DEATHWORLD

By Robert J. Kalle

Deathworld is a young adult horror novel that is set in the future where there is no more war or disease. The USA has decided on a means of population control that is controversial. Once a youth reaches eighteen and graduates from high school, they are put in a draft lottery that chooses ten thousand youths a day to attend the theme park Deathworld, and one hundred will die.

The main character, Jesse, has ADD and has faced many challenges through his life. His selection to attend the park is the most important test of his life. Not only is his life in danger, but the lives of his twin sister and two other students from his school are at risk as well. Using his ability to focus and decode puzzles, Jesse manages to help the group avoid all the major pitfalls until the last required ride where tragedy strikes.

Wracked by guilt and grief, Jesse does the one thing he knows how to do—hack. He digs into the history of the creation of the Deathworld, the inner workings of the park, and the qualifications/motivations of the park’s creator.

Through his investigations, he discovers the true nefarious purposes of the park. Jesse and his friends vow to take down both the director and the murderous park. He creates a plan that brings him face-to-face with the director of the park and the greatest challenge of his life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648013744

Book preview

Chapter 1

Jeepers creepers, did you see that?" The hairs on the back of Jesse’s neck stood straight up.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! screamed his twin sister Christy. Jesse, what’s going on?

Jesse said, "I don’t know, but did you see that guy falling out of the roller coaster? Everybody is running over there to see what happened. I don’t believe it. He just flew out of the roller coaster at the top of the roll and fell to the ground.

Look, the guys in yellow shirts look like they’re helping him. No, they’re putting him in a black body bag. He must be dead. Oh God, oh God, oh God.

Tears streamed down Christy’s face. The twin’s two friends Ben and Rachel stood paralyzed, gaping at the scene. The looks on their faces said it all: pure fear. Jesse grabbed his sister and said, C’mon, we need to think about this. Let’s sit down and figure out what’s going on. C’mon, Ben, Rachel.

Jesse grabbed Christy’s hand and led her to the nearest food pavilion as quickly as he could and plopped down. The others followed suit.

Jesse looked at the three of them, shook his head, and said, "Hey, we knew this visit to the park would be dangerous, but I thought it would be manageable, like survival of the fittest. I thought there would be tests of brains and tests of physical ability. I figured we would be okay.

Heck, Ben, you’re the valedictorian and star football player, and Christy, you’re the salutatorian. We certainly have the smarts here. Rachel, you’re a great athlete, and I’ve always been a survivor. I thought as a team we could beat anything they threw at us, but did you see that guy fly out of the seat? No brains or brawn saved him. Man, we are in some deep poop.

Ben jumped in, Yeah, no matter what you think or what you know about Deathworld and the quotas, it’s not the same as being here and seeing someone fall out of a roller coaster. I read about the park and knew that people were going to die. But, man, oh man. That was right in our face.

Rachel said, Hey, we better get our bearings and figure out a strategy. This is not what I expected either. I didn’t come here to die. I came here because I was chosen, and it’s the law. What are we supposed to do? How do we survive to the end of the day?

Christy just continued to sob. She wiped her eyes with a napkin and looked out over the amusement park. She said, Jesse, I knew that the purpose of the park was for one hundred high school graduates to die for population control. I guess I thought the odds were in our favor, and somehow it wouldn’t happen to us, but now I know it could happen to any of us. I’m really scared to death.

Jesse reached over and put his arm around her, trying to comfort her. Christy, I’ll take care of you. Trust me.

I know, Jesse. You always have.

Stunned, they could still hear the loudspeakers from the front gate. They listened to the current message. Hi, I’m Jonathan Miller, the president of the park. I would like to welcome you to USNAP. I hope you have a good day.

Wow, said Jesse, we’ve been here fifteen minutes and our day is ruined already. Who is this Jonathan Miller guy who says have a good day when he knows it could be the last day of your life? What a jerk!

The four of them continued to check out the surroundings. Jesse remembered what he had read about the park. The United States National Amusement Park (USNAP) had opened a few years ago as a service to the United States government. Over the past twenty years, there had been peace around the globe. No wars, no rebellions; just plain peace.

Instead of fighting with each other, the world governments had focused on health issues, and the effect had led to the eradication of most diseases. With no more fighting or sickness, populations were exploding around the world, and the population growth had led to food and resource shortages. If unchecked, this scarcity would lead to problems, probably violence, at least that’s what the governments told everyone.

The attempt to control the world population led the United Nations to come up with a strategy. Each country would figure out a method to meet their goal for population control. All countries had to maintain quotas on the number of children a family could have. To accomplish this, a country might use some form of birth control or even sterilization. However, in the United States, it was decided that it would be more beneficial to allow people to have as many children as they wanted so that there would be a greater pool of skills and resources to draw from. But the USA still needed a way to control the population.

After much debate in congress, the USA decided to use a unique system to maintain population quotas. After someone turned eighteen and finished high school, they would be entered into a lottery where the graduates would be randomly chosen throughout the country to attend this theme park. During the summer months of June, July and August, ten thousand young people per day would be selected to attend the park, and one hundred people would meet their demise that day. This would control the growth of the population and meet the country’s quotas. Because of this, teens had nicknamed the theme park Deathworld.

Jesse, Christy, Ben, and Rachel had been chosen from their school to attend the park on the first Saturday of June. They had just passed through the entrance when they saw the person fall out of the coaster.

Jesse spun around looking at the park in a 360 view. His ADD caused him to be distracted by all the noise, especially the screaming. He had to concentrate to focus on one thing at a time. At first, he thought people were yelling because someone had just died. Then he realized the screams were people having fun. Everyone looked like they were having a good time. His jaw dropped in shock when he realized the students were having fun and disregarding the purpose of the park. But it was still early.

Smells of popcorn and cotton candy filled the air. The sky was pure blue and without clouds. The forecast called for eighty-five degrees and not a drop of rain. The entire scene seemed a bit surreal to Jesse. The politicians had convinced the country that letting families have as many children as they wanted and then randomly weeding them out was best for the country. Jesse could think of a hundred other ways to keep the population under control. Just let him have a crack at governmental decision-making.

Look, Rachel said, see that tower over toward the middle of the park? It says one. Probably means one on the way to one hundred. We know that one hundred people will die today. They even let us know the score.

Jesse grinned at Rachel and said, I guess an athlete would notice the score right away. He ducked his head so that she couldn’t see him blush. Fine time to go all weird, he thought.

Ben rubbed his clean-shaven chin and piped in, We need a strategy. I don’t have any idea at all. A wrong decision could get one or all of us killed. On the football field I was never scared. I felt like I was in control all the time, but this is unreal.

Jesse answered, "Look, I’ve done a little research on the park. They have to be prepared for the deaths of the kids. They need to clean them up quickly, or it would be messy and distracting. They obviously want to avoid unnecessary trouble from any of the attendees. Let’s watch the guys in yellow shirts and stay as far away from them as possible. If they’re getting ready for the next accident, it may be a tip-off when to avoid a ride.

I wonder if there’s a pattern to any of this. How would they know where to go? Let’s watch for a few minutes to see what happens.

Sounds good. I agree, said Christy.

They sat on the benches, each focused on a different direction. While they sat there, the tower went from 1 to 2; another person had died. They couldn’t see where it happened since the park was large enough to hold ten thousand youths at one time. They watched for the yellow-shirted park employees, but none were visible.

Jesse reminded them, Remember, we have to ride at least ten rides. When we get on a ride, we have to swipe our ID cards that keep track of what we ride. Everyone have their cards?

All of them pulled out their cards. They looked like credit cards with their name and personal information on the front. The cards had a magnetic strip on the back that obviously held any information the park needed to keep track of their attendance and the rides they rode.

Just then, they saw a group of park employees in yellow shirts arrive next to the Winding River ride. They were close enough for Jesse to see the looks on their faces. They all had serious expressions, and they were whispering among themselves.

All of a sudden, they jumped into action. They ran over the edge of the man-made river. They were fishing something out of the water. It was a body that looked like it had been chewed on. There was blood all over it. Jesse couldn’t tell if it was a guy or a girl. The park employees put the body in a black bag, picked it up, and went off toward the middle of the park. The tower now read 3.

Jesse said, Looks like we might be right about watching for the yellow shirts. It looks like they show up when someone dies, but how can they know an accident is going to happen before it does? That’s an important piece of information to figure out.

Good call, Jesse, said Christy. Looks like you may have hit on something. Do you have any other ideas?

Well, how about this? The accidents are supposed to happen randomly around the park. So after someone dies on a ride, what is the chance it will happen on that same ride again right away?

Since there are thirteen rides, each ride should have about seven deaths during the eight hours the park is open, so I guess there should be time between deaths on any one ride, suggested Ben.

Jesse continued, That makes me think. If the yellow shirts have an idea of when and where something will happen, it might be safe to go on rides where they just left. They were here just now and left with a black bag. Maybe we should try to ride a ride right after an accident and there are no yellow shirts in the area?

But if it’s all random, how can the yellow shirts be there when an accident happens? They may know more about what’s going on than what they’re telling people. Jesse shivered at the thought that there may be a plan to kill certain kids on purpose.

Breaking Jesse out of his thoughts, Ben said, That sounds like another good idea, Jesse. That’s two ideas that you came up with that seem to make sense. I have to apologize for how I treated you in the car on the ride here. I let your reputation affect what I thought about what you had to say.

Jesse looked down sheepishly, ran his hand through his brown hair, and said, Hey, thanks, man.

Jesse thought back a couple of hours ago. Ben was driving them to the park in his black SUV, and Rachel was in the front passenger seat. Jesse and Christy were in the back seat. They were talking about getting the letter from the government, telling them they had been drafted to go to the park.

Ben began, I don’t know how they do this random picking, but it makes me wonder how the four of us got picked. All of us are from the same school. There are thousands of high schools and lots of students to pick from. To have four of us from one school be chosen just seems a little less than random.

Jesse answered, That’s the definition of random. Everyone has the same chance of being picked.

With a wave of his hand, Ben cut him off, Four from the same place can’t be random. I would really like to know how they do the picking.

Christy was worried; Jesse heard it in her voice. I’m still not happy about this. I’m set to go to college on a scholarship, and here I am going to face a challenge for my life. It doesn’t seem fair.

Jesse countered, Christy, life is an adventure and a journey-,

Christy cut him off, "Jesse, you are always in trouble. You had a permanent seat in the principal’s office. You’re on a first-name basis with him. You even messed up hacking into the school computer records and could not walk in graduation. Trouble follows you. You may be okay with this ‘adventure’ but I’m not as daring as you."

Rachel piped in, Jesse, I didn’t know you too well, but your reputation does precede you. The talk around school was to avoid you, that you had a black cloud that followed you wherever you went. It seems that cloud is still following you, and we’ve been pulled in. I hope everyone was wrong about you.

Jesse felt chastised, like usual, and stayed out of the rest of the conversation. He felt like no one wanted to hear what he had to say, much less try to understand him. That was the way it always was. He wanted to have friends, but it seemed the harder he tried, the more trouble he would get into and the more people avoided him. He just couldn’t win. Rachel was right; it seemed like a black cloud always followed him, so he stayed a loner, using his computer as his only friend. He had nothing more to say on the ride, pretty much as usual for him. He focused on his phone and spent the rest of the ride texting his good friend Saul.

But now, his thoughts returned to the present. Looking around, he could tell trouble was imminent. They had witnessed bodies being carried away, and the tower reminded them of the body count. Yet he sensed a change in relationship between the four of them since the car ride. Ben had already agreed that his strategies had some merit. Jesse was feeling a bit more confident. If only the strategies hold true and did not blow up like many things did in his past.

With this strategy in mind, the four of them set off quickly for the Winding River ride where the yellow shirts had just left. It was time to see if Jesse’s idea worked. Thinking that accidents had to at least appear to be random, the next accident should happen at a different ride.

They walked to the ride as quickly as they could. They wanted to get there before any yellow shirts showed up. The clock outside the gate said it was a thirty-minute wait. In terms of theme parks, that wasn’t very long. But then again, they might not be in a rush to get on the ride.

Jesse, as the newly ordained leader, got in line first; Christy, Rachel, and Ben followed. As they stood in line, they weren’t the only silent ones. It was as if everyone had finally realized the severity of the situation, no yelling or screams of fun. The teens waiting in line just witnessed the yellow shirts taking away a body and were eerily quiet. It was time to be serious.

But Jesse was Jesse, and he could not contain himself. He finally spoke to the people in front of him, Hey, where are y’all from?

The guy and girl turned to him and said, We went to school in North Carolina. Not happy to be picked for this. The trip part is nice, but now we’re just trying to get through the day. How about you guys?

Jesse responded, We live about an hour and a half away, so we just drove over this morning. The four of us are from the same school. Do you have any ideas how you’re going to get through the park safely?

The guy answered, Look, we’re a bit nervous about this whole thing. We’re just going to ride the ten rides we’re required to ride, and then we’re out of here, so we really don’t want to talk about it.

Jesse turned around to Ben, Christy, and Rachel and made a bit of a face. Christy just shrugged her shoulders and put her hands up.

The minutes ticked away. Because Jesse’s mind continued to race, it seemed like an eternity. When they finally reached the front of the line, it was time to swipe their cards. The monitor showed that it was their first ride. After swiping their cards, they all put them away as safely as they could. They didn’t know the penalty for losing a card and didn’t want to find out.

Jesse’s thoughts continued running a mile a minute. He figured that the park was certainly going to remind them of everything they had to do, no shortcuts or skipping through to beat the system.

And now it was time to start, as Jesse called it, the adventure. The seating in the Winding River cruise boat was two to a seat, with a total of ten bench-type seats. Jesse led the way. He stepped into the sixth bench seat, and Christy settled in next to him. She grabbed his arm as soon as she sat down. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes frozen, staring into the murky water ahead.

Ben and Rachel got into the seat behind Jesse and Christy. And now, no one was saying anything, not Jesse, Christy, Ben, or Rachel, or anyone else on this Winding River cruise.

Silence ruled as the boat driver spoke into the microphone, Everyone, for your own safety, please keep your hands and feet inside the boat. Have a nice and safe ride.

Jesse whispered to his friends, So what instructions did he give the guy they just fished out of the water? He wasn’t so safe, was he?

Chapter 2

Jesse’s senses were all on high alert. He wondered where the danger was on this ride. How did the person fall into the river, and why was he bleeding? He looked around as the boat left the dock. The first thing he noticed was that the boat was guided by a park employee, who stood at the front of the boat with a long staff. He used it to push away from the dock and to keep the boat floating in the slow-moving current. Although he was a park employee, he had no yellow on. Instead, he wore a uniform of brown shorts and a brown shirt with the park emblem USNAP on his chest. Jesse thought this might be another thing to pay attention to. Did these guys just run the rides or did they set people up to die?

Jesse’s edginess caused him to rock. He always had trouble sitting still. As he looked around, he saw that there were ten bench seats in the boat, each seat holding two people sitting side by side. The river looked about twenty feet wide and was bordered by lush vegetation. Jesse couldn’t tell at first if the flowers were real or artificial.

The boat floated lazily down the river for about twenty yards, and they came to a gate. Jesse thought out loud, Why is this gate here? But as they floated through the gate, he saw the fish, fish that appeared to have big teeth. The gate was keeping the fish penned in, so they were kept away from the dock.

One of the riders started to reach into the water to attract the fish. The park employee yelled, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.

It was then that Jesse realized the fish were piranha and that they do bite and were dangerous.

The gate was briefly opened as they moved through it, and now they were surrounded by fish, hungry fish, that seemed to be chomping at the surface of the water. Now Jesse knew why the teen they saw before was covered in blood when he was fished out of the river. He grimaced as he thought about someone partially eaten by these predators.

Christy was sitting on Jesse’s right side and still hung onto his arm tightly. Jesse saw that she was white as a ghost, her skin almost matching her white shorts and blonde hair. She was sweating and wiped her forehead with her right arm. Since it was still early in the day, the sweat was not from the temperature outside but from her nerves.

Jeepers creepers, Christy. Do you have to hold on so tight? You’re cutting off my circulation, said Jesse, trying to get Christy to let up a bit.

Jesse, I can’t help it. I just have to hang on to you. I can’t believe we’re going through this. Look at the fish. They’re so dang scary.

Jesse continued, Christy when was the last time you grabbed on to me like this? Usually, you try to avoid me, and here you’re almost in my lap.

Jesse, said Christy, I’ve always tried to avoid that black cloud that seems to follow you everywhere. But now, we’re all in the blackest cloud imaginable, and you’re my only light.

Meanwhile, Ben and Rachel in the seat behind Jesse and Christy also stared at the fish swimming around the boat. Ben said, I wonder if they feed these fish, or are we just dinner for them?

Rachel had also inched closer to Ben. Her shoulder-length dark brown hair shone with perspiration. Her brown eyes were glued to the water and the fish swimming around. She said, I’ve played sports all my life, played soccer and softball. I always had confidence in my physical abilities, but this takes the cake. I feel like I have no control over my own life.

Ben added, I’m in the same boat as you, Rachel. And then he chuckled at his own joke, Hey, sports came easily to me. I always seemed to have an advantage over people, not just in physical ability, but I was usually smart enough to outplay most of the people I played against. But this is a bit more than I’ve ever faced. I don’t feel like I can outplay these fish.

They were now a couple of minutes into the ride. Jesse realized that nothing had happened yet, so where is the peril on this ride? How did the guy they saw earlier fall out of the boat into the water? He started to look at the riders and all the seats in the boat to see if he could notice anything. Everyone’s hands were firmly in their laps. No one was reaching into the water or over the sides of the boat, and no one was talking, let alone laughing or having a good time.

Jesse said to Christy, Did you notice that there are no seat belts on the ride?

Christy just nodded and squeezed his arm even tighter.

The boat floated slowly down the river, twisting to the right and then the left around lots of bends. Jesse couldn’t see too far ahead because of the turns in the river. His mind ran at high speed, trying to figure out where the risk was, but nothing was evident. There were all types of wild flowers on each side. The scents were perfume-like. Jesse figured they must be real.

So far, the guide at the front of the boat had not said anything since