A Land of AshThis is an anthology of stories based on one premise; that the Yellowstone Caldera erupts. For those not familiar with that, Yellowstone actually sits on a huge mass of magma, and, every 600,000 years or so, it erupts. It's not just one volcano; it's a bunch of them, all erupting at the same time, all sending dense ash clouds into the air. There can be enough ash that it could have the same effects as a nuclear winter, blocking out sunlight, resulting in the death of plants and the animals that depend on them. The first story includes a food store that is now empty of everything. Radio stations and television no longer function. A group of people is having a party, probably the final one of their lives. The ash cloud begins to fall, and they know they will all die. The second story is about some guy living in a cave in eastern Kentucky. Then there are some earthquakes for a couple of days. He sees animals fleeing towards the east. A father and his six-year-old daughter are the focus of the third story. The fourth story includes people on a beach and some who won a lottery to get away to safety somewhere. The next story involves an old woman and a murderer. In the next story a woman arrives in Boston. She is representing the President and tells the mayor that there will be martial law on the east coast, and that rioting and looting will not be tolerated. Food will be a major problem along with other things. There's rioting and shooting and a gun running over people with his car. In another story Mexicans are shooting any survivors from America who try to swim the Rio Grande. They apparently killed thousands of Americans. Another story shows just how low young people can stoop in such a situation. In the next story a pregnant woman has to decide whether to allow her baby to be born into the very harsh world, or have an abortion. |