Genesis Lost - Books 1 - 6 Read online

  Genesis Lost

  Books 1 - 6

  V. K. Ludwig

  Copyright © 2019 by V. K. Ludwig

  www.vkludwig.com

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, locations, or any other element is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Warning: This book contains explicit sexual content, violent scenes, and topics that some readers may find disturbing.

  Contents

  Forsaken

  Shamed

  Stolen

  Broken

  Burned

  Bound

  Forsaken

  She's too much risk to be alive, but too precious to be killed.

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  Prologue

  Kenya learned how to read CAT the day her dad died. She put the sounds together over and over again until she got it right. Just like mom taught her, who now wailed over her dad’s limp body.

  “I told him to stay off the roads.” With each stomp uncle Jim placed, the fresh snow underneath his soles had less crunch to it. “That stubborn old mule. Who is stupid enough nowadays to lead a woman along the highway? Left alone two?”

  “She’s a child,” her mom hissed.

  “Not to them, she’s not.”

  His feet cramped the white powder into a compacted shine, slipping every now and then without losing balance. At the same time, his body rocked back and forth in a self-consoling manner.

  Kenya’s tummy churned, the acid licking the walls of her empty stomach. She knew better than to complain. If she did, all her mom and uncle Jim would offer was a branch to nibble on anyway. A tough thing to do with teeth merely bigger than a grain of rice. Pretty useless at curbing hunger too!

  Uncle Jim placed his hand onto her mother’s shoulder, adding head shakes to the constant back and forth of his torso. “We gotta go, Lynn. We gotta go. If they heard the shots they sure as hell sent more men, and we can join him in his cold grave. And that’s only if we’re lucky.”

  “We can’t find the path to the Clan with this snow. He was the only one who’s been there.” Her blood-stained hand waved at the endless blanket of white.

  Kenya held the book up, her pride letting her grow at least to forty inches. “Look mommy, cat.”

  Her mom struggled a smile on her blotchy face, the nose crimson from the frigid breeze. “Yes, dear. Cat.”

  “Your husband was a brave man, but he was a fool.” Uncle Jim’s roaring voice made no attempt at hiding the facts from Kenya. “It’s just another cluster of hundreds of men with a handful of women. If you believe you’re gonna be safe there, you’re a bigger fool than he was.”

  “They guaranteed him they protect the women.”

  He hit his fist against his forehead. “And for how long you think that’s gonna be? Huh? Chieftains die faster than mayflies lately. Those savages swallow one Clan after another like grits with hot butter, trying to get their hands on whatever females are left. There’s only one safe place for you two.”

  “Not the Districts. I said it before, and I’ll repeat it.” Her mother’s voice came down like a fist on a table. “All his life he fought against their oppression, Jim. They robbed people of their God-given right to procreate. And for what? All for the sake of manipulating nature. It’s like a human farm for selective breeding. They won’t take my body and use me like a broodmare.”

  He leaped at Kenya’s mother, his purple fingers digging deep into her ragged coat. “At least you will have a body, and it’s not gonna be raped bloody twenty times a day.”

  Panic rolled up in Kenya’s throat, and her eyes darted around. For what she had no idea. Her dad wasn’t here to help anymore, that much she understood. She had seen more people die than she could count, and she counted pretty far for her age. Her mom always said she had a thing for numbers.

  For words, too. Savage. Rape. She didn’t understand the meaning, but she felt the sharpness of them as her tongue turned and twisted them.

  “Mommy, I have to pee.” Kenya knew now wasn’t a good time. But she also knew that nobody could scavenge her another pair of pants out here if she got it wet. “I can go by myself.”

  Her mom ran over to her, throwing herself onto her knees. Snowflakes twirled into the air, a few of them landing on Kenya’s cheeks. Their touch sent shivers down her spine.

  “You never go anywhere alone, do you hear me?” Her mom’s voice shook like an earthquake. A rumbling so intense, the acid in Kenya’s stomach now bubbled. “Remember what daddy said, okay? Nothing keeps you safer than love. Always have a man by your side that you trust, Kenya, and the more he loves you, the safer you’ll be.”

  Kenya nodded. Not because she understood the lesson, but because she recognized her mom needed that nod.

  “I heard they’re talking about building a wall. All the way down to the ocean on both sides. Lynn, listen… I can’t protect you.” He held up half an arm, the jacket sleeve tied in a knot around the stump. “I don’t understand why you have to fight this. What’s the difference to the birth control women used before the collapse?”

  Kenya’s mom looked over her shoulder. “The difference is that I won’t have a choice. They’ll rob me of what makes me a woman.”

  “And the Clans will rob you of everything else, making good use of the fact you’re a woman.” Uncle Jim walked over to Kenya and picked her up. “I’m not saying he lied to you. He wouldn’t have taken you to a place that isn’t safe. All I’m saying is that safety doesn’t last out here.”

  He waited on a reaction, but none came.

  “People say the libido inhibitor in their water affects both men and women,” he went on. “None of their males would harm you.”

  The trembling lips of her mother released a huff into the air, rising visibly toward the blue sky. “It’s ridiculous. What kind of men are they?”

  “Men who won’t hurt Kenya,” uncle Jim answered and carried her away to a nearby tree.

  Chapter 2

  Year 2091

  The Districts

  Kenya

  Books coughed up old dust each time the helpers added yet another to the stack, turning the air inside the library stale, dry and musty. The librarian swiped through the flickers of a holographic list, then pointed at the maroon, green and blue spines, each one of them worn down to their silver and gold imprints.

  Esther sat across from me, rubbing the six-pointed star of her necklace between her fingertips, and watched how the two helpers complied with each stab of the librarian’s finger. They pulled them from their shelves and dropped them onto the cart.

  Bam!

  More dust whirled into the room.

  The stacks grew taller at each of my heartbeats, swaying if they carried more than eleven.

  Esther pressed against the chair and shrank by a few inches, the backrest now over-towering her as if she was a toddler. “Guess coming here wasn’t the best idea, considering it’s just as loud as it was at home.”

  I grabbed one of the history books in front of me and flipped through the yellow-edged pages until I found Twenty-First Century written in big, bold letters. “Let’s go through some of the questions again and call it a day.” r />
  She gave a nod, her gaze still following the turmoil between the shelves of the theology section.

  “The clansman will definitely mention the water,” I said, while I turned the book and pointed at the chart. “Don’t let him drag you into an argument about how the old government killed most of the female population during the first water trial, got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “It’s a mistake of the past, and the council has long replaced the old government. Tell him research shows the water is safe for everyone to drink now, and the health and well-being of the people of the Districts is —”

  “Of the utmost importance to the council.”

  “Don’t say utmost. We talked about that.” I tapped my palm against the table until she turned to look at me. “That guy might be the son of a chieftain, but that doesn’t make him any less of a brute. Stick to simple words.”

  Esther clutched her arms around her stomach, her complexion paler than the faded paper between us. “I hate my mom for suggesting me as a volunteer. You would have made a much better mediator.”

  I let out a scoff. “Yeah, right. A mediator is supposed to be somewhat neutral and unbiased. I’m neither. And once the time comes to cast votes, I’m sure as hell going to vote against merging the Clans with the Districts.”

  “Sh!” She glanced over her shoulder, but the librarian and her helpers had already pushed the cart a few feet down the aisle. “Don’t say that word out loud.”

  “Which one? Hell?”

  “Shut up, Kenya!” Another glance across her shoulder. Another few inches cut off her posture. She shrunk even deeper into the chair. “The last thing I need for my family is more attention.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not religious.”

  “Good. Now don’t make them believe otherwise.”

  She stared at me from furrowed brows for a moment, closed the book between us, and put it back onto the stack. “I’ll borrow these and read through them again tonight, that way—”

  The ground underneath us shook.

  It couldn’t have lasted longer than four seconds, but I watched each one of them unfold in slow-motion. Book piles came crashing down in several thump, thump, thumps. The table danced on its legs, bucking against the palm of my hand. Voices around me shrieked. My entire body vibrated, and a knot formed at the bottom of my stomach.

  Esther fumbled through the books, stacking them back into a pile with frantic movements. “They’re becoming more frequent. Let’s get out of here before they ask us to help to clean up this mess.”

  We divided the books between our backpacks and hurried out of the library and onto the streets, where people stood gathered in small groups. Some of their limbs still trembled like after-quakes, and their voices carried tension. Fear, even.

  Not sure what scared the people more. That not even the council knew where the earthquakes came from, or that venturing out to investigate was too dangerous. Courtesy of the Clans, of course.

  Esther and I hurried down the four blocks in silence. We watched how construction workers assessed the cracks in the concrete of new buildings and marked some old brick ones with a large x for demolition.

  When we turned into the driveway of Esther’s family home, we were greeted by the clang of metal hitting against metal. Now and then, the muffled clack of wood joined the chorus. On our way to the three-bay garage in the back, the reason for the noise revealed itself.

  Esther’s mom had tossed family heirlooms into a bottomless pit. Two shovels stood at rest at each side of the hole, their rusted bottoms resting halfway into the soil. Cobwebs clung to her tight hair updo. A fine mist of sweat lay on her forehead, making the occasional stray hair stick to her skin.

  She hurried up to us and squared herself in front of me as if her narrow shoulders might somehow hide that huge grave behind her. “You guys didn’t study for very long. Did the earthquake shut down the library?”

  “We left before they would ask us to help put the books back into the shelves,” Esther said, and paused for a moment before she continued, her voice now very quiet. Almost a whisper. “They were going through the… um… the theology section.”

  Esther’s mom gave a sharp nod, and that bit of information her daughter had shared, as irrelevant as it seemed, somehow cooled the air of the backyard by several degrees.

  “How about you go up, and I’ll bring some leftovers once dad and I finished here?”

  “Whatever.” Esther hooked her arm into mine and pulled me toward the staircase at the side of the garage, which led us to the apartment she had moved into two years ago.

  Once inside, she threw her backpack onto her white leather couch and walked over to her small kitchenette. She grabbed a red can from the mini-fridge, opened it with a hiss, and handed it to me after she had taken the first sip. “Want some?”

  “Wow, what are we celebrating?” I took the can and placed the rim against my mouth, letting the carbonation tickle my lips before I trickled the sweet treat onto my tongue. “Where did you find it?”

  “There’s a vending machine at the old church.”

  “I didn’t know churches had vending machines.”

  “They didn’t. Guess that’s why nobody ever cared to check.” She waved at the can and took another sip. “But there’s, like, a community building or something right beside it. That’s where the machine is. All the way down at the lowest level.”

  I walked over to the window and gazed down into the yard, where Esther’s mom and dad now tossed dirt on top of framed paintings, branched candlesticks in gold and silver along with an assortment of books and rolled-up scrolls.

  “Why are they doing this?” I asked.

  Esther gave a lazy, one-sided shrug. “They’re going nuts over a bunch of rumors.”

  “What rumors?”

  “Not sure exactly. Something about the council creating a district for those who still follow one of the Abrahamic religions. I say it’s bullshit, so I really just avoid talking to them about it.”

  “Hm,” was all I could muster.

  My mom had never spoken a word about religion with me when I was a kid. And yet, the way Esther’s parents shoveled that dirt without saying a word, their bodies tense and their fingers clasped around the handles, somehow sent a flutter into my guts. Not the exciting kind. The kind that leaves you feeling empty, as if your body knew something was about to happen, yet your brain couldn’t gather the facts fast enough to understand what it might be.

  I walked over to the couch and sat down, letting the leather cool my shoulders. “You sure you don’t wanna take the apartment at the community home? It’s right next to mine. Would be fun, don’t you agree? I bet it won’t stay empty for too much longer.”

  She gifted me a sincere smile. “Maybe once this is over. My mom already prepared the bedroom in the attic for the clansman since it has a small kitchen and a bathroom.”

  Clansman. The word alone pebbled my skin, and the thought of meeting one in person made panic crawl up my spine. “Just do me a favor and don’t show up with him at my place.”

  “It’s okay if you want to stay away until this is over. I understand. He’ll only be here for two months, or even less if they reach an agreement.” She gave me a look that had pity written all over it, then smoothed her voice into something gentle. “But I think meeting him might help you get over what happened to your dad. You could regain trust.”

  “In a clansman?” I snarled as if someone had drenched the word in poison. “Yeah, sure. The Clans are a bunch of back-ward thinking savages, who kill each other over who gets to rape the next woman. Do you really want those men to live here? I don’t believe they’re capable of controlling themselves… not even with the water.”

  “I meant more like… trust in humanity.”

  A knock on the door made us both swing around.

  Without another moment of hesitation, Esther’s mom stepped right in with two plates in her hands, her eyes somehow hollow-looking.

&nbs
p; “I’m sorry to interrupt your study session.” She gave me a tired smile and placed the plates with steamed sweet potato and chicken tenderloins on the coffee table. Then she walked up to her daughter, her fingers darting for the star around Esther’s neck.

  The piece of golden metal shoved around underneath the tremble of her fingertips. “Sweetie, it’s time. You know I wouldn’t ask unless there’s no other way.”

  “But it was grandma’s!”

  “And if she were still with us she would want you to give it up.” She glanced over her shoulder as if she had remembered I was there too, driving heat to my cheeks though I didn’t understand why.

  She lowered her voice. “It’s not safe anymore for you to wear it. We have to get rid of it. Along with everything else. You hear me? Every thing!”

  Silence.

  Esther didn’t say another word. Only rolled her eyes, turned around and lifted her blonde hair, waiting until her mother removed the necklace she had worn for the past eight years.

  After that, her mother turned to me once more, letting the jewelry slip into the depth of her jeans pocket. “Kenya, we appreciate how you take the time to help her out. This is Esther’s opportunity to shine, you know.” She scoffed as if whatever else she had wanted to say got stuck in her throat. Then she swallowed. Hard. “I’m surprised your mom didn’t want you to volunteer as a mediator. Especially for someone with your… qualifications.”

  “Mom,” Esther hissed.

  “It’s okay,” I lied, forcing a smile onto my face that strained the corners of my mouth. “Everyone knows my dad was a clansman. Not sure if that makes me more qualified though, considering he died fighting off another clansman who tried to rape my mother.”