Fiction Survival Stories

More than 2,000 men, women, and children are on board. Here on the first-class promenade is millionaire John Jacob Astor, who hopes his return from Egypt with his pregnant teen bride will invite a minimum of media attention. And here, in the third-class common room, a beautiful Lebanese refugee, on her way to family in Florida, discovers first love. And there in the distance, shrouded in darkness, an ancient iceberg lies patient, awaiting its encounter.

The nightmare of the outbreak is finally over, but Cat’s fight has only just begun. Exhausted, wounded, and reeling from revelations that have shaken her to her core, Cat is at a breaking point. Camped in the woods with Cole and Leoben, she’s working day and night, desperate to find a way to stop Lachlan’s plan to reprogram humanity. But she’s failing - Cat can’t even control her newly regrown panel, and try as she might to ignore them, she keeps seeing glitching visions from her past everywhere she turns.

Plain Jane Flowers is a 17-year-old summer camp counselor. This is her second year at Camp Sunshine - only this time, there won't be any campers. Jane will be competing with other counselors in a series of challenges that will test her physical strength, endurance, and mental acuity. If Jane wins, her entire life will change. Jane teams up with some of her fiercest competitors, but soon, mistrust causes a fracture within her alliance. Someone is sabotaging the games. The stakes have never been higher, yet quitting isn’t an option. Jane will have to play the game in order to survive.

He has no voice or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn't know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind. Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall. His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting. Until a human kills her...

Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj's livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but 17-year-old Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family. When Taj is called to eat a sin of a member of the royal family, he's suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos.

Three people from different walks of life each experience the end of America. Cassy is a 33-year-old prepper and single mother, away on business. Ethan is a hacker and conspiracy nut living underground. Frank is a family man out camping with friends and family. When a devastating EMP attack in the middle of the night destroys America's infrastructure, they are propelled on an unforgettable journey across an ocean of chaos to reach safety...Safety from an unknown invader and from once-fellow Americans now hungry and desperate.

She had a big job on Wall Street, a loving husband, and an infant son, and a confidence born of intelligence and beauty. But on 9/11, good fortune was no match for catastrophe. When a wall of flame at the World Trade Center burned more than 80 percent of her body, Lauren Manning began a 10-year journey of survival and rebirth that tested her almost beyond human endurance.

It's a typical night for high-school senior Jack Danielson. A star football player, he just broke the league rushing record, celebrated at the local diner, and got shot down (again) by his girlfriend. Jack feels he's having "the most normal senior year a guy could have" in "the most normal little town in America". He couldn't be more wrong.

A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief - she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people...and no answers.

Twice-orphaned Sylvi has chipped out a niche for herself on Layce, an island cursed by eternal winter. Alone in her truck, she takes comfort in two things: the solitude of the roads and the favor of Winter, an icy spirit who has protected her since she was a child.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies. But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed.

In The Circus Ship, a very special craft is carrying all manner of circus animals. But when it nearly sinks, out spill all the animals. Luckily, they make it to a nearby island. And there they happily settle in - until the mean old circus owner tries to round them up.

When the military safe-zone is overrun, the group must escape, carrying with them their own internal tensions. Alec blames Elaina for the release of the virus. Natalia hates her father for leaving her. Will is tormented by memories of his family killing each other. And worst of all, Elaina is infected with the virus. When the group splinters, two will find refuge in an abandoned town hosted by a rogue group of soldiers, it seems. Is it possible they've found a safe space, or is there evil lurking there, about to unfold? Before they discover the answer, they will lose one of their own.

Emmett Atwater thought Babel's game sounded easy. Get points. Get paid. Go home. But it didn't take long for him to learn that Babel's competition was full of broken promises, none darker or more damaging than the last one. Now Emmett and the rest of the Genesis spaceship survivors must rally and forge their own path through a new world. Their mission from Babel is simple: extract nyxia, the most valuable material in the universe, and play nice with the indigenous Adamite population. But Emmett and the others quickly realize they are caught between two powerful forces.

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.

It was bad when Jake found out his brother was one of them. A Human-Controller. A slave. But that was nothing compared to this. When the Animorphs decide to visit the Yeerks' new base, it seems simple. But then they get caught, and Jake falls - just for a moment - into the Yeerk pool. Now they're out, and his friends can't see it. To them, he's just like normal. But Jake is screaming for help. His worst fear has finally come true. He's become the enemy.

Marco never wanted to be an Animorph. He didn't want the ability to change into any animal he touches. And he certainly didn't want to be one of a handful of kids that are the planet's only defense against a secret alien army. His friends know why he feels the way he does. He's worried about his dad - the only family Marco has left. If anything happens to him, his father will be alone. But something big is about to change for Marco. Something that could finally give him a reason to fight.

On a summer vacation with his family, Marlon Keys is about to hike the Appalachian Trail. He isn't exactly thrilled about the trip, he'd rather play on his smartphone and connect with his friends back home. But when Marlon accidentally gets separated from the group on the hike, his "boring" vacation becomes an exercise in survival. Can Marlon find his way back to his family and camp safely, or will he remain lost on the trail?

Jack, June, Quint, and Dirk face their biggest challenge yet: creating the sequel to their hit graphic novel! And like all sequels, it must be BIGGER, BETTER, and PACKED WITH EVEN MORE NEAT STUFF! While the kids get to work, their superhero alter-egos make a startling discovery: supervillains do not come up with their own evil plans! The shocking truth? Every supervillain scheme comes from the mind of a single, mysterious bad guy.

Hatchet meets Wild in this harrowing YA survival story about a teenage girl’s attempt to endure the impossible, from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Female of the Species, Mindy McGinnis.