Science fiction (dystopian) short story set after WWIII












8















I am looking for the name of a short story that I read a long time ago - I remember the plot quite well but I don't know who wrote it and I can't find the title anywhere on Google.



So the story was set after a World War Three, people had understood that humankind couldn't do without violence, but in order to avoid any future global war, there was this kind of association to which people could subscribe. They were then allowed to use a gun and they had a target, another person, that they had to find and kill - at the same time, they could have been the target of someone else. Once they killed a "target" they would receive another one. Civilians that didn't want anything to do with it were left in peace, unharmed.The protagonist says he's very good and that he has killed many targets already; he gets a new one, a woman, of whom he eventually falls in love. He decides not to kill her, however at the end she is the one who kills him, since he was her target.



Any ideas?










share|improve this question









New contributor




sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

























    8















    I am looking for the name of a short story that I read a long time ago - I remember the plot quite well but I don't know who wrote it and I can't find the title anywhere on Google.



    So the story was set after a World War Three, people had understood that humankind couldn't do without violence, but in order to avoid any future global war, there was this kind of association to which people could subscribe. They were then allowed to use a gun and they had a target, another person, that they had to find and kill - at the same time, they could have been the target of someone else. Once they killed a "target" they would receive another one. Civilians that didn't want anything to do with it were left in peace, unharmed.The protagonist says he's very good and that he has killed many targets already; he gets a new one, a woman, of whom he eventually falls in love. He decides not to kill her, however at the end she is the one who kills him, since he was her target.



    Any ideas?










    share|improve this question









    New contributor




    sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      8












      8








      8


      1






      I am looking for the name of a short story that I read a long time ago - I remember the plot quite well but I don't know who wrote it and I can't find the title anywhere on Google.



      So the story was set after a World War Three, people had understood that humankind couldn't do without violence, but in order to avoid any future global war, there was this kind of association to which people could subscribe. They were then allowed to use a gun and they had a target, another person, that they had to find and kill - at the same time, they could have been the target of someone else. Once they killed a "target" they would receive another one. Civilians that didn't want anything to do with it were left in peace, unharmed.The protagonist says he's very good and that he has killed many targets already; he gets a new one, a woman, of whom he eventually falls in love. He decides not to kill her, however at the end she is the one who kills him, since he was her target.



      Any ideas?










      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.












      I am looking for the name of a short story that I read a long time ago - I remember the plot quite well but I don't know who wrote it and I can't find the title anywhere on Google.



      So the story was set after a World War Three, people had understood that humankind couldn't do without violence, but in order to avoid any future global war, there was this kind of association to which people could subscribe. They were then allowed to use a gun and they had a target, another person, that they had to find and kill - at the same time, they could have been the target of someone else. Once they killed a "target" they would receive another one. Civilians that didn't want anything to do with it were left in peace, unharmed.The protagonist says he's very good and that he has killed many targets already; he gets a new one, a woman, of whom he eventually falls in love. He decides not to kill her, however at the end she is the one who kills him, since he was her target.



      Any ideas?







      story-identification short-stories






      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 3 hours ago









      TheLethalCarrot

      48.9k19263310




      48.9k19263310






      New contributor




      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      asked 3 hours ago









      sci-fi readersci-fi reader

      432




      432




      New contributor




      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      sci-fi reader is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          6














          Sounds like The Seventh Victim by Robert Sheckley.



          Your description matches my memory of the short story.






          share|improve this answer


























          • Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago











          • @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

            – user14111
            3 hours ago











          • @user1411 Thanks :)

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago












          Your Answer








          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "186"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });






          sci-fi reader is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fscifi.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f208083%2fscience-fiction-dystopian-short-story-set-after-wwiii%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          6














          Sounds like The Seventh Victim by Robert Sheckley.



          Your description matches my memory of the short story.






          share|improve this answer


























          • Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago











          • @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

            – user14111
            3 hours ago











          • @user1411 Thanks :)

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago
















          6














          Sounds like The Seventh Victim by Robert Sheckley.



          Your description matches my memory of the short story.






          share|improve this answer


























          • Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago











          • @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

            – user14111
            3 hours ago











          • @user1411 Thanks :)

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago














          6












          6








          6







          Sounds like The Seventh Victim by Robert Sheckley.



          Your description matches my memory of the short story.






          share|improve this answer















          Sounds like The Seventh Victim by Robert Sheckley.



          Your description matches my memory of the short story.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 2 hours ago









          TheLethalCarrot

          48.9k19263310




          48.9k19263310










          answered 3 hours ago









          Dosco JonesDosco Jones

          2,1551116




          2,1551116













          • Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago











          • @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

            – user14111
            3 hours ago











          • @user1411 Thanks :)

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago



















          • Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago











          • @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

            – user14111
            3 hours ago











          • @user1411 Thanks :)

            – sci-fi reader
            3 hours ago

















          Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

          – sci-fi reader
          3 hours ago





          Yes it's that one! Thank you very much!

          – sci-fi reader
          3 hours ago













          @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

          – user14111
          3 hours ago





          @sci-fireader You can read the story at archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1953-04/Galaxy_1953_04#page/…

          – user14111
          3 hours ago













          @user1411 Thanks :)

          – sci-fi reader
          3 hours ago





          @user1411 Thanks :)

          – sci-fi reader
          3 hours ago










          sci-fi reader is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          sci-fi reader is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.













          sci-fi reader is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












          sci-fi reader is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
















          Thanks for contributing an answer to Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fscifi.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f208083%2fscience-fiction-dystopian-short-story-set-after-wwiii%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Сан-Квентин

          Алькесар

          Josef Freinademetz