Editors’ Retrospective

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode nine “Reunion”Bella watched as the big dog pushed his head into the old man’s lap. The dog was wiggling its butt like a puppy and the old man was pretending to be mad. “No”, the old man said, looking away from the supplicant dog, who was vigorously nuzzling at him. “You didn’t listen to me. You could have gotten yourself killed.” The dog gave a big push and the old man slipped out of the chair sprawling onto the linoleum floor. Bill pounced on the old man as he fell to the ground and licked at his face. The old man put his hands up for protection and laughed despite himself. ...Outro S2 E9Hello my survivor friends. Welcome back to the apocalypse. In this episode I wanted to give all y’all a bit of a breather from all the tension and action. That last episode where KJ has to escape across the river was harrowing. Death, destruction, fear, tension, cats and dogs living together – real end-of-the-world stuff!My editors and I had a multi-day discussion as to whether she would bring her boots with her. Tim said to tie the boots around her neck. I just couldn’t see how she could swim with the boots around her neck. I rewrote it 3 times. Tried a compromise. Long distance swimmers actually have these waterproof floaty bags they put stuff in and tie to their ankles. But it was getting to complex and awkward, so I sent them a text that read “I don’t care about the @#$%@ boots!” It’s running joke between us now. I figure in the Hollywood version of the story this scene will give them an excuse to have the heroine take her clothes off! Of course, by the time Hollywood is done with it there will be sea monsters, laser beams and aliens. So – I wanted to take it easy on you this week. And I gave you that tense reunion scene as a flashback so you would already know the outcome and it wouldn’t require so much stress. Then we got them all together back at the school. A bit of a holiday gathering if you will. The security of the group. The gathering. Not the quickening. The gathering. It’s odd how strangers can come together for a common purpose in times of crisis. ... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Dec 202125min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode Eight “The King”<Editor notes: Slow cadence in this section, let it build and burn. >The King’s given name was Andre Bobette. No one called him that. No one had ever called him that. When he was a kid his hard-drinking, white-trash father had called him ‘Bubba’. At least he had, as long as that miscreant loser was still living with them in the double-wide trailer. ...S2 E8 The King – Outro Hello my survivor friends. Welcome back. How’s the apocalypse going for you these days? This was a long episode. 3500+ words. I thought about breaking it up into two episodes, but it seemed to hang together well enough, and it advances the story line in the right direction. I just listened to Roberts read of the King’s backstory – OH MY GOD! It was terrifying! Great work. Why does Janet care so much about what these bad guys are doing? Because she sees the bigger picture. She sees that this is one of those moments in the arc of time when direct action by a few individuals can determine or alter the broader outcome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Dec 202131min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode Seven “Industrial”It was slippery and tough going in the industrial rubble by the river’s edge. The old man pulled himself up over a concrete slab that blocked the trail. The slab had rebar sticking out of it like the broken bones of an old corpse that had been torn open by wolves. ...Hello survivors. Happy Thanksgiving! Let me say, first of all, that I have been dying to use the phrase “Arms akimbo” in a story my whole life. Akimbo is an interesting English word that means "with the hands on the hips and the elbows bent outward at sharp angles". They think the word akimbo has some relation to the word ‘bow’ like ‘bow and arrow’ – because the arms are bent like a bow. The first recorded usage was by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales in the 1400’s. I’m going to stop right there before I start waxing poetically about Richard III and Henry IV and Iambic Pentameter. All in good time. Back to the story… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27 Nov 202126min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode six “Scorpion”…Bill the dog was attuned to gunfire. It did not bother him as much as it heightened his senses to what was going on around him. Bill was trained to save lives. He was trained to sense danger and do what he could to protect the lives of his squad. He was a soldier first. He didn’t think. He acted in accordance with his training. He had no sense of bravery or heroism – only a burning sense of duty.The safety of the squad was his first priority. ...Outro S2 E6 – ScorpionThe patreon page -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseThe FaceBook Group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypseThe Show on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypse11/10/2021Hello survivors. Here we are, Episode 6 of the 2nd season of After the Apocalypse a Pandemic Survival Story. And we have our friend Bill back in play, so you can stop with the angry messages. But, we’re not out of the woods yet. We left you with a cliff-hanger! Or more like a grassy-knoll hanger. https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2021/09/26/writing-tip-23-never-kill-the-dog/Learned a couple things this week. First, and I already knew this, but it was hammered home by some comments on our Facebook page, is that when you’re reading or listening you create a picture in your head from what the author is telling you. That is the magic of reading or listening. That’s the advantage of reading or listening over TV or movies. You get to create your own visuals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12 Nov 202127min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode five “Forage”Janet braced herself against the doorway of an old brick mill building. She had worked her way through the back streets and vacant lots to the river’s edge. From this vantage point, downriver, she could see the bridge and the river foaming around it. She held her breath as the shuttle bus punched into the water and bounced unsteadily across the span. Janet uttered a small prayer as the men in the Humvees arrived and started firing on the bus from the bridgehead. Adrenaline mixed with fear and anger as she searched her mind for any action she could take to help them. ...Outro S2 E5The patreon page -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseThe FaceBook Group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypseThe Show on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypse10/29/ 2021 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Okt 202129min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode four “Empty”Mags watched the old man slump into an overstuffed, coffee-stained chair in the teachers’ lounge. It smelled like cigarettes and moth balls. Decades of stale smoke wrapped in tweed jackets with elbow patches. Undoubtedly, it had been the treasured refuge of some crusty old academic with only a few years left to retirement. This old chair his redoubt from the squalling of adolescent rage. That person was gone. Their jaded, dusty dreams swept away with the apocalypse. Now this chair was empty. Now it made a good place to temporarily store this old man. ...S2 E4 OutroHello survivors! Welcome back! Picking up steam in Season 2 now. How do you like our new characters? I like the Mags character. I hadn’t pre-planned to write her this way but she just naturally turned into a strong person. The kind of person you need in the Apocalypse. I did have several people threaten to unfriend me over at the Facebook group after episode 3. Have patience. And, if you need to yell at me you can join us at the after the apocalypse Facebook group. And, if you want to hire Robert for something, I don’t know, maybe to record the message on your voicemail, you can find him at Command Voices. Wouldn’t that be great? “Welcome to the Apocalypse, We’re tied up surviving at the moment. Please leave a message. We’ll get back to you, if we survive…” …Our tribe is growing nicely. We are at 28XXX downloads and running between 100-400 per day. Thank you to those of you who have subscribed in your apps. And thank you for sharing with you friends, enemies and total strangers. It looks like it’s working. Keep it up! Just drop the link shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypse into Facebook, twitter, whatever. We are word of mouth so keep making words with you mouths in the direction of other people. Also thanks to new Patreon member Corby who threw me a couple bucks. I appreciate the help. …Feel free to reach out to me with any suggestions or comments. I am having a blast writing and producing this – and I hope you are too. If we have brightened your day even a little bit with our story telling it makes us happy. We appreciate all your help and attention – and whatever you do – keep surviving. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Okt 202132min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode three “The Hungry River”Janet glared through the sleet, up the hill, searching for the Humvees that she expected to appear over the crest at any moment. “Persistent deadbeats…” She swore under her breath as the chain saw chattered in her hands. She knew if she could slow them down, even for a minute, it might give the bus enough time to escape....Outro S2 E3https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseHello and welcome back survivors. Here we are, episode 3 of season two and it feels like we’re hitting our stride.This was a fun episode to construct. I love the visual of the river devouring the bridge. Just a great picture in my mind’s eye. The other thing that happened here, not to give you too much of the sausage-making, was a roller coaster ride. It’s a series of tension builds and releases, where we are just letting you off the hook and we slap you again with a new shock wave. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Okt 202124min

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode two “Pursuit”KJ clutched the knife in one cold hand, lowering the heel of her other hand to the ground for support.She was in a full crouch now. Just a few yards away she could see the hooded man on the bench, under the portico, and he looked to be dozing.“If he’s a guard, he isn’t a very good one,” She thought. Something about him didn’t fit. A moment ago, as she was sneaking along the wall, she had glanced into the window of the resort and saw some of the thugs.The King’s soldiers were no better at guard duty. They lay sprawled and asleep on the lobby furniture, surrounded by trash and bottles, no doubt sleeping off another hard debauch. ...Outro Episode 1 Season 2 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Sep 202134min