Brink: A Dystopian Sci-Fi Novel (Rogue Spark Book 2)

by Cameron Coral

  She went to the garden to retrieve the abandoned flowers. At her feet, a sparrow lay quivering on the ground. It must have hit one of the glass windows.

  She scooped up the tiny bird in her palms. Still warm, the creature’s heart beat faintly, but it drew its final breaths. She took it inside and paused in the doorway of Ida’s bedroom.

  “This is stupid,” she said out loud in the empty space. Her voice echoed.

  “Oh, what the hell.” Glancing at Ida’s peaceful face, she laid the small bird on her stomach, then gently positioned her sleeping friend’s hands to cradle it.

  That evening, Vera made shrimp pasta, and they paired it with fresh greens from Lucy’s garden. Paul had brought a bottle of red wine—“classy red,” he called it. In the months since Gatz had taken office, imports into the city had risen as he eliminated Vance’s isolationist tactics. After reintroducing trade, luxuries like fresh vegetables, wine, and seafood were becoming available again.

  They laughed over dinner, recounting the grocery store trip where Paul had to ask someone where to find the paprika, having no idea what it was and horribly mispronouncing it as “pa-per-eureeka.”

  As they laughed and sipped wine from large glasses, Lucy heard rustling noises coming from the main room. She left the table as Vera and Paul cleaned up.

  She entered the common room and gazed up toward the high ceiling.

  On one of the beams, the sparrow chirped and flapped its wings.

  Lucy smiled.

  END OF BOOK TWO

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks for reading BRINK!

  Are you ready to find out what’s next for Ida and her friends in Spark City?

  Book 3 is called DORMANT, and it’s intense.

  Ida’s still in her coma, but not for long.

  When she wakes up, something’s wrong. Very wrong.

  You’ll learn about her dark past…and why it threatens the lives of everyone in Spark City.

  You don’t want to miss it!

  Get It Now: http://bit.ly/roguespark03

  Cameron Coral

  P.S. When you leave an honest review of this book, it means a lot. Thanks in advance :-)

  Curious about Reed Reynolds from Book 1?

  After We Fall is a FREE standalone novel that charts the events that take place in Woodlawn Youth Improvement Center. Find out what happens to Reed and the others left behind.

  Grab your free ebook copy now! Visit: https://cameroncoral.com/sign-up/

  Preview:

  I am fourteen when my mother leaves me in the hands of New York State because she can’t handle being a parent. Can’t blame her, I guess. Life in the late 2030s isn’t easy for anyone. Jobs are scarce and environmental disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes are the norm. Having a kid is just another burden in a crumbling mess of a world.

  “Welcome to Woodlawn, Reed Reynolds,” Kilpatrick says my first day. I shake the head supervisor’s cold, moist hand while a creeping sensation rises in my throat.

  My social worker, a kind lady named Maxine, assures me I’ll be in good hands. She winks goodbye. “It won't be long before a nice couple adopts you and takes you to your forever home.”

  I nod despite my insides feeling like quicksand. Once Maxine lifts off in her air cruiser, Kilpatrick introduces me to the real Woodlawn. After handing me a scratchy used blanket, he leads me to my new room, bare except for two cots with worn foam mattresses that aren’t much thicker than a folded towel.

  That’s when I meet my roommate, Zeke. He’s a year younger and looks like a frightened shelter puppy at first. Later, he confesses his relief I’m not a bully. We become fast friends. Bonding happens quickly when you’re both picked on by the older, bigger kids.

  Zeke’s sister is Daria. She’s my age and blind, which makes life really difficult at Woodlawn. Zeke shakes his head, explaining that they’re a bonded sibling pair. According to him, they can’t be separated during the adoption process. That Daria is disabled means no one in their right mind would take them. I don’t know what to say when he mentions it; I suspect he’s right.

  I am sixteen when a red-headed girl named Ida arrives. She’s different from the others, more of a loner type. But there is something about her, and I follow her around in the exercise yard, always trying to catch her attention. She keeps ignoring me until the day she stands up for me against the biggest bully at Woodlawn—Marc Mal.

  The few times Ida actually meets my gaze, I see loneliness in her eyes and something else. Bitterness? She's had a rough past like a lot of kids here.

  Too bad she doesn’t stay long. I’ve only known her for a few weeks when a couple adopts her. But four months later, she sends a letter, and we keep in touch. The craziest thing of all? She’s been recruited into the military and is now in basic training.

  I miss Ida like anything, but her story gives me hope. Hope for a better future outside Woodlawn.

  And then the Fall happens.

  The Fall—the collapse, the invasion—whatever you call it, happens real slow at first.

  It is early days, soon after Ida’s third letter arrives, and the adults who work here look nervous. Some of them stop showing up, which is odd because Woodlawn runs like clockwork. Even Kilpatrick, who usually enjoys taunting us, becomes distracted. He spends time alone, holed up in his office, listening to news reports. Something is happening. I don’t know what, but it seems like a big deal.

  Today, after getting beaten up and sent to the nurses station, I find out…

  Grab your free ebook copy now! Visit: https://cameroncoral.com/sign-up/

  Also by Cameron Coral

  Rogue Spark Series:

  ALTERED (Book 1)

  BRINK (Book 2)

  DORMANT (Book 3)

  SALVAGE (Book 4)

  AFTER WE FALL (A Rogue Spark Novel) - get it for free on CameronCoral.com

  Anthologies:

  Dark Shadows 2: Voodoo and Black Magic of New Orleans (An Authors on a Train Short Story Collection)

  About the Author

  Cameron Coral writes sci-fi and fantasy and lives in Chicago.

  She's the author of the action-packed Rogue Spark series about Ida Sarek—a soldier-medic in the year 2044 with a knack for getting into trouble, sticking up for the underdog, and kicking butt!

  When she isn't writing about fierce women with troubled pasts and mad fight skills, Cameron feeds her muse by reading, binging sci-fi series, traveling, and kickboxing.

  Want a free novel, exclusive advance copies of her new books, and occasional rants about why robots are awesome?

  Visit her website: CameronCoral.com

  Afterword

  Thank you for reading BRINK! Here are the first two chapters of the next book in the Rogue Spark Series, DORMANT.

  Book Three Preview: DORMANT

  Chapter 1

  I run. It's been months—years maybe? I run along rolling green hills at the ocean's edge, into copper-hued canyons, and through forests.

  I'm tired. I run with no destination. "Move," I tell my sore feet.

  Because he’s chasing me.

  Vance. That was his name. My memories are hazy. I know he’s evil and will hurt me if he catches me. He hurt people I knew, people I cared about. But I didn't let him kill them. I touched them and brought them back to life. Before he could destroy more people, I stopped him.

  Darkness surrounds me, and I've been running a long time. No sign of Vance, so I stop for a rest. I'm in an unkempt field where scraggly brush reaches my thighs. I pinch the leaves, and they crumble between my fingers. Dead.

  Ahead of me in the distance, I spy objects. A collection of rides and tents and hastily built wooden shacks, and there's a giant big-top tent like in old movies. I search my mind for the word…carnival.

  But the shuttered carnival looks run-down, weathered by time, and forgotten by the children who once begged their parents to bring them here.

  A cutting wind chills my aching body, pushing me on. As I
near the entrance, a lonely rusty gate swings back and forth. I scan behind for any sign of Vance. Alone for now, but I’m sure he'll find me soon. He always does.

  Decaying smells surround me, discarded memories hover in vacant market stalls. I pass by a row of wooden stands that once housed souvenirs and games but now lie rotting.

  My feet stir up dust with every step. I squat and touch the earth, grabbing a handful of the soil. Dry, lifeless, it flows through my fingers. Where am I?

  I wander through rows of crumbling games. A small purple tent has a sign: "Bearded Lady 1 nickel. You won't believe your e…" The paint peels off in splintered chips.

  Rounding a corner, I spot the big top. The massive red and white canvas is faded and torn. Light seeps from gaping holes. I edge closer.

  Vance laughs quietly to my right. Whirling around, I find him sitting on a bench in an ancient carousel. The macabre horses lack heads—as if a madman had come along and chopped them all off in a cruel practical joke.

  My heart races, and adrenaline courses through me as I prepare to run.

  "Wait," he says. "You always run. Why not stop and chat like civilized people for once?"

  Is he trying to trick me?

  I sprint toward the big top. A dilapidated flap door flutters, beckoning. Pushing the heavy canvas aside, I slip into the tent.

  Inside, the lights flicker out. Stars surround me, breaking up the blackness. I creep toward a large table that’s illuminated in the center of the room. I'm floating. Like I'm walking on air, but that's impossible.

  I reach the table and inhale sharply. On it rests a model of Spark City. I recognize the tall skyscrapers, the enormous lake, and the river cutting through the center like a zipper.

  Reaching out, I try to grasp the miniature living city, but my hands slice through air. An illusion? Did Vance create this to amuse himself at my expense?

  I step a few feet to my right, and the table expands, the city landscape endless. I bend, searching underneath, but find only black space.

  Before I can rationalize things, a sharp tingling begins in my side. My fingers trace my old wound. A Heavy—the aliens that invaded part of Earth—stabbed me there years ago when I was in the war.

  I glimpse down at my side, lifting my black t-shirt. My skin around the wound glows blue. Pressing inward, underneath my skin, the alien blade remains.

  Pushing my shirt down, I gaze up as a dark shadow falls across the Spark City replica. In the middle of the city, the earth is scorched, flattened. Glass towers, streets teeming with markets, bright neon lights. Gone. Reduced to rubble.

  I back away, confused, until I bump into a tent wall. Fumbling for the flaps, I stumble out into the night.

  Vance must still be around. I drop to a runner's stance, ready to bolt, when the old carousel organ starts up. Vance snaps his fingers, and the lights on the ride switch on. The carousel groans to life, rusty wheels grate noisily as the contraption begins to revolve.

  "Come aboard," he says. "You can jump off and run whenever you want."

  Now’s my chance to escape and get a head start, but I'm so tired. The running is endless. Can I end the chase if I face him?

  The carousel picks up speed. Suddenly, the carnival bursts to life around me. Light shines all around; everything looks pristine, no longer abandoned and rotting.

  Strangest of all, people mill around dressed in clothes from a long-ago era. Men wear black suits and bowler caps; women wear long dresses and bonnets. Children run through the grounds laughing and shouting in delight.

  The carousel spins, and Vance remains, dressed in his usual black pants and long, gray trench coat. I gaze down to be sure I'm still wearing my modern clothes too, including my familiar black combat boots. Nobody seems to notice us until I feel a tug on my jacket sleeve and find a little boy at my side. He's maybe eight-years-old and wearing a cap, white button-down shirt, and red suspenders that support overly large trousers.

  "Excuse me, ma'am," the boy says. "The man on the carousel told me to give you this." He offers his hand.

  Vance is malicious. Whatever it is could hurt the child. I shove his hand down. "No. Dangerous.”

  He peers up at me, eyes and mouth wide.

  I bend down to inspect what he dropped. A yellow rose lies at his feet.

  The boy slowly edges away, then pivots and runs. I should flee too. But what if I stay and stand up to Vance? Will this endless chase stop?

  It's worth a try. What do I have to lose? My life. A chill races from my fingers to my neck.

  Treading cautiously to the carousel, I pick a spot five horses away from Vance's bench and leap onto the revolving platform.

  "Well, I can't hear you from that far," he says. "Won't you come closer?"

  "What do you want from me?"

  He studies me with his half-metal cyborg face. He concentrates as though he can will me to come closer.

  The hairs on my neck rise, and I shiver despite the mild air. There's something about Vance I can't remember. "How did we get here?"

  "Here." He smiles. "We’ve always been here. And we’ll always be here."

  The carousel spins faster now. I shout to be heard over the din of the organ and the sound of people talking, laughing, living. "I don't understand."

  "You will in time."

  "How do I make this stop?"

  He straightens against the ornate carousel bench, right leg crossed over his left knee. The carousel revolves so fast now that the people outside blur. We're the only passengers.

  "You can get off the ride anytime you'd like.” He shrugs.

  Is this a puzzle? Clearly, he's more in control of this situation than me. I've been the one running, after all.

  I stare down at the carousel floor to steady myself. I can't see the ground outside anymore because the ride spins so fast. If I jump, I could get hurt. Most likely, I'd fall off and land on something that would impale me. Hurting me—that’s what Vance wants.

  I'm so busy concentrating on the ground outside, trying to find a safe spot where I can jump, I don't realize he's moved until he grabs my arm with his cybernetic fist. My muscles tense, rigid as an icicle.

  After months of running, he has me.

  "Ida," he hisses between clenched teeth.

  Perched on the carousel's edge, I angle my head to face his cold blue eyes and crimson pupils. His eyes hold a clue to my past. I can almost put my finger on it—retrieve the memory—but then it disappears into nothing.

  "You don't remember the time before this place, do you?" His steel digs into my flesh, tearing the leather of my jacket. "Perhaps you will recall one day, but know this…" He gets so close, he's whispering in my ear. "I am part of you now…forever."

  I'm disgusted by his breath against my cheek. It's ice cold, not what I expected.

  His proximity, the speed of the carousel—I’m light-headed.

  Vance pulls me closer and touches my right side, my old stab wound, with his other robotic hand. "The truth is inside you." He starts to laugh, a deep, guttural chortling that unnerves me.

  Outside the furiously spinning carousel, a bright flash crosses the sky. Lightning?

  Vance presses his nose in my chin-length red hair, inhaling deeply.

  "What did I see in the big top? What was the shadow on Spark City?"

  He whispers, “War is coming.”

  Shuddering, I glance up at another bright light, only this time, it doesn't dim. Like the aurora borealis, it floats in the atmosphere.

  Outside the carousel, I hear voices. Loud, like people having a heated discussion. Two or three voices rise above the noise of the carnival and the out-of-control ride.

  Vance's grip loosens, and he drops my arm. With a devilish grin, he backs away, weaving through the decapitated plaster horses, and then he's gone.

  I'm shaking and wondering how the hell to get off the ride. Is this how I die? Where did Vance go? Strange, he's never left me alone before.

  I grip the pole of a horse on the edge of
the madly spinning carousel. Outside, the bright light shines. Warm, welcoming.

  I'm tired of running.

  I leap from the carousel into the light.

  Chapter 2

  "How does this work?" a young woman says. "We've been at it for hours."

  A different woman, her vocal chords bearing the strain of many decades, replies, "Patience, young one." She speaks slowly, without wasting words. "The masalai poison is strong in her. Takes time to pull out."

  I recognize the voices from the carousel before I jumped. Now they're close, as if I'm in the same room with them.

  But that's impossible. Darkness lies before me, endless and all-consuming. And everything's gone—the carousel, the amusement park. Even Vance.

  I’m still. Finally, no more running. There's just one problem. I can't move at all.

  My body’s numb, and my mind screams over the agony of being paralyzed. The worst part: being able to think and hear everything around me, but my eyes feeling like they’re glued shut.

  The old woman mentioned poison. Is that why I can't wake up?

  Then I hear the unmistakable sound of a door opening, and a different woman says, "How are things going, Lucy?" She sounds kind and concerned.

  Lucy. I recognize the name, but I can’t place the memory. Somewhere a train whistles. It's miles away and sounds oddly comforting, even familiar.

  "Alkina says we must be patient. She's working on drawing out the poison—the evil spirit—from Ida's body."

  The one named Lucy says my name as if she knows me well. Why can't I remember her? These people are taking care of me. I must be very sick. How long have I been so ill? I've been running from Vance for what feels like years.