Aaru

By Yash Mehta

Aaru is a dark, suspenseful dystopian novel in which the main characters Annie and Diego seek survival and purpose in a dangerous and uncertain post-apocalyptic world. Following the apparent collapse of the power grid, bands of survivors have formed communities to manage resources and provide security. But how far would they go to stay alive? Annie and Diego, both coming to terms with the loss of their closest loved ones, are about to find out. As they make their way across a perilous, unpredictable landscape, they discover both their strengths and their limits—and must learn how to survive without losing their own humanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886930160

Yash Mehta

From high points to low points living in the U.S. and abroad, Yash Mehta learned what people value in life and what people will sacrifice to pursue their own forms of happiness. He worked as a cop for a few years and saw real evil for the first time, but he wasn’t scared of it. He witnessed people who were just trying to survive, and it showed him first-hand how fast a person can fall. Aaru reflects on his real-life experiences. Seeing up-close how different people survive hardships and how dangerous society is when tribalism rears its ugly head. His work peels back the curtain on mental challenges like depression, suicide, PTSD, and psychosis amidst a far-off future dystopian landscape. Is kindness a weakness or a strength?

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About the Author

From high points to low points living in the U.S. and abroad, Yash Mehta learned what people value in life and what people will sacrifice to pursue their own forms of happiness. He worked as a cop for a few years and saw real evil for the first time, but he wasn’t scared of it. He witnessed people who were just trying to survive, and it showed him first-hand how fast a person can fall. Aaru reflects on his real-life experiences. Seeing up-close how different people survive hardships and how dangerous society is when tribalism rears its ugly head. His work peels back the curtain on mental challenges like depression, suicide, PTSD, and psychosis amidst a far-off future dystopian landscape. Is kindness a weakness or a strength? 

Copyright Information ©

Yash Mehta 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Mehta, Yash

Aaru

ISBN 9798886930146 (Paperback)

ISBN 9798886930160 (ePub e-book)

ISBN 9798886930153 (Audio book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023905046

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC®

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

Austin Macauley, Elite Authors.

Chapter 1

Annie Grey woke up in a cold sweat. She could tell she was having a bad dream because she woke up with a sudden feeling of falling. Her heart was beating fast enough for her to feel it without putting her hand on her chest, but she couldn’t remember her dream.

It was the end of summer, but it seemed as though the days were getting hotter and hotter. She could feel the sweat sprinkled on her body. She threw her covers off.

Her bedroom window was at the foot of her bed, and the curtains were cracked just enough to let a little sunlight through. Today was her day to sleep in, but she was wide awake now and started to feel restless. She decided to get up and go in to work early. There wasn’t much else for her to do.

As she stood up from her bed, she looked across the room to see the empty bed parallel to hers on the other side. The covers and sheets were all unkempt. Her brother, Gabe, had already left for his daily duties and as usual had left his bed a mess after he woke up.

Annie went over to Gabe’s bed and made it for him. Something she’d become accustomed to doing.

After she finished, she started making hers. She could hear the other residents of the town moving about. Everyone was getting ready for the day and she had to get to work as well. The town had a little over sixty residents and everyone had a job to do, whether it was at night or in the daytime.

The jobs were assigned by Dr. Benjamin O’Shea, the unofficial mayor of the town. There was no doubt that he was the leader of the community. After all, he had secured the town when the blackout first happened and started finding survivors looking for safety. The town was well hidden in the woods of western Oregon but lacked a name. Dr. O’Shea had never taken the time it. His mind and energy were focused on more important things and after a while everyone just called it the Town.

She went to the bathroom and almost turned on the light switch in her drowsy state of mind, but then she remembered to turn on the lantern sitting on the back of the toilet because the generators were off. The town was powered by generators that used gasoline, but in the daytime, the generators were turned off to save the gas unless it was cold.

She took the bucket of well water sitting in the bathtub and turned to the mirror to brush her teeth. Annie was only twenty-four. She had very white skin, almost porcelain, and thick black hair, and a pretty face. Growing up, she had never really needed makeup to improve or hide anything. Her black hair went down to her shoulders, which was the length she liked; maintaining hair that grew past her upper back was another battle altogether. Her looks were a blessing and a curse, she always thought. A blessing because she never liked wearing makeup anyway, and a curse because no one in an apocalypse can groom themselves as much. It made her stick out in a crowd.

Despite her beauty, she never liked attention; if anything, she shied away from it. Anytime she had found herself in a situation where many different eyes were on her, she could almost feel them like flies landing on her skin.

She leaned into the mirror and focused on the little red spot in the corner of her right eye. It had been there for a couple of days. But the redness couldn’t overshadow the hazel color, which she’d inherited from her father. That was about the only physical thing she had gotten from him, because the rest of her complexion had come from her mother. Whenever she looked at her eyes, it reminded her of her parents. She missed them and tried not to think of them too much. If she did, she would lose herself in memories of them all day. Then at night she would have dreams about them and wake up crying, with a very sharp pain in her chest. Annie washed her hands and glanced at the scar on her wrist. A lasting reminder of her battle with her own demons. They almost took her life. She’d wanted to get a tattoo over it to cover it up but then everything went black. Since then, she couldn’t remember feeling depressed or suicidal, but part of her knew that that demon was hiding somewhere deep inside her.

Once she was done brushing and washing herself, she got dressed. Her wardrobe, like everyone else’s, was extremely limited. Most of her clothes were tattered and worn, with small rips. Shirts with pants were the attire for most. The only pants she had were a couple of pairs of jeans and slightly torn cargo pants. She was lucky if they got washed once a week. She had gotten more clothes since she and Gabe had been brought to the town a little over a year ago, but it was nothing close to how many different choices of outfits she’d had before the world ended.

Once she was ready, she stepped outside her room onto the motel walkway, which was on the second floor. As she stepped out, the sunlight blinded her. Annie raised her hand over her face to block it out as she rustled for her key in her pocket to lock her door.

When the sun was not blinding her, Annie could look out over the town. The motel was in the westernmost part of the town and where most of the residents stayed, except for Dr. O’Shea and a few of the founding members. To the north was the police station where Gabe worked, and to the east was the city hall building. The southern area of the town had the hospital, which was the tallest building. In between the four points were what used to be stores and small one-story houses. Those areas had all been converted into resource centers and were where most of the residents worked. Surrounding the town was a wall that was first built by Dr. O’Shea and his people when all the computers stopped working. The wall was built with scrap metal and even some old trucks and car parts. It was good for keeping unwanted people out, but Gabe would always say that anyone with heavy artillery, like a tank, could demolish the wall with ease.

Annie went down the motel walkway to the ground floor. As she walked to work, she could smell the humidity in the air and the wind brought the scent of the green forest surrounding the town. The forest was dense around the town, and it was full of wildlife. She loved that clean-air smell. When Annie and Gabe had first arrived in the town, all they could smell were the other residents. Clean water was scarce and was mostly used for drinking. So everyone had to limit how often they bathed. Even though some needed it more than others. After being here for more than a year, Annie had gotten used to it. No one smelled good anymore, and that was just the way life was now.

As Annie walked to her job station, people working and residing all waved and said good morning. Since the population was only a little over sixty people, everyone knew everyone, and all were polite and helpful. There were people from all walks of life there. Families, kids, old and young. It was always funny to Annie how it had taken a great tragedy to bring people from all corners of the world together.

Everyone had theories about why all the computers had shut down and how modern civilization had been thrown back into the Stone Age. The most accepted theory was that a massive electromagnetic pulse brought on by a solar flare was responsible. However, with no communications other than short-range radios, it was hard to know what was going on in the rest of the world or how this all happened. It was all anyone in the town would talk about whenever they got together.

Isolation is your friend. Those were the words Dr. O’Shea had told Annie and Gabe when he first brought them to the town.

Annie kept glancing at the walls as she walked. She knew the dangers of what was outside of the wall all too well. When the lights went out, she and Gabe had survived by themselves for a year. To her it was hell. They’d spent most of their days looking for food and safe places to sleep. Everyone was looting and stealing whatever they could get their hands on to survive. Cities had most of the resources, but they became the most dangerous places to be. Too many people fighting for what was left. It was a zombie apocalypse minus the zombies. During this time, Gabe injured his leg and now had a permanent limp. It was shortly after this injury that they were discovered by Dr. O’Shea and his people by a stroke of luck.

Annie always felt guilty about Gabe’s injury, and that’s why she never complained when she had to clean up after her big brother.

Gabe had been a cop and an avid hunter before the lights went out. Annie always credited him with keeping them alive that first year. Gabe was also untrusting of people. His demeanor toward people got worse when he became a cop. He became more paranoid and trusted individuals even less. In his house, he used to keep all the ceiling fans off at night. Even the heating and AC were never really used. He said he wanted to be able to hear if anyone was entering his house. This made it hard for him to maintain any relationships. As soon as any woman would sleep over and have to either roast or freeze in his house, that would be all she wrote.

His lack of trust didn’t extend to Dr. O’Shea, however. Gabe, along with the rest of residents, trusted the doctor, and Gabe had the same idea as O’Shea: they both believed that the best chance they had to survive was to focus on themselves and to avoid others because they couldn’t be trusted. That’s what made them go into the forest in the first place.

Annie was comfortable living in the town, but part of her wondered if maybe after two years the world might have found a way to reconnect, and all they had to do was go and see if there was any form of civilization left. Gabe would not hear it.

We have a good thing going here, Ann, he would always remind her. We’re lucky, and maybe someday things will go back to normal.

He would always try to comfort her when they would talk, but Annie knew he did not believe that. It had been two years. No help or military had come. No helicopters or planes passed in the sky. Annie knew the world had ended, and she accepted they had to just survive what was left of it.

Annie finally arrived at her job station, which used to be a food mart. An appropriate name because that was where they kept all the food and served it. Annie’s job was a food server. She and two others prepped and served all the meals for everyone. They would also keep track of food supply and ration it out accordingly.

Hey, May, Annie said as she entered the food mart.

May was behind the front counter to right of the front door. She was an older black lady with gray hair and was heavier, as strong as a bull, and a very precise worker. Annie always thought that May was the type of lady who could stare in the barrel of a gun and not flinch. May’s strength was matched only by her precision with her work. She used to be a cook in the army, and she oversaw the food mart. May was the best cook in the town. She could always make any meal taste delicious, even with a lack of ingredients. On days when all they served was canned food, May would do her best to make the food like a gourmet meal.

You’re here early, Ann. It was your day to sleep in, May said, surprised to see her.

It’s okay, Annie replied. I couldn’t go back to sleep after I woke up. Annie grabbed her apron from the coat rack behind the counter where May was.

More nightmares? Asked May as she was getting the canned foods out of the cabinets for breakfast.

I couldn’t remember this time, replied Annie. She started to help organize the cans that May put on the counter. It felt like I was falling, and when I hit the ground, I woke up. That ever happen to you?

No, said May, who was now getting the silverware out. I mostly have sex dreams, and I wake up screaming every time.

Annie burst out into laughter. She always enjoyed talking to May. She could be incredibly wise and at the same time had the maturity level of a teenage boy.

What’s so funny? Came a voice from the back of the food mart.

It was Charissa. She was walking toward the front of the food mart with a broom in her hands. She worked with May and Annie. The three of them maintained the food mart, but May had put Charissa in charge of keeping the food mart clean. Charissa was a little younger than Annie. She had dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Annie liked Charissa for the most part, although sometimes she found her to be lazy.

Nothing. May is just being a perv again, said Annie, shaking her head.

I guess she told you how she wakes up screaming most mornings, said Charissa with a smirk on her face.

Annie again could not contain her laughter.

First of all, I ain’t a perv, okay? Said May with a tone of sarcasm. Based on the men around here and my age, all I have are my fantasies.

That’s bullshit, May, said Annie. Whenever Phillip comes by, all you guys do is flirt.

More like May’s telling Phillip how she likes it. Too bad that dumbass is too stupid to notice, Charissa said with a sound of annoyance. Charissa put the broom down, acting like she had done a lot of work already.

Actually, I think he’s too shy, May said. She smiled when she said that and almost blushed a little.

That’s cute, May, said Annie as she noticed the look of desire on May’s face.

Yeah, it’s cute, but I just want to get laid already, replied May.

As the three women continued their work, Charissa finished wiping down the counters and approached Annie.

I thought you got to sleep in today. Why did you come in? She said to Annie.

Annie felt annoyed by the question. Not because Charissa was asking in a curious way, but because her tone had more of a territorial sound, as if Annie was intruding and shouldn’t be there.

I told May I couldn’t sleep. So I thought I’d come in and help, Annie replied, trying not to sound irritated.

Well, it would’ve been nice to know. In that case, you could’ve come in earlier and cleaned, and I could’ve slept, Charissa said with a half smirk and a slight tilt of her head. Annie turned to Charissa and was about to rip her a new one when May suddenly interjected in the conversation.

Hey! I forgot to tell you both something, she said, sensing the eruption that was about to happen. One of the patrols brought in fresh meat this morning. We can prep it today and serve it for dinner tomorrow night.

Annie stood there looking at Charissa and couldn’t remember why she liked her. May grabbed a lantern and came around the counter. She stepped in between the two women before leading them to the back of the store, where it was much darker. Annie shifted her focus on following May and tried to pretend Charissa wasn’t there.

Ever since Annie and Gabe had arrived in the town, Annie started to notice she had more pent-up rage. Charissa always took subtle jabs at Annie, and it made Annie want to slap her. This struck her as odd, as she wasn’t a violent person before and couldn’t understand where this anger was coming from. She told this to May once, and May’s advice was, Some people just have faces you want to punch, Ann. This made Annie feel better.

As the three of them walked to the back storage area, May turned the knob on the lantern for light. The back storage area didn’t have any windows and was almost pitch black even in the daytime. The only way to let light into the area was to open the back door, and no one had a key to that door except for May. The meat locker was right next to the back door but was used mostly for dry goods. It was hard to maintain fresh meat for more than a day or two.

Why don’t you just open the back door instead of using the lantern? said Charissa as they continued to walk.

Oh, hush, said May. It’ll be more fun this way. Like a mystery. plus, I want to surprise the town. They haven’t had this kind of meat before, and I don’t want anyone who’s walking by the back door to see. The only ones who know about it are the ones who shot it.

What kind of meat is it? asked Annie as the three of them stood in front of the meat locker door.

You’ll see, said May as she got out her keys. Just don’t scream.

Why would we scream? said Charissa with a careless tone.

As May opened the door, she still had the lantern in one hand. A large figure with claws was hanging from the meat hooks. Charissa yelled in a high-pitched squeal and fell back onto her ass in the front of the door.

Aaaahhhh! she cried.

Annie was startled by the figure and could feel her chest tense up in fear, but she remained motionless. She recognized immediately that it was a big bear hanging from the meat hooks.

I told your dumb ass not to scream! said May. She turned around and saw Charissa on the floor. May clearly was trying to hold back her laughter.

Annie stood there and kept looking at the dangling dead bear. She didn’t react to Charissa’s scream and fall. She knew if she turned around and saw Charissa on the floor, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from mocking her. Annie felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that Charissa was scared to death for a moment, and her falling was even better. She knew it was petty, but she didn’t care. It was petty moments like this that Annie reaffirmed her belief in God, and she reveled in them.

As quickly as Annie’s delight had surfaced, it was diminished as banging started from the other side of the back door, startling all three of them.

Everything okay in there? yelled the voice.

Oh, Jesus, sighed May. This is why I told you not to scream. Now the whole fucking town is gonna come runnin’.

As she was scolding Charissa, she helped her off the floor. Charissa hadn’t said a word and was visibly shaken and embarrassed when she stood up. Annie turned around and met Charissa’s eyes with a smug smile on her face. She walked past her and went to open the back door.

Here, Ann, said May as she threw her the keys.

Annie caught them and yelled to the voice on the other side of the door, Stop banging on the door, I’m opening it!

Annie didn’t want to open the door, because she recognized the voice on the other side. She would almost rather hear Charissa’s voice all day than see whom she was about to see. Annie opened the door, and the back area lit up. She saw who was standing there and addressed them.

We’re fine, Presley, said Annie with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

She walked back from the door a bit as a man wearing camo pants and a black shirt, with a rifle slung across his chest, entered. He had a tense look on his face, and his body language suggested he was ready for a fight.

I heard a scream, he said in his slightly Southern accent, ignoring what Annie had just told him. Presley noticed Charissa, who still had a shaken and embarrassed look on her face.

We’re fine, Rambo, you can put your dick away, said May, who had her hands on her hips. Girl just got startled is all. Presley’s look and demeanor turned from ready to agitated, as he wasn’t too fond of May’s jab at him. He turned to Annie, who was standing next to him and looking at him with her arms folded. He made eye contact with her, and a creepy smile came across his face. Behind her he could see the open meat locker and the bear hanging from the hooks.

Oh, I know what happened, he said, smiling back at Annie.

Annie, unamused, eyed him with her arms folded.

Yeah, and I said we were fine, but thanks for ignoring me, she uttered.

I’m sorry, Ms. Grey, I just heard a scream as I was walking by. I thought one of you ladies might be in danger, he said, trying to act noble.

Annie, still with her arms folded, walked away from Presley. She went toward where Charissa and May stood. She knew Presley had a thing for her, but she didn’t have any desires like that toward him. Whenever Annie had had any minor difficulties after she arrived in the town, Presley was always on her heels, sticking his nose into her business. At first, she took it as very helpful and lighthearted. But after being in the town for a year, she knew Presley was just a creep and couldn’t take a hint. She started to avoid him whenever possible. Yet he would still find a way to exchange words with her. He also called her Ms. Grey, which bothered her the most.

Charissa, on the other hand, hadn’t taken her eyes off Presley since he walked in. While Annie found Presley’s advances irritating, Charissa yearned for them. She’d had her eyes on Presley since she first met him, and she was jealous of the attention Presley gave Annie.

Presley was by no means unattractive. He was taller than most of the men in the town. He had blue eyes and blond hair. He spent most of his time outside of the town, gathering supplies and hunting, making his skin a golden