The Lost Country, Episode One

First came the time-storm, which erased half the population. Then came the Dinosaur Apocalypse ... How did it all begin? Well, that depends on where you were and who you ask. In some places it started with the weather-which quickly became unstable and began behaving in impossible ways. In still others it started with the lights in the sky, which shifted and pulsed and could not be explained. Elsewhere it started with the disappearances: one here, a few there, but increasing in occurrence until fully three quarters of the population had vanished. Either way, there is one thing on which everyone agrees-it didn't take long for the prehistoric flora and fauna to start showing up (often appearing right where someone had stood, in which case the two were fused, spliced, amalgamated). It didn't take long for the great Time-displacement called the Flashback-which was brief but had aftershocks, like an earthquake-to change the face of the earth. Nor for the stories, some long and others short, some from before the maelstrom (and resulting societal collapse) and others after, to be recorded. Welcome to the Lost Country. From "The Big Empty": "Jesus. Just-Jesus," said Amelia, staring at the decomposing body. "How long do you think it's been here?"I examined it where it was sprawled on the back porch, facing the ocean, its skin blackened and clinging to the bones-like it had been vacuum sealed-its wispy hair fluttering. "Hard to say. Few weeks. Maybe a month." I batted away the flies. "Long enough for the organs to liquify.""How-how do you know?"I studied the holes in its head, a smaller one which was about the size of a dime and a larger, more cavernous one-the exit wound. "Because, otherwise, there'd be brains all over." I stepped over it and picked up the gun, checked its chamber. "There's still bullets in it."She stared at me tentatively as I closed the chamber and gripped the weapon in both hands-neither of us saying anything. At last I nodded to the back door-the screen of which banged back and forth in the wind-and tried to brace myself. "You ready?"She shook her head."Okay. Let's go," I said. And then she was holding the screen as I inched forward and gripped the knob-turning it slowly, carefully, easing the door open. Stepping into a room which was dark as pitch; which reeked of cat piss and despair ..