Early Transition

By Tom Schneider

In a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, two siblings struggle to survive as they search for their lost sister.

 

"THE FAMILY DYNAMIC MAKES THIS STORY AS POWERFUL AS CORMAC MCCARTHY AT MOMENTS AND THE BRUTAL REALISM OF THE PROSE IS BLEAK BUT IMPACTFUL. A TIMELY, TROUBLING, AND MEMORABLE NOVEL." - SP Review

 

Henry, Eva and Layla get left alone in a dark, desolate, and dangerous world after the power grid goes down, with only their father's last words to guide them.

 

Eva gets taken in a roundup and confronts greater threats than she ever imagined, while Henry and Layla search for her and face their own peril.

 

Up against a hostile reality and mysterious forces from beyond this world, they fight to stay together and live.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Schneider
• Release date: Jun 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223064206

Book preview

Chapter One

Henry moved the makeshift cardboard barrier and ducked into the crawlspace. He shook Layla, sleeping in the trash pile. She swung at him, and her long nails scratched his face. 

Damn it, Layla! We have to go. It’s nighttime, he said.

Sorry, I hate the dark, she said. 

It’s safer than during the day, he said. 

She stared up at him and paused before asking, Henry, what do you wish for?

To get your ass moving and get out of here.

But really. I mean, I wish we could find Evie.

He sat down on the ground beside her. Yeah, me too, he said. I wish we could go back in time before all this and somehow stop it.

Yeah, and find whoever did this and beat their asses, Layla said.

Ha, yeah. C’mon, we have to go. 

She pulled out a little silver alien head she carried, gave it a kiss for good luck, pushed it back into the tight front pocket of her jeans, and got up.

You have everything? he asked. 

She picked up her slingshot and put it in her back pocket. Can’t forget that, she thought. That thing was no toy. She took out a squirrel with it in one shot a week ago. She hated doing it. It made her cry, but they were starving and she knew you could eat them. A smile lit up her face as she recalled her dad saying, squirrel brains make you smart. She made Henry clean it and cook it and thought it didn’t taste that bad.

She made sure she had her blanket (what was left of it) and her stuffed dinosaur, jammed them into her backpack and swung it over her shoulder. 

Yeah, but I’m hungry, she said.

Me too. We’ll find something. There’s nothing here, so let’s go.

They crawled out from under the building and Henry put the cardboard barrier back the way he had it. Together, they walked down the street, past abandoned houses and businesses lining what looked like an old downtown suburban main street.

Henry looked up at the moon with the smoky white trail streaking across the sky beside it. The lines were more crooked than usual. The winds were picking up, again. Dust and gravel whipped across his face and a speck hit his eye. He cursed the wind, rubbed his eye, and wondered what they were spraying. He wondered if it was what caused so many people to die, clutching their chests like he watched his dad do a few weeks after everything went dark. Maybe it’s the reason for the dreary weather since then. Was someone doing all this on purpose? He couldn’t really remember how things looked before. Besides the wind and nearly constant haze. He thought the sky was brighter and bluer before, but he wasn’t sure. He never spent that much time staring at it. It was always just there. Like everything else. Now it was mostly just gray and dark.

It was best to travel at night. If they would ever make it north, it was time to get moving again. They would make it eventually or die trying. Live free or die. That was one of those things his dad would say. And it was on the only thing he had to read. The one book he carried. More of a booklet than a book. He would have loved it to be called a book back when he had school. Back then, he didn’t have time to read. He was too busy with video games. Being a sniper, killing the enemy, zombies, or aliens. But there was none of that now. Just hiding during the days and trying to get north at night. To the mountains, where they might get away and find others.

Chapter Two

The flashing red light overhead turned to solid green again. It was coming again. She almost liked the sweet smell, reminding her of candy or something she used to have. She thought it couldn’t be good for her. Everyone seemed a little strange since she got there. Kind of out of it, and she felt that way, too. The hiss began, and she quickly buried her face in the rough crinkly sheet under a corner of the hard foam pillow, waiting for it to stop.

When morning came, she just lay there, thinking about the times before all this started. Remembering laughing with her sister. And thinking of the silly arguments she used to have with her brother. She wondered where they were and wished she was still with them, as tears slid down her face.

She remembered her friend Ciela and the morning when she woke up early. She left Henry and Layla sleeping in the bedroom they were all sharing. All three were in the bed their dad used to sleep in. She woke up and went downstairs and sat staring at the blank TV that she used to sit in front of in mornings playing on her phone. Their phones stopped working long ago. They lasted only a week after the power went out. Back when they were still living off of cereal and Spaghettios. At first, they charged the phones in their dad’s truck, but once they were out of gas, it didn’t last long.

She recalled peeking out the window when she heard the truck rumbling down the street. It stopped in front of her house and she could see Ciela sitting on the back of the truck with her mom. She was eating what looked like a loaf of French bread. Ciela, she yelled out, before quickly slamming her hand against her mouth and looking around. She was so hungry, she thought. She tiptoed up the steps and looked in at her brother and sister. They were still sound asleep. She ran back down the stairs and slowly opened the door. She ran outside and over to the side of the truck. 

Ciela! Hi, where are you going? Do you have any extra bread?

Hey, you! Girl! a soldier yelled.

She tried to run away, but he grabbed her arm and swung her around.

NO! she yelled.

The soldier dragged her to the other side of the truck. He lifted her to another guy in uniform, who pulled her inside the truck and closed the door. She wanted to scream for her brother, but she knew it was too late and she’d only give them away if she did. The tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

In the tent, people were stirring. She wiped her tears and some spit from the corner of her mouth. The sweetness was still on the sheet from the night before. The buzzer blared again, like it has every morning. She shuddered, sat up, and shook her whole body, as if to shake off the memories and loss.

Chapter Three

Henry and Layla were between towns, without many attractions along the road. They passed an abandoned house here and there with the typical spray paint markings showing that there were bodies there or that someone has searched it, or something. It didn’t matter; they tried to avoid going into abandoned houses. Scavengers had emptied them of anything edible by now. Plus, a man from their town warned them of booby-trapped homes and you never knew if there would be someone waiting inside. 

Other than the random house, it was a wooded stretch, though there were train tracks running parallel to the road just thirty feet away. Henry knew the tracks would be safer, but the area seemed deserted and they could make better time on the road.

Now and then, he would take the scope out of his backpack and look ahead and behind. There usually wasn’t much to see. It wasn’t really a night scope or anything, so it was mainly just to make sure no lights were coming toward them.

How do you even know what way we’re going? Layla asked.

Cause, I told you, I saw where the sun went down. If we keep the sunsets on the left, then we’ll keep going north.

Remember these things, Layla. I might not always be here to look after you. You have to know what to do.

It doesn’t even matter. Everywhere we go, it’s the same. They’re just gonna get us eventually, anyway, she said.

No, it’s not! Don’t talk that way. It’s different if we get far enough north. That’s what Dad said. If we get to the mountains, people have guns and can fight back. And if we get caught, maybe then we’ll find Evie… He said we just have to get past the cities, up to where the billboards stop and there are no street lights.

Duh, there’re no lights anywhere, she reminded him.

You know what I mean, midget! Shut up now. I hear something.

Something was coming closer. It was getting louder. It sounded like a motorcycle. Henry grabbed his scope and looked, then grabbed Layla by the arm and pulled her off the road, toward the tracks, through the high weeds.

C’mon, we gotta hide, he said.

They pushed through the weeds and quickly went across the tracks into the woods.

It was a motorcycle. Whoever it was must have seen them when they crossed the clearing of the tracks, because the bike came to a screeching stop just about where they turned in. It just stopped there and kept idling. The rider was still on the bike looking in their direction.

Hey there, kids! It’s okay, I’m not a cannibal. I’m a good guy.

Maybe we should go?! Layla whispered.

No! We can’t trust him. He’ll just steal our stuff and maybe kill us.

Layla got up like she would run to him, but her brother quickly grabbed her backpack and pulled her to the ground.

C’mon, it’s not safe out here alone, the rider yelled.

Fine. I’ll leave something here for you. Stay safe, he said.

He pulled something from his saddlebag and placed it on the edge of the road. He revved the engine and spun his back tire in the sand and was off, riding away.

Henry made them stay there and wait for what seemed like an eternity to Layla. She was dying to see what he had left them. Henry was afraid it was a trap. He took his scope and made Layla stay where she was while he went closer. He made his way to where the motorcycle was and found an un-opened can of baked beans sitting there. Bingo, he thought. As he was bending to pick up the can, he felt a rumbling. Something else was coming. Something big. He put the scope to his eye and looked ahead and then behind. This time, it was a truck. One with a lot of headlights. He grabbed the can and ran toward where he left Layla.

He jumped, slid down beside her in the gravel, grabbed his pack, unzipped it, and dropped the can in.

What was it? she asked.

A truck or something is coming. We gotta go.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her as they ran deeper into the woods.

It was a truck. A big one. There were soldiers in the back and it had high-beam police lights off the sides shining into the woods. It was moving fast, but they were searching for something or someone. Henry figured they were looking for the biker. The truck slowed down near where they left the road. It came to a stop and one guy got out and looked along the side of the road. The men were talking to each other, but Henry couldn’t make out what they were saying. One pointed down at the side of the road, yelled something to the guy inside, and jumped back in the truck. They sped down the road.

---

Henry and Layla stopped and rested on two big rocks near a creek.

So, what was it? Layla asked again.

What?

What the guy left?

Oh, yeah!

Henry pulled his knife out of his belt. He opened his pack and pulled the can from it deep inside.

A can of beans! The good kind. Like we used to get at home.

Really? Can I have some? Can we eat it now?

Yeah…, once I get it opened.

He used a rock to bang the blade through the top, and after a few cuts, he had enough of the lid opened. He bent it under with the blade so they could drink the beans out and scoop them with the knife. They took turns. It was the first thing they ate in more than a day.

After finishing it, they felt full, tired, and cold. They decided to just rest a while. They pulled out their dirty blankets and huddled together against a boulder they were sitting on. The beans had done them well. Layla didn’t wake up through the night, like she usually did. The sound of rustling leaves left her alone and she didn’t have nightmares.

When they woke up, it was already daylight. There was no point staying there, so they started back on their trek. The cover of the trees would take the place of the night as their protector today. The walk was slower through the woods, but they didn’t want to risk being exposed on the street in the daylight. A passing drone along the road would spell their end. Their scope was no help to spot drones. Especially the small ones.

They walked for hours before finding a house in the woods. It would be risky, but they were getting hungry, and their stomachs were grumbling again.

Layla hung back while Henry went close enough to throw some stones at the house to make sure no one was inside. If someone was, he would hustle back to her and they’d high-tail it out of there. Meeting strangers wasn’t in the plan. 

He crawled up to the edge of the clearing and waited, looking for any signs of movement. It seemed quiet. He wound up and