Short story in this Anthology by Melissa Marr. 

I'm a big fan of Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series and also enjoyed her Carnival of Souls, which has now been renamed "Carnival of Secrets". This story is totally different from any of that.

 At her site she says this story is

"Nidhogg is real; society crumbled; inspired by Norse Myth"

 

According to Wikki:

"It's a Dragon who gnaws at a root of the World Tree. In Germanic society - was a term for a villian.....role of a horrific monster or in it's action of chewing the corpses of the in inhabitants of "nastrond": those guilty of murder, adultery and oath-breaking."

 

 

I think knowing this before you go into the story may help you be less confused as to who this "Nidhogg" is.

 

 

Just realized it looks like this is a fantasy story, it's not it take place in Modern world, which is why it could be a little WTF? at times.

This is the short story by Veronica Roth

"it's about a girl who gets a brain implant to hear the music of the dying in the midst of an apocalypse" - From Veronica Roth's website

I liked this one, Although I'm not really impressed with her last book this short story was decent. 

When your a Hearken you can hear other people's "music" (after you get the implant) but you must chose if you'll be getting the "life" implant or the "death" implant. Darya struggles with which implant she should chose.

"Life's something we already understand. Death is a mystery."

This reminded me of early Victorian times when people really thought that the vapors coming from the swamps and other noxious odors caused illness. I would have liked to understand the science behind this world a bit better. 3 stars

Very good window into this world. I already planned on reading her Across the Universe series but now I am even more intrigued. 4 stars

This story, while being very gripping, was so sad. I didn't see any way that this world was ever going to get better for these girls. Very depressing, but good. 3 1/2 stars.