Animals

By Wayne Mansfield

In the future deep space travel is a regular occurrence. After completing a mission to take supplies to Earth 2, or Genesis as the colonists call it, something goes horribly wrong with the space shuttle returning Adam Evans and his crew mates to Earth. The shuttle crashes and Adam and Jason survive, but the Earth they return to has changed greatly.

When tragedy strikes, leaving Adam on his own, he finds the paradise surrounding him has an increasingly darker side. He assumes he can outsmart it, beat it. The product of a lost past, where men and speech are free, he rebels against the rules restricting him. But is he just setting himself up for failure, for pain and misery? Can he ever hope to outwit the powers that be?

Then he meets River Boy, the only person in a village full of dirty, animalistic villagers with whom he connects. There is something intelligent about River Boy. Something civilized about him. Yet is Adam’s growing closeness to River Boy going to save him from himself? Or will his stubbornness, his rebelliousness, cost him more than he is able to pay?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Jan 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781611524130

Wayne Mansfield

Wayne Mansfield is a Western Australian writer. He has been writing for nine years and has been published in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Additionally, he wrote a monthly erotic story for the German publications Macho and Dreamboys for two years. His novellas and stories usually have a horror, futuristic, or fantasy theme, although he does write contemporary stories such as The Hiding Place, which received Honorable Mention in the 2013 Rainbow Awards.

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Animals

By Wayne Mansfield

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2012 Wayne Mansfield

ISBN 9781611524130

For more titles by Wayne Mansfield at Smashwords visit https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/waynemansfield1

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Cover Photo Credit: Les3photo8, F9photos | dreamstime.com

Used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

All Rights Reserved

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Animals

By Wayne Mansfield

Chapter 1: Crash

Adam Evans lay in his stasis chamber, in limbo between consciousness and the oblivion of induced sleep. Although his eyes were closed, he had a strong sense that something was askew. His body ached, more than usual after such a long hibernation, and he felt somewhat awkward within the confines of his coffin-sized capsule. With a great degree of effort he willed himself to roll onto his side, but he misjudged the force needed and toppled forwards. He was falling. The unexpected sensation sent a surge of adrenalin coursing through his veins. His eyes shot open seconds before his head connected with the floor of the space shuttle in a flash of pain.

He dragged himself across the floor with weak and shaky arms, easing the rest of his body out of the damaged stasis chamber. His legs flopped onto the deck with a thud and for a few minutes he lay with his eyes closed, trying to comprehend where he was and what had happened.

The feeling of spreading wetness finally roused Adam. He opened his eyes to see the cabin filling with water. He sat up, a little too quickly; the action causing a spray of stars to dart about in front of his eyes. He pressed his hands against the throbbing in his temples and gently raised himself to his feet.

He looked in the direction of the cockpit, further down in the water, and saw three bodies almost completely submerged. Only the shoulders and heads of the captain, his co-pilot, and the communications officer were visible. The image was surreal. Inside his head he heard their voices; giving instructions and calling out information to each other as they had done when all five of the crew were last awake together. Now they were lifeless mannequins.

He turned to inspect the second stasis chamber, where Jason, the fifth member of the crew was, and found it relatively intact. His own chamber had twisted off its base and sat on its side, wedged against the second unit. Gripping the side and bending his legs, he dug his feet in and with an almighty tug, he managed to pull it back towards its base, though only enough to gain access to Jason’s chamber.

The water was rising rapidly and had reached the top of his calf muscles. Oxygen was becoming scarce and despite the amount of water seeping in, he was sweating. His instincts were screaming at him to flee, yet a stronger part of his psyche refused to entertain the idea. Not when there was a colleague that needed assistance. He lifted the cover on the control panel of Jason’s stasis unit, punched in the code that would raise the transparent cover, and was surprised to find that it was still operational.

Jason! Wake up! he said, gently shaking him.

At first there was no sign of life. Jason’s bearded face remained still. Only a slight movement of his nostrils indicated that there was life in the pale body at all.

Jason! Wake up! We’ve got to get out of here. He shook his crew mate a little more vigorously and was rewarded with a groan. Jason. It’s Adam. Let’s go.

Jason moaned and tried to shrug Adam’s hand off his shoulder, but his movements were sluggish and Adam kept shaking him. Finally, Jason opened his eyes.

What’s going on? he asked with a slight slur to his words. His