Tubes of liquid poked out from Ima’s arms like tentacles, each one connected to her nervous system, but at the same time, not. Ima sat up with a start—the unfamiliar room stared back at her menacingly, its white walls stained with patches of green and yellow like something moldy lurked underneath a shoddy paint job. As the walls inched slowly toward her, the thinly disguised rot stunk up the air, clinging to Ima’s hair and the undersides of her nails.
She struggled to move, but the sheets wrapped around her tightly, holding her in place like a straightjacket. Out the window, a rush of violent water rose above the ground line past the window sill. Six white flags hoisted on large red buoys floated toward Ima’s window, crashing into it one by one. The sixth buoy hit the window with a thick cracking sound and flecks of glass flew from the smashed section.
The window chipped away little by little and the ocean sprayed through, overtaking it. Ima struggled free from her sheets just as the window burst under the strain of water. She ran into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind her.
Empty door frames lined the hallway for as far as she could see. A stream of water leaked into the hallway from her room and soaked into the blood red carpeting. “Vaughn!” she screamed.
But Vaughn didn’t come to her rescue, not this time.
Ima realized Nahum was probably in one of the rooms, finishing his surgery. “Nahum!” She ran to the first doorway and looked in. It was empty, except for a king-sized bed with a huge fluffy white comforter. The room that the second doorway led to was empty as well, aside from a full-sized bed with a thin, silk comforter. Water inched up along the hallway walls as she ran from room to room. In every room she found the same thing—an empty bed dressed in unique sheets and comforters—big puffy downs, knit blankets with holes in them, thin hand-crafted quilts.
Just when she was about to give up, Nahum sprung from one of the rooms, grabbing her hand. “Replicators!” he shouted, and they ran down the hallway, wading through water that had risen several inches up the walls.
Ima felt an abrupt tug on her arm and looked back. One of the replications grabbed Nahum, pointing a laser to his temple. Ima stood paralyzed—she couldn’t move her feet, her hands, her head. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She reached out to Nahum as he struggled with the replicators that overtook him. The first rep activated his laser and his face went blank. The replicators disappeared and he fell face first into the water.
Ima screamed and ran toward him. When she flipped over his lifeless, floating body, she didn’t find Nahum at all—instead, she found Dash, dead and lifeless. This was too much for her—she cried out, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“No,” she whispered. “No, please no.”
She reached out to stroke Dash’s face, but her flesh hand had been replaced by sharp metal claws. Dash’s forehead dripped with blood where she touched him. The blood soaked into his pale blonde bangs.
She pulled back the sleeve of her hospital robe and gasped. Thick casting tubes wound together, shiny and hard, to form her arm. She looked up and caught a glimpse of herself in a hallway mirror—an alloy skull reflected back, with two bright red mechanical eyes blinking at her.
Ima screamed before losing consciousness, drifting into pure black.
Note from the Author: This book is the first in the Socialpunk Trilogy. It's available for free in ebook format via all major retailers, including Amazon, B&N, iTunes, Kobo, and Smashwords. The second and third books in the trilogy will not be posted on Wattpad, but you can get information about them via http://monicaleonelle.com/free-novels/
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Socialpunk (Socialpunk #1)
Teen Fiction"This book would be good for those that enjoyed the Hunger Games!” ~ Cover 2 Cover Blog "When I read the first page, I did not anticipate that I would be finishing the book that night, but I did. I had to. I didn’t care that I was up until 3:00AM."...
