Red Dawn: Two Friends. Two Cities. One Destiny.

By Valeria Zuluaga

Melanie McLean is a normal girl, with nothing unexpected in her life. That changes completely when she and her best friend meet a person that tells them that they have abilities that only a few people have. Melanie and her friend are suddenly two of the most powerful people in the world, and with that power, they also find out that they have to use their abilities to stop a person that will wreck havoc to the entire country. Caught in between a race against time to find others with the same powers as them and take down an enemy that they may not be able to defeat, the two friends travel to places they never imagined they would go to, find people that have spectacular abilities beyond their wildest dreams, and try to save their country. Single-handedly. The question is, will they be able to do it without wiping everyone out in the process?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503589315

Valeria Zuluaga

Valeria Zuluaga was born in Danbury, Connecticut. She and her family moved to Florida when she was only two months old. She is thirteen years old and goes to St. Patrick Interparish Catholic School in Gainesville. Her parents are both from Colombia, and Valeria can speak both English and Spanish. Valeria has no siblings, and she started to love writing ever since she was old enough to pick up a pencil. She is the two-time winner of her school’s spelling bee, and she is also the winner of the school speech competition. Her favorite pastimes are playing golf, dancing, and singing in her choir. When she grows up, she wants to be a doctor specialized in neurosurgery, but she will continue to write. This is her first book for children. When she is not writing, you will find her studying, dancing, singing, listening to music, or reading a book.

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Copyright © 2015 by Valeria Zuluaga.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5035-8932-2

                  eBook             978-1-5035-8931-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/29/2015

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Contents

Prologue

PART 1

THE DINOMORPHS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

PART 2

THE SPECIALS

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

PART 3

THE BATTLE

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my parents.

Thank you for believing in me.

Note: The Red Dawn mentioned in this book is fictional. The laboratory in Mauna Loa is also fictional.

Oh Mi Dios, Soy Un Dinosaurio: oh my God, I’m a dinosaur.(translated from Spanish).

Ayudenme, me estoy muriendo: help me, I’m dying.(translated from Spanish).

hermana, no es casi nada, no te vas a morir: It’s nothing, sis, you’re not going to die.(translated from Spanish).

Ay, por favor, es una cortada chiquita: oh, please, it’s a small cut.(translated from Spanish).

shizukani: be quiet.(translated from Japanese).

watashi o tasukete: help me.(translated from Japanese).

Ki o tsukete: watch out.(translated from Japanese).

Ce Tu Fein: who are you.(translated from Irish).

Prologue

Fifteen years before Washington D.C. saw its biggest attack of the century, a young man was making history: the first project on gene recombination that actually worked. The man’s name was Jonathan Levesque, and he was quite possibly the smartest person in the world. And incredibly, Jonathan himself didn’t approve of the gene recombination in the slightest. The man who had employed him to be the lead scientist in Program Rebirth was called Marcus Greenden, and it was apparent that Marcus didn’t care about the people they had tested the genetic recombination on, he just wanted the money. And lately, the people they had tested Program Rebirth on had had horrible and unexpected side effects.

I don’t think we should continue on the experiment, Jonathan said to Marcus one day.

What are you talking about? Marcus had said, laughing. We’ve got nothing to worry about. Just keep on working.

Jonathan didn’t. Marcus thought that Jonathan was trying to stop his business, so he decided to try something. What could be the worst that could happen? Marcus had thought. So, he told a young scientist named Edith McLean to test the gene recombination on Jonathan. That was the worst decision he had made in his entire life. According to later tests, scientists would conclude that Jonathan had a substance in his bloodstream that was that meant to reverse the effects of the genetic recombination. Instead, the modifications backfired and it turned Jonathan into something more than a human. Marcus had been relaxed in his spacious office when the doors had blasted open, and Jonathan had strode through. He had grabbed Marcus by the neck and pinned him against the wall.

Tell me one good reason why I shouldn’t destroy you right now, Jonathan had said.

W-w-w-what are you talking about? Marcus had asked nervously.

You know exactly what I’m talking about. You set me up, didn’t you? Jonathan had said angrily. He let go of Marcus and Marcus had collapsed to the ground. Marcus stood up.

I didn’t do anything! Please… Marcus had said. An assistant walked into the office, saw what was going on, and quietly walked out. NO! Don’t leave…

Suddenly Marcus got thrown against a bookshelf, even though nobody had laid a hand on him. Through a haze in his mind, he had seen Jonathan in front of him.

Listen, Mr. Greenden, I quit this experiment. I didn’t even want to do it in the first place, he had said. Marcus had laughed.

You don’t scare me, Marcus had said. You’re just a little…

Jonathan flicked his wrist and Marcus had sailed across the room, slamming hard into his desk. Marcus scrambled backward. What in the world has he become? Marcus thought.

You have no idea what I’m capable of, Jonathan had said.

Marcus had ran out of the office as fast as he could, leaving Jonathan standing there in the ruined office. He watched as Marcus looked back fearfully. Then Jonathan had walked out of the office.

Two guards walked towards him and one said, hey you! Stop right… The guard had sailed backwards and collided with the far wall. The other guard raised his gun, but Jonathan grabbed the weapon and it crumbled to dust. The guard turned and ran. Jonathan smiled and he walked out of the building into the crowded street. He took one last long look at the New World Corporation building. Jonathan Levesque wasn’t fully human anymore. He was capable of taking down a person with a single thought. And, as Marcus Greenden had found out, even the smartest person in the world had a breaking point.

PART 1

The dinomorphs

Chapter 1

It was a bright sunny day in Miami, Florida. I was reading a book in my tree house when there’s a knock on the door. Brushing my black hair out of my face, I stand up.

Who is it? I ask.

It’s me, Rudy, says my best friend Rudy Ramirez.

You can come in, I say.

Rudy has brown hair, green eyes, and quite the attitude. Um…Melanie, have you seen anything strange lately? she asks me.

No…not that I know of. I say.

Well, what do you think about this? Rudy lifts her pant leg to reveal a scaly pattern sort of branded into her skin.

Did you draw on yourself again? I ask. Rudy really likes to draw on her skin, and it can get annoying.

N-N-No, says Rudy. That’s why I’m worried. Can you help me, Melanie?

Yeah, yeah, think of me as the enlightener who deals with scaly skin and will solve all your problems, I say, rolling my eyes.

Really, Melanie, says Rudy, be serious here, it’s like a snake is crawling up my leg. Or something worse: a dinosaur. she shivers. What if I’m a dinosaur? What if I get poked and prodded and studied? What if… Rudy pauses dramatically. What if I’m an alien, Melanie? What will I do? Will I…

I cut her off. Will you stop that? Nothing’s going to happen to you, it’s probably just a rash or something.

But… Rudy starts.

But what, Rudy? What do you think is going to happen to you? The answer: it’s nothing, Rudy. Nothing’s going to happen to you. We’re best friends. Nothing’s going to separate us not even, um, flying dinosaurs!

Um, Melanie, Rudy says slowly, Is that a flying dinosaur, or am I crazy?

Um, Earth to Rudy, those aren’t flying dinosaurs, they’re just uh, mutant birds or something, because they are unnaturally large, I say, looking up.

Those aren’t mutant birds, Melanie. Look! Rudy say. Four huge birds are flying over the tree house. As they get closer I recognize the ‘birds’ from my science textbook. They aren’t mutant birds; they are actually pteranadons, or flying dinosaurs.

W-W-We should get out of here, says Rudy nervously. Suddenly wood snaps