Dreaming of Utopia: And Other Tales

By Mario Lavalle

Cyrus is the youngest castaway in Utopias history. Although his situation could have been avoided, Cyrus now feels helpless and trapped in an unknown world where there may be only one way back home. Now alone on a boat in the middle of a vast sea, Cyrus must learn to rely on himself and the contents of a single backpack in order to survive his nightmare.

After zombies overrun a city in a matter of days, the closest thing to patient zero is in the heart of the city. As a group of soldiers pulls out all the stops in a brave attempt to stop the kamikaze zombies, all they can do is hope they survive the Day of Zed. Unfortunately their mission may be harder than they think.

As a prisoner is strapped to a gurney, all he can do is hope that he is provided a better attorney in the after-life. While Carl, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and within the right circumstances, faces the inevitable, he discovers that sometimes it is just too late for justice.

Dreaming of Utopia shares three gripping short tales that reveal the challenges of diverse characters as they bravely face what lies in front of them and learn to surrender to fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532025648

Mario Lavalle

Mario Lavalle was born in New Jersey, is an honorary member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, and currently resides in Florida. Dreaming of Utopia is his first book.

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Copyright © 2017 Mario Lavalle.

Author Credits: Bryan Fernandez

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-2563-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-2564-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017909168

iUniverse rev. date: 06/13/2017

Contents

Dreaming Of Utopia

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Day of Zed

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Death Penalty

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Dreaming Of Utopia

A YOUNG MAN lay unconscious on a wooden boat adrift at sea. The sun was setting, and the sky was filled with two colors of purple and orange, dancing in perfect harmony as the boat tried to keep up with the pace of the song, but the waves had two left feet. A sudden splash of water reached over the side and landed onto his face, waking him up and sending a rush of adrenaline throughout his body, almost tipping the boat in sudden realization that he was on a boat.

Where the hell am I? How long have I been out here?

The world of blue seemed to never end in each direction he looked. Cyrus glanced down to see a backpack made of pineapple leather and in the colors of his home nation, leaf green with earth brown shoulder straps and navy blue embroidery. He unzipped the bag in one single motion and took out the first thing he touched. It was odd in shape and ignited his curiosity even further. A half-hemisphere, it was silver in element and color but could’ve been made out of mirror. On the back of his gift was engraved with Compass rules direction; Decision rules life.

After gazing at it for a few, he clicked it open to reveal what the half-dome would show. It didn’t display much except blackness and smoke spiraling and spinning out of control with no beginning or end. I still must be close to home.

That sent a chill of despair up his spine to know he was so close to home but might as well have been on the other side of the planet. He closed it and tossed it back into the bag, zipping it up quickly, not wanting to look at whatever else was in the farewell package.

When he lay back down, the earth’s gravity felt so heavy that he actually thought he might break through the wood beneath him to sink down to the deepest and darkest abyss. Maybe then he could give back to the sea at least and let the crabs eat away the guilt from his bones. Within seconds, he succumbed to the sweet mercy of sleep where troubles, woes, and weight disappeared, only to return in a nightmare.

He opened his eyes, and he was in the very room where he was sentenced, looking all around for friendly faces, but there was no one of the sort, just strangers all looking at him in disgust. The faces could give one’s bones the goose bumps. And the silence was worst of all. When the elder had asked for the community’s verdict, the seconds seemed to have slowed down. His palms were sweaty, and his heartbeat was inside of his head.

With the evidence given against Cyrus and the absolute brutality of his crime, I sentence him to exile, the elder said loud enough for the whole community to hear.

The voices were like a record that just kept on skipping and was caught on guilty. Guilty! Guilty!

The anger flared up, and his face was turning beet red. He then lashed out, screaming back, I might be guilty of the crime, but not the brutality!

Cyrus didn’t know why he screamed that or consciously what he even meant by it, but there it was out in the open to be heard. And it was by all. Both the silence and the eyes returned. Except for one, all the eyes in the room were on him once more. One face in the background whispered into someone’s ear. The youngest castaway in Utopia’s history