Sunset Rising
Page 1
Sunset Rising
By
S.M. McEachern
“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.
Published by McEachern Books
Copyright 2012 by S. M. McEachern
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express prior permission of the copyright owner.
Summary:
In a post-apocalyptic world, seventeen-year-old Sunny O’Donnell unwittingly starts a rebellion when she marries Jack Kenner.
Young Adult (16+) Science Fiction/Dystopian
Cover Art and Design: Nathália Suellen (www.ladysymphonia.com)
Author’s blog site: smmceachern.wordpress.com
ISBN: 978-0-9917330-2-6
Smashwords Edition
2nd Edition November 2012
Dedicated to my husband, Michael, currently overseas serving his Country…
and for all those who serve with him.
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 predicted was coming true. No one in the Valley had ever liked him. The kids made fun of him and called him ‘the hermit.’ He knew 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, people were dying by the scores because of drought. Countries with an abundance of water were reluctant to share in case they too had to face a drought one day. People all around the world were dying from famine and the disease brought on by the misery of human suffering. Instead of helping each other, countries all around the world strengthened their military defences and threatened war.
News reports that one country or another was threatening to launch a nuclear attack had become monotonous. People just didn’t pay much attention to it anymore. Except Benjamin Reyes. He always paid attention. He paid attention to all the military vehicles and aircraft he had seen coming through the Valley and up into the mountain. Most people didn’t find that suspicious. Military vehicles had been coming up and down the mountain for as long as anyone could remember. They all knew the government had some kind of secret military base up there, but no one questioned it. Why would they? The people trusted the leaders of their country.
However, during the past week, Benjamin had noticed the vehicles were going up the mountain and they weren’t coming back down. That’s when he started warning everyone in the Valley, but they just laughed at him… right up until they turned on their television and saw a tearful President Taylor give the news that the bombs were on the way. She urged everyone to take cover and then asked God to bless them all.
Benjamin knew where they could find cover and people were listening to him now.
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 wasn’t time.
Eventually, the road ended at a hangar that looked like it was carved into the side of the mountain. Military personnel were busily trying to fit helicopters and large trucks into an already cramped space. The group of civilians looking for refuge surprised them. The soldiers weren’t sure what to do with the refugees until the head of the military, General Holt, gave the order to force them back. They would not be granted entry. The civilians wouldn’t take no for an answer and continued to push forward, desperate to get their children and themselves to safety. The General gave the order to fire on them. Reluctant soldiers armed themselves and opened fire on the crowd. Benjamin Reyes grabbed as many children as he could, hiding them behind vehicles still parked on the tarmac. He shouted at the people still coming up the mountain to turn around, but they kept coming. He heard a rumble from the sky and looked up to see the first of the nuclear missiles flying overhead. People went into panic mode and the clash between military and civilian became more desperate.
Finally, the soldiers stopped firing and Benjamin tentatively peaked out from behind the truck to see people being let into the hangar. He grabbed the smallest children by the hand and bid the rest to follow him. The tarmac looked like a bloodbath and he had to pick his way through bodies to get the children safely inside the Dome.
“Three more minutes, and those doors are shut. I don’t care what the President says,” General Holt barked at a group of soldiers.
Benjamin realized that not everyone was going to be saved. There were still thousands of people 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 was going to be sick.
“I am General Edward Holt,” he introduced himself to the ragtag group of refugees over a loud speaker. “Nuclear bombs have already begun to reach the major cities of our country and soon the earth will be uninhabitable. You are very lucky to have found refuge here, which you can thank, President Julia Taylor for. This is a Bio-Dome capable of supporting life for as long as we need it too. Forget about your homes and whatever family you’ve left behind. These doors are sealed now for at least a thousand years.”
The sounds of sobbing among the crowd turned to panic as the severity of their situation was realized. The world as they knew it was ending at that very moment.
“However,” the General yelled over the cries of the people, “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.”
They stayed in the hangar for days, but were at least given food, water and bedrolls to sleep on. Children found ways to entertain themselves, while the adults comforted each other. Everyone thanked Benjamin Reyes for bringing 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 the General in private.
“The President is dead?” Benjamin asked in shock. “I thought she was here, inside this Dome.”
“She was safe inside the Dome, or at least we thought she was safe until she let a bunch of civilians in. Don’t try to deny it wasn’t all of you who killed her. You’re trying to take over the Dome,” the General accused.
“General! That isn’t true. No one has even left the hangar. We’re under constant guard,” Benjamin said in confusion. It was ludicrous even to accuse anyone of assassinating the President.
“I am President Holt now. You may address me as Mr. President,” Holt said very deliberately.
Benjamin was getting an uneasy feeling from this man. He knew that no one in the hangar could have possibly harmed President Taylor. However, General Holt had an entire army behind him and plenty of opportunity to kill her. And he wondered why the General had advanced to the Presidency instead of Vice President Kenner. The whole thing had him on edge.
“Now that I’m President, I simply won’t tolerate your mutiny. But I’m not cold hearted enough to send you all out into a world teeming 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. The President gave his consent.
The terms of the Treaty designated a place called the Pit for them to live in. Living quarters would be constructed right away 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 talked about a Cull. The people had to agree to be Culled, or killed, by the age of fifty as part of a population control method. Elderly people who could no longer work in the mines were considered a drain on resources and a liability rather than an asset.
“You can’t possibly think we would agree to being killed at 50?” Benjamin asked incredulously.
“With your arrival at our doors, there are now an extra 267 people we didn’t count on living inside this Dome. When the Dome was built, great care was taken in making sure it could sustain a growing population. Population models were based on the initial 300 people that were approved to be here. Now we have a population of 567 and we’re only in our first week. You can see the dilemma, I’m sure,” the President explained.
“So everyone in the Dome agrees to be Culled?” Benjamin asked. He wondered if the rules in the Pit would apply to those living in the Dome.
“You needn’t concern yourself with how I choose to run this Dome. Your only concern right now is to sign that Treaty. If you don’t, you’ll all be out today.”
Benjamin knew he wasn’t joking. They were already under constant guard by his soldiers; the same soldiers that willingly opened fire on them when the General gave the command. As President, he would have even more power. But how could he sign? He tried to think of how many people he had seen that looked to be fifty or older, but all he could remember were 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 he had to sign. So he did. Benjamin himself was sixty-five and he knew he was signing his own death warrant.
After he signed, he was told 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 their new living quarters, otherwise known as the Pit. They were marched through the main floor of the Dome and were surprised by how big it was. It was a modern piece of architecture, open and airy with lights bright enough to mimic the sun’s rays. Comfortable looking furniture was scattered about the large room, which was dominated by a fireplace with a simulated fire burning in it. The room was under construction though, and Benjamin wondered why.
“What are they building?” Benjamin asked one of the soldiers.
“A barrier to keep you urchins out,” the soldier said with laughter.
“So we return to the feudal system of the bourgeoisie,” Benjamin mused out loud.
They continued to be marched past all of the construction, then down a narrow hall and through a door. It was as if they entered a different world. It 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 objected.
“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 laughed cynically.
Benjamin raised his hands to his face and covered his eyes from the inhumane conditions they had been given. He shook his head in denial, wondering what in God’s name he had done to these people. Maybe it would have been kinder to have not signed the Treaty. Maybe it would have been better to let them take their chances outside.
With a sinking heart, he realized he was one of the lucky ones. The Cull didn’t seem so bad after all.
Chapter One
Date: May 15, 2307
Red.
It’s the color of my hair and I’ve always hated it. I live in a dark world made of rock and artificial light surrounded by dark haired people. My hair shines out like a beacon here in the Pit. I picked up the piece of coal and pulled it down the strands of my hair. It didn’t completely hide the red, but it helped me blend in down here. My mother loved my red hair so much she named me after it. Sunset O’Donnell. I’m not sure why she went with Sunset because it’s not as if she ever saw one for real. If the sun was still rising and setting, then it was doing it outside of the Dome where no one could see it. I guess maybe she saw a picture she liked in a book or maybe in one of the movies they showed in the common room. But if anyone asks me my name, I tell them its Sunny.
There are times I miss my mother so much it feels like I can’t breathe. It’s been two months since she was Culled and nothing has been right ever since. I know my emotions are irrational, because the Cull is something we’ve lived with all our lives. When you turn 35 years old, you are killed. My ancestors agreed to the Cull in a Treaty 283 years ago when they came to the Dome seeking refuge from the nuclear holocaust.
The Treaty has changed over the centuries and never in our favour. Not only has the age of the Cull been lowered to 35, but the entire economy in the Pit has been structured to enslave us to the bourgeoisie, or bourge as we prefer to call them. We mine their coal, do their cleaning, process their sewage and everything else that’s required to keep the Dome running. In return, they give us credits, which are needed to pay for our housing and basic needs. Without enough credits, you were homeless. And homeless people disappeared after the lights went out.
I lifted my t-shirt and examined my left side. The bruise was barely visible now and it was no longer tender. Whenever I remember the guard coming at me with his fists a tremor of fear goes through me. But it was my own fault. My supervisor had warned me plenty of times, 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 incentive to move faster. The cracked ribs he gave me didn’t hurt nearly as much as the humiliation I felt at getting a beating in front of my coworkers. My performance in my job has now greatly improved.
For my father’s sake, I’m grateful I didn’t get fired. He hasn’t been the same since my mother left. He has almost completely stopped eating and his already skeletal frame is getting thinner. I’ve tried to encourage him to stay strong, but my attempts have been half hearted. It was difficult to paint a bright futu
re for him 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. Now I’m the only one of us earning credits. I thought watching my mother leave us that morning was the hardest thing I’ve ever endured. But watching my father die of grief is every bit as painful, only it is slower and more drawn out.
I am supposed to be getting married in a month from now, but I told Reyes last night that I couldn’t leave my father. Reyes Crowe and I have known since we were twelve that we would get married. We grew up together and I thought I knew him as well as I knew myself, but I cringe when I remember how angry he became when I told him I wanted to postpone our marriage until after the next Cull. I hope he mulled it over last night and has calmed down today. The next Cull is only ten months away, which doesn’t seem that long at all.
I finished running the coal through my hair and tied it back into a ponytail. I work in the kitchen on the main floor with my best friend, Summer Nazeem. Kitchen duty is a coveted job, so we were lucky to get such good positions. And this morning I really needed to get moving or I was going to be late. I peeked into the bedroom at my father and saw he was still asleep. I didn’t have time to take him to the common room for breakfast anyway, so I decided it was best to let him sleep. I would just have to make sure he made it to the common room tonight for supper.
I stepped out of our apartment and joined the throng of people heading toward the stairs. Some people descend almost two miles down into the mines and others, like myself, climb a mile up to the Dome. I walked to the stairs where Summer and I always met to go to work together and I was surprised not to find her there. I took a step backward, preparing to wait for her and accidently stepped on someone’s foot.