Unwanted

By Robert Wright, Jr

Suffer the children for in war the innocents are the first to be ravaged and the last to be redeemed in its aftermath - Sarah Brody

In an America devastated by war, there is only one place half-breeds belong . . .
The Rock. Such a common name for such a terrible place. Life is cheap on The Rock, it is hard. It's the perfect place to dump the half-breeds, children born of human and alien parents. Children that few wanted to acknowledge, reminders of the near extermination of all human life on Earth. After three years, one girl fights the system. She's going to get off The Rock - or die trying.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Wright, Jr
• Release date: May 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463553855

Robert Wright, Jr

Robert is the author of multiple young adult fantasy and sci-fi stories populated with strong female heroes and intriguing creatures pulled from his imagination. His characters are based on drawings and doodles that he has worked on since he could pick up a pencil.Robert has traveled the world and met many interesting people but now lives in Bellingham, Washington with his wife and youngest child. Bellingham and the surrounding areas are often the settings for his many novels. For more information on these enjoyable books please visit witchwaybooks.com or stop by the Witch Way Books page on Facebook.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to two of my favorite people – your support kept me grounded throughout the writing of this book.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Throughout time war and its aftermath has resulted in oppression of the vanquished, though often the innocents suffer the most. Destroying hope, love, and the human spirit it endures until one voice cries out from the darkness – ENOUGH.

This book is a work of fiction, but written, I hope, to show a grim glimpse into the reality of a soul who rises up from the ashes.

Real life is rarely pretty, nor is it often fair. We can only hope that along the way, no matter how we look, believe, or pray we can one day learn to live as one.

Robert Wright Jr

THE ISLAND

Suffer the children for in war the innocents are the first to be ravaged and the last to be redeemed in its aftermath. -Sarah Brody

I

The war started like all wars start– without warning, without mercy. The world was in turmoil as it always has been when more than two people gather together. A small war here. A genocide there. Leaders who had no business being in the position they were in. But the real danger struck from above. Lucky for the human race the incompetent leaders were wiped out first. The competent stepped forward to lead. Darwin’s law worked in favor of the humans.

They came from the stars. A dying race, what was left of them. From a world that revolved around a dying star. They called themselves Lagrs. A humanoid race out to take our world for themselves. With their weapons and strength, they struck most military bases and capitals first and pounded them into the ground. Then they went to work on many of Earth’s major cities. Right from the start humans fought back against overwhelming odds. Though the aliens had the weapons and a decided advantage in strength, humans found they had numbers on their side.

The aliens were stronger coming from a higher gravity planet. For every alien that was killed, one hundred or so humans died. For eighteen long years, humans fought and died as others learned about the alien weapons and developed some nasty surprises of their own. In the end, human science created a weapon that could take out a planet or its star. With a new type of hyperdrive and with the coordinates of the alien home sun, humans finished the job nature had started and snuffed out the light leaving a race to die a cold dark death – no tears were shed back on Earth.

With the alien’s world dead, humans fought even harder to rid their world of the aggressors until one day they were all counted as dead. Now the humans turned their intelligence to building a better Earth. With the captured alien technology and their own creations, the people of the world banded together to build an Earth that had never been seen before in history.

There was just one little problem with their plan. The children. As in all wars, the stronger took what they felt their due. Some human women gave themselves to the aliens, figuring that it was preferable to certain death while most others were taken by force. What neither humans nor aliens knew was that their genetics were close enough to produce offspring.

Now all over the world half human – half alien children, marked by purple eyes, were there to remind the humans of the war that they had almost lost. In some countries, these small ones were killed out of hand as well as their extended family who were tainted by their presence – whether the women gave birth from collusion or through force. In other parts of the world, the children were gathered in internment camps to be studied and kept. Out of sight. Out of mind.

In what was left of America, the Unwanted, as the children were called were placed on an island in the Pacific Northwest. A place in the further reaches of what is now called The Outlands. The island was once the home of an old naval air base and the town that surrounded it was almost wiped off the planet. Now it was a heavily guarded prison.

A one hundred fifty-seven-foot-high bridge was the only way on or off the island. The whole island was surrounded by double electrified fences while the beaches had sensors planted just above the water line that could activate laser weapons, while the waters around the island were patrolled day and night. In the three years since the children had been dumped on the island, not one had ever escaped.

That was about to change.

II

Serenity stood next to the tree, her purple eyes looking up through the leaves as the clouds parted. The full moon glowed brightly, bathing the tiny clearing in front of her with a light that played among the shadows. As she looked out across the clearing an off-shore breeze gently grazed the tips of the long grass moving it back and forth like the ocean waves, there was even a hint of salt in the night air.

The tall girl leaned against the tree, resting for a second as she warily scanned the area around her. The rough bark of the tree rubbed against her light blue skin as her eyes restlessly danced from point to point. She marveled at the shadows that frolicked around the clearing and sighed. Such quiet times were rare on The Rock. It had been a long, tiring three years. Barely surviving the first year, she had fared better the next two but even those hadn’t been a picnic. The last winter, much colder than the rest, had been especially difficult.

She was so close to her night’s goal that she could taste it, but now was not the time to become careless. Not on a night like this. Tonight was too beautiful a night to die the girl thought as she breathed in the tangy night air. All the tribes would have representatives at the bridge. Being an indie scavenger, she was fair game for anyone that wanted a piece of her. Of course, it didn’t help that she reminded everyone of the aliens that had put them in this position. As the breeze died, she quickly scanned the clearing once more before she took a step forward.

A twig cracking to her right caused her to step back to the tree again. Her eyes skimmed the clearing just as she dropped to her knees hidden in the taller grass growing along the tree line. The clouds covered the moon throwing deeper shadows onto the ground. It was quiet. Too quiet. Even the few night creatures out were stilled their breath held as they cowered in the dark.

The sound of rough cloth swishing through the grass made her suck in her breath as dark shapes, darker even than the shadows moved across the clearing. To her ears, her heart beat so loud that she worried that whoever was out there would surely hear it. The girl loosened a knife on each side of her belt, resting her hand on the hilts just in case they were needed. She had no desire to kill tonight, but it wouldn’t be the first time she had used a blade to protect herself on The Rock.

She knelt frozen in place until the final shapes crossed the meadow. A few seconds later she let out a low quiet breath, taking her hands off her blades. She felt a hand brush her hair from her ear and warm breath blew on the back of her neck. I’m disappointed in you, Serenity. I thought you were better than this.

The girl’s nostrils flared, as her body tensed, taking in the unwashed scent of the boy. She scolded herself for concentrating so hard on those in front of her that she had forgotten the first rule of an indie: Don’t lose focus on your surroundings. She relaxed as she chuckled quietly. You need to train your boys better, William. They walked right by me. They’re getting sloppy.

She felt a finger run down her neck sending shivers down her spine, as well as other places. The finger traced up to play in her hair again as the voice whispered, My boys may have missed you, Serenity, but I didn’t. I would hate to think of what would happen to you if it had been one of Tiger’s tribe who had found you.

The thought of Tiger was like a dash of cold water, she quivered in fear. Tiger was seventeen years old, and William’s twin brother. He ruled a tribe on the south side of the island. Tiger’s tribe was one step above a pack of wild animals. Only William’s larger tribe kept Tiger’s people in check. How did you find me, William? Serenity asked her pride bruised as she shivered once again – this time in fear.

The boy ran a finger down her neck again and she remembered a few freezing winter nights when she had grown too lonely and too cold to stay by herself. William leaned in even further and took a deep breath of the girl’s flaming red hair. The silver streak that ran down the right side of her head glowed in the moonlight. It was intoxicating and he smiled into the dark. He was always amazed at how this blue-skinned beauty could heat his blood. You found some shampoo in the ruins, didn’t you? I could smell it half a mile away. Ummm, vanilla my favorite.

Serenity mentally kicked herself. William was right. She had found a half-empty bottle in one of the demolished houses in town and, for some reason, she still couldn’t understand she had used just a bit to wash the tangled mass that was her hair last night. A vanity that, if it was anyone else on The Rock, could have gotten her killed or worse. And yes, there were things worse than death the girl thought as her blood cooled a bit.

The boy chuckled again as he breathed in the light scent of the girl’s hair mingling with the salty air. Then the lightness left his voice as he laid his hand on her shoulder. He knew the answer she would give, but he couldn’t help himself as he breathed in her scent. Serenity, why don’t you come in and join my tribe. The two of us could rule ... he whispered into her ear remembering the winter nights when the two of them had kept each other warm.

She shook her head, pride and anger rising in her as she hissed, No. I told you before that I’m not like those other girls. The ones who need someone to protect her. Last winter was fun, but ... you and I know that your tribe would never accept one of my kind. I’m a reminder of why they are all on this island.

It wouldn’t be like that, Serenity. I know that you can take care of yourself, but the two of us together - your brains and my brawn. Hell, we could take over every tribe on this rock, and who knows, maybe we could find a way off it. There isn’t anything the two of us couldn’t do together. Besides, my tribe does what I tell them. All anyone has to do to remember why they’re on this rock is to look in a mirror at their own purple eyes.

Serenity wanted desperately to believe in what William was saying. But she knew, deep down, that it wouldn’t be as simple as he thought it would be. Even among the unwanted, she was an outcast. The alien race that had spawned them was divided into two classes. All the other children on The Rock were fathered by the alien warrior class and were marked by purple eyes, a couple were also unlucky enough to have the bright red hair. From afar these children could still pass for human though. Not Serenity. Her mother had been a member of the alien royal family sent to rule Earth once all the humans had been exterminated. With her light blue skin, flaming red hair, and dark purple eyes she stood out like a bright flashing light in the night.

The only thing she had from her human father was the silver streak of hair that marked her different from the alien body that had spawned her. Hell, when she was growing up that silver streak had made her an outcast even among the aliens. She didn’t fit in anywhere.

This time it was the girl’s turn to chuckle. You know, if you’re honest with yourself, that I would only be a hindrance to your rule. Besides, you don’t really think they will ever let us off this rock, do you, William? We’re here for life. Besides, you know you couldn’t handle a pain in the ass like me all the time.

She heard him sigh and then she felt his soft lips on the side of her neck. She stiffened but soon found herself relaxing into his warmth. She sighed, content, remembering the touches of last winter. Her blood steamed and sent tingles to all parts of her body. It had been a while since she had felt a loving touch like that and she missed it so. He chuckled in her ear and her face burned with anger and shame as she straightened up. Think about it, Serenity. That’s all I ask, he whispered breathlessly.

She shook her head. She didn’t know if she was denying her feelings or what he was saying. His hands disappeared from her neck and she hissed, It’s going to be a cold day in hell, William, before I lose my independence. I told you before, last winter was a nice diversion, but that was all it was. A diversion. She waited for his retort. As the silence lingered, she slowly turned and looked into the empty darkness around her. Damn, I hate when he does that, she whispered before she got up from the ground and crossed the clearing.

At the end of the war, any child six and above was gathered and placed on the internment island. Children below that age were raised in a special building just on the other side of the bridge until they reached their sixth birthday. Once a year those children were taken from the only home they knew, escorted across the bridge, and dropped off to fend for themselves on the island. Some argued that it would have been kinder to just kill the children than to send them to The Rock for a slow death.

Life was hard on the island. The various tribes sent representatives to gather a portion of the newly abandoned children. A lack of food and medicine, along with the occasional fight between tribes tended to take its toll on the youngest and weakest of the children. Through a set of unwritten rules, over the years, it was agreed that each tribe would receive a portion of new internees depending on the size of the tribe and the territory that they ruled. Tonight was the night that new children would be sent over the bridge and into their new life.

Serenity moved through the woods more cautiously. Her little visit with William had spooked her in a way that she hadn’t been in a long time. It had been years since she had been caught off guard like that. Not since the first days that she had been on the island. She put that thought out of mind, with a shiver, as a score that still needed to be settled but some other time. Coming to a small stream, she stopped, and kneeling down at the edge, she scooped up a handful of mud and streaked some across her face and along her arms breaking up the plain blue of her skin. She cursed herself for not doing this earlier. She glanced around the area once more before she dunked her hair into the water mixing in some of the mud from the bottom of the stream. The moldy dank smell of the mud wiped away any smell from the shampoo. There, now let William try and sneak up on her. She chuckled at the rank smell from her head.

After letting the mud dry, the smell faded and she moved upstream a few feet and into the middle of some bushes that grew by the side of the stream. Cupping her hand into the water, she pressed the cool liquid to her lips. Her drink was interrupted when a sound in the woods behind her caused her to go absolutely still. She silently cursed under her breath as another, not so quiet group, moved off to her right and left heading toward the bridge.

Damn, she thought. Seems like everyone was bringing half their tribe with them. She thought briefly of skipping this year’s new group of kids, but she couldn’t risk it. This might be the year that her baby sister would come over that bridge. She still wasn’t sure what had happened to her. Every year she made the trip to the bridge to look for her. There was no way that Serenity would let her go to a tribe on her own.

Deception Pass Bridge was a two-lane, fourteen-hundred-foot cement marvel that spanned the open waters connecting the two islands. It was split in two by a small rock in the middle that now held the main guard house and control room for the weapons systems that surrounded the island.

At each end of the bridge, a set of double gates kept anyone from gaining entrance to the roadway. On most days there were at least a dozen heavily armed soldiers on the bridge. On internment night there were at least one hundred soldiers around the bridge to make sure that the children taken to the island made it there and none of those on it left.

Serenity crept near the fence, careful not to get too close. She was just inside the tree line when movement caught her eye. She froze in place trying to melt into the nearest tree and held her breath. A fox stepped out of the foliage onto the beach, its reddish coat shining in the moonlight.

The animal was sniffing the ground when it jumped into the air and landed two feet away. Its muzzle burrowed in the short grass for a second before it came up with a rodent in its teeth. Serenity sighed, how sad it was that one thing had to die to feed another.

The fox froze. Its black eyes locked onto where the girl stood when it turned and shot toward the fence line. The fox was five feet away from the fence when a blue arc of electricity jumped out catching it in mid-stride. It tried to leap back out of the way, but the blue arc held it in its deadly grip.

The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air as the charred body of the fox hit the ground. Serenity flinched, swearing under her breath. Damn, the guards were really serious tonight. They had turned up the juice in the fence to make sure no one was getting off The Rock. She stood looking at the body of the fox when a quiet whirring sound caused her to fade further back into the shadows. Her purple eyes peeked around the tree scanning the sky looking for the source of the sound in the night.

A weapons drone flew on the other side of the fence, its light and guns sweeping back and forth before it came to the body lying in the cleared area. The drone hopped over the barrier before it and hovered for a few seconds taking in the scene before its lights swept the tree line. Serenity held her breath as the remorseless machine checked the area. Finally, it turned, hopped the fence, and headed back toward the main guard post.

Serenity had seen enough. She had followed the shoreline figuring it would be safer than in the woods with all the tribal children who were running around. She would be able to safely see the internment from below the bridge without the danger of running into trouble. If she spotted her sister she would follow whichever tribe claimed her and liberate her from them. She glanced once at the remains of the fox and then at the retreating drone and thought better of her idea before she started slowly back up the hill.

III

The six-year-old children were separated from the other kids and taken into a special ward. There they were taught real-life lessons so that they would have a chance to survive on the island. Some of the instructors tried to instill as many survival skills as they could to their charges. Most others looked at the alien purple eyes that stared back at them and just didn’t give much of a damn if the children lived or died on The Rock.

On internment night, children who were old enough were lightly drugged so that they could be easily handled by the soldiers taking them across the bridge. The oldest of the children had a pretty good idea what was happening. For the last three years as their peers hit a certain age they had been separated from the rest of the children then just disappeared one night. So those who had been taken from their groups tonight were restless and uncooperative with their handlers as only frightened kids marching toward the unknown could be.

Pills were handed out to each child by two adults, one