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    The Descent: The Cavern Series, #0
    The Descent: The Cavern Series, #0
    The Descent: The Cavern Series, #0
    Ebook61 pages55 minutes

    The Descent: The Cavern Series, #0

    By Apryl K.B. Lopez

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    About this ebook

    Sera has languished on her brother Mikah's military base for too long, feeling useless and focusing on her many regrets. Sure, she helps incoming refugees—the results of the ongoing Genetics War—but she was a lead diplomat for the Gen-Ens, or genetically enhanced humans. Then, Mikah decided he needed her close and unable to affect the war effort. Under Mikah's leadership, all attempts at peace have failed, and the Naturals—those untouched by genetic experiments—will invade within forty-eight hours.

    Now, Sera must try to save people outside the base, but her brother orders her to stay at headquarters. He demands she evacuate to an underground bunker he commissioned for his eventual Phase Two. Sera has always suspected this Phase Two might be nuclear in nature, so she is more determined than ever to save as many people as she can. With the help of her best friend James—who grew up as a Natural control in the experiments that produced the Gen-Ens—she escapes the base and searches the surrounding forest for traveling refugees.

    Once she finds a family to save, Sera and James need to get back to headquarters in one piece. Unfortunately, that proves more difficult than Sera originally planned, and she's soon faced with more regrets than she started with. Will Sera come to grips with her past—and forgive herself for all the people she's failed—or descend into the darkness of grief and remorse?


    This short novella is a prequel to The Cavern and will entertain readers of new adult fiction complete with action, adventure, and confronting personal regret. Young adult readers of The Cavern can read and enjoy The Descent. The main characters are in their mid-twenties, but most of the action, dialogue, and issues dealt with are written similarly to those in The Cavern.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherApryl K.B. Lopez
    Release dateOct 30, 2019
    ISBN9781393621690
    The Descent: The Cavern Series, #0

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      Book preview

      The Descent - Apryl K.B. Lopez

      The Descent

      A Short Cavern Series Novella

      By

      Apryl K.B. Lopez

      Copyright © 2019 by Apryl K.B. Lopez

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of 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 either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      Cover Design by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

      Check out Apryl K.B. Lopez’s website and newsletter signup for news and releases.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Epilogue

      Author’s Bio

      Chapter One

      The truce had lasted almost a month. By Sera’s recollection, it was the longest one since the Genetics War officially began three years earlier. This last month of productive discussions between the Gen-Ens—the genetically enhanced—and the natural-borns had given Sera such hope that it felt like a betrayal when their would-be ambassador, Adim, reported talks were failing.

      She sat in her office at Gen-En Headquarters, staring at a bright computer screen, absently running her fingers through her chin-length brown hair. It had been an hour since the report had reached the leadership team, and she still hadn’t replied. Try harder, she wanted to type in bold letters. But that wouldn’t be helpful, and no one would listen anyway. She sighed into her empty office, feeling the weight of her ineffectiveness.

      Her gaze drifted to the paperwork on her desk, spotting the most recent radar scans and communications showing locations of traveling Gen-En refugees. She’d need to organize some rescue teams soon, especially now that the truce was in jeopardy. She was also responsible for settling incoming refugees in the large military base where Headquarters was located.

      A ping came through the computer speakers and a new communication popped up with the Gen-En’s logo—a stylized V with a yellow circle hovering over it. Sera leaned forward, hoping someone had come up with a better solution. But it was from Mikah, her brother and the Gen-Ens’ leader. She tried to resist the swell of disappointment she knew was coming, but his words brought it in full force.

      Adim,

      We knew this truce was hopeless. The Nats will never forget or forgive their mistakes. Get back to the base asap so we can discuss the next phase.

      Mikah

      Sera leaned back into her chair with a now-frustrated sigh. The truce definitely wouldn’t hold now and probably never would in the future. She could easily imagine the sneer on Mikah’s face as he typed the derogatory term for the Naturals. Why couldn’t he ever let go of his prejudices?

      She looked down at the tattoo on her right wrist. It was a more ornate version of the logo Mikah had adopted for their revolution. It was also the logo of Creator Technologies, the research company that made Sera and the other genetically engineered humans. The number 7 had been added to the yellow sun-like circle, signifying her batching order in one of Creator’s first experiments. The original Gen-Ens had the tattoos as a definitive means to separate them from the Natural controls in the study. It was one of many ways that kept them isolated from their natural-born counterparts, and Mikah saw those differences more than anyone.

      The door to her office opened, and she looked at her best friend James’s grim face as he entered the room. You saw the communiques, I take it, she said, indicating for him to sit across from her. They had both been part of the negotiating team, in the beginning, so Mikah kept them on the contact list. But they were rarely asked for input anymore. When Mikah’s strong revolutionary spirit overwhelmed Sera’s passionate, yet stay-the-course peaceful attitude, she had been relegated further and further into the Headquarters’ busywork that kept her from influencing the war effort. James, as her best friend and one of the only Naturals in Gen-En headquarters, had been dismissed along with her.

      James sat down and put his elbows on her desk as he scrubbed his hands through his black hair, making prominent spikes across his scalp. Of course, I saw it. I’ve been going through old treaty attempts, trying to figure out a good response to salvage this meeting, he said before giving her a withering look. "Your brother beat me to the

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