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Category:
Science Fiction
ISBN-10: 1450565077
Type: Fiction
Pages: 430
ISBN-13: 9781450565073
In the future following the Collapse, former rebel Zaq Martial just wanted to get away from his problems. But it turns out that's not so easy. He finds himself pursued not only by an oppressive government, but also by a vengeful ex-girlfriend. If he can survive that as well as superhuman enemies, a violent split personality, and even his own quirky allies, he may just become the hero the world needs. Can he stop the ruthless Benefactors, led by dangerous beauty Yamiyo? Or will humanity be led down an eternal dark path devoid of free will?
Excerpt
Zaq sat in the tiny makeshift daycare in that old building in New Babylon Zone. The grimy brown walls were peeling down to the stone floor, which—though sweeped often—was hard and cracked in numerous places, making it uncomfortable to sit on. After about an hour of it your botty became so sore you just had to get up. The grownups told him he was big enough now to sit in a chair, but those weren’t any better than the floor….just higher up. One day he would be able to go on snarkin missions just like the grownups, but they said for now he still had a lot of learning to do.
His eyes were glued to the piece of paper on the floor. Sunlight filtered in through the splintered glass window, giving him plenty of light to see. He finished up his drawing with the crude crayons the grownups had provided him with. He didn’t expect anyone to go crazy over the portrait; after all, this wasn’t for anyone but him. And maybe her.
Reima walked into the room. Her hair, dark as night, was held up in pig tails, and her little pink overalls gave her a more girly appearance than she would have later on. “Whatcha doin’, Zahk?” She hadn’t yet learned to pronounce his name right. They had known each other for about a year now.
He grabbed the paper and shoved it behind his back. “Nothing.”
Her dubious expression made it clear he was not convincing at all. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?” She pointed at him, though she was obviously pointing through him. “What’s behind your back?”
“Uh, nothing. Just….nothing.” Part of him wanted to show her, but most of him was too embarrassed. What would she think? And what if she went and told everyone. He wouldn’t be able to go on any missions if they knew about this. Only tough guys got to go on missions.
“Oh, OK.” She turned to leave, and then suddenly lunged to his left side. She groped behind him, struggling with his resistant hands. Despite his frantic pleas to stop, she would do no such thing. After several frantic moments she wrestled the paper away from him. Realizing he had lost this battle, he resigned himself to his fate. “It’s me,” she said.
Yes, despite the crudeness of the drawing, she knew enough of what she looked like to recognize a picture of herself. “Well….what do you think?” he asked. Was her opinion of him now totally destroyed? Would his first crush be for nothing?
“It’s pretty snarkin,” she said.
That wasn’t what he was expected to hear, but that was what he secretly wished to hear. He wanted to smile as much as he could, but restrained himself in the event this was some cruel joke on her part. “You really think so?”
“Yeah, sure! It’s not as cute as me, but it’s pretty good.”
She gave it back to him and he looked at it. The dark pigtailed hair and the pink overalls were there, along with a smile plastered on the crudely-drawn face. However, an icy chill ran down his small back as he realized the portrait was changing. The person in it was getting taller. No, not simply taller, he realized. Older. The pig tails disappeared as the hair grew down to the now widened (though still slender) shoulders.
He sat there transfixed, unable to tear his eyes away from the shocking metamorphosis his drawing of Reima was undergoing. Within moments the pink of her clothes phased into pure black. But what was most unnerving was the change in the drawing’s expression. The innocent smile had been replaced by a mouth opened to reveal anger. The picture was mad at him, and he knew why. Even though his hurtful act would not happen for years, somehow he and the picture were both aware of it.
“Reima!” He finally managed to look up from the piece of paper. Reima was gone, though. The innocent one who had taken the drawing was no longer in the room. The room itself was rapidly growing dark, as if the sun was in a hurry and couldn’t wait to get to bed. Also, the walls and ceiling were cracking and falling apart around him. Time was moving forward too fast and he wasn’t ready for it. Before he knew it darkness enveloped him with its voracity.
His eyes burst open like a drowning victim racing for the surface. At first he didn’t know where he was. As the moments passed he realized he lay downstairs in the old couple’s house. So I can’t escape, even in my dreams, he thought with a certain heaviness weighing on him. The Lithics slept upstairs and darkness filled the house as it had in his dream. Zaq felt sufficiently rested—and at any rate he had no desire to go back to sleep—so he decided to leave right then and there. Grabbing his bags, he crept out the front door and walked ahead about a hundred yards before stopping to get his bearings. He had come out of the woods several miles to the east and had made his way along the plains to the Lithics’ house. He had a map in his round bag, but he would have to break open one of his light sticks to read it, and he was afraid its glow might wake the old couple. He knew the old man would insist he stay the whole night with them, and he’d decided he had slept enough for the time being. Besides, he knew the risk he posed to them, and couldn’t endanger them any more than he’d already done.
There was an area of woods about a third of a mile west of his current position which he had come through on the way to the Lithics’ house, and which would be a good place to lay low while he fully recovered his strength. He regretted having been in such a rush that he ate little food, all in an attempt to get away from his home in New Babylon Zone. Fortunately, his trek would be made easier by the light of the moon. It was full that night.
Nevertheless, he didn’t get more than thirty feet from the house when he noticed a rustling up ahead in the small grove to his left. Intruders. He decided to lead them away from the house and spare the old couple any more problems. That was assuming, of course, that they were after him and not the Lithics. The chances of either scenario were equally good.
He walked a few yards and saw three figures emerge from the woods, skulking towards him. He couldn’t tell for sure, but judging by their black uniforms he was pretty sure they were Benefactor agents. As they got close he could see none of them had red pips on their shoulders. Not officers, then. That wasn’t surprising; why sneak around in the dead of night when you could send subs to do it for you? He also noticed they were wearing black face masks which only allowed their eyes to show. They brandished sleek knives as well. Definitely the Assassin Corps.
“What do you want?” he said. As an answer, they rushed him. That was stupid question to ask the Assassin Corps, he realized.
Using standard Corps tactics, the one in the middle took the lead while the other two moved to flank Zaq on either side. The leader jabbed at him with his knife while Lefty and Righty stuck close to Zaq’s flanks waiting for Zaq to make a move. Zaq grabbed Leader’s arm and Lefty and Righty moved in with their knives to attack their preoccupied prey. Zaq kicked Lefty in the stomach, stunning him, and twisted Leader’s arm so the elbow faced the ground. Zaq then quickly applied pressure to Leader’s arm in order to bend it the way it wasn’t meant to bend. Leader grunted in pain and dropped his knife. Zaq caught it in mid-air and plunged it into his gut. Leader fell to the ground and Zaq turned to face Lefty and Righty.
By this point Lefty and recovered from the kick, and Righty (who hadn’t made any attempt to attack, probably because he wasn’t keen on taking the same punishment as Lefty and Leader) just stood there. Lefty made some hand motion and they both charged Zaq. Lefty leaned in with his knife just as Leader had done, but it was just a feint. He quickly dropped his stabbing arm and raised his left hand to grab Zaq’s throat and hold him while Righty moved in for the kill.
Undaunted, Zaq ran his knife through Lefty’s left wrist. He howled in pain and Zaq rolled out of the way right as Righty gave Lefty the knife he had meant for Zaq. Lefty went down and Zaq capitalized on Righty’s surprise by stabbing him in the kidney. With all three of the assassins out of the way, he could breathe and think about what he should do next.
At that moment, however, his attention was sharply diverted by a thunderous sound accompanied by a rush of fire bursting from the windows of the upstairs of the house. The old couples’ room! he thought to himself as he realized where the explosion had come from. He rushed to the front door, hoping the Lithics weren’t caught in the explosion. Maybe he’d still be able to save them. He stopped suddenly as the door flew off its hinges toward him by a crash from the other side. It came to a stop right at his feet. Then he saw an ominous figure emerge from the doorway.
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