Текст книги "Sunset Rising"

Автор книги: S. McEachern

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Sunset Rising

Book One

Copyright 2012 by S.M. McEachern

Clownfish Publishing

All rights reserved.

S.M. McEachern’s blog: http://smmceachern.wordpress.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17312777-sunset-rising

“Sunset Rising is thrilling; there is no better word for it. Romance, intrigue, and action all come together beautifully here to create an experience that will leave anyone asking for more.” – Molly Burkemper for “Readers Favorite”

“Sunset Rising is a rollercoaster ride with a terrifying drop at the end. A beautiful love story filled with danger and horror. The Greatest Book I’ve Ever Read.” – Selina Liaw, Book Blogger and Goodreads reviewer

“How is this not on every bestseller list yet? Listen to me now, please … if you love Dystopian YA novels READ THIS BOOK!” – Paula Fetty-King, Goodreads reviewer

“REAL RATING OF THIS BOOK – 7 OUT OF 5 STARS!!!” – Zeina Issa, Goodreads reviewer

“I am shocked this is this author’s first book… I would rank this book up among some of my other favorites, such as… Suzanne Collins ‘The Hunger Games’ and Neal Shusterman’s ‘Unwind.’  This page turner is a must read!” – Kerry Kerr MacAvoy, Author and Goodreads reviewer

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Prologue

Date: February 16, 2024

Benjamin Reyes wasn’t the kind of man to tell people I told you so, but everything he’d predicted was coming true. No one in the Valley had ever liked him. The kids made fun of him and called him “the hermit.” The adults talked about him, too, but never to his face. They all thought he was crazy. So when he told the town a global nuclear war was imminent, they all laughed at him.

Their ignorance dumbfounded him. Didn’t they watch the news? All they had to do was connect the dots. People were suffering the effects of climate change all over the world. In some countries, people were being killed daily by massive flooding; and in others, scores of people were dying because of drought. Countries with abundant water were reluctant to share because they feared that one day they too would face a drought. People all around the world were dying from the famine and disease brought on by the misery of human suffering. Instead of helping each other, countries all around the world strengthened their military defenses and threatened war.

News reports that one country or another was threatening to launch a nuclear attack had become commonplace. No one paid much attention to it anymore. Except Benjamin Reyes. He always paid attention. He paid attention to all the military vehicles and aircraft coming through the Valley and up into the mountain. No one else found that suspicious. Military vehicles had been coming up and down the mountain for as long as anyone could remember. Everyone knew the government had some kind of secret base up there, and no one questioned it. Why would they? The people trusted their leaders.

However, during the past week, Benjamin had noted that the vehicles were going up the mountain but weren’t coming back down. So he started warning everyone in the Valley, but they just laughed at him… until they turned on their televisions and saw a tearful President Taylor giving the news that bombs were falling. She urged everyone to take cover then asked God to bless them all.

Benjamin knew where they could find cover, and people were finally listening to him.

The entire Valley population followed the path that the military vehicles had taken and walked up the mountain for hours. Mothers and fathers shared the load of carrying babies. Older children helped smaller ones. The elderly had to try to keep up on their own. No one brought any personal belongings; there was no time.

Eventually, the road ended at a hangar that appeared to have been carved out of the side of the mountain. Military personnel were busily trying to fit helicopters and large trucks into an already cramped space. The civilians surprised them. The soldiers weren’t sure what to do until they were given the order to force the civilians back. The refugees would not be granted entry.

The civilians continued to push forward, desperate to get to safety with their children. Someone shouted the order to fire on them. Reluctantly, soldiers armed themselves and sent a hail of bullets into the oncoming crowd.

Benjamin Reyes grabbed as many children as he could and hid them behind vehicles still parked on the tarmac. He shouted for the people still coming up the mountain to turn back, but they kept coming. A rumble from the sky announced the arrival of the first of the nuclear missiles. Panic spread through the crowd, and the clash between military and civilian became more desperate.

Finally, the soldiers stopped firing, and Benjamin peeked out from behind the truck and saw people being let into the hangar. He took the smallest children by the hand and bid the rest to follow him. Bodies lay where they’d fallen all along the tarmac, and he had to pick his way through them to get the children safely inside the Dome.

“Three more minutes, and those doors are shut. I don’t care what the president says,” a well-decorated general said to a group of soldiers.

Benjamin realized that not everyone would be saved. Thousands were still coming up the mountain. Three minutes later, he watched helplessly as the soldiers shut the doors, drowning out the screams of the people left on the tarmac. He thought he would be sick.

“I am General Edward Holt,” a voice boomed over a loudspeaker. The refugees quieted, anxious to hear what the general had to say. “Nuclear bombs have begun to reach our country’s major cities. You are very lucky to have found refuge here, for which you can thank President Julia Taylor. This is a bio-dome capable of supporting life for as long as we need it. Forget about your homes and whatever family you’ve left behind. These doors must remain sealed for at least the next thousand years.”

Sobs among the crowd turned to panic as the severity of their situation dawned on the civilians. The world as they knew it was ending.

“However!” the general yelled over the cries of the people. He only continued when the room became silent and he had their attention. “Your arrival was unexpected, and we’ll have to make room for you. Until we can work that out, you’ll have to stay here in the hangar.”

Their stay in the hangar lasted days, but they were given food, water, and bedrolls. Children found ways to entertain themselves, and the adults comforted each other. Everyone thanked Benjamin Reyes for leading them to the Dome. So when General Holt returned and asked to speak with their leader, Benjamin was unanimously elected. Reluctantly, Benjamin accepted the position and met with General Holt in private.

“I am sorry to say that President Taylor is dead,” the general said. “Although I suspect you already knew that.”

“The president is dead?” Benjamin asked, shocked. “I thought she was here, inside the Dome.”

“She was safe inside the Dome, or at least we thought she was, until she let in a bunch of civilians. Don’t try to deny that it was all of you who killed her. You’re trying to take over the Dome.”

The accusation hung in the air between the two men while Benjamin collected his thoughts. “General, that isn’t true! No one has even left the hangar. We’re under constant guard.”

“I am ‘President’ Holt now. You may address me as ‘Mr. President.’”

Benjamin was getting an uneasy feeling about this man. He knew that no one in the hangar could have harmed President Taylor. However, General Holt had an entire army behind him and plenty of opportunity to kill her. And why had the general advanced to the presidency instead of Vice President Kenner? The whole situation put him on edge.

“Now that I’m president, I simply won’t tolerate your mutiny. But I’m not coldhearted enough to send you all out into a world toxic with radiation. So I’ve drawn up a treaty, which clearly defines how you will live inside this Dome. It’s not negotiable. Take it or get out.”

The president produced the document and a pen.

“May I at least read it?” Benjamin asked.

Holt nodded his consent.

The terms of the treaty designated a place called the Pit for the civilians to live in. Living quarters would be constructed immediately, and everyone would be given food and water rations. In return, they would mine the Pit for coal. The crude resource would be fed into gasifiers and turned into a liquid gas, which was needed for the replicators. It would also serve as the main source of fuel until the nuclear winter was over and solar energy could be harvested.

The last part of the treaty outlined a Cull. The treaty stated that the elderly, defined as anyone who had reached the age of fifty, were considered a drain on resources and a liability rather than an asset. Therefore an annual Cull would be held in order to maintain sustainable use of resources and control population growth.

Benjamin’s eyes widened with shock as the realization of what the general was proposing sank into his numbed mind. “You can’t possibly think we would agree to being killed at fifty?”

“With your arrival, there are now two hundred sixty-seven people we didn’t count on living inside this Dome. When the Dome was built, great care was taken to ensure that it could sustain a growing population. Population models were based on the initial three hundred people who were approved to be here. Now we have a population of five hundred sixty-seven, and we’re only in our first week. You see the problem, I’m sure.”

He wondered if the rules in the Pit would apply to those living in the Dome as well as in the Pit. “So everyone in the Dome agrees to be Culled?”

“You needn’t concern yourself with how I run the Dome. Your only concern right now is signing that treaty. If you don’t, you’ll all be out today.”

Benjamin knew Holt wasn’t joking. They were already under constant guard by his soldiers—the same soldiers who willingly opened fire on them when the general gave the command. As president, he would have even more power. But how could Benjamin sign? He tried to think of how many people he had seen who looked to be fifty or older, but all he could remember was the children. Even in the face of global doom, they were adapting to their new environment, playing the games that children play, somehow immune to the misery going on around them. It was for them that he had to sign. So he did. Benjamin himself was sixty-five. He was signing his own death warrant.

After he signed, he was told that the first Cull would take place the next day. Holt was generous enough to give him time to break the news to the people and let them say their goodbyes. They were all shown to the Pit, their new living quarters. They were marched through the massive main floor of the Dome, with its modern architecture, all open and airy with lights bright enough to mimic the sun’s rays. Comfortable furniture was scattered about the large room, which was dominated by a fireplace with a simulated fire burning in it. But the room was still under construction.

“What are they building?” Benjamin asked one of the soldiers.

“A barrier to keep you urchins out,” the soldier said.

“So we return to the feudal system of the bourgeoisie,” Benjamin mused.

The civilians were marched past the construction, down a narrow hall, and through a door. It was as though they entered a different world, one which was dark, cold, and damp. The Pit was nothing more than the first two levels of a hollowed-out mine. There was no place to sleep, except on the cold, damp stone.

“President Holt promised us living quarters,” Benjamin said.

“And you’ll get them as soon as they can be replicated. So you had better get mining. The replicators can’t work without coal,” the soldier said, then laughed.

Benjamin covered his eyes with his hands, overwhelmed by these inhumane conditions. He shook his head, wondering what in God’s name he had done to these people. Maybe it would have been kinder not to have signed the treaty. Maybe it would have been better to let them take their chances outside.

With growing dread, he realized he was one of the lucky ones. Suddenly, the Cull didn’t seem so bad after all.

Chapter One

Date: May 15, 2307

Red.

I lived in a dark world of rock and artificial light, surrounded by dark-haired people. My red hair shone like a beacon in the Pit. And I hated it.

I picked up a lock of hair and rubbed it between my thumb and finger in a futile attempt to erase the color. Of course it didn’t work. It never did. So I ran a piece of coal along the strands just like my mother taught me. It didn’t completely hide the red, but it helped me blend in down there.

Even though my mother knew the red drew attention, she loved my hair so much she’d named me for it: Sunset O’Donnell. I’m not sure why she went with “Sunset” because she never saw one for real. If the sun was still rising and setting, then it was doing it outside the Dome. I guess she must have seen a picture of a sunset in a book or maybe in one of the movies they showed in the common room. But whenever anyone asked my name, I always said it was Sunny.

Sometimes I missed my mother so much I could hardly breathe. It had been two months since she was Culled, and I still felt as if nothing in my life would ever be right again. I knew my emotions were irrational because the Cull was something we’d lived with all our lives. My ancestors signed a treaty almost three hundred years ago that condemned us to it. Not that I blamed them. It was either agree to strict population control or take their chances in a world toxic with radiation. I guess they thought that having a short life was better than not having one at all.

When they signed the treaty, they never could have envisioned how much it would change over the centuries. Under the original terms, a person living in the Pit wasn’t obligated to join the Cull until the age of fifty. But as our population grew, the bourgeoisie, or “bourge,” as we called them, lowered our death sentence to thirty-five. The Pit didn’t just readily accept the change, but the bourge had all the power, and we had none.

The bourge reminded us daily that we were uninvited guests inside the Dome, and in order for us to remain welcome, we had to pull our weight. Ever since we first arrived in the Pit, we mined their coal, processed their sewage, cleaned the Dome, and did anything else they tasked us with. In exchange, they gave us credits, which we used to pay for our housing and basic needs. Without enough credits, we ended up homeless. And homeless people disappeared after the lights went out. The credit system was just another way the bourge ensured that every person in the Pit remained useful. Freeloaders were not tolerated.

The thought of losing my job urged me to move faster this morning. I finished running the coal through my hair and reached up to put it away. As I did, there was a dull twinge of pain in my left side. I lifted my t-shirt and examined the bruise. Although it was still a bit tender, it was healing nicely. I blamed my own stupidity for the injury. My supervisor had warned me plenty of times about being slow at my job, but I was just so sad about losing my mom. Thankfully, my supervisor knew that, so instead of firing me, she ordered a guard to give me some incentive to move faster. The cracked ribs didn’t hurt nearly as much as the humiliation I felt at being beaten in front of my coworkers. My job performance was now greatly improved.

For my father’s sake, I was grateful I hadn’t been fired. He had almost completely stopped eating, and his already skeletal frame grew thinner every day. I encouraged him to stay strong, but my attempts were halfhearted. Painting a bright future for him was difficult when all he had to look forward to was joining the Cull next spring.

Yesterday, he lost his job because he was too weak to get out of bed. That made me the only one earning credits. I thought watching my mother leave us the morning of her Cull was the hardest thing I would ever endure. But watching my father die of grief was every bit as painful, only slower and more drawn out.

I was supposed to marry Reyes Crowe in a month from now, but I told him last night that I couldn’t abandon my father. The law prevented a married couple from taking in their parents. It was just one more way the bourge identified those who had outlived their usefulness. I had assumed Reyes would be sympathetic to my dilemma, so his anger surprised me. It wasn’t as if I was calling off our union. I was only postponing it so I could support my father until the next Cull. Spring was only ten months away, which didn’t seem that long at all.

Peeking into the bedroom at my father, I saw he was still asleep. Since I didn’t have time to take him to the common room for breakfast anyway, I decided it was best to leave him alone. I would just have to make sure he made it to supper tonight.

Leaving our apartment, I joined the throng of people heading toward the stairs. Some people descended almost two miles down into the mines, and others, like me, climbed a mile up to the Dome. I worked in the kitchen on the main floor with my best friend, Summer Nazeem. Kitchen duty was a coveted job, and we were lucky to get such good positions. And if I didn’t get moving, I was going to be late. After my recent less-than-stellar performance, I didn’t need to add tardiness to the list.

I walked to where Summer and I always met to go to work together but was surprised not to find her there. I took a step backward, preparing to wait for her, and accidently tromped on someone’s foot.

“Get off!” the woman yelled, and pushed me into the stone wall.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and peered into the crowd.

Someone said, “Sunny, what are you doing?”

I turned in the direction of the voice and saw Bron.

“You’re going to be late,” she said.

Bron was one of the guards in our sector. All the guards in the Pit wore white uniforms so they stood out in the darkness. Their stark presence was a constant reminder that our every move was being watched. Some guards were meaner than others. Bron was one of the good ones. She and my mother had been pretty good friends. Well, as good friends as two people could be when one was a bourge from the Dome and the other an urchin from the Pit.

“Have you seen Summer?” I asked.

Bron shook her head. She shifted her rifle onto her other shoulder and placed a comforting hand on my back. “Most likely on her way to work, which is exactly what you should be doing.”

I saw the concern on her face. She was trying to speak with my mother’s voice, and it wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate it, but so much had changed over the past two months and Summer had been my only source of strength. I didn’t want to go to work without her. I didn’t want anything else in my life to change.

I moved further along, away from Bron, and flattened myself against the cold stone wall to let people pass. When I went to school, my history teacher taught me that life in the Pit hadn’t always been so crowded. Our ancestors only numbered around two hundred when they took up residence in the Pit, and almost three hundred years later our population was almost five thousand. In the past, we accommodated our growing numbers by constantly mining farther down into the earth. Now, at almost three miles deep, the mine could stand no more, or so the bourge engineers told us. We were on the verge of collapse. A few of the mines had already closed, resulting in miners getting fired. And the ones who continued to work in the mines were scared.

As people brushed past me in the crowded hall, I caught snippets of excited chatter about the upcoming royal wedding. In two days the president’s daughter, Leisel Holt, would marry Jack Kenner. The wedding was going to be televised, and rumour had it that a big table of food would be set up by each television in the common rooms. And from what I overheard, people were already making plans to stake out a good spot.

Maybe Summer and I would try to get a good spot too. If there really was going to be a feast, the food would go fast. I just hated the thought of having to sit through the wedding. All presidential events began with President Holt giving a speech, reminding us of all we had to be thankful for. He’d remind everyone in the Pit how generous the bourge were when they gave us shelter from the bombs, maybe even flash some pictures of our ancestors signing the treaty, and then give a quick rundown of how we have all thrived living in the safety of the Dome. But like most people living in the Pit, I couldn’t care less about the wedding or about giving thanks. I was only interested in the food.

“Sunny!” Summer called.

I turned to look for her. “Summer! I’m by the stairs!”

“I know.” Suddenly, she was right beside me. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you standing here. Why didn’t you go ahead without me?”

“We always go to work together. Where were you? We’ll be lucky if we’re not late.”

“Oh, we’re going to be late. We’ll be lucky if we don’t get caught.”

“We’ll get caught when we scan in.” I thought hard for a solution but only came up with a weak one. “Unless we take our alternate route.” We hadn’t used the old mine shaft in months, because the last time we did we got in trouble for showing up to work dirty. But it only cost us half a day’s credits, and we didn’t even get a beating.

Summer thought about it for a second and then nodded. She knew as well as I did that losing a few credits was better than losing our jobs. We ducked around the stairs and headed for the end of the hallway, which meant we were moving against traffic instead of with it. That slowed us down, but once we reached the shaft, it would be a lot faster. I mumbled apologies as I squeezed past people and endured their rude looks and even ruder comments.

“Have you come looking for me to break my heart some more?” Reyes whispered in my ear. From behind me, his arms slid around my waist, and I turned within the circle of his embrace to face him. Even though I was taller than most girls, I still needed to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.

“You two really do make a nice couple,” Summer said.

“She’s right.” Reyes said, ignoring my attempts to loosen his grip. He wound his finger around a lock of hair that had escaped my ponytail. “So when are you going to marry me, Sunset?”

“Can we talk about this some other time?” I hated it when he used my full name, and he knew it. He was saying it deliberately to provoke an argument.

“We talked about it last night. I was hoping you’d have changed your mind this morning. I told you I don’t want to wait ten more months.”

“And I was hoping you would understand my situation, but you don’t. We need to talk about this later, Reyes. Summer and I are late.” I tried again to squirm out of his embrace.

“Don’t put me off, Sunny. I barely got any sleep last night.”

“I’m really late, Reyes.” Panic rose in my voice.

I tried to pry his arms off me, but he spun me around and lifted me up off the floor. As our eyes became level, he kissed me roughly on the lips.

“Tonight we talk again. Promise me.”

“I promise.” Although I knew I wouldn’t change my mind.

He kissed me again and then passed me along to his friend, Raine, who was standing next to him. Raine passed me to Mica, and Mica passed me to the next boy. They all knew we were headed to the old mineshaft. Lots of people took the shaft as a shortcut when they were desperate to get to work on time. I looked back and saw Summer being passed along behind me. In no time, we were deposited in front of the door to the shaft.

“Thank you!” I called to Reyes, but I wasn’t sure he heard me. He was probably already descending the stairs to go work in the mines.

I opened the door, and we slipped inside. The shaft was almost pitch black, but my eyes quickly adjusted. We had come that way so many times before that our hands and feet had memories of their own anyway. The climb up to the main level was one mile, and without thousands of people crowding our way, taking the shaft was faster than the stairs.

“So you haven’t told me why you’re late,” I said.

“I stopped to talk to Adam.” Summer was breathing hard with the exertion of the climb, and it took her a minute to continue. “I think he might ask me to marry him.”

“Are you kidding me?” I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or yell at her. “We’re late because you were flirting? I mean, do you even like him? You just met him a week ago.”

“What does that have to do with anything? It’s fine for you, Sunny. You already have Reyes, but when my parents are Culled next year, I’ll have no one. I need to find a partner, and most boys our age are already married.”

She was right. Partnerships in the Pit were every bit as important as having a job. A single person wasn’t eligible to be assigned an apartment because that was considered a waste of space. The need for housing was the driving force behind most marriages in the Pit. Although, in my case, it was the reason I couldn’t leave my father.

“Oh, Summer. If you weren’t so picky, you could have been married by now. But whenever a boy is interested in you, you’re suddenly not interested in him. I think you like flirting more than actually having a boyfriend.”

“That’s not true. I just haven’t met the right one yet.”

“Though you do bring up a good point. You’re running out of time.”

Summer could have had her pick of any boy in the Pit. A full head shorter than me, her small stature and delicate limbs gave her an elegant, feminine quality. I always felt large and clumsy next to her.

“You know, we’re always talking about me,” Summer said. “How are you? How’s your dad?”

She might regret asking that question, but I gave her an honest answer. “Dad lost his job yesterday because he didn’t show up for work.”

“Oh, Sunny. What are you going to do?”

I heard sympathy in her voice, and exasperation, too. My father had always been a little self-destructive. My mother had done a fairly good job of protecting me from it, but without her, I was on my own with him. “I told Reyes last night I couldn’t marry him until after the next Cull.”

“You’re postponing? Again?” she asked. “That’s a bit drastic. I’m sure your father can get another job. He’s had a lot of experience in the mines.”

“He’s barely been eating since Mom left, and now he’s too weak to get out of bed.”

“But you’ve put your marriage on hold once before, and I can’t imagine Reyes is happy with postponing again. And you’re not getting any younger, Sunny. You’re almost eighteen. Aren’t you afraid Reyes is going to get fed up with waiting and move on to someone else?”

I had never thought about Reyes being with someone else. We had been together forever. And at our age, it was getting kind of late to go looking for a new partner. Of course he would wait for me. If I gave him enough time, he would eventually understand that my father needed me right now, and I couldn’t leave him.

But there was wisdom in her words. At seventeen, I was middle-aged, and that didn’t bode well for getting approval to have a child. Population control in the Pit was getting stricter all the time. Reyes really wanted a child, but if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t. I guessed that was why I didn’t feel an urgent need to get married right away.

I finally reached the top of the shaft and crawled onto the platform.

“We will finish this conversation, Sunny. You have to talk about it,” Summer said as she scrambled up behind me.

I slowly opened the door to make sure there weren’t any guards in the hall to catch us. The light on the main floor was so bright that I had to struggle to keep my eyes open until they adjusted. When I was able, I focused in on the clock.

“We’re two minutes late.”

Summer gave an exasperated sigh. “And after all that climbing.”

“Let’s see if the back door is unlocked and sneak in.”

“We still have to scan in. They’ll know we’re late.”

“Yes, but forgetting to scan in won’t get us fired. We’ll probably just have to go without lunch or something.”

Summer moaned and gripped her stomach. We had both missed breakfast.

When we were sure no one was around, we stepped out of the shaft and quietly made our way down the hall until we reached the back entrance to the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief when I turned the knob, and the door opened. All kitchen staff had to wear clean uniforms, so we took off running toward the changing room. I pulled up short at the sight of our supervisor, and Summer slammed into my back.

“So you thought you could put one over on me?” Bailey asked.

“No, ma’am. Traffic in the stairwell was heavier than usual, and it made us late. We were running to make up for lost time,” Summer said.

Bailey snorted. “It makes no difference why you’re late. I should fire you, O’Donnell. You’ve been nothing but trouble lately.”

Maybe it was just from the long climb, but my limbs suddenly felt weak and shaky. She couldn’t possibly fire us after we’d tried so hard to make it here on time. Summer caught her breath, and I knew she was trying to hold back tears. Then I realized that my own eyes had started to sting.

“I can offer you an alternative to being fired,” Bailey said with a sly glint in her eyes. “The president is hosting the bachelor party tonight, and they’ve requested servers to entertain the gentlemen guests.”

Her meaning was clear. Prostitute ourselves, and we could keep our jobs. That kind of request wasn’t unusual in the Pit. The supervisors who sent the prettiest girls were usually rewarded. She had been in the changing room, waiting for us. The fact that we were late only gave her the leverage she needed to force us into accepting.