Crisped + Sere (Immemorial Year Book 2) (46 page)

Below it were words he hadn’t seen in a very long time.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

IN GOD WE TRUST

E PLURIBUS UNUM

And in front of him, sat a single desk, a computer on top, the screen facing away from him. A metal chair sat behind the desk.

The bees told him to leave, to run, to forget this place was even here.
This is just another snow globe
, they said.
You’ll be trapped here and will never be able to leave
.

“I’m okay,” he said again.

Cavalo walked toward the desk.

The computer was on. The screen was black, but a small green cursor blinked at the top left.

Cavalo pulled out the chair from the desk, the wheels on the bottom squeaking loudly in the quiet.

He sat down in the chair.

The white keyboard in front of him had a thin layer of dust on it. He wiped a hand over it, accidentally pressing down on the keys.

RGTHDY appeared on the screen.

He took his hands away.

His accidental letters disappeared.

Then came a single word.

HELLO

The cursor went down to the next line and blinked.

Waiting.

Cavalo said, “Hello?”

Nothing.

Then, IF YOU’RE TALKING OUT LOUD, I CAN’T HEAR YOU

A pause. A single word: IDIOT

Cavalo said, “What the fuck.”

He thought to leave this haunted place. That the bees were right.

Instead, he typed: WHO IS THIS.

The response came a second later: WHO IS THIS?

He hesitated. CAVALO.

AH, CAVALO! I HOPED IT WOULD BE YOU. YOU CERTAINLY TOOK YOUR TIME. BY MY COUNT, IT’S BEEN ALMOST TEN WEEKS SINCE YOU RETURNED FROM DWORSHAK. I BET YOU WOULDN’T EVEN BE DOWN HERE IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE FLEABAG. AT LEAST WE KNOW THAT MUTT IS GOOD FOR SOMETHING AFTER ALL.

His hands were shaking. His mouth was dry. And yes, there were tears in his eyes because it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t fucking
possible
.

He wrote WHO IS THIS even as he knew. He fucking
knew
.

What came flew across the screen, and Cavalo’s breath hitched in his chest, a sob pouring out.

I COULDN’T TAKE THE CHANCE

NOT COMPLETELY

I HAD TO HAVE A FAILSAFE IN PLACE

TO MAKE SURE

TO KEEP YOU SAFE SHOULD YOU HAVE SURVIVED

YOU’RE HERE BECAUSE THE FAILSAFE WAS NEEDED

BECAUSE MY BODY WAS LOST

BUT NOT BEFORE I UPLOADED A COPY OF MYSELF INTO THE SERVERS

MY CONSCIOUSNESS IF YOU WILL

AIN’T SCIENCE FUN?

PATRICK GAVE ME THE IDEA THE DAY HE CAME TO THE PRISON

WHEN HE REMINDED ME JUST HOW MUCH TIME I HAD LEFT

AND SO I CAME HERE

AND DUPLICATED MYSELF

I ALSO RESTRICTED MYSELF SO I COULDN’T INTERACT WITH THE PRISON TO MAKE SURE NO ONE ELSE DISCOVERED ME

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T

I AM SORRY FOR THE DECEPTION

ALL I’VE EVER WANTED WAS TO KEEP YOU SAFE

I AM NOT A GHOST

I AM NOT CORPOREAL

YET

BUT I’M STILL A REAL BOY

I AM SENTIENT INTEGRATED RESPONSE SYSTEM

AND I WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR FRIEND

The man named James Cavalo began to laugh.

Once again,
all locations used here are real, but have been manipulated for purposes of fiction. And, as it should probably be mentioned, there are no cannibals in Idaho, at least that I’m aware of.

There are two more stories to be told here, I think. The Forefathers have begun to crawl on their hands and knees in St. Louis, as Patrick (may he rest in pieces) so eloquently put it. It’s only a matter of time before what they want coincides with what Cavalo has.

Because half a map is better than no map at all, don’t you think?

More from TJ Klune

Immemorial Year: Book 1

Once upon a time, humanity could no longer contain the rage that swelled within, and the world ended in a wave of fire.

One hundred years later, in the wasteland formerly known as America, a broken man who goes only by the name of Cavalo survives. Purposefully cutting himself off from what remains of civilization, Cavalo resides in the crumbling ruins of the North Idaho Correctional Institution. A mutt called Bad Dog and a robot on the verge of insanity comprise his only companions. Cavalo himself is deteriorating, his memories rising like ghosts and haunting the prison cells.

It’s not until he makes the dangerous choice of crossing into the irradiated Deadlands that Cavalo comes into contact with a mute psychopath, one who belongs to the murderous group of people known as the Dead Rabbits. Taking the man prisoner, Cavalo is forced not only to face the horrors of his past, but the ramifications of the choices made for his stark present. And it is in the prisoner that he will find a possible future where redemption is but a glimmer that darkly shines.

The world has died.

This is the story of its remains.

Readers love Withered + Sere by TJ Klune

“TJ weaves a beautifully desolate world with an odd dichotomy in that the past was the future. The way people live is set against their knowledge of what was and what could be.”

—Hearts on Fire

“…an incredible storytelling novel about what would happen if and when the world ends for whatever reason. It’s about survival instincts, looking inside yourself, insanity and fighting for what you believe in.”

—Divine Magazine

“TJ Klune promised this series would be a romance but that we would have to work for it…
Withered + Sere
is bleak and sad and yet there are rays of sunlight… beautiful in its desolation and wholly mesmerizing… brilliant.”

—Prism Book Alliance

“This novel transcends the mm community. It can be read by all fans of post-apocalyptic novels. So, don’t hesitate.”

—Gay Book Reviews

“Don’t miss
Withered + Sere
. It is a brilliant opportunity to see a master at work, a world-class wordsmith plying his trade and honing his art—the fulfillment of the promise of a stunningly talented author.”

—Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews

When
TJ KLUNE
was eight, he picked up a pen and paper and began to write his first story (which turned out to be his own sweeping epic version of the video game
Super Metroid
—he didn’t think the game ended very well and wanted to offer his own take on it. He never heard back from the video game company, much to his chagrin). Now, over two decades later, the cast of characters in his head have only gotten louder, wondering why he has to go to work as a claims examiner for an insurance company during the day when he could just stay home and write.

Since being published, TJ has won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance, fought off three lions that threatened to attack him and his village, and was chosen by Amazon as having written one of the best GLBT books of 2011.

And one of those things isn’t true.

(It’s the lion thing. The lion thing isn’t true.)

Facebook: TJ Klune

Blog: tjklunebooks.blogspot.com

E-mail: [email protected]

By TJ Klune

IMMEMORIAL YEAR

Withered + Sere

Crisped + Sere

Published by
DSP PUBLICATIONS

www.dsppublications.com

Published by

DSP PUBLICATIONS

5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

www.dsppublications.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Crisped + Sere

© 2016 TJ Klune.

Cover Photo

© 2016 Kyle Thompson

Cover Design

© 2016 Paul Richmond.

http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

Illustrations

© 2016 Blake Alexander Dorner.

All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact DSP Publications, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dsppublications.com.

ISBN: 978-1-63477-067-5

Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-068-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902729

Published August 2016

v. 1.0

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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