After Impact: After Impact Trilogy, Book 1 Read online

  “I knew it,” Avalon said. “But how?”

  Ilium shook his head. “I don’t know. I have a theory that it is related to the substances in their blood.”

  “What substances?” Avalon asked with alarm.

  “Well, as a side project, I randomly collected some blood samples on people shortly after they woke up. It is totally unauthorized, and I could get in major trouble if anyone discovered I used precious resources like this—”

  “They won’t,” she quickly reassured him.

  Ilium let out a breath and then continued, “Well it turns out the Compatios have antibodies to a virus. A virus they should have been protected from via the universal shot. However, the shot doesn’t cover this virus.”

  “Does it affect anyone else of a different sector?”

  Ilium shook his head. “Not so far. I have only seen it in the blood of Compatios.”

  Avalon tried to calm herself. They were trapped in an

  enclosed space, with filtered and occasionally recirculated air. She was pretty sure it was in her imagination, but she felt the room was getting hotter by the minute.

  “Is this virus deadly? How does it spread?” Avalon blurted out questions as fast as she could think them.

  “The answer to the first question is it appears to be deadly. The answer to your other question is that I don’t know how the virus spreads, or even if it does spread. I performed a rapid RNA and DNA sequencing of the virus using a cultured sample from their sputum. The sequencing perfectly matches across all four patients. All females from the Compatios sector.”

  Avalon sat down on a box in the corner. “A deadly virus. We haven’t had anything like that in decades.”

  Ilium nodded. “Indeed.”

  “What could bring a virus like that back? In an enclosed space?”

  “Now you are asking the right questions.”

  Avalon sat and pondered. “Sounds deliberate.”

  Ilium nodded his head in agreement. “Indeed.”

  Avalon rose up with balled fists to her side. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “I don’t know,” Ilium replied.

  “Why aren’t all of the Compatios sick at once?” Avalon asked.

  “I don’t know. It could be, like the common cold, everyone who has exposure doesn’t necessarily develop signs or symptoms.”

  Avalon chewed on a strand of her hair which had fallen loose from her ponytail. “Have you notified the President or the Council of any of this?”

  “Yes. The President says to just keep him informed, as though there is nothing to worry about. However, he also told me not to tell anyone about the quarantine.”

  “Something doesn’t sound right about that. For example, how do we find out who patient zero is? Or if we should quarantine them?”

  “Who would deliberately infect the Compatios? And why?” Ilium asked.

  Avalon wanted some more information on Dexter. And while they were sharing, she decided to share what she found out about Dexter going outside.

  “No one ever mentioned someone going outside before,” Ilium said as he struggled to take in everything.

  “It was marked confidential. I am pretty sure no one was supposed to find out,” Avalon said.

  Ilium ran his hands through his hair.

  “This is all just so crazy,” Ilium said.

  “Tell me about it,” Avalon said.

  Avalon looked down at her watch to read an incoming message.

  “I am sorry, but I have to go. Maybe we can meet tomorrow?” he asked.

  Avalon nodded and she headed to the President’s office.

  Viggo spoke to someone on a secure and private line. His feet were propped up on his metal desk, but he quickly placed them down when he received the phone call.

  “I don’t know if I can do that, sir,” Viggo said, spinning around on his lab chair.

  After listening to the other party speak, Viggo nodded his head, straightened his back, and said, “Yes, yes. I understand exactly what is at stake.”

  After a pause Viggo spoke again, “The results are less than stellar thus far.” He lowered his gaze to his chart. “I know about the timeline,” he said with a sigh.

  “Yes, I am making progress. Although not as quickly as you liked.”

  Nodding his head, Viggo added, “I am being careful. No one—”

  “Ok. I will be more careful next time.”

  Hanging up the phone, Viggo let out the breath he was holding on to as he scrutinized a large algorithm displayed on his wallscreen. A Rubik’s cube sat on his metal lab desk, half solved.

  Viggo closed his eyes and reflected upon his days conducting genetic experiments with food. Those were the days. Most of the developed nations stopped consuming genetically modified food, known colloquially as GMOs, decades ago. However, America still consumed them, and the corporations made record profits year after year. Some of which were used to line Viggo’s pockets as well.

  As a result of his prestigious accomplishments with GMOs and other genetic related fields, Viggo had been cherry picked for his position in the HOPE habitat after Mr. Adams could not board.

  Viggo opened his eyes and held the Rubiks cube in his hand. As he tinkered with it, his mind continued to reflect back on that fateful day when the asteroid hit.

  On that day, the day the asteroid struck, Viggo had placed all of the other members into their cryochambers.

  Safe inside the HOPE habitat, the President warned him against viewing the destruction of the world on the televised broadcasts. But Viggo insisted on seeing it live.

  He figured he had a front row ticket to the end of the world.

  He ordered the wallscreen to tune to WNN and WOLF news so he could receive coverage from both sides of the aisle.

  WNN operated on a skeleton crew as most of the people were long gone to whatever meager shelter they had prepared for themselves. The cameraman included. Only one or two neurotic anchors who wanted to be immortalized for telling the news even in the face of death remained. Who did they think would be left alive to care?

  WOLF news, on the other hand, had several news anchors still on the air as they were safe in underground bunkers. Safe was relative, as they lacked enough money for cryochambers, but they had enough food etcetera to last about ten years. The news anchors demonstrated how to use canned foods and MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) to survive. WOLF news had preached so called “prepper planning” for decades.

  Then it dawned on him. The Amish. They were a simple people. They might survive the impact even though they lived outside of the dome. But only if they moved underground. Yes, wholesome, unpretentious stock like that might survive.

  Viggo watched the wallscreen as anchors on both WNN and WOLF turned their heads towards a loud sound.

  The autocamera on the drone shook, and the male reporter for WNN was knocked to the ground. He still had his mike on and he announced that the event registered as a 9.5 on the Richter scale which was normally used to measure earthquake severity. Birds squawked and flew away in a desperate attempt to avoid destruction. Dogs barked on the streets, and armadillos and snakes emerged from their holes.

  The male anchor, who had never before expressed any sort of religious inclination, fell to the ground and prayed just as glass was blown out and flew towards the camera. The station went dark.

  Tears rolled down Viggo’s cheeks.

  WOLF news also had a camera drone on the outside while their news anchors watched the destruction in stunned silence. The asteroid tore through the sky, piercingly loud, bright, glowing, and fierce.

  Viggo snapped out of his daydream, and said to the air, “I have a lot of work to do.”

  Chapter Five

  For the President to message me, it could only mean one thing—I’m in trouble. Avalon swiped her wrist across the sensor to enter the large office suite whose décor was in stark contrast to all of the other rooms in the habitat. The off white walls were decorated with ornate oil paintings. A simulated
floor-to-ceiling window was dressed in long gold window coverings. On the mahogany desk a few digital photo albums featuring a handsome young man with curly blonde hair in various ages sat. Audiobooks about history, psychology, biology, and military warfare sat neatly in the built-in bookcase alongside a marble bust of the President. Two long leather couches faced each other in the middle of the carpeted room.

  The President stood in the middle of the room and urged her to sit down on the couch.

  She didn’t want to, but the look in his eyes and his guards faces let her know it was not a choice.

  “Someone has accessed a file on our server marked Confidential. Since you are on the computer tech team, I thought I would ask you if you knew anything about it?”

  Avalon tried not to sweat. She hated to lie, and worse, knew it was futile. How could she forget they constantly recorded everything in this place?

  “That’s good. You are silent. I prefer that to lying. You are very smart, Avalon, like your father.”

  Avalon hated the President mentioning her father. Each time he said the words, her heart ached.

  “What are you going to do? She asked, ready to get her punishment over with.”

  “Nothing my dear. Nothing at all. Because you never saw any videotape and it doesn’t exist. Furthermore, you were never in my office. Do you understand?”

  It takes a minute before I realize I won’t be punished for accessing the file.

  Avalon swallowed. “Yes sir.”

  “Consider this a warning Mrs. Adams. The next time I won’t be so nice.”

  Avalon nodded.

  “Good. I will have my guards escort you back to your room.”

  Avalon knew she should heed the President’s warning. Stop snooping around. Whoever was in the video did not matter anymore. But she could not give up so easily. The fact the President went through such lengths to prevent her from snooping again, meant the trail was warm. He was covering something up.

  Stuff is happening so fast. I just woke up and I’ve learned I’m all alone. All my friends and family are gone, the United States government as I knew it ceases to exist, there’s a mysterious virus in the habitat, and I’m the in the bullseye of the President.

  Later that week, Avalon decided she needed to expand her horizons if she was ever going to find the answers she needed. That included talking to more people than her inner circle. She needed Kael. So she looked at the VR room schedule and chose the time that he normally blocked off just for himself.

  “What brings you here?” Kael asked, with that brilliant smile of his as she entered the VR room. “ I thought I booked alone time.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean to intrude. I’ve had a hard few weeks and I wanted to relax on the beach. I miss it,” Avalon answered.

  “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell me? Is there something I can do? Call someone else in to lighten your load?”

  “No, that won’t be necessary. Thank you though,” Avalon said with her best smile. While she didn’t have lipstick, she made sure to smear the strawberry smoothie across her lips to tint them a cherry red color. For her eyes, she burnt a kohl pencil and smeared a line beneath them. She also borrowed a friend’s one size too small scrub shirt.

  Kael couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. “Mind if I join you?” he asked.

  Avalon smiled and nodded her head. So far, so good. Both of them stepped behind a curtain on opposite sides of the room to remove their scrubs and don a bodysuit and a leotard respectively. Both the bodysuit and leotard were specially fitted with levitation technology. Grabbing a handful of sensors each, they placed the stickers on their wrists and ankles.

  “You ready?” he asked ogling at her mile long legs a moment too long.

  “Sure,” she answered biting the corner of her lower lip as his abdominal muscles poked through his bodysuit. His broad shoulders barely fit.

  They each placed black VR goggles around their eyes and loaded the program. Immediately, Avalon was swimming in the middle of the ocean, inhaling the salty air, and listening to the sound of waves as they crashed around her. Seagulls flew in the crystal blue sky above, looking for fish to eat, and the bright orange sun cast a shimmery glow like diamonds on everything

  She turned her head to face Kael who smiled at her with intense brown eyes, his blonde curls wet from the ocean water. The sensors picked up on his exact body profile and her pulse quickened as he stood in the water, showing off his six pack abs.

  His skin is so flawless. Wait! What am I doing? I am on assignment. A mission. I can’t be distracted.

  “Nice huh?” he asked peering at her.

  The corners of Avalon’s lips turned upwards as she noticed how the blonde in his hair played off the golden flecks in his espresso eyes.

  “It’s uncanny how realistic everything looks,” Avalon answered taking in his every feature. His angular jaw line, his pearly white teeth, and plump lips all combined on his perfectly symmetrical face. His muscles, solid like marble, betrayed his privileged status.

  After a brief silence, he asked, “So how do you like the habitat so far?”

  “It’s ok. Although some things are hard to adjust to… like the Council,” Avalon said.

  Kael nodded. “I don’t think we ever fully get used to it. It’s just not normal you know? For everything you know to disappear at once. But I am glad you are making friends so quickly.”

  “Come again?” Avalon asked.

  “Your friends.”

  “You mean Ilium?”

  “Yeah.”

  Friend. Ilium was her friend. It was next to impossible to have friends in a place with constant surveillance, but in a span of a few weeks, she felt very close to Ilium. But feeling close to someone meant you let your guard down, and she couldn’t do that completely with anyone yet. Not even Ilium.

  “Are you two….?” Kael asked.

  Avalon raised her eyebrows. “A couple? No.”

  Kael chuckled and moved a little closer to her, until their eyes were a mere six inches apart. His teeth were so white. Accipios must be using toothpaste with hydrogen peroxide, and not the plain stuff the lower levels received.

  “Are you in a relationship?” Avalon asked.

  “No, but I think anything is possible,” he said, while gingerly caressing the side of her face. Her eyes closed at his touch and warmth flooded her body.

  He is off-limits. He is an Accipio, and would never date a Fulcio. I don’t even know who he thinks is playing. But if he wants to play a game, I can play along.

  Avalon tried to focus on the seagulls squawking overhead. Tilting her head, she asked, “So who did you leave behind?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Like pets, friends, etc. Pardon me if I am too direct.”

  “No. I just haven’t met anyone as frank as you in the habitat. Most people are total brown-nosers.”

  Avalon chuckled, and Kael smiled.

  “I left behind a dog. Even the President’s son wasn’t allowed to break that rule. And technically a brother.”

  Avalon’s eyes grew wide.

  “Don’t worry. He died five years ago. He was riding a motorcycle while drunk after a frat party. Hit a tree going ninety miles per hour.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s alright. We’ve all lost people.”

  Avalon nodded. She tried to fight back tears at the thought of the ones she had lost.

  “The worst part is trying to fill his shoes,” Kael said.

  “Then don’t.”

  “Come again?”

  “Don’t try to fill his shoes. Fill your own.”

  “Avalon Adams. That is the second pearl of wisdom you have given me. How much do I owe you for your gracious service?”

  Avalon giggled.

  Avalon looked into his face. “Kael, I have a question I want to ask.”

  “Sure,” he said.

  “Do you know anything about Dexter?”

  “Yeah,” he answered. “Wha
t do you wanna know?”

  “Well. I just wanted to know what he looked like, things like that.”

  Kael crinkled his nose as he tried to remember. “He was average height, brown hair, brown eyes. Nice fella. Never saw him too much.”

  He sounded very convincing. And that description matched the young man she saw in the video.

  “May I ask why you want to know about him?” Kael asked.

  “Oh, no reason,” Avalon said.

  After a few more minutes of swimming and casual conversation, Avalon stepped out onto the beach. Her feet were like sandbags pulling her down into the sand. Lying down with her face facing the sun, she watched as Kael followed. The water beaded and glistened against his chest as he lay down beside her. Avalon removed her VR glasses and ended the rendezvous.

  “Thank you for joining,” Avalon said.

  “My pleasure,” he said. “I hope we do this again sometime?”

  “Sure,” Avalon answered. Kael reached and grabbed her hand sending electricity through her body.

  “Hey, there’s a party tonight. Don’t tell others as it’s invitation only. Would you like to come?”

  Avalon thought it over. I should really be working with Ilium on figuring out what’s going on. But then again, I might be able to find something out there.

  “Yeah, where is it?”

  “I’ll videomessage you when the time comes,” he said.

  Avalon managed to find her way to the party. It was held in a small room which her smartwatch guided her to via a text Kael sent. The room was made out of rock on all four sides, and clearly was never meant to actually be a room. It was more like a literal hole in the wall that they just found.

  A bunch of alternative rock played so loud that her heart thumped in tune and goosebumps immediately formed on the hairs on the back of her neck. She could not see one foot in front of her, and everyone had a glow in the dark nitrogen filled concoction in their hands.

  Couples made out on couches and in dark corners. Some girls and guys had dipped their hair in some glow in the dark solution. Some had glow in the dark streaks, others only had it on the very ends of their hair.