The days of thunder and towering fire passed, but not without the slow chugging on of time in the face of such bedlam. Once it was finally played out, the nation went from a writhing snake rife with parasites and disease into a patchwork of cities that were bleeding out. Still, a sense of centralized […]
Tag: dystopia
The Love Market: Chapter Seventeen
It took several minutes for Piper to disentangle herself as well as Sequoia from the wreckage of the truck. There was a fleeting moment where she had attempted to drag the others from the vehicle, but the notion seemed superfluous. Rose wasn’t moving anymore, and Mika’s head hung at an odd angle. Monroe had let […]
The Love Market: Chapter Sixteen
Where Piper felt most of her life that she was being discriminated against in the worst of ways, she found it played out in the military, with her ending up with little more than busy tasks that simply required a body. For that matter, she was put in charge of minding the three ex-Marketers stationed […]
The Love Market: (Part 3) Chapter Fifteen
“I guess I always wanted a child, but no one does that anymore. I thought, I guess when I was younger, I thought it was because no one wanted to grow up like me, clutching my stuffed pup so tight no one could tell I was trying to stop breathing, but I don’t think it’s […]
The Love Market: Chapter 14
Fourteen percent. After it was all calculated, for one reason or another, the Gray Party had only garnered fourteen percent of the vote. Ellit walked away with forty-four, and Juliet just shy of the mark with forty-three. The nine-millimeter bullet that had ripped its way through flesh and lodged itself in the bone stung less […]
The Love Market: Chapter 13
The final debate was the circus act that Lars and Beth had feared it would be, and with Bridgette in the hospital and the open slot for vice-president beneath Lawrence such a hot topic, it was made all the worse. To his chagrin, Lawrence found that neither the Red nor Blue parties wanted to attack […]
The Love Market: Chapter 12
Before his next public appearance, the news broke and nearly shattered Bethany’s composure as she read through the article. Lars listened only in part as he prepared his speech, figuring the only thing that might shock him would be the depths of the deception. He could already hear the headlines of hypocrisy and turning a […]
The Love Market: Chapter 11
The message was clear, the threat an accusation that would not require the slightest detail to be taken by the news, and Lars’ stomach was in knots. It wasn’t the first time he had read over the email, and it wouldn’t be his last. He had kept it from Beth, not sure how she would […]
The Love Market: (Part Two) Chapter 10
“It is my solemn promise to you, as your president, I will do all with the power of my office to further liberate the Markets. No longer will any person be off-limits or available only under extreme restrictions. My opposition would have you believe that their call for more public use terminals is the best […]
The Love Market: Chapter Nine
The map, showing what was left of connecting lines running through the states, was recent, printed just that year by some other factory likely closed indefinitely now, but was nonetheless out of date. From snippets of news Piper had gotten from those passing through looking for work, at least another quarter of the major cities […]