Project L-137

Chapter 1

Ever since disease took over the United States, the economy spiraled completely downhill. All schools are closed now for safety reasons but before, there were a few schools open. Other countries didn't want to come near us because, as fate was not in our favor, the diseases were contagious. This all started when I was about 5 years old and when Jared was just born. My parents were naturally concerned for him since he was a newborn. He was one of the age groups that were at risk just like when any other disease showed up. The other age group was older people starting from the mid-'60s to the early '70s. So I'm in the fairly safe range.

With all the other diseases flaring up, a fairly new disease came with the mix. We called it The Lightning Disease. But scientists called it project L-137. The Lightning Disease was an illness that made your bones so brittle that someone can push you and probably break your arm. With the disease came weak immune systems. Then your blood started to get toxic and poisoned your organs to cause organ failure. We called the people that got infected, Toxins.

Then there were people like me. Scientists call us L-12's but normal people call us The Pure. The Pure are experiments that scientists test with a specific vaccine. Their testing range is about 12 years-old to 17 years-old now but before, they started at 6 years-old and went up to 12-years old. The vaccine enhances your immune system and makes your bones so strong that it's hard to break them. Before the age range, they tested on adults but all of their adult subjects failed. They tried different ages and found the best results in kids starting to transition into teenagers. Before, it did come with some side-effects. The vaccine either heightened your sight, hearing, or sense of smell. Some kids got one, a rare few got two out of the three or got all three. But some kids got overwhelmed with the side-effects and the vaccine and we call them The Fallen. I've never known what it feels like when the vaccine doesn't work. All I know is that the vaccine is what caused 90% of the kids in the United States to die.

Some people think that The Pure is something that can get them money. There have been a few gangs ever since this whole thing started. They usually find girls and sex traffic them and if they escape then they usually hunt the rest of their family and kill them.

The Pure earn them a lot of money whether be a guy or a girl but I never understood why. Maybe it was because they could handle tough clients when it came to them. The WildFires is one of the biggest and scariest gangs in the U.S. They capture any kid that they can find and beat them until they can't take it.

"Amber?" my dad shouts from downstairs

"Yeah Dad?" I respond

He takes a moment and I hear him shout, "Have you seen Jared anywhere?"

"No, why?" I said

"Because there's a patrol car in the neighborhood looking for kids and I don't want him outside," he said in a little worried tone.

As an instinct I looked outside my window, staring right at the patrol car. Sometimes there are cops that look for kids to take to a lab so they can get the vaccine or be part of the experiment to find the cure for the lightning disease. The whole point of the vaccine is to find as many Pures as possible but for the past 10 years, researchers haven't found a single thing for the cure. Some parents are terrified about their kids being taken away and they sometimes move away or fake their kid's death making them look like The Fallen, so there is no record of them being alive. And some parents give their kids up for the experiment.

"I think Jared is in the backyard reading in the treehouse," I said

I hear the back door close with a loud bang. Once I heard that I went downstairs to get started on dinner since dad isn't the best at cooking. Considering that mom is⎼well, was the cook of the house, dad never learned how to not burn the food. So for the past 8 months, I have been cooking every day.