There has always been something fascinating about the apocalypse. Do we want to live through one? Absolutely not. Yet there seems to be something deeply human about imagining the end, perhaps because we know all things eventually come to one, whether with a whimper or a bang. That curiosity first drew me to this week’s recommended reading, but it was the characters, their grief, and their remarkable relatability, even at the end of the world, that convinced me to stay.
Apocalyptic literature is nothing new. Fiction has seen the world destroyed by war, famine, earthquakes, massive weather shifts, aliens, disease…you name it. Cate W. Tam’s “Overgrowth” adds a breath of fresh air, or rather, a floral breath, to the end of the world, imagining nuclear bombs that give rise to mutated plants capable of taking root inside any living thing that breathes.
We follow Gabby and her younger brother Charlie as they leave their home behind on a journey with no real destination beyond survival. As they travel through an increasingly empty and dangerous landscape, they encounter strangers clinging to hope in different ways, from the automated “Pay ‘n Pray” booths still accepting coins to Valor, a pill that suppresses fear long enough to make impossible choices seem possible. Yet beneath every mile of their journey lingers Gabby’s greatest regret: never finding the courage to tell her best friend, Jun, how she truly felt.
While the circumstances are extraordinary, Gabby’s journey, her reactions, and the people she meets all feel remarkably familiar and deeply human. Tam explores grief, guilt, fear, and faith without ever losing sight of the people at the center of the story. Even small moments, like the eerie persistence of the “Pay ‘n Pray” booths or Gabby’s anger toward a woman whose religious assurances offer only frustration instead of comfort, reveal how differently people search for meaning when the world is falling apart.
By the story’s end, Gabby cannot bring herself to leave behind either the overgrowth that claimed her little brother or the memory of the girl she never kissed. “Overgrowth” is ultimately less about the end of the world than about the weight of love and loss, and the quiet, stubborn hope that keeps us moving forward even when there is nowhere left to go.
Read the story in Fusion Fragment #27.
Recommended Reading, curated by Managing Editor Nicole Foor, is one of the many features included in the NewPages weekly newsletter. Subscribe to receive literary magazine highlights, new book releases, bookstore updates, writing prompts, and submission opportunities delivered straight to your inbox.