Menace: A Dystopian Fantasy Novel

By Karol Lynne

In a world ravaged by pure madness, can the bond of brotherhood endure the apocalypse?

Welcome to 2099, where America has descended into chaos under the sadisticrule of one man, plunging the continent into economic ruin and despair. Amidst this bleak landscape, Fabian Waters finds himself burdened with

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karol Lynne
• Release date: Dec 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9786090803448

Book preview

MENACE

© Karolis Jankauskas / Karol Lynne 2023

Cover designed by Karolis Jankauskas

Bibliographic information is available on the Lithuanian Integral Library Information System (LIBIS) portal ibiblioteka.lt

ISBN - 978-609-08-0344-8

Disclaimer: the characters and events in this book are fictional and not inspired by anybody or anything happening in the real world.

I dedicate this book to my mother, who would be happy to see me all grown up.

Also by Karol Lynne

The Dawn of Shadow

&

Dysphoria

MENACE

1. A PERFECT WORLD

Hegnore, America 2029

You don’t know what fear until soldiers, wearing eerie yellow smiley face masks, grab your little brother and take him away from you. It's a kind of fear that makes you scream and shout because you're so shocked and unable to move. You become paralyzed.

The government's soldiers barged into our apartment, which was in an old building covered in vines and, in an instant, they took my little brother away. Everything happened so fast, and all I could see were those soldiers with their creepy smiley face masks. They pulled him out through the front door, leaving me hurt and shattered in our now-broken kitchen.

Fabian! he screamed. Please, help me! he cried in his childish voice that hurt my heart even more.

I felt utterly powerless and overwhelmed, trapped in a horrifying nightmare. When they tore my little brother away from me, it only intensified my sense of helplessness, leaving me feeling hollow inside. Two of the intruders, driven by a cruel rage, turned their violence towards me, their fists pounding on my already exhausted body. They punched and kicked me, making me powerless.

Each hit landed heavily, causing extreme pain and leaving me in a daze. The world spun around me, and my brother's cries for mercy echoed through the broken halls just outside our apartment. In that moment, I almost wished they had taken our lives, instead. It seemed better than hiding in abandoned buildings, knowing our supplies would eventually run out, and we'd slowly fade away. Death might have been the only way to be with our parents, but who knew what awaited us after that.

What was the point of surviving in a world where so much was already lost? I couldn't say, but my instinct to survive pushed me to keep fighting, I was human, after all.

My tears mixed with blood as I lay battered and broken, my body covered in bruises, each mark a painful reminder of my failure to protect the one person I cared about most. Guilt gnawed at me, making me contemplate ending it all. I had one job, and I still managed to fail. No wonder it felt like the end of the world; we all seemed destined to falter and fade away eventually. Yet, I still yearned for success and freedom, and that desire was one of the things that kept me going.

Even though I couldn't save my little Zack, even though I let the government's men take him away, I vowed that it wouldn't be the end of our story. I promised myself that I would find him, no matter the cost. My determination to bring Zack back overshadowed any pain or sacrifice I might face. His life was worth more than my blood, sweat, and tears combined.

He was the only thing that kept me going and not ending my life.

I will save him, - I thought to myself.

It took a while for my body to start feeling a bit better. Summoning the last of my strength, I attempted to get up from the cold, blood-stained kitchen tiles. I failed miserably. My legs were nearly useless, and the bruises and damaged bones sent sharp pains through me, causing me to fall back down each time I tried to stand. I was left all mangled, with a fire inside of me.

A fire that vowed to reduce The Controlling Hands to ashes. They were exactly what they sounded like – the people in charge of our part of the world. That new government took over after the new leader of America came into power.

Things went downhill fast after the inauguration, and there was no turning back.

Somewhere deep inside me, I believed I could somehow fix all the chaos caused by this sadistic regime. It was a bold belief, but I didn’t care.

Our continent was already grappling with many problems. America had been isolated from any collaborative efforts with other continent leaders. They were all trying to find common solutions for global economic concerns and other issues. Each leader was trying to help everyone on the planet, while our new leader, Menford Haigh, was only interested in getting money for himself. He showed the world just what kind of selfish person he was.

Because of him, we became the most polluted nation, all due to one man's self-serving interests. Zack and I had already suffered the immeasurable loss of our parents, their lives taken by the same people who tore us apart, who followed the sadistic leader's orders. Losing them was the first major blow to our downfall. We never could have imagined their deaths and absence. We felt their absence not just in our lives, but in our very souls. It was so hard to bear, at times I wanted to end my own life, but I couldn't do that to Zack – he was just a child, and he needed care.

I couldn't bear the thought of him enduring the horrors we witnessed, a dying world torn apart by our leader's insatiable greed. The Earth itself suffered under the weight of his actions, scars etched onto every ruined landscape and polluted river. Everything was destroyed. It was a dystopian nightmare, a reality where the cries of the innocent were drowned out by the noise of profit-driven machinery. It was, without a doubt, a world ruled by an arrogant man.

I couldn't bear the thought of my brother's fate, a future shaped by a sadistic man's twisted vision of a perfect world. I couldn't even begin to imagine what Zack was enduring, the pain he must have been in, and how many tears he shed. He was such a delicate soul, broken by the madness of our world. He didn't belong in this cruel place.

I longed for the world we used to know, and I was willing to do whatever it took to bring it back.

The haunting image of Zack being taken away by the soldiers filled my mind, shattering the fragile memory of his small, fragile form. In that moment of helplessness, the weight of failure pressed down on me, threatening to engulf me entirely. His cries echoed in the corridors of my soul, each one a painful stab at my heart.

Those screams stayed with me, a constant reminder of what I had to do.

Even though I had faltered, even though I had made mistakes, I still believed I had a chance to make things right. With each tear I shed, with every anxious beat of my heart, I steeled myself for the battles ahead.

I was ready to face the darkness, confront the monsters that plagued our world, and rewrite the story of our lives. I sought justice, and I was determined to find it, no matter what it was going to take.

I was going to find my little Zack, and nothing in the world would stop me from also saving the entire world.

***

Two days had gone by since my beloved brother was cruelly taken from me. The weight of the situation bore down on me, both mentally and physically. Despite the chaos that consumed the city, with tanks in the distance and planes roaring overhead, I knew I had no other option but to take action. Every step was excruciating, but I had to push through the pain and move quickly, gathering whatever few belongings I could salvage to evacuate as soon as possible.

I had been laying in my kitchen, powerless and exhausted. I tried sleeping, thinking about Zack - nothing made my body feel better.

I admired every detail of our apartment - the peach-colored wallpaper that was peeling off every wall, the picture frames laying on the floor, with the broken glass and photos that were on the ground. They belonged to a different family, who was definitely not alive anymore. All that was left of them were those remnants of their memories.

After a while, I finally tried to act.

Summoning all my strength, I managed to rise from the cold kitchen tiles, their chill seeping into my bruised and aching legs. The sharp pain shot through me, causing me to cry out in anguish. Yet, that physical pain paled in comparison to the ache in my heart.

Motherfucker, - I hissed after trying to stand up. My head immediately started spinning once I hit the ground again.

I was dehydrated and hungry, my body unable to function. I was a corpse, basically, but I didn’t want to give up and decided to rest for a few minutes before trying to get up again.

I took a deep breath and tried standing up. This time - successfully.

I walked over to the mattress where I let my brother sleep. The floor was my bed because I wanted Zack to be comfortable - he needed some happiness more than I did. I only wanted the best for him.

My hand trembled as I reached for the worn pocket knife, its blade rusty from neglect. I put on my black fingerless leather gloves, their well-worn texture offering a sense of protection and anonymity.

Looking around the room, I realized there was little else worth salvaging, especially since we had so little to begin with. In this harsh world, we had to keep moving to survive, and the abandoned apartment building we had taken refuge in was just a temporary stop. It was time for a change. I actually enjoyed changing my home nearly every day, I couldn’t stand to be in one place for eternity.

Together, my brother Zack and I searched every remaining apartment or any kind of shelter within the decaying city. The upper floors showed the signs of destruction, with walls falling apart and insides ravaged beyond recognition. Every surface was covered in moss and vines, growing over the remains of the past. We faced the desolation, only to find empty or ruined dwellings. It was on one of these eerie floors that we came across a tragic scene—two lifeless bodies, the remnants of a couple who couldn't bear the madness that had taken over the world. We saw a pistol by their bed and instantly understood what they had done to themselves.

With my things gathered, I put on my worn black leather trench coat, its inner fabric providing a small shield against the harsh reality outside. I pushed my long brown hair away from my tired face, revealing the marks of the struggle I had been through. Pain throbbed through my legs and ribs, a constant reminder of the suffering I endured.

A reminder that I couldn't save my brother.

Slowly, I made my way to the kitchen and turned on the tap. A weak stream of dark brown water trickled out. I cupped my hands under it, using it to clean the dried blood from my face, especially around my battered nose.

Those soldiers really did a number on me, they didn’t hold back.

I washed the blood off my face, mixing it with the murky water of the faucet. Clear water was a luxury at that point.

It was time to go, to leave this temporary safe haven behind. With my meager belongings in hand and my wounds still aching, I prepared myself for what awaited outside. The world out there was filled with danger and uncertainty, but it also held the promise of answers, and maybe even redemption. It was time to step into the unknown, to face the dangers head-on, as I pledged to find my brother.

It was time to confront what remained of Hegnore, the city we were stuck in. It sat in the middle of America, not South, not North, just America. The leader combined them all into one, thinking it would simplify things. It might be simpler for a toddler, which, in our case, was a great description of our leader - a childish man.

Hegnore was in shambles, overgrown and desolate. Dead, to say the least. No one could explain why nature started flourishing once humanity met its downfall. It was beautiful in a way, the nature blooming.

Stepping out of my temporary refuge, I cautiously entered the dimly lit corridor, senses on high alert, heart pounding in my chest. The air hung heavy with an unsettling silence, only broken by the distant