The world has already ended, but the final choice hasn’t been made.
In the shattered remains of a town, the last survivors cling to what little they have left. Food is scarce, defenses are failing, and something far more dangerous than hunger is closing in. The Children—feral, relentless, and born into a broken world—have found a way inside. They move beneath the ruins, waiting, watching, ready to overwhelm what remains of the old guard.
As the group prepares a desperate escape, one man sees a different path. Running might buy time, but it won’t change what comes after. If the Children are left behind to starve, then whatever future remains will die with them. With the odds stacked against him, he chooses to stay behind and try something no one believes will work. It’s a gamble made with no plan, no guarantee, and almost no time.
“The Chasm” by Bryce Walton is a stark, haunting story about what happens when survival is no longer enough. It strips away easy answers and forces a question that can’t be ignored: when the future depends on those who fear and hate you, what do you do next?
Bryce Walton published widely in magazines such as Galaxy Science Fiction, If, and Fantastic Universe during the 1950s. His stories often placed characters in extreme situations where instinct and belief collide under pressure. In “The Chasm,” Walton narrows that focus to a single decision made at the edge of extinction, capturing the tension of a world where one small human connection might be the only thing left to try.
