Autumn

INTRODUCTION I originally envisaged Autumn as a standalone novel, but when I’d finished writing the first book back in 2001 , it occurred to me that as I’d destroyed pretty much the entire population by the end of the first page, there would no doubt be many more stories left in my dead world to tell, if anyone wanted to read them. Fortunately, they did. Through the four subsequent novels I’ve been able to take my survivors way beyond the early days of the infection, right into the post-post-apocalypse . The problem was, the more I thought about the end of the world, the more I found to write about. That’s the reason for this book – it’s the very end of the Autumn series. Back in 2005 , when I first thought I’d wrapped the series up, I released the first edition of this book, describing it at the time as ‘part companion, part guide book and part sequel’. But things change, and the acquisition of the series by Thomas Dunne Books meant the story continued after Purification . More than a year has now passed since the release of the final novel, Aftermath , and it seems the perfect time to revisit and update this collection and bring the series as a whole to a close. The stories you’ll find here fall broadly into three categories. Briefest are what I originally called Autumn: Echoes – snapshots of the lives of people caught up in the throes of the apocalypse ( where were you when the world ended? ). Some are recognisable characters from the novels, others are minor bit-players who had interesting back stories to tell. You’ll find a ‘who’s who’ at the end of the book. The second batch of stories focus largely on what happened before or after events described in the novels. For example, in Breaking Point , you’ll read what happened to Michael and Emma between Autumn and The City . In Beginning to Disintegrate , you’ll discover how the group of survivors we meet in Disintegration came to be stuck with each other. Finally, there are numerous other shorts here which are self-contained and take place well outside the main story arc. I came up with a number of scenarios which were too interesting to forget about, but which didn’t fit naturally into the novels. For example, in The Garden Shed , a proud man refuses to leave the home he’s worked so hard to own, and in Office Politics , we meet a man whose coping strategy is enviably simple: complete denial. I hope you enjoy this collection, and that you’ve enjoyed the rest of the Autumn series. In closing, I wish to record my enormous thanks to everyone who has been involved in the series in one way or another over the last decade: to the editors, artists, and publishers who’ve worked behind the scenes, but most importantly, to the readers who’ve supported the books from the beginning. I’m indebted to all of you. David Moody June 2013