JCW The Full Story: Runt of the Litter Volume 2 by Carol Gyzander

A decade ago, solar storms devastated the electronic infrastructure—a situation grounded in science—and opened a strange portal to another dimension. The resulting anarchy destroyed American civilization, and isolated woodland camps and colonial villages now provide better living conditions than modern houses, which can’t be heated without power.

This is the second volume in the post-apocalyptic cosmic horror series that began with Runt of the Litter where the midwife, Mary, traveled with her Maine Coon cat between isolated communities in New Jersey, haunted by PTSD and searching for a connection to give life meaning after her daughter died. Mary made new friends and rescued a young girl, Runt. Together, they faced the Jersey Devil, sent the cryptid back to the alternate dimension, and set up a safe community in the Pine Barrens.

In Volume 2, Mary and Runt leave the Pine Barrens in search of Mary’s absent husband who was called away to his solar astronomy lab just before the solar flares erupted. They travel through Pennsylvania, seeking the hidden science center where she hopes to find him … but this is the reported territory of Mothman, another cryptid that appears periodically. Is their bond strong enough to make her enter the other dimension and find her husband?

Think Station 11 meets The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but this novel turns the trope of a man and a boy walking down the road on its head as it examines a competent woman of mature years making her way through the rebirth of civilization … with a girl and a cat.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬"—𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘢 𝘑𝘊𝘞 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵—𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥.

𝘛𝘰 𝘳𝘴𝘷𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 (𝘕𝘖𝘛𝘌: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵), 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 [thefullstory@jerseycitywriters.org](mailto:thefullstory@jerseycitywriters.org). 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘴𝘷𝘱 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.)