Almost Human

by Rashad Freeman

  ALMOST HUMAN

  DECONSTRUCTION A.D.

  BOOK ONE

  By Rashad Freeman

  Copyright © 2019 by Rashad Freeman

  www.rashadfreeman.com

  Rashad.Freeman@rashadfreeman.com

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  Twitter: @RashadFreeman

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  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without the expressed written consent of the author.

  A BRAVE NEW BEGINNING

  Well, the deconstruction series ended and if you’re reading this then you either enjoyed the series, never read the series, or hated it and are a glutton for punishment. Either way, thanks for sticking with me. So, why Deconstruction AD. First off, I have to admit, I probably like the premise of this series more then its predecessor. End of the world is a theme that gets abused often and I’d like to think my take on it was a bit different but who’s to say. The premise of this story however, is entirely something new to tackle. In this world, technology is the enemy. They blame technology for everything and as such, it’s outlawed. So, what if we had a civilization 200 years in the future living without electricity by choice? Add to that a civilization that had lived on Mars for that same time frame, returning to Earth for unknown reasons. Add to that a bit of government conspiracy and the idea that absolute power can only equal corruption and then dash in a bit of romance between two unlikely characters that this new world never wants to see together. Now you have Deconstruction AD. I hope you enjoy.

  “If death is not the end, I’d like to know what is. For all eternity we don’t exist, except for now.” – Robyn Hitchcock

  CHAPTER 1

  HISTORY FORGETS

  Scout pushed open the window to his second story bedroom and leaned his head outside. The cool evening air washed over him and he grinned then stared across the barren field. From there he could see far into the distance, out past the rickety fence and metal junkyard that was next door, past Marshall’s farm, and across the wide sweeping fields that vanished into the horizon.

  In his mind he imagined a bustling metropolitan below him. A city filled with people and towering buildings that tickled the clouds. He envisioned cars zooming down paved streets and planes soaring through the sky as they traversed the globe.

  But it was all in his mind, because Scout had never seen a car, or a plane, or even a real city. The closest he’d ever come was when his dad had taken him to First Rock, the heart of the new world. It was the capital, a place for the elite, the government and all of the scientists and engineers that kept the world running, running without all the comforts of the old world.

  “Scout, mom says it’s time for dinner,” Anna, Scout’s eleven-year-old sister shouted from the door. She leaned to the side and her mop of blonde hair fell over her face. “She said to close the window too.”

  Scout blinked and pulled himself back to the present. “Tell her I’m coming,” he said without taking his eyes off the sunset.

  Anna huffed, blowing a curl to the side then turned around and hurried back down the stairs. She was as different from Scout as two siblings could ever be. Scout loved the sky, Anna played with dirt, Scout had short, dark brown hair that grew in nearly every direction, Anna had perfect blonde curls that were never out of place. Scout was convinced one of them was adopted. Anna insured him it wasn’t her.

  Narrowing his gaze, Scout fixed his eyes on the silhouette of a rickety barn a few football fields away. Goosebumps riddled his arms and he felt tingles shoot down his fingers. “Tonight,” he mumbled.

  “Scout!” his mom shouted from the bottom of the stairs. “Get down here, now!”

  Smiling, Scout opened his drawer and grabbed something from inside. He stuffed it into his pocket then rushed downstairs.

  “Wash your hands,” Scout’s mom demanded as he pulled a chair out from the table.

  Grumbling, he made an about face and headed toward the basin. He pumped the faucet a few times and quickly rubbed his hands together underneath the cool water.

  “Did you feed Boston this morning?”

  “Mom, that dog eats more than I do.”

  The black and white husky lifted his head at the sound of his name. He was lying in the middle of the doorway, between the dining room and the kitchen. Scout patted him on the head as he stepped over him. “Go back to sleep.”

  “Scout!” his mom snapped. “Go wash your hands again.”

  “Oh my God,” Scout groaned as he twirled around.

  His mom half-grinned then turned back to the table. “Should I light another candle, Leo? Actually, never mind. Just hand me one from the kitchen.”

  Scout’s dad looked around the room and shrugged. “I think it’s bright enough, Hailey. Let’s just eat. I have a few things I need to finish before bed. Delegate Harold is really pushing us to finish that hydropower project. I just can’t wait to be done with it all.”

  “I thought they were holding off on that?”

  “They were…now they’re not,” Leo replied with a shrug.

  “Oh, guess what?” Scout said with a rush of excitement. “I got this to work.” He pulled a white iPod from his pocket and held it up.

  His dad wrinkled his face and stared. “What is that?”

  “An iPod!” Scout unraveled a pair of headphones that had been pieced together with various colored wires. He mashed his thumb on the play button and a chorus of sounds exploded from the earbuds.

  “Are you insane!” his dad roared as he leapt from his chair. With complete horror washed across his face, he lunged at Scout and slapped the iPod from his hand. “Turn it off, turn it off now!”

  Scout’s mom covered her mouth and drew a long, desperate breath. His sister screamed then crawled under the table. Grumbling, Scout picked the iPod up and paused it. “It’s just music.”

  “Give me that damn thing.” His dad yanked it out of his hands and smashed it onto the floor. He stomped on it then looked up at Scout with a mixture of fear and anger in his eyes. “Scout, what were you thinking?”

  Scout looked away as his entire family glared. With a trembling lip, he took a deep breath and swallowed. “I…I just, it’s just music, Dad.”

  “Well that music could’ve gotten us all in trouble. It could’ve gotten us killed. What if the trackers were out?”

  “It’s just music,” Scout mumbled again. Bending down, he gathered the shattered pieces of his iPod into his palm. He dropped them into the waste bin and lowered his shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry,” Scout’s dad repeated. “You know what that stuff did to the world.”

  “Do I? I’m just supposed to believe whatever the delegates tell us? Could you imagine, Dad…cars, real lights? It’s not fair!”

  Scout’s dad lowered his face into his hands. “It’s dangerous, Scout,” he grumbled through his fingers. “There’s a reason we don’t’ have that anymore. We can never go back to that.”

  “It’s been two hundred years. Why does everyone just go along with it? Imagine how much more we could do, imagine what we could be.”

  “Scout, enough!”

  “Why don’t we just eat dinner,” Scout’s mom suggested as she helped Anna to her feet.

  Scout stared at his sister for a moment then turned and headed for the stairs. “I’m not hungry.”

  “Scout, get back here
!”

  “Let him go, Leo.”

  Leo clenched his teeth then took a seat at the table. “Smells great, honey,” he said in a forced tone.

  Scout stomped up the stairs and marched into his room, slamming the door behind him. He dove onto his bed and covered his face with the pillow. He wanted to scream but instead he closed his eyes and thought about far off places.

  Scout had always been a dreamer. Even when he was young, he always had his head in the clouds, dreaming of a time long ago when men ruled the sky. Most didn’t believe the stories, but Scout gobbled them up, learning everything he could about the past.

  Pre-dawn was what they called it. The time before everything changed. A time when the world was small, when crossing the great oceans was as easy as crossing the street. It seemed so impossible now, that most thought it was nothing more than a myth.

  In books, Scout had read about all the inventions that were lost to the wind. Televisions, microwaves, even cell phones. Things he’d never see and could only dream about. But to Scout it was more than a dream, it was his destiny.

  With a deep sigh, he lifted his head and watched what was left of the sun vanish into the horizon. A few minutes later he put on his shoes and grabbed a duffle bag from the foot of his bed. Tiptoeing, he peaked out of his door then leaned his head all the way out and listened.

  “I’ll be in the workshop,” his dad called out.

  “You should go apologize to Scout,” his mom replied.

  “He’s probably already asleep. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

  “Fine, just don’t forget.”

  Scout smiled then slowly closed the door and headed to his dresser. He bent down, stretching his hand in the crack between the wall. “Got ya,” he said. He pulled out a rope ladder and dropped it over the window sill then tossed the duffle bag behind it. With one last look over his shoulder, he slung his leg over the edge and quickly climbed down to the patchy grass below.

  Once he was on the ground, he grabbed the duffle bag and sped off across the lawn. The fence screeched as he pushed it open and carefully cut through Marshall’s property. The rows of corn stalks provided the perfect cover as he hurried along in the night.

  A half-moon glowed above him and countless stars littered the sky. He’d heard stories about how the skies used to be at night. How light pollution dulled the heavens but he thought it was an even trade-off for the ability to soar into the darkness above him.

  Scout kept an aggressive pace as he jogged across the changing landscape. The backdrop was now a thick forest and open fields of dry grass. Rusted barrels and old bicycles were scattered around like skeletons of a washed-up dynasty. In the distance, he could hear an owl questioning the night but aside from that it was eerily quiet.

  It took him all of ten minutes to make it to his destination and as he reached the outer gate, he doubled over to catch his breath. After a few deep gulps of air, he straightened up and unlocked the chain around the fence and hurried toward the barn he’d seen from his window. Even under the moonlight you could easily tell how shabby the structure was. The wooden walls were yielding to the brutal assault of termites and the roof was starting to look like swiss cheese. But for Scout, it was perfect.

  After opening another lock, he cracked the barn doors open, and slipped inside, closing them behind him. It was pitch black dark but Scout had grown accustomed to it. Kneeling, he pulled a box of matches from his bag and lit one. By the dimming light, he felt around in the dirt until he located the torch he’d left. As he set flame to the bundled rags he stood up and stared around the barn watching the flames chase shadows into the corners.

  The barn was an enormous open space. It hadn’t been used in years and aside from Scout’s frequent visits, nobody ever set eyes on the place. Smiling, Scout marched to the middle of the room and started to feel around the floor. His hand stopped as his fingers tightened around a handle. He set his torch down and slid the hatch all the way to the side, opening to what looked like a giant elevator shaft.

  Beneath him was an expansive room, that dropped forty feet below the floor to a sandy surface lightly covered with hay. The walls were lined with aluminum and a metal ladder was affixed to the side. In the center was an ancient space rocket with the words Mayflower Project etched into the surface. Scout stared at the long-forgotten relic and smiled from ear to ear.

  The ascent vehicle was centuries old. Scout had been working on it for the last two years, piecing it together with every free moment that he had. How it had gotten in that barn or how it survived the dawn, he didn’t know. But the space rocket he dubbed, Freedom, was the only thing he cared about.

  Scout carefully worked his way down the ladder, gripping the torch in one hand. There were lanterns hung around the walls and once he reached the bottom, he lit each one then stabbed the torch into the dirt. Smiling, he slowly approached the rocket and placed his hand against the side. “Beautiful,” he whispered.

  Suddenly, the door upstairs burst open and he heard a rush of footsteps. Scout jumped then whirled around and hurried toward the lanterns. In a panic he kicked over the torch as he ran to the wall. The fire caught onto the bits of hay and flared up, sending a fire trail toward the rocket.

  Scrambling, Scout tore off his shirt and began to beat at the flames. Bits of tattered cloth floated away to ash but eventually the fire died down. He took a sigh of relief then froze as a voice shouted down to him. “Hey! What are you doing down there?”

  CHAPTER 2

  SPARE PARTS

  Scout looked up at the sound of the voice and gasped. His heart settled and he lowered his head and took a few breaths to steady himself.

  “That’s what you get for trying to start without us,” his best friend, Devin said with a laugh. “You told me tonight was off.”

  Scout held his hands up. “Well, you’re here anyway, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, because we knew you’d be here,” Cayden, his other best friend added.

  Devin and Cayden were brothers. Seventeen and sixteen respectively. They lived just on the other side of Marshall’s farm and had known Scout since they were young. They looked nearly identical, even though they were a year apart. They both had wild hair, deep bronze skin, angled jaws and boisterous personalities.

  They lived with their father, who was hardly home. He’d made a very good living as a doctor that made house calls. It kept him away for days at a time but allowed his kids to live a privileged lifestyle. Their mother had fallen ill a decade ago and died. That spurred their father to devote all of his time to learning medicine.

  “Where’s Jacob?” Scout asked. “You know, since we’re all here when we weren’t supposed to be.”

  Jacob was the final musketeer. A tall, lean blonde kid with a knack for finding trouble. In addition to being the daredevil of the crew he was three months older than Scout, which meant he was eighteen and took joy in referring to everyone else as “kids.”

  He didn’t live far from the others but spent most of his time at Devin’s house. He was the youngest of a family of six and while his siblings had moved out and joined the workforce in First Rock, Jacob had no plans of following in their footsteps.

  “I don’t know,” Devin replied. “Said he had some things to do and he’d meet us here.”

  “I was busy,” Jacob announced as he walked in the door, holding a yellow and black book in one hand and a torch in the other. “Thought you geniuses could use this.”

  The book read “Rocket Science for Dummies.” Cayden gazed at it and grumbled. “You went back by yourself? We said we were all going, Jacob.”

  “I can’t see that thing, bring it down here,” Scout complained.

  Jacob shrugged and headed down the ladder. Devin and Cayden followed behind him, lighting the way with their torches.

  “You need to do some reading if you ever plan to fly this thing,” Jacob said and handed Scout the ragged book. Pieces of it fluttered away as he gently brushed off the cover, fearing it would c
rumble to dust in his palms.

  “What is this?”

  “I thought it was pretty self-explanatory. You’re a dummy, and you have a rocket.”

  “Where the hell did you get it?”

  Jacob smiled and nodded at Devin. “I can’t take all the credit. The twins should really tell you about it.”

  “Well?”

  Devin smiled. “We found another site. A real site.”

  “Full of spare parts,” Cayden added. “All kinds of stuff. I mean this place is crazy, you could probably find an entire rocket there.”

  “I don’t need an entire rocket. I need more fuel.”

  “What are you talking about?” Devin asked. “Marshall has all the kerosene we could ever need.”

  “It’s not normal kerosene. Maybe you should read that book.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jacob interjected. “That place they found will have everything we need.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because it’s a restricted site.”

  Scout frowned and looked at Devin. “You went to a restricted site?”

  “It’s abandoned. It’s been abandoned for years…decades. No one else is gonna use that stuff.”

  Scout shook his head. “You know the delegation still monitors those places, right?”

  “Not this one. We checked. Besides, you won’t believe what else we found.” Devin reached into his pocket and pulled out a flashlight. He held it up in the air and Cayden grinned.

  “Is that a flashlight?” Scout asked in awe.

  “Yep. With some kind of solar battery pack. Me and Cayden let it charge all day.” He clicked the button and a beam of light flickered from the end. It flashed a few times then cut off. “Needs a bit of work.”

  Scout couldn’t hide his smile. “What else did you find?”

  “Lots of stuff. Jacob took a radio home.”