Breaking Point
By
L. A. King
Prologue
"There are no such things as heroes. If anyone believes that heroes exist, they are either incredibly optimistic or they have never seen what atrocities people can do to each other. I have. I know. I live in the worst part of a terrible city. Where people kill, steal, and destroy. Eden city, ironic isn't it? Not a single ray of hope shines for this place. Even the police won't dare to come anywhere near the heart of the city. They stay in their quiet corner writing traffic tickets as people get murdered every day. Even as I write this, I can hear the screams of a woman coming through my window. She's probably being raped. It's sickening I know, but the only way to survive in this town is to keep your head down, especially when you're a freak like me. I guess I should go back or you'll never really understand."
"Eden wasn't always this bad. When I was born some 28 years ago it was like any other major city in the world, prosperous and booming with new industry. The crime rate was one of the lowest of any city on the planet. There was no need for crime when anyone could show up, find a job, and provide for their family. When I was born my parents and two sisters moved here to start a new life. I was told stories of how easy it was for my father. He was a very smart guy. Genius level IQ. His chosen profession was bio-engineering, more specifically he specialized in Red Biotechnology. My mother was a writer, she had made a living as a thriller writer. When we kids were born however, she changed to children's books. I remember the times she used to read her stories to us before bed. The memories from back then have grown fuzzy over time, but the scent of my mothers cherry blossom perfume never faded. A smile always crosses my face when I think of my sisters. Zeva and Melody, they were twins. We hated each others' guts like any siblings do. Those were easy times. Every thing was perfect. That is until I turned 14 and that happened."
"No one knows why or where it came from, but a disease ravaged the city. It was extremely lethal. If you caught it you were dead in a week. Two if you were lucky. The city was quarantined, and the world waited as attempts were made to find a cure. The top scientists in the world tried and tried but just managed to fail over and over. They say the only thing they ever found was a way to speed up the disease that the media wittingly called Adam's Plague. I would watch the TV all day after the schools were closed, and saw the pictures of the dead being burned. After a year of waiting I watched as my mother caught it, followed soon after by my sisters. Those two weeks were etched into my memory forever. The anguish, the blood, and finally the silence as their eyes closed forever. It was all too much to bear, especially for a kid. My father and I were left alone to face the depraved city. I had to admit that it became slightly easier to find food and feed our selves now that it was just the two of us. In the two years since the outbreak all law and order had gone out the window. If you went outside without having to kill someone you were considered extremely lucky. My first kill had sent shivers down my spine for weeks. I had refused to eat the entire time, only taking my day's portion of water. "
"By the time I had turned 18 the killing had stopped bothering me. Me and my father had lived as well as could be expected; we became closer than ever over those two years since my mother and sisters died. We were going to be ok. That is until the day he caught it, Adam's plague. He lasted longer than anyone I ever saw. He fought the disease for a month. He would send me out to find food and water. I would always come back expecting to find him dead. Only to be happily proved wrong. I never knew what he did during the day while I was gone, but whatever he did. It helped him stay alive. His time still came though. He couldn't fight it anymore. He called me to his side one day. He made me promise him that I would live. I told him I would try. He gave me his bottle of water and told me to drink because I looked thirsty. I did everything he wanted in those last moments. I would do anything to please the man who I had grown so close too. I watched as his eyes closed with a smile on his face, thinking I would live. I caught Adam's plague the next week, but here I am 10 years later a freak of nature."