The Exterminator’s Apocalypse, Part one, The Rats

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode Eighteen, “Crossroads”The Old Man crouched behind a parked van with Bill and surveyed the building. It was the same van he and Brad had crouched behind only a few, short days earlier. A wave of déjà vu passed through him and the little hairs on the nape of his neck tingled. The human mind was a funny thing. What did it see in these echoes of the past that made it bridle with physical manifestation? ‘Déjà vu’…the old man thought, wasn’t that a Steely Dan album his wife had played over and over in their New York apartment? No, that was “Aja” ...S2 E18 OutroHello my survivor friends – are there airplanes in the apocalypse? I just got off one last night, didn’t get home until 1:00 in the morning – so if my voice sounds like a sexy overnight DJ, that’s why. And kids, I don’t mean a DJ like the ones that spin beats at a rave while you stumble around high on ecstasy with a manic smile on your face, bouncing around to flashing lights – although that would be a good setting for a zombie apocalypse – not a good one, but like a direct-to-cable one – we could call it “Death at the Disco” – except that that is already the name of a franchised murder mystery theater…But I digress…Email List -> https://acast.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a02fed2a783fcc887760255a9&id=e15419e7bePodcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Apr 202232min

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode Seventeen, “Change of Management”...It was like a scene from an old western. Close ups of scared faces. The smell of fear pheromones thick in the air. The momentary stillness of the confrontation was punctuated by the susurration of a dusty wind in the parking lot. Crows cried complaints from the trees. There was the brushing crinkle of clothes and shoe leather as the men shifted nervously. The mood was broken by Tasker, moaning, half mumbling, his confident swagger erased by the gun in his ear. ...Outro S2 E17Greetings my survivor friends. How are we all doing in this weird and wonderful apocalypse? I was reading some of the iTunes and Audible reviews – thanks for those by the way – and there was one grumbling about having to listen through these outros. Here is your simple solution my friends. As soon as you hear Robert’s narration stop and the outro music play, you can hit that “skip to the end” button and you’re not going to miss anything except a commercial from Acast and my ramblings. Feel free. I won’t be offended. ...You can reach me directly at cyktrussell at Gmail. Have a greats weekend everyone and until next time… Keep Surviving. Survey -> https://us14.list-manage.com/survey?u=a02fed2a783fcc887760255a9&id=7cbbbaa490&attribution=falseEmail List -> https://acast.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a02fed2a783fcc887760255a9&id=e15419e7bePodcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Apr 202226min

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode Sixteen, “Ghosts”John tasker lifted his head to the sounds of hurried footsteps approaching the door. He was in the middle of a meeting with Karl and Michael in the improvised gym-office. They were going through the week’s schedule. John Tasker liked to stay on top of things. A man dashed into the room breathless. “We’re being attacked!” he shouted, cramming the words together in a frenzied effort to get them all out quickly, turning the three separate words into a single interjection. “Calm down, Kevin!” Tasker said, “Take a breath and tell us what’s happening. Let’s not ‘hurry up and screw up’.” ...Links -> cyktrussellPodcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw...Outro S2 E16Hello my survivor friends. Here we are at the end of Season 2 Episode 16. Glad you could join us. For you time travelers it’s the end of March 2022. We are running at about 10,000 downloads a month. It leveled off a bit in February. So that means it’s time for you to earn your keep again and go rate and review an episode for us. Tell your friends! Help us help you! Lots to talk about this week. We’re up over 130 folks in our Facebook group. So at least I have some people to talk to! We’ve created a couple fun events for the team. You can find our TeePublic store to buy some of those cool stickers at teepublic all one word forward slash aftertheapocalypse. We’ve got a Patreon page as well if you’d like to support independent podcasting with a monetary donation. The most helpful thing is rating us and posting a positive review, or sharing the show with your networks. All the links to these things are here in the show notes. Have a great weekend and whatever you do – Keep Surviving! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Apr 202231min

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode Fifteen, “Breakout”Mags could see the distribution center buildings stretching off into the horizon in neat, rectangular rows of asphalt and metal. From her perch on the hill overlooking the port authority complex it was like looking down on the map of an old board game. The mid-morning sun had chased the fog away. Its warm rays now glinted off shiny, metal, man-made objects in the panorama. She squinted at the ‘glass menagerie’ effect that created prisms of light in her scope as she scanned. Outro S2E15Hello my survivor friends! I liked this episode. I tried to take a little extra time and make sure we got the characters and the scenes right. I thought it came out well and I liked Robert’s read. By the way, if you have any audio projects you can reach Robert at CommandVoices.com. He doesn’t just do the gravely old man voice – that is an affectation just for me. He does full on commercials and voice overs. I kicked off a contest on the facebook page. I want to have one of you be a guest reader for one of my stories – not this story but something standalone I’ll write – All you have to do to play along is send me an audio recording to cyktrussell At Gmail – and I’ll have my panel of judges listen to them all and select a winner. Then that person can perform a story and we’ll drop it on the feed. The other thing I need help with is some proofreaders. This is deeper than typo hunting. If I’m going to turn these seasons into proper books I need to flesh them out a bit. And I’ll be looking for help from you to do it. So reach out to me in any of these haunts if your interested in joining the editorial board. Other than that Everything is on track and wonderful. Hope you all are well, links in the show notes and don’t forget to keep surviving!Podcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

19 Mar 202224min

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode Fourteen, “No Good Choice”Mags knelt on the gravely tar roof of the building and surveyed down the road. This was where the dog was leading her, but she didn’t like being so exposed. She had climbed the rusty fire escape of this place to take a look. ...Podcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypsKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw…Anyhow, hope everyone’s hanging in there. “May you live in interesting times” is a phrase that is commonly attributed to a Chinese curse when used ironically. That is most likely apocryphal, i.e. made up by the British fairly recently. We probably don’t get to choose the nature of our times, interesting or not. Our job is to take it day by day and keep surviving. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Mar 202225min

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode thirteen, “Dead Man in a Chair”KJ felt her hand hit hard against something under the water. Not so much felt as sensed the impact. The cold water had numbed and sucked the sensation from her extremities. She swam on muscle memory now. She trusted her technique, long tuned by hours in the pool, to keep her afloat on the swollen river and move her forward.To the far bank. Her only chance was to make it to the other side....Outro S2 E13OK my survivor friends. Nice to see you all again this week, although some of you look like you haven’t got a good night’s sleep in weeks. That’s what the apocalypse does to you. Apocalypse Post Link TreeDo us a favor and like the podcast, leave a review, forward it to a friend so we can all Keep Surviving. Podcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

19 Feb 202231min

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason two, Episode twelve, “Trust”Brad looked at the steaming pile of eggs on his plate and didn’t know what to think. ‘Eggs for dinner?’He loved eggs. His mom used to make them for him. And did the concept of ‘dinner time’ even mean anything anymore?John Tasker noticed his hesitation and said with a smile, “Go ahead, boy, dig in!”. We got plenty.” Brad did as he was told, bringing a greasy, savory forkful to his mouth. There was a time he wouldn’t have even thought about the taste of his food. But now, this mouthful of scrambled eggs felt like a warm explosion of joy in his mouth. His whole body shuddered. ...Podcast on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseFacebook group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsePatreon to support the show -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseKindle Vella Story -> https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHMerch Store -> http://tee.pub/lic/8MubRv7yeAw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Feb 202229min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode Eleven “John Tasker”The old man grabbed Brad’s arm and hissed, “Let me do the talking.” Brad felt the strong grip on his arm and watched, mystified, as the old man transformed. He hunched over and assumed the guise and deportment of a completely different man than he was, an aged and feeble man. With the old man shuffling and supported on his arm, they emerged into the daylight....https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypsehttps://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypsehttps://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypsehttps://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09LTRC8RHhttps://www.teepublic.com/stores/after-the-apocalypseEnjoy your week, spring is coming, the days are getting longer, (at least on my side of the planet) and Keep surviving. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

22 Jan 202227min