The Steam Punk

By Ethan Sarem

When we first meet the Steam Punk, he is a 12-year old boy living in a bunker. How is this so? Poisonous air, AKA toxic oxygen, plagues every country of Earth. No one is safe! Each country’s government orders citizens to relocate until toxic oxygen dissipates. Bunker life, though safe, is not worth living… And the Steam Punk wants out. His country’s government is a dictatorship, doesn’t tolerate resistance… But there is one! At the age of 12, he volunteers as resistance fighter, flouts government orders. Government about to create a bioweapon, designed to eradicate entire country… No survivors, no escape. But the Steam Punk survives, a rebel of 17 five years later. He’s on the run from government forces, but are they looking for him? Will the Steam Punk survive on surface? Will government release bioweapon? What becomes of country in aftermath? Can it rebuild? Time will tell…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387608256

Book preview

The Steam Punk

The Steam Punk

The Steam Punk ©2017 by Ethan Sarem.

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-387-60825-6

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from Ethan Sarem, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews and articles.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and places are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or things is entirely coincidental.

1. End of Life

The wisdom of adults trumps the innocence of children, so some believe… They’re wrong!

Nobody’s perfect, everyone makes mistakes… Some major, some minor

Some affect one person,

some affect entire world…

Latter lieu of former this time

There are people who care only for profit,

care less about other things…

Know anyone like that?

Long as they make money,

screw those who work for them…

When will this mentality meet its match?

This story is fictional,

hope it doesn’t become reality…

On that note, let’s begin

If global catastrophe threatened,

would we band together?

Could we disregard differences?

…Why I ask, wonders you?

Global catastrophe threatens,

cause unknown at this time

Earth’s air rendered unbreathable,

least without a filtration system…

What happened, wonders I?

High pollutant levels overwhelmed air,

poisoning it…

Toxic oxygen, poetic phrase for poison air

Around the world, every country reacts similarly… Save one, what hide they? Suspicious, I am

Life normal, until citizens perish

by toxic oxygen… More than gun violence,

does that stir you?

Unanimous decision, until toxins dissipate…

Have citizens dwell in bunkers, beyond their reach

How fares citizenry, subject to relocation?

They stay home, until they can’t anymore

Outside proves fatal, toxic oxygen overwhelms within minutes… Maybe seconds, I don’t know

Nobody wants to test toxic oxygen levels, too volatile… What of filtration system?

Permits survival, I verify…

Yet too few are available,

wider distribution isn’t possible

Making matters worse,

the government holds them hostage…

Stockpiles them in bunkers

Separate from citizens’ homes,

or closest facsimile… Blocked by electronic locks

Electricity diverted to locks,

shutting down computers…

Wouldn’t want to live here, can’t type

Our protagonist,

one of unnamed billions displaced from home… How old are they?

12, young enough to have innocence…

Old enough to fathom goings-on, good for them

…Apologies, they have a gender…

He’s not quite a child, not quite an adult…

In between

Displaced alongside his parents, ardent media followers… Lamentably, their government isn’t

Calls media fake news, demonizes reporting… Every country reports on toxic oxygen, noted

Yet this government doesn’t tolerate wisdom, prefers its citizens in the dark… How dark!

They project confidence, ultimately lack it… Competence tested daily, failed daily

Government issues statement to citizens,

reads as follows:

Nobody leave the bunkers, or else!

Others issue similar statements,

measured in diction…

Statements trump simple sentence

For example, statements include what is known about toxic oxygen… Very little, but not nothing

Citizens in these countries follow statements to letter, allows research into potential cure

Only one country doesn’t research potential cure, and for good reason…