After the Burn

This collection of two novellas and six short stories follows the exploits of a handful of survivors in a nuclear-devestated world ruled by the dregs of the earth; serial killers, child molesters, rapists, and cannibals, as well as radiation-evolved mutants. This is Ronald Kelly's most extreme work to date - including his acclaimed novellas FLESHWELDER. It was a picture-perfect Fourth of July; one that heralded both celebration and pride for millions. Folks enjoyed parades and cook-outs, the playful laughter of children and a velvet sky alive with fireworks. Afterward, they went to sleep, happy and contented, without a care in the world. Then at midnight, the sun came up, brighter than a billion sparklers and hotter than Hell unleashed. They called it The Burn. The senseless detonation of nuclear devices across the face of the earth; randomly scattered, without rhyme or reason. Civilization as we knew it was consumed in fire that day and, from its ashes, rose a horrifying phoenix of boundless evil and depravity. Those who had once clung to the shadows, because of law and moral restraint, now stepped boldly forward to stake their unholy claim… An elderly handyman battles one of the most heinous serial killers in history as his picturesque small town slowly becomes a violent nightmare come true. A well-known TV chef of culinary delights finds herself stranded and struggling for survival in the wilds of Virginia with her only friend, a stray dog named Compadre… and soon discovers that hunger and betrayal goes hand-in-hand. A band of unlikely survivors take refuge in the castle of an abandoned theme park, attempting to ward off an army of crazed lunatics who have come there in search of the only sustenance they crave… human flesh. Two children strive to escape the evil clutches of a band of rapists and child molesters. They listen for the happy music of the ice cream truck and pray for the arrival of the Popsicle Man, a white-clad vigilante who has only hatred and fury for those who would prey upon the innocent. A farm family attempts to forge a solitary life in the lofty mountains of the Tennessee Smokies. That lonesome pursuit for normalcy and peace is derailed when radiation mutates the wildlife and vegetation of their beloved home into their worse enemies… and threatens to evolve them into something less than human themselves. A middle-aged housewife and an Elvis impersonator journey to Memphis to pay homage to a long-dead rock and roll legend… and discover that iconic ghosts sometimes hold the true key to survival. The survivors of Ruin Town must face evil in the form of a sadistic military commander known as the General. Their only hope is a man who can repair their broken bodies and, through a unique blending of medicine and mechanics, make them whole again. He is the healer supreme. The medico grande. The Flesh Welder. A woman and her daughter seek to escape the horrors of an inner-city Hell, strife with murder, torture, and rape, by partaking of a drug which transports them to their own private Heaven. But they soon discover that a chemically-induced paradise is limited in the protection it can provide.