Wasteland: Age of Sanctions (A Invasion Survivor Series) Read online

  WASTELAND

  AGE OF SANCTIONS BOOK 1

  AN INVASION SURVIVOR SERIES

  HAYLEY LAWSON

  Wasteland (this book) is a work of fiction.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright © 2019 by Hayley Lawson. All rights reserved.

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  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Fourty

  Chapter Fourty-One

  Chapter Fourty-Two

  Chapter Fourty-Three

  Chapter Fourty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  AUTHOR NOTES

  To Callie and Gavin, thank you for always supporting me x

  Chapter One

  “Ladies, time to wake up. It’s Selection Day; we need to be at the gate in one hour,” Madam Enid announces, interrupting my sweet dream of running around outside in the crisp, green fields. I could almost feel the sun's rays beaming down on my face as if they were real.

  The beds beside me creak annoyingly as the other girls begin to rouse.

  My best friend Madison’s messy brown hair peeks up from the bed sheets. “But it's still so early!” she protests sleepily from the bunk next to me.

  “Correct, as always. But today is an important day, and you surely can wake up earlier. Please wear your most suitable dresses; we cannot disgrace our... your... Sanction.”

  Soft laughter rumbles from the girls. We each own only one dress, which the Chancellor provided to us for our last year of school. The dresses are heavy, coarse, and dark grey—just like our future.

  Madam Enid smiles softly without creating a wrinkle on her smooth skin. Although she is an Outsider, banished from Purenet, she is more like a member of the Cueva.

  Her smile instantly disappears at the heavy thud of boots on the cave floor, signaling Madam Uri’s arrival. Madam Enid scans the dorm. She peers at Ava’s empty bed. “Ava, of all days...”

  The heavy metal door to our dorm slides open, revealing Madam Uri and a disheveled Ava. Madam Uri’s eyes bulge out at Madam Enid. “Is she yours?” she asks as she lifts Ava by the arm. Ava winces as her skin turns red from the pressure of Madam Uri's grip. “Yes… yes, she’s mine,” Madam Enid says, scurrying over to Ava.

  “Control your girls,” Uri says, releasing Ava, who runs into Madam Enid’s arms and buries her head in her embrace, to Madam Uri’s obvious disgust.

  “Yes, Madam Uri,” Madam Enid says.

  “Why aren’t they getting ready? The shuttle leaves in one hour and it will wait for no one,” Madam Uri says, then turns away and leaves before Madam Enid can answer.

  “Ava, where did you go?” Madam Enid asks.

  “Outside,” Ava answers; I’m not surprised by her answer. She’s always sneaking outside, but doesn’t normally get caught. I’m the idiot that showed her the secret way out, which I normally use to stay alone when I’m tired of everyone.

  “Outside?” Madam Enid shrieks. “Madam Uri will kill you if they catch you there again. Or maybe you want to catch the virus?”

  “It’s just… I can’t live in darkness anymore… I have to be outside… I’m going crazy here,” Ava replies. A few of the other girls nod at her comment.

  Madam Enid smiles, “today you get the chance to live in Purenet, where you can see the beautiful view with the protection of the domes. You are lucky Madam Uri didn’t forbid you from getting on the shuttle! You know she can,” she says sternly.

  Ava looks up at Madam Enid, her eyes glazing over. “Please don’t let her.”

  “Try to not to break any rules, and don’t cross Madam Uri again,” Madam Enid smiles warmly, as she wipes Ava’s tears away.

  “Ladies, that goes for all of you. Best behavior now. Please tidy your hair, clean your bodies and your teeth.”

  With that, she leaves us.

  When we moved into the dorm for the older girls, our teacher began allowing us a little freedom—unlike the younger girls' dorms where my sister, Calista, lives. We crave the freedom. Most days we juggle who is sneaking out and who is covering.

  One hour. That will give me enough time to check on my mother before we go. I cannot wait till I'm seventeen, just a few more days. Then I will be classed as an adult and I can leave the dorm and be home with my mother. I will be sad to leave my friends; they are my family too, but my mother needs me.

  I jump down to the ground and my bare feet land on the cool, dusty red floor. Most days I hate where we live, hidden away from the fresh air, as we’re afraid to catch the airborne virus that may turn us into Mutes. Just the thought of being a Mute sends a shudder through my body.

  Cueva people used to spend most of their lives in these caves, protecting themselves from the virus. Then one day everything changed; my mother's generation and the generations just before hers began spending longer time in the fresh air. The old Chancellor ordered them to go outside because babies were being born with legs that bowed out. He didn't want the children of Purenet to be deformed. The Chancellor's stupid rules about staying indoors poisoned my mother's veins and cancer courses
through them now. People in Cueva believe that the airborne virus can affect you in two different ways, turn you into a Mute or give you cancer.

  I've been thinking about going up for the Host selection and moving into the Purenet compound, if only to help my mother. I know it would be pointless; we wouldn't get the bitcoin until a year after I had the second baby. It disgusts me that Purenet has the medicine to cure my mother, but they use it to blackmail all the people in Cueva instead.

  Most of my friends are going up for Selection to get money for their parents' medicine, or simply to leave for a better life. There is no work down here anymore. It's an evil circle the Chancellor has trapped us in. But there are also beautiful things about the Purenet—the clean air, the light, and the freedom.

  Dropping my nightgown to the dusty ground, I put on my uncomfortable, heavy dress. It's completely the wrong material for the heat down here, with its ugly buttons up the front and two pockets on the hips. Everyone in Cueva wears the same heavy grey clothes though—simple, like the life we try to lead.

  The dress is a lovely gift from the Chancellor. It's worn so people know we are from the Cueva, so they can look down on us.

  Once a year we go to Purenet city. I dislike the way people from Purenet stare at us, in their pristine white garments, showing us how well-off they are and that they don't need to get their hands or clothing dirty. Unlike us.

  People in Purenet all work in the labs and offices. At school they say we should be grateful for the Purenet, because without them we wouldn't have the technology we need in order to survive. Some of my friends believe it—well, most of them, actually—but not me or Madison. We hate the way they control us.

  Cueva community is shrinking in size. When people get the chance to leave, they do so. I understand that. Who wouldn't want to move to a place where you can see daylight under the safety of the dome?

  “Where are you going?” Madison asks from under her covers. She's not going to peel herself out of bed, not until the last minute.

  “To check on my mother.”

  Madison's parents died a few years ago from cancer. There was nothing the healer could do. One of the best things about living in Cueva is the sense of community. We all watch over one another, so Madison will never be alone.

  Mother said hundreds—maybe thousands—of years ago, people used to all live like the Purenet families do, with one family in each home. This was before the wars that scarred our planet. We don't live that way anymore. Parents are on one side of the caves in their own quarters, and the kids are in the dorms.

  This has been the way of the Cueva from the time it began, from when the elders were out fighting and hunting. It was better if all the kids were in one place; that made it easier to keep us safe.

  As the years went on, there was less fighting as the Cueva populations started to shrink. Purenet population grew, as they had the technology, our babies, and the Empire to help them win the wars....

  Chapter Two

  I raise my hand to the scanner, just as I do every time I move around the Cueva. I have been monitored since the day I was born.

  A thin red beam shines from the control monitor. I hold my arm still, as this helps the scanner get a clear read of the black barcode of numbers on the back of my hand.

  We all have them. Each barcode is unique, storing all the facts about us, from our ages and what Sanctions we are in, to how many bitcoin we have in our accounts which, for me, is currently nothing.

  I know they have more information on us.

  I hate it.

  It's like someone else is in my body, watching everything I do.

  Over the years, the Chancellor started to add technologies from Purenet as directed by the Empire. I don't understand why they could not share other stuff with us, like a cure to my mother's cancer.

  The Grounders are the only ones not living within the rules of the Empire. They don't have a barcode. Sometimes I wish I could be one of them. They live on the land, as their ancestors were able to withstand the Mute virus.

  Over time, their bodies became stronger at fighting against the virus, but also mutated as a result. Or at least, that's what we've been taught. I've never actually seen a Grounder.

  6719 appears on the control panel. That's me. I'm only a number to them. The heavy, cold metal door opens, allowing me to exit the dorm. The door is a stark contrast to the rest of our home—the Cueva is carved out of a red rock, which is textured to the touch, with sand fragments that fall into your hand when you stroke it.

  “Send her my love,” Madison adds sweetly, as I begin to walk out of the room. A beam scans over me as I leave, as it does every morning and evening. There is a creak as the door slides back into place.

  It's pleasant being up at this time. It's peaceful; the only noises are the humming that the cave makes and the lonely drip of moisture landing on the hard floor from the rocks above. Everyone else is sleeping except for the two grades of students that are going to Purenet. Rian's class is one of them.

  Rian, my younger brother by nearly a year, is going for the Sanction Games selection today. He’s our only hope to receive payment to buy the medicine that we need for my mother. We're sure he'll get in, as he's one of the fastest and strongest in Cueva. The only thing that worries me is the fact that no one else in our family has ever made it past the selection phase.

  Rian’s wanted to be in the Sanction games since he was a child. Father said Cueva men were born into a fight and never got out. Because of our natural strength and Sanction bonds, we are heavily monitored by the Chancellor's army. We are a threat to them.

  I wish the Sanction Games were an option for me instead of being a Host or a Bazi, but those are the only options available for a female to leave Cueva and make bitcoins in Purenet. A Host lives at a compound inside Purenet until we birth three babies, who are then handed over to wealthy Purenet families. In return we get to stay in the compound for free. Well, not totally free... we give up one baby for that, too. The next babies we receive payment for, along with the allowance to live in Purenet forever, as long as we don't break the rules and always obey the Chancellor.

  The second option is to be a Bazi. Both males and females can sell their bodies to the highest bidder. But these options sicken me. Why should I sell my body to gain a better life?

  Looking over toward Rian’s dorm, I see the huge drop that stands between his dorm and mine. It is hollow, like my stomach is at the thought of making a decision that will affect the rest of my life. Why can’t things be easy? It would be nice to be able to build a bridge across the killer drop, or give my mother the medicine she needs without having to sell myself.

  My body feels weak, as if giant weights are pulling me down to the ground with the decision that I have to make.

  I peer over the edge of the drop. Beneath me is the commercial area where we get our food. My stomach lets out a groan; I will have to wait until I get to the shuttle for breakfast. That is the one thing I look forward to on this trip. They have fruits and other delicious treats from the different Sanctions.

  Our meals in the Cueva are extremely plain and are the same on most days; grains, vegetables and bio meat from Purenet. The meat is pumped with vitamins, and I think other stuff, to make sure that we will be the best Hosts for their children.

  There is a faint sound of Madam Enid softly humming, almost in tune with the natural vibrations the Cueva is making. Her figure appears as I get to the end of the walkway, and a smile beams on her face. Her smile drops as she gets closer to me. “Hey, Skylier. Where are you going?” she asks.

  “To see my mother,” I reply.

  She scrunches her button nose up. “I thought so. How is she doing?” she asks, as she does every day.

  “No different from yesterday.”

  Madam Enid places her delicate hand on my shoulder. “They will find a way to cure her.”

  “There is a way, that's the thing that hurts the most,” I say, pulling in tears that are trying to escap
e.

  Madam Enid pulls me gently into a warm embrace and strokes my hair. “I know today is a tough day for you. Your decision is life-changing.”

  Like I need reminding.

  I pull away from her and stare into her caring, blue-as-the-sky eyes. “What would you do?” I ask.

  Shaking her head, Madam Enid says, “Only you can make that selection. You will make the right decision.” Her hand rests on my cheek. “Go to your mother now, but please don't miss the shuttle.”

  “Madam Enid. Whom are you speaking with?”

  Madam Uri’s deep voice bounces off the cave walls, sending a chill through my body. She’s the self-appointed leader of the Outsiders.

  “Go. Go,” Madam Enid whispers as she pushes me forward into the shadows.

  “No one, Madam Uri,” Madam Enid shutters.

  Madam Uri’s heavy footsteps pound down on the ground as she strides toward Madam Enid. Her greased, black, unkempt ponytail wipes side to side with the motion. I scuff backwards into the dark, damp cave wall and silently I pray that she cannot see or hear me.

  Madam Enid's breath races as Madam Uri’s man-like figure stands in front of her. “Talking to yourself again?” she laughs.

  “No. Just humming. Aren't you happy to be going back to Purenet?” Madam Enid asks playfully, but the cracks in her tone can't cover her nervousness in the presence of Madam Enid.

  Madam Uri leans toward Madam Enid. “You better watch your tongue.”

  “Ouch,” Madam Enid yelps.

  I gasp, placing my hand over my mouth.

  “You're hurting me,” Madam Enid says as Madam Uri’s hand grips tightly around her delicate arm and pulls her toward the rim of the path.

  “Poor Madam Enid couldn't face the shame that she'd brought onto her family. What was it again? Oh yes, stealing. And her husband was so ashamed of her actions he sought comfort with her sister. So she jumped from the Cueva pathway into the communal area. Her body crashed on the cave floor, leaving a mangled mess,” Madam Uri laughs, dragging Madam Enid toward the pathway edge, as if to play out the horror she spoke about.

  My body urges me forward to help Madam Enid; Madam Enid spots me appearing from the darkness. “No... no,” she mutters, shaking her head at me.