The Morrison Curve

The Morrison Curve

adeniyi oluwateniayomi · Ongoing · 40.7k Words

573
Hot
574
Views
0
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

Jake Morrison wrote the book on how the world would end. Now that it has, he realizes he didn't just predict the collapse—he authored it for a corporate machine called Aegis. Caught between a warlord who wants his tactics, a cult that views him as a god, and a corporation that wants him liquidated, Jake must navigate the ruins of his own imagination to find "Sector Zero" and hit the delete key on the world he accidentally created.

Chapter 1

Jake stood in aisle four, staring at a dented can of peaches like it held the secrets of the universe.

Outside, the world was screaming. It was a high-pitched, rhythmic sound that reminded him of a tea kettle, if that tea kettle was the size of a city block and fueled by collective panic.

He looked down at the floor and saw a ripped, muddy page from his own book. It was Chapter 1, the part where he talked about maintaining a calm psychological profile during the initial shock phase.

"Well," he thought, looking at a woman currently trying to bite the ear off a security guard, "so much for the calm psychological profile."

He felt a weird, buzzing numbness in his chest. It wasn't exactly fear. It was more like the feeling of being a fraud who finally got caught.

For three years, he had toured talk shows and written blog posts about the inevitable systemic collapse of modern infrastructure. He had warned them about the grid, the supply lines, and the fragile nature of social contracts.

People called him a doomsday prophet, a cynic, and occasionally a visionary.

Now, as he watched a teenager use a stack of The End Times Manual to prop open a fire exit that was clearly labeled as a death trap in his own diagrams, Jake realized he was just a guy with a laptop and a really bad sense of timing.

"Seriously?" He muttered to himself. "The fire exit? Did nobody read the part about bottlenecking?"

He shifted his backpack. He had entered the store for water and batteries, but the shelves were stripped bare.

It had happened faster than even he predicted. He’d written that the transition from order to chaos would take about seventy-two hours. It had actually taken about forty-five minutes.

"Jake, you idiot," he thought. "You’re the guy who wrote the manual. You should have been in the mountains three days ago. Instead, you’re in a suburban grocery store wondering if the generic brand crackers are worth a fistfight."

A loud crash from the front of the store snapped him out of his internal monologue. The glass doors had finally given way.

The sound of the crowd changed from frantic shouting to something much more primal. Jake turned toward the back of the store, his heart finally deciding to hammer against his ribs.

He knew this layout. He’d studied store blueprints for the research phase of his third book. There was a loading dock behind the deli counter.

He started moving, keeping low. He passed the pharmacy section, where the chaos was at its peak. People were grabbing anything with a child-proof cap.

He saw a man look at him, eyes wide and bloodshot. The man held up a copy of Jake’s book.

"It says the meds are the new currency! The man shouted, waving the book like a holy relic. "Is it true? Tell me it’s true!"

Jake didn't stop. He didn't have the heart to tell the guy that currency didn't matter if you got trampled in the next five minutes.

He just kept shuffling toward the back, his sneakers squeaking on spilled soda.

He reached the deli counter and vaulted over it, landing in a pile of discarded plastic wrap. He scrambled toward the heavy steel door that led to the warehouse area.

He pushed, but it didn't budge. He pushed again, harder this time, feeling a cold sweat break out across his neck. It was locked from the other side.

"Check secondary exits," he whispered, reciting his own advice. "Always check the secondary exits before the primary ones become compromised."

He hadn't done that. He had walked right into the front door like a tourist.

He felt a sudden, sharp urge to find a mirror just so he could punch himself in the face. He was going to die in a grocery store because he failed his own pop quiz.

He looked around frantically. To his left, there was a small service elevator used for bringing up pallets from the basement storage. It was open.

He dived inside and hit the button for the lower level just as a group of looters rounded the corner of the deli. The doors slid shut with a mechanical groan that sounded far too loud in the cramped space.

The elevator descended with a jerk. Jake slumped against the padded wall, sliding down until his butt hit the floor. He put his head in his hands.

"Nice job, Morrison," he thought. "Real professional. Page forty-two, remember? Avoid basement levels unless they have at least two points of egress. You’re literally in a box underground now. If the power goes out, this is your coffin."

He stayed there for a minute, listening to the muffled sounds of the world ending above him. It sounded like a storm, a literal hurricane of human desperation.

He wondered if his parents had made it out of the city. He wondered if his ex-girlfriend was currently laughing at the irony of his situation.

She always said his obsession with the apocalypse was just a way to avoid dealing with real life. It turned out that real life and the apocalypse were now the same thing, and he was failing at both.

The elevator hissed as it reached the basement. The doors opened to a dim, concrete room filled with crates of canned goods and industrial cleaning supplies. It was quiet down here. Eerie.

He stepped out, his footsteps echoing. He needed to find the stairs that led to the alleyway.

He moved through the aisles of crates, his mind racing. If he could get to his car, he could still make it to the safe house in the woods.

He had enough fuel in the trunk to get halfway across the state. He just had to get out of the building.

He saw the exit sign glowing red at the far end of the room. He hurried toward it, his boots clicking on the concrete. He reached the door and gripped the handle, ready to burst out into the fresh, chaotic air.

The door swung open before he could turn the knob.

Jake froze. Standing in the doorway were three men. They weren't the frantic, wide-eyed looters from upstairs.

These men were wearing matte black tactical vests, grey combat pants, and headsets. They held carbines with the casual ease of people who used them every day.

They didn't look like police, and they definitely didn't look like the National Guard. There were no patches, no flags, just professional-grade gear and very cold eyes.

The man in the center stepped forward. He reached into a side pocket and pulled out a crumpled book. He flipped it over to the back cover and held it up next to Jake’s face.

The photo on the back showed a younger, more confident Jake Morrison wearing a flannel shirt and a knowing smirk.

"Found him," the man said into his headset. His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.

Jake felt the blood drain from his face. He looked at the guns, then at the man, then back at the guns.

"Uh, hey guys," Jake said, his voice cracking slightly. "If this is about the advice in Chapter 4 regarding the water filtration, look, I know it was a bit controversial, but there's no need for—"

The man didn't smile. He didn't even blink. He grabbed Jake by the front of his jacket and slammed him against the concrete wall.

Jake felt the air leave his lungs in a sharp wheeze.

"Wait," Jake gasped. "I don't have any supplies. I’m just a writer. I’m nobody."

The man leaned in close. "You’re not nobody, Morrison. You’re the guy who knows where the bodies are buried before they’re even dead. Our employer has been looking for you for six months."

"Employer?" Jake thought, his mind spinning. "Who hires a private army the day the world stops spinning?"

He tried to squirm, but the man’s grip was like an iron vice. The other two soldiers moved into the basement, their weapons raised, checking the corners with practiced efficiency.

"We’re not here for your canned peaches," the soldier said, pulling a pair of zip-ties from his belt. "We’re here because you’re the only one who knows how this ends."

"Actually," Jake managed to say, trying to regain some shred of his dignity, "I only wrote the first half. The second half was mostly educated guesses."

The soldier didn't respond. He spun Jake around and yanked his hands behind his back. The plastic zip-tie bit into Jake’s wrists with a sharp, stinging snap.

"This is bad," Jake thought. "This is very, very bad. I didn't write a chapter for this."

He was hauled toward the exit, his feet barely touching the ground. As they stepped out into the alley, he saw a black SUV idling with its lights off.

The city was burning in the distance, orange light flickering against the clouds.

"Is there a Chapter 12?" He wondered as they tossed him into the back of the vehicle. "Is there a chapter on what to do when your fans turn out to be mercenaries?"

The door slammed shut, plunging him into darkness. The engine roared to life, and as the SUV sped away from the ruins of the grocery store, Jake realized that for the first time in his life, he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next. The manual was officially useless.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

LOVING MY BILLIONAIRE STEPSON

LOVING MY BILLIONAIRE STEPSON

2k Views · Completed · Michael UDE
Before meeting Elliot Winter, Michelle’s life was a routine of beatings from her drunk dad to juggling part-time jobs. He was handsome, loaded, and had a smile that could melt ice.

There was also a twenty-year age gap between them, Michelle didn't care because their relationship was the only ray of sunshine in her rather bleak world. And when he popped the question she was more than happy to say yes. Michelle thought she had found her happily ever after, but she couldn't have been more wrong. With each year that passed Elliot became more of a stranger and less of the man she had fallen for, neglecting her and looking the other way when his mother treated her poorly, that was until the day their 5th anniversary rolled around, she caught him in bed with her sister.

Her love is replaced by hate, a swooning affection now burning rage. Well, two could play that game. That night, she dials her stepson's number with a single text that will change their lives forever.

‘I need you tonight’
After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

After the Affair: Falling into a Billionaire's Arms

1.5m Views · Ongoing · Louisa
Dear readers, this novel is coming to an end soon. I highly recommend another fantastic story of the same genre:


I’d appreciate all your support, thank you so much!
From first crush to wedding vows, George Capulet and I had been inseparable. But in our seventh year of marriage, he began an affair with his secretary.

On my birthday, he took her on vacation. On our anniversary, he brought her to our home and made love to her in our bed...

Heartbroken, I tricked him into signing divorce papers.

George remained unconcerned, convinced I would never leave him.

His deceptions continued until the day the divorce was finalized. I threw the papers in his face: "George Capulet, from this moment on, get out of my life!"

Only then did panic flood his eyes as he begged me to stay.

When his calls bombarded my phone later that night, it wasn't me who answered, but my new boyfriend Julian.

"Don't you know," Julian chuckled into the receiver, "that a proper ex-boyfriend should be as quiet as the dead?"

George seethed through gritted teeth: "Put her on the phone!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

Julian dropped a gentle kiss on my sleeping form nestled against him. "She's exhausted. She just fell asleep."
Mated to Her Alpha Instructor

Mated to Her Alpha Instructor

144.6k Views · Completed · Marina Ellington
I'm Eileen, an outcast at the shifter academy, all because I don't have a wolf. My only saving grace is a knack for healing that got me into the Healer's Division. Then one night in the forbidden woods, I found a stranger on the brink of death. One touch, and something primal snapped between us. That night tied me to him in a way I can't undo.
Weeks later, our new Alpha combat instructor walks in. Regis. The guy from the woods. His eyes lock on mine, and I know he recognizes me. Then the secret I've been hiding hits me like a punch: I'm pregnant.
He has an offer that binds us tighter than ever. Protection… or a cage? Whispers turn ugly, darkness closes in. Why am I the one without a wolf? Is he my salvation… or will he drag me to ruin?
From Substitute To Queen

From Substitute To Queen

1.7m Views · Completed · Hannah Moore
For three years, Sable loved Alpha Darrell with everything she had, spending her salary to support their household while being called an orphan and gold-digger. But just as Darrell was about to mark her as his Luna, his ex-girlfriend returned, texting: "I'm not wearing underwear. My plane lands soon—pick me up and fuck me immediately."

Heartbroken, Sable discovered Darrell having sex with his ex in their bed, while secretly transferring hundreds of thousands to support that woman.

Even worse was overhearing Darrell laugh to his friends: "She's useful—obedient, doesn't cause trouble, handles housework, and I can fuck her whenever I need relief. She's basically a live-in maid with benefits." He made crude thrusting gestures, sending his friends into laughter.

In despair, Sable left, reclaimed her true identity, and married her childhood neighbor—Lycan King Caelan, nine years her senior and her fated mate. Now Darrell desperately tries to win her back. How will her revenge unfold?

From substitute to queen—her revenge has just begun!
Game of Destiny

Game of Destiny

1.2m Views · Completed · Dripping Creativity
Amie's wolf hasn't shown herself. But who cares? She has a good pack, best friends and a family who loves her. Everyone, including the Alpha, is telling her she is perfect just the way she is. That is until she finds her mate and he rejects her. Heartbroken Amie flees from everything and start over. No more werewolves, no more packs.

When Finlay finds her, she is living among humans. He is smitten by the stubborn wolf that refuse to acknowledge his existence. She may not be his mate, but he wants her to be a part of his pack, latent wolf or not.

Amie cant resist the Alpha that comes into her life and drags her back into pack life. Not only does she find herself happier than she has been in a long time, her wolf finally comes to her. Finlay isn't her mate, but he becomes her best friend. Together with the other top wolves in the pack, they work to create the best and strongest pack.

When it's time for the pack games, the event that decides the packs rank for the coming ten year, Amie needs to face her old pack. When she sees the man that rejected her for the first time in ten years, everything she thought she knew is turned around. Amie and Finlay need to adapt to the new reality and find a way forward for their pack. But will the curve ball split them apart?
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

3.6k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

Rise of the Banished She-Wolf

423.5k Views · Completed · Lily
"White wolf! Kill that monster!"
That roar stole my eighteenth birthday and shattered my world. My first shift should have been glory—blood turned blessing into shame. By dawn they'd branded me "cursed": cast out by my pack, abandoned by family, stripped of my nature. My father didn't defend me—he sent me to a forsaken island where wolfless outcasts were forged into weapons, forced to kill each other until only one could leave.
On that island I learned the darkest edges of humanity and how to bury terror in bone. Countless times I wanted to surrender—dive into the waves and never surface—but the accusing faces that haunted my dreams pushed me back toward something colder than survival: revenge. I escaped, and for three years I hid among humans, collecting secrets, learning to move like a shadow, sharpening patience into precision—becoming a blade.
Then, under a full moon, I touched a bleeding stranger—and my wolf returned with a violence that made me whole. Who was he? Why could he wake what I'd thought dead?
One thing I know: now is the time.
I have waited three years for this. I will make everyone who destroyed me pay—and take back everything that was stolen from me.
Tempted By The Enemy

Tempted By The Enemy

3.9k Views · Completed · rituparna darolia
Twenty-two-year-old Alyssa Van Every is in a dilemma. Her close friend, Sienna, is marrying billionaire, Lucas Donnelly who, along with his brothers, happens to be her older brother, Alex's sworn enemy.
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
His Lethal Obsession

His Lethal Obsession

2.2k Views · Ongoing · Olivia Chigozie
"Big Kai?"

He didn't respond but moved his eyes around the room, scanning the place.

"Wha...what are you doing here?"

His icy blue eyes returned to me, sending shivers down my spine. Then further dropped to my dress and then back to my eyes.

"The shit going on downstairs, what does it mean?" he asked, making my legs as weak as they are eager to flee.

"It's....it my wedding,"

He scoffed darkly. "Excuse me?"

I swallowed. "I am......getting married,"

He let out a humorless laugh, looking away and giving me lesser comfort. He looked at me with a demonic frown.

Terror washed me.

"Every single motherfucker/human being here, be it adult or child, including you, will burn before that happens,"

〽️〽️〽️

The quiet but pathetic life of Twenty-year-old Mia Jefferson changed the night she found a few months old interracial baby boy abandoned in a dumpster on her way home. She saved him and kept him in her care for almost a month until she was taken by a deadly gang who accused her of abduction. She thought it was it for her until the ruthless gang leader, Nathaniel Kincaid, known on the streets as Big Kai and the father of the baby appeared and added to her punishment. At the point when Mia is about to give up, Nathaniel makes her his baby's nanny as the only way to convince him that she is not the abductor. As she picked up her care for the baby, Nathaniel watched her every move consistently, placing his heart in a dark and passionate risk.
Avery and the Cursed Alpha

Avery and the Cursed Alpha

3.8k Views · Completed · Lyra Lupine
After losing her mother to cancer and drowning in crushing debt, Avery Wellesley is running out of options. Her house is about to be seized, her job is hanging by a thread, and every door she knocks on seems to slam shut in her face.

Then a mysterious billionaire offers her a deal that sounds too good to be true.

Alexander Ravenswood is powerful, wealthy, and feared throughout Tenebrous City. Behind his perfect public image lies a deadly secret. He is the Alpha of the Nocturne Pack, cursed by an ancient bloodline that is slowly driving him toward madness and death. His only hope lies in finding the legendary Aethon Orb—or the prophesied mate destined to save him.

When Alex discovers that Avery can draw symbols connected to the long-lost artifact, he offers her a contract she cannot refuse: become his fake fiancée for six months in exchange for enough money to erase her debts and save her home.

What begins as a business arrangement quickly becomes something far more dangerous.

As they search for the missing Orb, Avery is drawn into a hidden world of werewolves, ancient prophecies, and deadly pack rivalries. Powerful enemies want Alex's throne. A jealous Alpha heiress wants Avery gone. And a ruthless rival Alpha will stop at nothing to claim the Orb for himself.

But the greatest secret of all may be Avery herself.

Because the closer she gets to Alex, the more impossible truths begin to surface about her past, her strange abilities, and the destiny that has been waiting for her all along.

With a curse threatening Alex's life, enemies closing in from every side, and a forbidden bond growing stronger by the day, Avery must decide whether to walk away from the dangerous Alpha who needs her—or risk everything for a love written by fate itself.

In a city where secrets kill and destiny cannot be escaped, can a fake engagement become a love powerful enough to change the future?
Omega Bound

Omega Bound

2.4m Views · Completed · Veronica White
Ayla Frost is a beautiful, rare omega. Kidnapped, tortured, and trafficked to rogue clans and corrupt alphas to do with as they pleased.  Kept alive in her cage, broken and abandoned by her wolf, she becomes mute and has given up on hope for a better life until one explosion changes everything. 

Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life. 

Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
The CEO's Unspoken Love

The CEO's Unspoken Love

332.2k Views · Completed · Lily Bronte
"You want my forgiveness?" he asked, my voice dropping to a dangerous timbre.

Before I could answer, he moved closer, suddenly looming over me, his face inches from mine. I felt my breath caught, my lips parting in surprise.

"Then this is the price for speaking ill of me to others," he murmured, nipping my lower lip before claiming my mouth in a real kiss. It began as punishment but quickly transformed into something else entirely as I responded, my initial rigidity melting into compliance, then active participation.

My breathing accelerated, small sounds escaping my throat as he explored my body. His touches were both punishment and pleasure, drawing shudders from me that I thought he felt reverberating through his own body.

My nightgown had ridden up, his hands discovering more of mine with each caress. We were both lost in sensation, rational thought receding with each passing second...

Three years ago, to fulfill the wish of his grandmother, I was forced to marry Derek Wells, the second son of the family that had adopted me for ten years. He didn't love me, but I had secretly loved him all along.

Now, the three-year contractual marriage is about to end, but I feel that some kind of sentiment has developed between Derek and me that neither of us is willing to admit. I'm not sure if my feelings are right, but I know that we can't resist each other physically...