Chapter 1
It was too late to turn back now. The crate full of peaches and canned baked beans seemed as heavy as stardust, weighing down the tiny sailboat to a less preferable speed.
The ongoing current was starting to threaten the entire operation. first the hunger, then the water, then the plastic. Whether her being alive was lucky or unlucky did not matter. Now that there was a cause to fight for, and a reason to survive whether she liked it or not.
“France, here I come,” Lauren muttered. Keeping her voice down was the best way to survive these days.
Ever since the pollution became too much for Terra, only a select few had survived. Lauren heard a buzz in the distance. Ugh, why now? It must be The Sun Eaters, she thought to herself. The only thing Lauren feared most was those scavengers, those monsters, hunting every last survivor down and making them convert or become their next meal. Any sudden move, and she was dead meat, and so was the world.
Lauren scrambled toward the control bunker, but still trying to stay quiet and cautious, constantly scanning the horizon for the hovercraft. The trash bag was finally found in the middle of the deck, hiding in plain sight again.
The hum of the engine grew louder. And louder. Suddenly, a light could be seen above the clouds, slowly descending upon the sea. Lauren looked at her GPS. Only 20 miles from Maryland, with thousands more to go.
Lauren broke out of daydreaming and ran into her food crate with the bag in her hands. If it came to it, she would sacrifice herself for that bag.
Just as she got in, she could hear the roar of the fog lights waking up. Lauren scanned the dashboard for the control. Finally, she saw it: the smallest button on the entire console, and pressed it.
Nothing happened.
She pressed it again.
Nothing happened.
She tried once more, accepting her fate, but this time the invisibility shield turned on with a loud BLEEP, and before she knew it, the boat was nowhere to be seen from the outside.
Just as the boat was fully covered, Lauren could see the blinding light through the cracks of the crate. She could not see anything outside, only the brightness of the fog lights in the night.
Lauren could feel her heart skip a beat, and it reminded her of something she had ignored while jumping into the crate.
She looked down at her womb, seeing the last trace of her home in her. A boy, kicking her from the inside. The tiny bumps of her soon-to-be son made her heart sing now.
But not for long.. The memories of Dr. Paul came flying back, as if the Sun Eaters were saying, Hey, we’re still here! His kindness, his genius mind, and how he had believed in her. Those moments were at peace, now over 2 years ago.
Dr. Paul was probably devoured by the cult that hung him a long time ago, yet Lauren kept his memory close.
Lauren reached into the depths of the camouflage garbage bag, carefully feeling her way around the area. It wasn’t long before she felt the titanium shell. Maybe hope wasn’t gone. Maybe it was. She didn’t know.
Time passed, though only a few minutes; it felt like hours. Lauren finally could view the outside ocean, and the hum of the hovercraft was gone. What if they are still here? What if they are trying to lure her out? The thoughts raced through her head.
To be safe, Lauren kept quiet until her digital watch struck midnight. It would be hard to see her boat then anyway, and the hovercraft should be long gone.
She hesitantly turned off the invisibility shield, blowing her cover, and cautiously got out of the boat, scanning her surroundings.
No hovercraft.
No Sun Eaters.
No danger.
A tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered his brutal death. But it was not in vain. When he ran into the town that night, distracting The New Eden (a so-called government of lies, possibly worse than The Sun Eaters) with enough time to hide The Project. The Project was Lauren Kira’s work in her lab, and she took it home when chaos unfolded nearby.
Now, ashes, The Project was the only remnant of the lab on the boat, and Lauren would give her life for its success in an instant.
But at this point, any chance of survival and restoration was key, and any chance of getting the old world back would attract deadly predators. These beasts knew nothing but themselves and believed anyone trying to ‘save the world’ was deemed a threat.
Lauren knew one thing for sure, though, and it was that she had a chance to fix this shit show, and, after all, The Project was not an invention; it was the future’s promise. The Promise of humanity’s survival. One that could reverse the damages of this planet and its people, and if Lauren knew one thing, it was optimism.
But what if it does not work? Will I still be accepted as a new French citizen? Doubt rushed through Lauren’s mind within seconds. But, any chance is better than none, and, working or not, The Project was worth more than her, more than the world her son may lead one day. But with 4 months till due, she had a tight timeline.
Lauren had to focus on the game, a game more threatening than any corrupt ‘leadership’. A game that, on one hand, would be guaranteed to have everything on the line for Lauren.
They could use her baby as a means to bargain, they could deny her project was real, they-. She stopped, heart hammering. Heck, maybe there is no 'they'. Maybe there was not. Maybe France was gone. This was a risk, and a hell of a gamble.
But if one were to win said gamble, it may be the only way out of the mess that this world had become.
