Fiction Survival Stories

Chick Bowdrie could have been an outlaw, but he rode a different trail. The Texas Rangers recruited Bowdrie to help pursue the most wanted men in the Southwest. And Bowdrie knew the terrain all too well: the dusty trails, bitter cattle feuds, the desperate killers, and the weather-beaten towns that could explode into chaos at the wrong word. The Rangers were called in to handle the tough cases, and Bowdrie was the toughest and smartest.

The Human Garde Academy was created in the aftermath of an alien invasion of Earth. It was meant to provide a safe haven for teens across the globe who were suddenly developing incredible powers known as Legacies. Taylor Cook was one of the newest students and had no idea if she’d ever fit in. But when she was mysteriously abducted, her friends broke every rule in the book to save her. In the process, they uncovered a secret organization that was not only behind Taylor’s kidnapping but also the disappearance of numerous teens with abilities.

As millions of readers of Hatchet, The River, and Brian's Winter know, Brian Robeson survived alone in the wilderness by finding solutions to extraordinary challenges. But now that's he's back in civilization, he can't find a way to make sense of high school life. He feels disconnected, more isolated than he did alone in the North. The only answer is to return-to "go back in"-for only in the wilderness can Brian discover his true path in life, and where he belongs.

Akira is riding her horse in the California woods when a wildfire sparks—and grows scarily fast. How can she make it to safety when there are flames everywhere? Owen and his best friend, George, like spotting polar bears on the snowy Canadian tundra. But when one bear gets way too close for comfort, do the boys have any chance of surviving?

Since the opening of Glacier National Park in 1910, there were no reported fatal bear attacks until one summer night in 1967, when two grizzlies attacked campers and killed two young women. Inspired by the dramatic and tragic story of that night, and how it eventually influenced the fate of the grizzly bear in the continental United States, Lauren Tarshis has crafted yet another gripping novel in the I Survived series that is sure to shine a light on a terrifying and mostly unknown moment in US history.

Rachel is still reeling from the news that the Earth is secretly under attack by parasitic aliens known as the Yeerks. And that she and her friends - five kids who, purely by chance, stumbled onto a downed spacecraft and were given the power to morph into any animal they touch - are the planet's only defense. But Rachel's always been something of a daredevil. So when it's suggested that they infiltrate the home of their assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, who also happens to be a human host of the Yeerks, she volunteers. But what she finds inside may be more than even she can handle.

It's tough surviving in Hell. But sometimes Hell can be a haven. Their country has been invaded. Their homes have been occupied by strangers, or destroyed. Their families are facing death at the hands of a merciless enemy. But one group of teenagers, fugitives in a remote valley, will never give in. Not without a fight. But sometimes courage demands too high a price.

After suffering a tragic loss, 11-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think—she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man", a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve. 10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class. 10:03. The auditorium doors won't open. 10:05. Someone starts shooting. Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Brit Pheiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn’t prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants - but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage.

It's been one year since all the adults disappeared. Gone. Despite the hunger, despite the lies, even despite the plague, the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they've built, though, is the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear. Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over - turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black.

One year after a random shooting changed their family forever, Nora and her father are exploring a slot canyon deep in the Arizona desert, hoping it will help them find peace. Nora longs for things to go back to normal, like they were when her mother was still alive, while her father keeps them isolated in fear of other people. But when they reach the bottom of the canyon, the unthinkable happens: A flash flood rips across their path, sweeping away Nora's father and all of their supplies.

The story in which a 16-year-old is chosen by her government to undergo The Testing, which decides if she gets to go to The University. The University is for the country’s best and brightest teens and puts the rebuilding and future leadership of the United Commowealth in their hands. During The Testing, extreme psychological and physical trials pit them against one another to determine which teens have what it takes to become a leader.

Andy and her twin brother Tony are four-wheeling in the woods near their family cabin when they notice the sky has turned a sickly shade of green. Moments later, the sky erupts into a raucous thunderstorm and they’re forced to take cover beneath an abandoned Ranger tower. When the sky grows eerily calm, they quickly get back on their four-wheelers and race home - only to find a massive funnel cloud blocking their way. The twins dodge falling trees and debris in search of shelter only to face an even bigger dilemma.

I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Secret Histories is the second collection of action-packed novellas from Pittacus Lore. Initially published separately as digital originals, these three stories are now together in one volume.

Ever since he arrived at his family's rented summer house, Brendan has been hearing horror stories from all of the locals about sharks in the water. His new friend and surfing partner, Alex, swears the stories aren't true, but Brendan can't shake his fear. Then, one day, when Alex and Brendan are surfing off the coast, Brendan's shark nightmare comes true in a horrible way.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, 300 years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end 50 years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Now wielding the Midnight Blade, Jack Sullivan and the gang are furiously searching for the villainous Thrull and his skeleton army. The clock is ticking: the enemy has begun constructing the Tower - a portal with the power to bring Rezzoch the Ancient, Destructor of Worlds, to our dimension.

In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel". They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers.

Buddy wakes up in the middle of a garbage dump, filled with a certain awareness: he’s a teddy bear; he spent time at a Store waiting for his future to begin; and he is meant for the loving arms of a child. Now he knows one more thing: Something has gone terribly wrong. Soon he finds other discarded teddies - Horace, Sugar, Sunny, and Reginald. Though they aren’t sure how their luck soured, they all agree that they need to get back to the Store if they’re ever to fulfill their destinies.