The economy teeters on the edge of ruin as strange events invade the last metropolis capable of maintaining the balance.
An early rainy morning brings the inexplicable destruction of two metro trains, leaving nothing but questions behind for reporter Beau Bradley. Was it a terrorist attack or just an unfortunate accident? The answer could tip that balance and usher in an era of depression that the country may never recover from.
Bill Wyburn, former chief of Orchid, is drafted back into service to help find a solution to this unfolding puzzle. With his expertise, the covert military organization recruits Nick Miller, a battle-hardened captain, to lead a fresh squad of soldiers into the growing phenomenon, and search for the source.
Meanwhile, a lone survivor knows the truth.
Targeted Age Group:: 18+
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Ashrealm Book I: A Blue Horizon. It is a concept that has been rolling around in my head for years now, accumulating bits and pieces of other ideas as it came to fruition. My inspiration came from the long walks in silence on my way to work, I needed to entertain myself.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
They are all an extension of myself, I have not based them on real people I have met. They are basically facets of my own personality, coupled with a lifetime of observing human behavior.
Book Sample
Prologue
The morning was cold, dark, and wet as Jerich trudged his way to the train station. Despite the clear skies that had been forecasted from his unrelenting clock radio, life had taught him to expect the worst. Expect it from people, expect it from life, expect it from everything really. With an umbrella and the shame of years in a dead-end job as his only companions, he marched on as his thoughts drifted towards escaping. Daydreaming about pulling himself out of his self-imposed confinement, he imagined scenarios filled with vindication; quitting and leaving his employers with such a concise and calculated piece of his mind that his exit would long be recounted.
He was fooling himself of course. The spiraling economy had made jobs few and far between with full-time jobs rarer still. His freedom would likely come in the form of termination, and there would be no whispers of his leaving. He would simply be another ripple in the great stream of consumerism that rushed inextricably onward towards insolvency. Jerich instead concentrated on happier deceptions such as Lottery winnings and other get rich quick schemes that helped stem the tide of depression. Headlights beamed beneath the drizzle as the rush of steel roared past him towards, presumably, better paying jobs and lazy latte conversations with people not ready to eat the barrel of a shotgun to escape their lives. He was a lone, wandering soul stuck beneath the drenching canopy he held listlessly, unable to afford more than the fraying canvas and crooked pole keeping him from complete saturation.
The lights of the train station in the distance cut through the fog of moisture in the air as Jerich skillfully dodged and jumped the various pits of mud and despair. He could hear the approach of the train and knew, once again, that he would miss the immediate departure that had forever eluded him. Eternally ten seconds too late and ten feet too short, he had long realized that running only made you tired as you watched your ride leave without you. At least he would have an empty place to sit as he waited for the next arrival.
The water cascaded down the glass of the station, blurring out the view of houses with big back yards, patio furniture and expensive barbecues waiting to entertain those who could afford them. Dim and musty, the platform was empty save for a few Mockingbirds hiding from the downpour. The track light was green in the distance announcing that no train would be arriving soon. His mind drifted to old habits. Long ago Jerich had ceased to bring music with him on his travels, despite the small comfort it granted. His life was full of distraction and he needed to concentrate on getting himself out of this pit of low-wage existence. Success would not present itself to him if he didn’t bother to listen.
Thunder rolled in the distance as the rain increased its assault on the city. Three years ago, a flood had washed his boss’s car away along with enough debris to cost the city millions in damages, and in the lowlands, entire villages and small towns had almost been completely destroyed by the calamity. The area was still reeling from the devastation, and any rain that lasted longer than a few hours tended to make people nervous.
Jerich on the other hand silently willed it on, hoping it to mean a few days off. It was selfish, but he wished for it all the same. Not that time off did him much good, he spent his hours doing literally that, spending. Spending time on nothing, money on the unnecessary, and thought on the inescapable return to drudgery. His girlfriend of five years had left him and Jerich could hardly blame her. His life was a rotation of survival, small hopes, and resignation.
The light down the track switched to red indicating an approaching train. Jerich stood and shook his umbrella of the excess water. Getting too comfy would only make exercise of any kind more difficult than it had to be, and he had an entire day of it to look forward to. Looking down the track, he searched for the approaching light. The caw of a crow overhead caught his attention and he turned instinctively towards the noise. The bird sounded as though it was inside the station, just overhead. He searched for it. Unable to locate anything moving he stretched to listen.
The rain had stopped.
‘That was sudden.’ Jerich thought, it seemed unnatural. Looking around the station, he realized that everything was silent. Not a horn or even the sound of wind through the station could be heard.
A definite build up of tension could be felt in the air though. A silent pounding that seemed to press against his eardrums like barometric pressure. Jerich opened his mouth to relieve the tension then swallowed hard. The faint popping in his ears restored the sounds of the world around him, and he silently thanked the powers that be for not striking him deaf. He noticed the approaching train was almost upon him, and following its usual screech and wine, the train stopped with a hiss and the doors opened in front of him.
Strangely, no one exited the train. The doors were not automatic, and he had not pressed the button to open them. Stranger still was that no one seemed to be aboard. At this time of the morning the cars were usually brimming with jostling passengers barely clutching to consciousness. Jerich stepped in and found a seat next to the window. The doors closed, then opened and finally closed again. With a lurch, the train began to travel back the way it came instead of continuing onwards.
“What the hell?” Jerich said out loud as he stood up, “We’re going the wrong way, assholes!”
Stepping over to the emergency stop lever, Jerich wondered if he should pull it. If he did and something wasn’t catastrophically wrong he would likely be fined, something he couldn’t afford. Instead, he looked out the window through the streaming water that passed by. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except that they were traveling in the wrong direction. Perhaps he had missed an announcement, perhaps there was a problem up the track, and the train was being re-routed.
The lights flickered above him with a faint buzz and the train seemed to sputter and slow down beneath his feet. Through the window he noticed the headlights of another train approaching on the opposite rail. Wondering if these problems were restricted to his train alone, Jerich pressed closer. Outside he could see the remains of an engine slowly pass by. The front of the engine was pristine but as it passed by the car seemed to melt into the ground. A puddle of black mass seeping into the steel and stone beneath, the cause completely invisible.
Suddenly, the car lurched forward and sputtered again, coming to life and accelerating quickly. Jerich grabbed the pole overhead as he began to tumble with momentum. The speed of the train seemed to continue well past what he considered normal or even acceptable. In a panic, Jerich searched for anything he could brace himself with in case they derailed. At the front, he had missed a small girl huddled in the corner. No more than a ball of clothing and limbs hugging itself, Jerich could see the quick motions of panicked breaths, though she made not a sound.
“Hey!” Jerich yelled out to the small figure. “Hey, are you alright?”
The ball made no attempt to answer, but instead managed to curl up even smaller.
“Look,” Jerich continued, “we have to get off this train. It’s unsafe!” Again no reply was forthcoming. “I’m going to pull the emergency stop switch, you’d better hang on to something!”
Jerich hoped she would have the common sense to brace herself as he leaned out to pull the switch.
Nothing happened.
Jerich pulled it again fruitlessly.
“Shit!” he yelled, and hammered on it with the side of his fist. Frantically he looked around for something to smash open a window, but nothing was readily available. Moving to the front of the speeding car he wondered if he could kick open one of the side doors. He remembered reading something like that for emergency purposes, somewhere, but he wasn’t sure if it was on a train.
Tentatively he gave a small kick at the center of the door, not much happened. Again he kicked, this time with more force, but the door wouldn’t budge. Consuming fear grabbed ahold of him, and Jerich backed up as far as he could to get a running start. As he took flight, the train stuttered. Slamming into a post instead, his head bounced off of the metal. Staggered, he fell to the floor in a white flash of pain.
His head throbbing, Jerich tried to sit up, but the train was weaving back and forth in spurts. Reaching for his forehead, he felt blood, and the taste of copper was flooding his mouth. Spitting, he clawed for a handhold of something to help him get to his feet. The exertion almost rendered him unconscious, as another pang passed through his skull. The train had begun its climb to full speed again, and Jerich could barely stay vertical as it gained momentum.
The pounding in his head was getting worse, and he could feel another build up. The same kind that had assailed him in the station. It pressed into in his ears like deep water, all sound around him disappeared as the compression worsened. Just when he thought his head would explode, Jerich saw a flash of intense blue light appear at the back of the train car.
Despite the pressure, he could hear a hissing sound. Turning to look at the source, he was nearly blinded by the brilliant illumination facing him. Shielding his eyes, Jerich tried to see through to the cause. It looked as if the rear of the train was on fire, but bright and blue. Turning away he found renewed strength in the stark fear that overtook him. Focusing once again on the door and his escape from whatever was fast approaching, Jerich hurled himself at the exit.
One side of the gate gave way and bent outwards as his shoulder grew instantly numb from the impact. The adrenaline coursing through him had dulled the pain he would be feeling later, if he managed to escape. Grabbing one door with both hands, he pulled inwards while using his foot to push out on the other, trying to further separate the two halves. There was no give from either. Instead, Jerich grabbed the bar above his head and began to kick full force at the hole he had managed to create. The security glass cracked, and the door began to pry open in excruciatingly small increments.
After several solid hits, one side of the bar he clung to gave way, and Jerich fell back to the floor of the car. His chest cramped as the wind was partially knocked out of him, but his fear allowed him to recover quickly. Sitting up, he dared to steal another look at the rear of the train. The light was almost bearable to peer into now, and he could see that it wasn’t a fire consuming the rear of the car. It appeared more like some kind of smoke, billowing out from something that was smoldering. Through the smoke, he could see bright blue flecks, like coals burning away, there were traces of white ash floating in the air all around it.
The smoke began to clear a little, and Jerich got a better look at what was creating the chaos.
A ball took up the width of the aisle, seething away at the rear. It blistered with blue light as smoke escaped from cracks on its surface. Jerich was awestruck, searching for understanding when the surface of the ball began to move. Sliding away, his back hit the doorway as he tried to distance himself from what he was witnessing.
At first, it looked as if the ball was crumbling and falling to dust. Then it began to expand, uncoiling itself. Slowly, it moved, rising. Jerich could clearly see legs beneath it, and he watched as arms extended outward towards the walls of the train. Finally, it raised its head and Jerich felt his heart stop as he stared into what was clearly a face. A halo of light and smoke surrounded the head while the eyes and mouth were only dark holes within.
The creature opened its mouth in a silent scream as it was consumed once again in a blinding light. Jerich turned his head from the flash. He could feel it move, the pressure increasing as it advanced. Glancing back, he could see tendrils of smoke emanating from the sides of the creature. They stretched out to the walls of the train and began to eat through everything in their path, burning and melting the very steel. An intense phosphorus smell filled the air, but instead of an intense heat, Jerich felt bone cold. A hopelessness came over him, and he thought he should just lay here, give up, and be done with it.
A harsh cough from behind brought him back from his stupor. Glancing to the front of the train, Jerich suddenly remembered the girl cowering there. The thought of another life depending on him reignited his fight or flight mechanic, and he found the power to stand up. Reaching above, Jerich grabbed the half-broken bar that had failed him and pulled. Wrenching from side to side, it quickly came loose in his hands. Turning back to the doors, he jammed the bar In the opening and began to pry them apart.
He was making good headway, a human-sized hole was almost accessible, enough for the girl to get through. Jerich called out to her, “Hey! You can get out through here, come on.”
The girl sat motionless.
“Move it, we’ve got to go!” he yelled out once again.
She only huddled down farther.
Jerich turned back towards the approaching menace. It was slow but constant. There was precious little time left. He returned to expanding their way of escape. If it came down to it, he would grab her and push her through.
The rear of the train car suddenly dropped. Jerich lost his balance and bounced off the seats, the bar slipped from his hands. It tumbled down the inclined floor towards the blue glow that seemed unaffected by the sudden shift. The back of the car was completely missing, he could now see outside and into the gloom. Sparks sprayed from the metal as it dragged behind, but the train continued to move forward. Jerich quickly looked back to where the girl had been, but she was nowhere to be found. Afraid she had somehow slipped into the approaching doom, he pulled himself towards the front grabbing pole and seat where he could.
Hiding beneath a bench, the girl was clinging on to the posts for dear life. Jerich reached out and tried to pull her towards him but she held fast. “Let go!” he screamed. “I’ve got you!”
The girl yanked away and buried herself farther under the bench. Jerich looked towards the rear of the train, the creature was almost upon them. Once again he grabbed for her but she refused to let go. It would be him alone or nobody would be leaving. Going against all the preconceived notions he’d had about himself, his instinct for self-preservation won out, and he ran for the door. Starting head-first, he squeezed through and started pulling himself clear using anything he could grab. Looking at the ground passing quickly beneath him, he hesitated and worried about the landing. Inside the train, his leg suddenly became ice cold. Shocking him into action, he pulled himself the rest of the way through and braced for impact.
The stony ground came up hard and fast and Jerich heard his shoulder break. Tumbling with the momentum, he felt wet rocks scratch at his exposed areas, and dig into his skin. His body windmilled a few times and finally he came to rest on his back. The rain poured down on his face, washing blood into his eyes. Turning his head away from the onslaught of rain, he watched the sparks fly from the undercarriage of the train as it continued down the tracks. What remained of the car finally slid off the rails and tumbled, buckling as it rolled over. The consequences of what he had done came down on him with brunt understanding.
He had left her. She was dead now. Because of him.
Rolling his head back into the falling rain, he let it wash away his tears.
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