Rainwalkers
by Matt Ritter
RAINWALKERS
is a story set in the not-so-distant future in a crumbling version of John
Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley, after the breakup of the United States. A once rich
and prosperous agricultural land is now a war-torn nation-state known only
as The Valley. To combat chronic droughts, scientists seeded clouds with
genetically engineered bacteria that created regular rains but
unintentionally made the rains lethal to humans. Anyone caught in the rain dies
within seconds, yet there are rumors of people who survive… known as
rainwalkers.
In a land of forced labor camps and waning oil fields, poverty-stricken
agricultural communities support the metropolis of Salinas City and the
authoritarian Valley Administration in their unending war against
neighboring nations. In desperation, the Valley Administration intensifies
their search for rainwalkers, who are believed to be powerful weapons in
the border wars, by forcing children housed at Valley schools into the rain to
be screened for resistance.
War hero Willie Taft lives a quiet agrarian life until the Administration
abducts him and his wife, separating them from their daughter. Although his
wife is killed during their escape, Willie continues his journey to rescue
their daughter. He faces mortal challenges from the Administration military
force, the sociopath bounty hunter on his trail, and the ever-present
toxic rain. Time is running out as he fights his way through the Valley back to
his daughter’s school before she is forcefully screened with other children in the
deadly rain.
is a story set in the not-so-distant future in a crumbling version of John
Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley, after the breakup of the United States. A once rich
and prosperous agricultural land is now a war-torn nation-state known only
as The Valley. To combat chronic droughts, scientists seeded clouds with
genetically engineered bacteria that created regular rains but
unintentionally made the rains lethal to humans. Anyone caught in the rain dies
within seconds, yet there are rumors of people who survive… known as
rainwalkers.
In a land of forced labor camps and waning oil fields, poverty-stricken
agricultural communities support the metropolis of Salinas City and the
authoritarian Valley Administration in their unending war against
neighboring nations. In desperation, the Valley Administration intensifies
their search for rainwalkers, who are believed to be powerful weapons in
the border wars, by forcing children housed at Valley schools into the rain to
be screened for resistance.
War hero Willie Taft lives a quiet agrarian life until the Administration
abducts him and his wife, separating them from their daughter. Although his
wife is killed during their escape, Willie continues his journey to rescue
their daughter. He faces mortal challenges from the Administration military
force, the sociopath bounty hunter on his trail, and the ever-present
toxic rain. Time is running out as he fights his way through the Valley back to
his daughter’s school before she is forcefully screened with other children in the
deadly rain.