclear warheads over the United States, triggering an electromagnetic pulse that crippled the country. A second attack destroyed the nerve center of America in a nuclear blast that flattened the nation’s capital. As the United States descends into chaos, the survivors must decide how far they will go to save the ones they love.

One month after the defeat of a rogue group of terrorists, the United States struggles to maintain control over the New Frontier. The untamed sector of America simmers as opportunists, criminals, and marauders wait to fill the void left behind. An extremist faction of the Navajo Nation called the Rattlesnakes have waited years for this moment. Their leader launches their first, brutal attack on a water treatment and power facility in Colorado.

Central Command is gone, the military is fractured, and the surviving members of Team Ghost, led by Master Sergeant Reed Beckham, have been pushed to the breaking point. While the strong return to the battlefield, the wounded are forced to stay behind on Plum Island and fight their inner demons.

The mountain town of Estes Park, Colorado, is scrambling to recover from the betrayal of two of their police officers, and prepare for threats outside their borders. But with Chief of Police Marcus Colton imprisoned by rival Sheriff Mike Thompson, the job to protect the isolated town is left to Sam "Raven" Spears and newly promoted Captain Lindsey Plymouth. They will do everything they can to bring Colton home and save their citizens, but one thing is certain: a war is coming to Estes Park, and no one will be spared from the horrors.

In the year 2055, scientists discover something far worse than rising temperatures and rising seas - they discover massive sunspots that are producing unprecedented solar flares. With little time to prepare for the storms, NASA recruits doctors Sophie Winston and Emanuel Rodriguez to help monitor the solar weather. But they quickly realize they haven't been told everything about their mission. And as a massive storm races toward Earth, they begin to suspect that it isn't a natural event. Millions of miles away something is feeding the storms....

On the eve of extinction all seems to be lost, but there is still one final hope.... Operation Liberty has failed. Humans are losing the war. With no other option, General Kennor decides to pull back the troops and give science a second chance.

Operation Redemption, the final desperate mission in taking back the planet from the Organics has failed. Captain Rick Noble and his soldiers have been captured and imprisoned on an alien ship. But not all is lost. Their sacrifice allowed Doctor Sophie Winston, Doctor Emanuel Rodriguez, and their small team to escape in the NTC Sunspot - their destination, Mars. The perilous journey to find a lost human colony may offer Sophie and the rest of humanity a chance at life.

For Chris Mason, working construction at the pinnacle of New York's skyline feels like being on top of the world—until that world is shattered when an otherworldly portal transforms Manhattan into a deadly fantasy realm. Chosen as a "salvager" by a mysterious System that has plagued humanity throughout history, Chris must now scavenge the ruins of his city for materials to craft weapons, armor, and shelter while the city continues to transform around him.

At the end of the world, who will survive? The year is 2061, and the planet is dying. Cataclysmic solar storms have forced leaders from around the world to finally put aside their differences and agree on one thing-to jump ship. The human race is headed to Mars. Dr. Sophie Winston is hired by New Tech Corporation to test a biosphere deep within the heart of Cheyenne Mountain; a mission she believes will help prepare the company for the three-year flight to the red planet. But, just days into the assignment, things start to go wrong. When the blast doors open, it's a changed world.

On a war torn Earth, the mighty Nova Alliance is the last defense against the treacherous Coalition. At the heart of this defense are the Engines—formidable, genetically enhanced soldiers. Under the command of the legendary Captain Akira Hayashi, the elite Shadow Squad has defended the frontlines for years. But just as victory seems imminent, the Coalition strikes hard, targeting the very sites meant to heal the wounded planet.

Jeff and his little brother, David, are alone. Their parents have disappeared along with the rest of the world, replaced by glowing blue orbs and a terrifying army of aliens. But the boys are survivors. Living in the tunnels beneath the White Sands military base, escaping from hungry aliens, and searching for supplies, they hatch a plan. The boys will fight back, and before they're through the white sands will run red with blood.

The aliens have invaded, wiping out almost all life on Earth. Their goal: water. Huge spaceships are draining the oceans, and the few remaining humans have been herded into farms, where their bodies are harvested to support the growing alien army. Humanity's last chance lies in the biospheres that have been planted secretly across the globe. But all is not peaceful in the biome led by Dr. Sophie Winston. With resources dwindling and tensions high, her small group of survivors is divided. Some want to fight, some want to stay hidden, and Sophie just wants to keep everyone alive.

One month after the North Korean attack, the United States continues to fall into anarchy. In Estes Park, Colorado, Police Chief Marcus Colton and tracker Sam "Raven" Spears work tirelessly to defend their hometown. But after a brutal coordinated attack, they realize it will take much more than roadblocks and a volunteer militia to protect their borders and keep their families safe.

With the alien armies growing stronger, Sophie's biosphere decides to join forces with the team from NTC's submarine. Using data from a surviving satellite, they discover strange alien poles at each of the world's seven highest summits: alien technology that the survivors believe may hold the key to shutting down the alien ships once and for all. But before the two teams can launch an offensive, the biosphere must deal with sabotage from within and a strange nanotechnology that has infected several of the survivors.