Why don't I have power after an outlet was shorted?
What usually hapens is the overload causes the wires to fuse, as Greebo mentions. 

But it doesn't fuse just anywhere.  It fuses in a very specific place, namely, backstab / push connections.  They are notorious for doing this.  We recommend using side screws in wiring; backstabs are only intended as a speed shortcut for builders wiring in high production rates. 

As you probably know, most circuits are wired in strings.  (Legally they are allowed to be wired in "tree" fashion, unlimited branches never looping back on itself... but a vine is a type of tree, isn't it?)

Regardless, if you have some good outlets and some bad ones in the same circuit string, the problem is always at the first bad one, or the last good one.  The term "outlet" also includes lighting and other hard-wired loads.