This week, I finished Part One of The End of the World As We Know It, “Down With the Sickness,” which features stories set during the outbreak and immediate aftermath of Captain Trips. The stories in this final section of Part One are Alex Segura’s “La Mala Hora,” Catriona Ward’s “The African Painted Dog,” Poppy Z. Brite’s “Till Human Voices Wake Us and We Drown,” Michael Koryta’s “Kovach’s Last Case,” and Alma Katsu’s “Make Your Own Way.” 

The theme I found myself returning to and contemplating during this section of the reading (and throughout the whole first part) is the impact and experience of Captain Trips on living beings beyond the human. Ward’s “The African Painted Dog” is told from the perspective of an animal of that species, with a very unique and intimate narrative voice. The narrator, Chachacha, and his brother Tak Tak Tak are on display with their mother in a zoo when the flu decimates the world population, and they find themselves facing the horrors of starvation and death in their enclosure now that their keepers are all either dead or fled. Chachacha and Tak Tak Tak escape, though they find that the world outside holds even more traumatic horrors. (Full disclosure: This was a very difficult story for me to read. ChaChaCha’s subjective perspective very effectively captures and elevates the horror of the scenes and encounters that play out, both within the zoo enclosure and in the outside world). Brite’s “Till Human Voices Wake Us and We Drown” features a mermaid-like creature that communicates with the humans she encounters through physical touch and a kind of fragmented telepathy, while in Katsu’s “Make Your Own Way,” Maryellen’s horse Ruby is central to the choices Maryellen makes, including what she will fight to hang on to, what she’s willing to lose, and the path she chooses to take moving forward. 

Animals, both domesticated and wild, have been a frequent theme in this opening section, expanding the narrative of Captain Trips beyond that of humans fighting for their survival, whether the authors engage this through humans’ relationships with animals or the perspectives and experiences of the animals themselves. Pet dogs are central to Bryan Smith’s “Every Dog Has Its Day,” the eponymous “Lenora” in Jonathan Janz’s story is a dik-dik from a nearby wildlife park who has been abused by one of her keepers and whose companionship becomes Baker Ludlow’s last hope of connection and care in a dying world, and a freed tiger poses mortal danger in Hailey Piper’s “Prey Instinct.” 

Several stories in this opening section also comment upon the impact of the flu virus on animals, even when it isn’t central to the story itself. Species susceptibility is uneven and unpredictable, and a small percentage of individual animals (regardless of species) are seemingly immune to the virus, much like their human counterparts. For example, in “Make Your Own Way,” Maryellen’s horse Ruby never gets sick, even as all of the horses on neighboring farms succumb to Captain Trips. These stories are often heartbreaking, but the connection and compassion shared between many of the humans and the animals in their care offers a new framework for the post-Captain Trips world, in terms of both conflict and care. 

Animals aside, Kortya’s “Kovach’s Last Case” is a standout story in this section. With a title that echoes Stephen King’s short story “Umney’s Last Case” (published in the 1993 collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes), Kortya’s story follows the adventures of Eddie Kovach, who “thought he might be the last homicide detective in America. Maybe the world” (341). Kovach defines himself by his job and the story actively negotiates mystery and police procedural genre conventions, highlighting both the usefulness of this particular skill set and its limitations in a world that no longer plays by the rules as he tracks down a serial killer in post-Captain Trips Cleveland, facing decisions that impact who he wants to be moving forward and whether or not he’s capable of and willing to change.  (There’s also a nice shout-out to The Mist‘s Project Arrowhead. Bonus points!)

As 2025 draws to a close, I’m going to take a bit of a break from the Captain Trips apocalypse, but I’ll be back in January, when we’ll pick up with Part Two, “The Long Walk.” A very happy holiday season to you and yours, and I’ll see you in the new year! 

[Page numbers from The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales from Stephen King’s The Stand; Gallery Books, 2025]