After Impact: After Impact Trilogy, Book 1

by Stark, Nicole

  “That’s impressive,” Avalon said.

  “You’re just being nice,” Ilium said, looking at her with piercing sky blue eyes. Avalon’s pulse quickened as her cheeks felt hot.

  Avalon and Ilium placed their trays on the stainless steel counter. Avalon advanced through the line first. After swiping her wrist across a scanner, a female voice announced, “Avalon Adams.” The computer calculated her exact calorie expenditure and prepared a plate with a green salad, a baked potato, and a fruit smoothie. Avalon placed the items on her tray and waited for Ilium. Ilium received two boiled eggs, a protein bar, and a smoothie from the machine.

  “Don’t worry. All of our food is perfectly portioned out. You won’t feel satiated, but you won’t starve either. You just feel like you wouldn’t mind having a snack,” Ilium said.

  “Thanks for telling me,” Avalon said.

  Scanning the crowd before selecting a spot to sit, Avalon noted all of the Accipios sat together and all of the Fulcios and Compatios sat together. As she passed by the others, people murmured and whispered. Some followed her movements with their eyes.

  But then she noticed people weren’t only murmuring about her, that some of the Accipios were also sneering at Ilium.

  Snobs.

  One of her trio of computer teammates waved for Ilium and Avalon to sit by them. Avalon and Ilium accepted the proffered seats on the long bench seats, their trays making a small clink noise as they sat them down on the table.

  Avalon leaned towards Ilium. “I know they are staring at me because I am the new kid. But they were also sneering at you. Is everything ok?”

  Ilium grimaced before answering, “Yeah. Nothing you need to know about.”

  Nothing I need to know about. I need to know everything about this place and the people in it. Still, Avalon chose not to press the issue.

  After Avalon greeted the rest of the gang, Skylar began to chat.

  “I just can’t get over what happened to Dexter,” Skylar said to Ilium while taking a sip of her iced water.

  “I agree.” Ilium stated while taking a bite of his boiled egg.

  “Who is Dexter?” Avalon asked.

  “He held your role in the computer lab group before you. He passed away right before you woke up. Fortunately, you arrived just in time to take his place,” Ilium answered.

  Avalon took a bite of her green salad. “Do you know what he passed away from?”

  “They say some sort of virus. But there are rumors,” Skylar said. Brody gently kicked her underneath the table.

  “Rumors like what?” Avalon pressed.

  Skylar’s face scrunched up. Brody stared at her.

  “You know what I miss?” Brody said, changing the subject.

  “Wait Brody. I want to hear what Skylar was about to say,” Avalon answered.

  Skylar took a sip of water. “Well. Rumors say he was killed. That something happened to him.”

  “That’s why I tried to change the subject,” Brody said with a roll of his eyes. “There is no need in scaring the girl time she wakes up.”

  “They are only rumors,” Skylar insisted. “She deserves to know, regardless.”

  Killed. That is a strong accusation. Unconsciously, Avalon touched her necklace.

  “Who would do such a thing?” Avalon asked, her eyes wide.

  “I miss the warmth of the sun on my face. Not just the rec room VR stuff, but the real sun. Haptic technology has come far, but it is still far from a perfect simulation. What about you Avalon? What do you miss?” Brody asked.

  Avalon wanted to know who or what killed Dexter. Even if it was just a rumor. But she also didn’t want to rock the boat. So Avalon chose to think of all the things she missed. Her family. Her friends. Church. School. But stating any of the above would lead to an uncontrollable crying session, so she chose to talk about food.

  “I miss homemade Mac and Cheese.” Several groans issued amongst the group.

  “Man that’s a good one. Why’d you have to bring up food? My grandma was the best cook,” Brody said.

  “Best cakes too. She would carry those cakes to everything. Cake cured almost all ails.”

  Avalon nodded her head in agreement noting the slight mist in Brody’s eyes at mentioning his Grandma. Avalon missed her grandmother too. Her sweet Nana used to bake her cupcakes on the weekends. She didn’t see her that often, because she lived in the Deep South. She mainly visited during the summers. The hot, humid, sticky summers that were rescued by the cold sweet tea. A smile formed across her face at the memories. Avalon was grateful her grandmother passed on long before the asteroid threatened the Earth.

  “How do you eat that potato without any sour cream or cheese?” Avalon asked Ilium.

  Ilium laughed. “You will learn how to do without a lot of things we had on the outside in due time,” Ilium said.

  Avalon took a bite of her protein bar. After chewing for a long time, she swallowed. It did not taste too bad. Avalon’s eyes wandered to the Accipio table and she noticed how much healthier they looked than the other classes. Avalon asked, “What exactly do the Accipios do here?”

  “Their tasks are mostly managerial in nature,” Brody informed Avalon. “There is no monetary system for remuneration here. We all receive rations for the basic necessities and barter for anything extra.”

  Managerial. Seemingly the AI could handle that task. Avalon finished her protein bar and laid the empty wrapper down on her tray.

  The holographic wall screen lit up in front of Avalon and the whole cafeteria. Everyone became quiet as the Presidential seal appeared on the screen, followed by a close up of the President sitting in front of his large wooden desk.

  “Good afternoon,” the President said.

  “Good afternoon,” everyone replied in unison.

  “I apologize for the interruption, but I have some unfortunate news.” The President folded his hands and leaned in towards the camera a little more. “Effective immediately, new work hours will be instituted. The Accipios will continue to work six hours a day, and the Fulcios will continue to work eight hours a day. However, the Compatios will need to work ten hours a day. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Remember, the work we do is not only for ourselves, but for the very survival of humanity itself,” the President’s steady and monotonous voice announced.

  Silence filled the cafeteria like helium fills a balloon. The President signed off, leaving the different groups to mumble about what would cause a change in work load when one Compatio stood up and shouted in protest.

  “I have had enough of working all the time! Working my hands to the bone while no other group pulls their weight!”

  “Shut up, you stupid Compatio!” a blonde Russian girl named Elena Romanov yelled.

  “Yeah, nobody cares. Crawl back to whatever rock you came from,” a tall African girl said who sat next to Elena.

  “I will not shut up! That is the problem. We don’t make noise. We just sit here and take whatever is doled out to us. Well I have had enough!” she said, slamming a hand on a table. “My friends get mysteriously abducted in the night, and yet nobody mentions anything about it. We all just act like nothing is happening!”

  Elena and the trio of girls who sat at her table laughed at the words coming from the Compatio girl as they whispered the word “crazy” amongst each other.

  A muscular guard, previously posted against a wall with his hands behind his back, made his way towards the slender Compatio girl and struck her back with a baton that sent strong electrical pulses coursing throughout her body. The girl’s body fell down, rigid, as tears flowed from her eyes. Her emaciated body held several bruises and scabs against copper toned skin.

  Stay out of this Avalon. This is not your fight, Avalon thought. The guard with the huge biceps struck the crumpled body again, and this time no sound escaped the girl.

  Still not satisfied, he raised his arm with the baton above her again.

  Darn it! I can’t just sit here. Avalon ran a
nd stepped between the guard and the girl’s body.

  “Step away from the girl,” the guard said with a low growl.

  “Please, please! I believe she has learned her lesson for the day,” Avalon pleaded with her arm up as though she could shield the girl on the floor.

  A quiet descended over the entire cafeteria as the guard scowled at Avalon and then at the Compatio girl’s crumpled body she protected.

  “You are interfering with the administration of justice. That carries a penalty of a strike. As you know, after three strikes, you are expelled from the habitat.”

  “I’m sorry, but I am not trying to interfere. But we can’t use this Compatio girl anymore if she is dead. She is no longer speaking, so you succeeded in shutting her up.” Avalon put her doe eyes to full effect on the guard. However, he did not budge.

  Ilium ran and stood beside Avalon. “She is new here. I will let her know how things work.”

  The guard stared first into Ilium’s face and then into Avalon’s. Avalon’s blood ran cold as she did not want Ilium in harm’s way for her sake. Why is he so nice to me? We just met, and yet here he is throwing himself on the line.

  “Humph. You better, and this better be the last outburst I hear from any of you, or else you will ALL be lined up and punished,” the guard said as he lowered his baton and walked away.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Avalon slowly stepped away from the girl on the floor. Avalon looked straight ahead towards her cafeteria table and tried to ignore the stares she received. This is exactly what I didn’t want. To stand out. After a few moments, subdued muttering began.

  “Who does that new girl think she is?” said a coffee colored guard with a buzz cut who stood against the cafeteria wall with the muscular guard.

  “I scanned her face. She’s Avalon Adams,” the muscular guard answered.

  The other guard’s eyes widened. “You mean Dr. Adams kid?”

  “In the flesh,” the muscular guard answered.

  “That explains a lot. She probably thinks she runs the place just cause of her last name,” the coffee hued guard said.

  Avalon turned to face Ilium.

  “You didn’t have to help me,” she whispered.

  “I know,” he answered.

  “Thank you,” Avalon said as they returned to their seats by the others. She detested being the center of attention, but she could not continue to stand idly by and allow that guard to injure that girl anymore.

  “Why would you help that girl?” Skylar said as Avalon sat down.

  “I just couldn’t sit here and allow him to continue to injure her. But I believe we were talking about the stuff we missed before being frozen?” Avalon said, redirecting the conversation.

  Judging by the look on Skylar’s face, she wasn’t used to someone else directing the conversation. Prior to Avalon, all the rest of the group probably followed her lead as to the topic of conversation. The air was thick between them, but she tried hard to engage the others, hoping to win Skylar’s approval eventually.

  After a while, the chatter resumed and once everyone finished eating, they slid their trays down the end of the table into a vacuum slot which led to a dishwasher.

  “That was awesome how you handled that situation. See ya tomorrow, newbie!” Brody yelled before entering the corridor.

  Ilium pulled Avalon aside as they sauntered out of the cafeteria. “You really can’t do what you did today.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Standing up for that girl like that. You could have been hurt,” he said with eyes full of worry.

  “I did what was right, Ilium.”

  Something churned inside of Ilium’s stomach at the sound of his name coming from Avalon’s lips. He forced his lips into a tight line so as not to betray his budding feelings. Strange, slightly uncomfortable, but overall wonderful feelings. “I understand that. But things work a little differently here. Those guards are not our parents. They are callous and not afraid to maintain order at any cost,” he said.

  “I get it. They aren’t here to protect us. They are here to help control us,” Avalon said.

  Ilium nodded.

  Avalon’s eyes narrowed as she said, “Explain this three strikes thing to me.”

  “If you commit three strikes, you get expelled from the habitat.”

  Getting expelled from the habitat would be disastrous. The oceans were believed to have evaporated due to the asteroid impact, and the new atmosphere was practically non-existent. The temperature would be too cold outside to support human life. Some scientists called these effects impact winter.

  “And what do you have to do to deserve a strike?” Avalon asked.

  “When you get back to your room, search in one of your drawers. It should contain a book that explains the rules.”

  “Thank you,” Avalon said.

  Ilium whispered, “You are welcome,” as she walked away.

  Later that night, Avalon returned to her dorm room. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she read through the list of rules in her drawer. The list was short and to the point. Most forms of direct insubordination, theft, etc. could earn one a strike in the habitat. Avalon doubted, however, that the President would actually utilize such severe punishments. As it got late, she dimmed the light in her room and climbed up to her capsule bed.

  Whereas she initially enjoyed having a room all to herself at first, now the room was beginning to feel smaller. Claustrophobic even. She couldn’t pinpoint what was off, but it made her uneasy.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Probably just home sick. Silly me.

  And she closed her eyes, completely unaware someone else was watching.

  Chapter Three

  Avalon dreamt of her last days before entering the habitat. Her father had asked for months what she wanted to do on that important day—

  perhaps, the last night of her life if she never woke up again. With such high stakes, she contemplated a trip to Tokyo or China, or gambling with friends in Las Vegas. Even a trip to Disneyland in California. Thoughts of nature also occurred to her, like hiking through Yellowstone National Park. In the end, she settled on something simple.

  Her father feared friends would become jealous of her “saved” status, so friends weren’t allowed over. Whatever she wanted to do on her last day before entering the habitat, it could only involve her father. She had all of the clothes, shoes, purses, and gadgets a girl could ever want, and she would not need such material things in the habitat, which made a trip to the mall unnecessary. So, she opted for a father and daughter day with a trip to the local pizza parlor they had frequented every Friday for years.

  On that particularly frigid day, Avalon wore black knee high boots, a black cashmere scarf, a tan Burberry trench coat belted at the waist, and black leather gloves. Her nose and cheeks were red, but her ears were protected by black earmuffs. Clouds formed and twisted overhead, casting a dreary grey shadow on everything, but at least the weatherman predicted no rain. The smell of pizza wafted into the street. Her mouth watered as her father held the door open as they entered Papa Al’s Pizzeria.

  “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” her father asked.

  “Yep,” she answered, taking off her scarf and laying it down on the booth seat.

  A college age male waiter with tattoos walked up to them. “Welcome to Al’s Pizzeria. Will you guys have the usual?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  The waiter ran to the back of the store to put in their order.

  “So dad, are you sure the AI in the habitat won’t go haywire like Hal 9000 on us?”

  He chuckled. “You have quite the imagination. I am quite sure.”

  “What if there are human androids present that are planning a mutiny, like on Battlestar Gallactica?”

  “I suggest you befriend Boomer and stay away from any cylons named Six then,” he said with a smile.

  The waiter returned shortly and placed a meat lover’s p
izza before them. They were the only customers there. Only about three waiters walked around, and they were all the owner’s children. Biting into a slice of pizza, she eavesdropped as some of the waitstaff spoke Italian in a corner by the cash register. Avalon was fluent in three languages, the third being Japanese, so she understood what they were speaking.

  “Perché stiamo ancora lavorando? Non dovremmo essere a casa con le nostre famiglie ?” ( Why are we even working? We should be home with our families.)

  “Ti sto dicendo, questa cosa asteroide è solo una bufala. Stiamo chiudendo presto.” ( I am telling you, this asteroid thing is just a hoax. We are closing soon.)

  Her father paid the bill and as they headed out of the shop and onto the busy sidewalk, he paused. He hugged Avalon tightly. As they embraced, she inhaled his woodsy scent. A tear rolled down her face as she realized again that this would be one of the last times she would smell him.

  “I love you very much. You mean the world to me. I will always be with you. Always,” he said.

  “I love you too,” she said as her bottom lip trembled.

  She awoke from her dream the next morning and yawned. She felt the sheets, and for the first time in a while they were not soaked with sweat. Her heart ached from the memory of her father. Of the world outside.

  Inside the cold walls of the habitat, she had not met any androids. But she had met some people who behaved robotically.

  The wallscreen in front of her emitted light in phases perfectly timed to her circadian rhythm so she awoke with energy. Rubbing her eyes, she planted both feet on the floor.

  How the alleged guards treated that poor girl in the cafeteria still did not sit well. The government had gone through a lot of trouble to ensure their survival. She understood the need for control, especially in an enclosed environment full of young adults and hormones. However, she disagreed with their methods.

  There’s so much going on here. Dad’s message left on my necklace. Then Dexter being killed. Of course, that is probably just a rumor. But still. And this virus thing. It doesn’t make sense. We all took the universal shot…