The Abomination (or some other title) Trilogy Synopsis

The Abomination (or some other title) Synopsis

The story takes place nearly a century or more after the Middle East collapses into a collection of failed states and the world economy and the world’s political situations quickly destabilize. Sometime after this happens, a significant group of mankind begin to adhere to a neo-fascist or similar ideology that brings to this group of people a horrific idea which leads them to commit “the Abomination.” “The Abomination” is how the rest of humanity refers to the choice of the radicalized group to breed themselves or engineer themselves into a new species that uses the old species as a food source as well as slave labor, taking the concept of the master race to a whole new level. The story of this saga is based around humanity’s effort to undo this ungodly act that has been done and liberate mankind not just from political oppression, but from consumption and commoditization as a product for sustenance and other means. The story follows many people in the war of the ages as they progress to fight against this new species and return earth to its natural order and eliminate the carnivores of men. The sheer horror of “the Abomination” wasn’t fully realized until it was too late, and mankind became like livestock to be harvested and herded and hunted. This new species utilized sport hunting of the strongest and smartest of the old species, and they were brutal and often grisly events, especially after the human was killed and then taken as a trophy, and his flesh consumed by the carnivores. The general gist of the story is humanity liberating itself from a form of tyranny never encountered in all of history: a conscious group that eats human beings as a primary source of sustenance. The reason I called the story "The Abomination" is because of what the word means: a thing that causes disgust or hatred.

Human beings in most parts of the world live as cattle, fattened up, and slaughtered. In other parts, human beings are allowed more "freedom," the purpose of which is to provide for the orchestrators and bidders of "The Hunt" fresh, strong, and free spirited men and women to be prey for the bidding carnivores. "The Hunt" consists of only one carnivore pursuing ONE victim. Not broadcasted, purely for the pleasure and rite of passage (occasionally for the younger carnivores)  for the carnivore. The primary character is a young man selected by the carnivores to be hunted by the son of an up-and-coming general of the faction of the New Species government which controls a region once known as Montana. The mountains and open spaces in this region are ideal hunting grounds and provide a challenge to the eaters of men. Challenging to say the least, the territory creates an environment of which the difficulty adds great intensity and thrill to the hunt. The main character is not just physically strong, but highly intelligent and sophisticated, creative, resourceful, and ingenuitive. The way these young men and women are selected is from direct and indirect observation by agents of The Species who select in secret their target individual from an early age, deceiving the individual’s parents into thinking their son or daughter is not targeted. The agents are human beings who are being paid high salaries and the guarantee that they will not be preyed upon and consumed by the carnivores. Many people are too paralyzed by fear to speak out, and most don't even like uttering a word about the horror that happened in the previous century. They keep the memory alive in private, however, because they hold on to the frail hope that one day someone or something in heaven or on earth will liberate them from this place. Speaking of which, the human beings in this region are strong people of faith. It keeps them sane and it keeps their hopes alive. The selection occurs when the central authority of carnivores/predators in the central government call for a harvest once every five years, in order for the population of the old species to sufficiently replenish itself. Each selected human is bidded on for the privilege of a carnivore to hunt. Prominent families within the carnivore/predator ranks would bid for the youth of their families as a sort of "rite of passage" and test of quality for them. One of these families is a Military family high in status and in power within the central government. He wants his son, a devious, cunning, and incredibly strong and fit carnivore/predator, to have his first kill and trophy. They bid on the primary character to hunt and this carnivore/predator is the primary antagonist of the first part of the story. He is killed by the main character, who escapes from the hunting grounds of Montana and flees to the coast, where he connects with an organization of the old species that is attempting to liberate humanity from the horror of the slavery they have been put under. This effort was going on even before the primary character was hunted. He manages to join the insurgency against the carnivores/predators, which at this point had began to gain global power projection, at first through terror tactics, then through more conventional and advanced means as they began to acquire the resources and technology needed to fight a global conflict.  

Josh just celebrated his 19th birthday in July, and his family couldn't be more lively and happy as a result. A tall and strong young man, Josh fervently loves anything to do with athletics and physical activity. He is smart as hell too, but since the regime limits access to most forms of education, in particular history, his intelligence is primarily based on math and sciences. The community which he resides in has an underground library of old knowledge that covers a wide array of knowledge. Josh knows little about the abomination of the last century in an attempt by his parents to maintain a level of innocence in his childhood, albeit eventually a vain attempt, however, he does know about the "monsters" that come every five years. These creatures came and took many of the young men of the community and they were never seen or heard from again. It was a hellish day in the community, as armed predators came and took those who were selected by the human agents, whose identity in the communities were anonymous. The human agents in the community were simply promised not to be consumed after death and were given a decent compensation for their loyalty, albeit small enough to not get noticed by other community members. The assurance of not getting eaten was a strong enough compensation in itself. Josh spent most of his time in his youth in a makeshift school in the library-bunker. The makeshift bunker was in an old missile silo that was abandoned after the collapse of the United States Government around a century before, relics of a bygone era where the nations of the world prepared for a war that never came, but something much worse did. Towards the beginning of the sport hunt, Josh's friend Trevor, whose motives were concealed to Josh, strongly encouraged and guided Josh in honing his strengths and skills ranging from combat to problem solving games, as well as endurance training and other forms of skill development related to survival. Trevor would do this subtlety so as to not give away his assignment. Trevor was a childhood friend of Josh before he became an agent of the Carnivores, which is one of the reason the New Species took interest in him. They were more interested in Josh because of Josh’s higher and more advanced potential for the hunt, but they needed someone who Josh already trusted. They took Trevor in the night, and “persuaded” him to take on the role of mentor and encourager to Josh. They knew that the one thing people feared and dreaded in the region Josh and Trevor reside in was the almost certainty of being eaten by the carnivores, and though Trevor was reluctant at the thought  of betraying Josh, the promise of a clean, traditional Christian burial and living longer than the age of 40 was too tempting, and he consented to the assignment.

The Hunt

 The Hunt takes place in 3 phases: the First phase is the harvest of the prey. The second phase is preparation, in which the prey is properly equipped and briefed on his or her circumstances, and each prey is assigned to a carnivore. This phase lasts about a week. The third and final phase is the chase, in which both carnivore and prey are dropped off in different, undisclosed locations on a terrain suitable for a thrilling and rewarding hunt, and the carnivore must track down and kill his assigned prey in 5 days or less. Any longer and the carnivore fails the hunt and brings disgrace to his family. If the Carnivore dies at the hands of his prey, his whole family is made a mockery of in the carnivore ranks. Many lose their positions within those ranks as well. There are no projectile weapons allowed in the hunt, only blades and hatchets. It’s no sport if it’s easy, so advanced weapons were banned. This hunt is primarily a test of skill and prowess for the carnivore. His sense of smell is heightened, his vision is better than a man’s, and his cognitive problem solving abilities are slightly superior on average to human beings. The carnivore who makes the quickest kill is celebrated amongst his kind as a hero. The finale of the hunt is, obviously, the death of the human prey. The great reward of the hunter is the consumption of his prey’s flesh. He takes the intact head of the victim as a trophy. There has never been a recorded instance of a human surviving the hunt, nor has there been an instance where a human has killed a carnivore until Josh came along.

Second book of trilogy:

The Insurrection:

Once main character survives the hunt

-teams up with an already ongoing insurrection against the Lacertus race

-Josh begins to use his immense training the predators gave to him for the hunt to his advantage and the war to liberate mankind begins.

-fight many industrialized battles of immense brutality against the predator regime.

As the insurrection starts gaining an upper hand, Josh, who has risen through the ranks to become a general, comes up with an elaborate plan to lure the majority of the Lacertus race to central Europe in what was once Berlin.

Air power drops a few thermonuclear devices on top of the city, killing 88-90% of the Lacertus Master species.

End of the Insurrection

Book 3: The Eradication

Josh, though a general, becomes a fighting general and leads the charge in eradicating every last remaining Lacertus abominations

He personally kills the last and most elusive  Lacertus by hand.

The end:

Chapter 1: The Harvest

 A sudden, encompassing bang brought Josh out of his sleep. He could hear the shuffling of feet outside his second story window of the family’s house. He was disoriented at first, having not had a good amount of sleep that week because of the events of the region, with news of the insurgents against the ruling faction of the Lacertus race being in present in the region. He broke free of his disorientation and confusion when he heard his mother cry out loudly, “they’re here! Frank, go up stairs and get Josh out of bed. Quickly! They may have come for him!” All of the sudden, the power went out, and the house was left in the dark. Josh threw on his clothes and rushed down the stairs. There were more noises, the sounds of helicopters and airships echoing the village, and the lights of these vessels were all that were seen in the night in a powerless town. “Dad, what’s going on?,” Josh exclaimed vehemently. “Listen to me, boy, they’re harvesting tonight. We knew it was only a matter of time before this happened. Five years is much too long of a delay for them. We honestly thought they’d come sooner than this.,” Frank explained. “Harvest? What do you mean Ha--””I DON’T HAVE TIME TO SQUARE THINGS OUT FOR YOU RIGHT NOW, JOSHUA LEONARD!” Frank yelled. “If you’ve been selected there is not much we can do. All i can say is use the skills you’ve learned over the years; your running and fighting skills, your hunting skills. Just survive, Josh. Just survive and escape from this hell. Survive and escape, that’s what you’re going to do. Don’t you ever forget about us, you got that?” Josh began to tear up and he said, “dad, I-I-I don’t know what the hell’s even going on righ--” A loud crack and boom interrupted Josh’s outpouring of emotion and 3 heavily armed soldiers came in. I would not call them men, however.The hideous creatures, large and muscular, slightly hair-covered, with sharp, jagged teeth and smiles that could chill a solar flare, and eyes of a devilish red and yellow that pierced into you and stole your sense of safety instantly. They looked like men, but men that The Devil himself wanted nothing to do with, and that God just hadn't found the time to burn yet. Boy, He needs to though. Their faces more distorted than a man’s, they looked quite frightening and intimidating from how the lines of their cheeks and foreheads meshed together in a grimace. Josh had about 2 seconds to behold the sight of the members of the Lacertus race before they went after him. His dad stepped in their way and pleaded with them to not take his son. “Please, he’s just a boy!!” The soldier stopped, smiled a dishearteningly sinister smile, and slit Frank’s throat from end to end. Josh’s mom, Anne, who was only a few feet away from this, let out a piercing howl and leaped to her deceased husbands side. Josh went into shock and froze as the soldier shot his mother right in front of him. Josh came out of his daze long enough to put up a good fight against the soldiers. He was a strong kid after all. The soldiers subdued him eventually, and spoke in a foreign tongue Josh had never heard before. They were saying how he was not to be spoiled, as he would be no use injured. They bagged his head and bound his limbs, and they injected him with some sort of drug that calmed him down, but didn’t sedate him. They took him to the airship outside and threw him in a small compartment that had one other young person like himself inside, though Josh wasn’t aware of that person’s presence.

 The drug started wearing off about an hour into the flight. Josh began to put up a struggle but eventually realized the futility of it. He started crying out: “Hello!! Anybody!! What’s happening!! Where am I! Am I alone in here! Anyone!” He began to cry and cuss. Eventually he got a response. “I’m here with you man.” Josh, who was startled by this, said, “who’s there?” “My name’s Benjamin, man. What’s yours?” “Joshua Leonard Reynolds, that’s my name. Do you know where they’re taking us?”  “No Idea, man,” Benjamin said.  Josh began to cry again. “My parents are dead, Benjamin. They killed them right in front of me. OH GOD, THEY KILLED THEM RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!” He broke down into a heavy sob. “They killed my whole family, man. Parents...and siblings. There’s nothing we can do about it now Joshua. Do you go by Joshua or Josh, man?” “I go by Josh,” Josh stated. “Well Josh, welcome to the world we live in. You’ve just been formally introduced to the Lacertus race,” Benjamin exclaimed rather harshly. “I thought they stayed out of this region. I thought they left this part of the world alone. My parents didn’t talk much about them. Just that they controlled the world’s resources and most of it’s territory. At least they did until the insurrection started happening.” “Well Josh, your parents didn’t want to break the reality to you to protect you from it. It’s not a pretty history. My parents were open to me about it because they thought that sheltering me from it would do me no good because I wouldn’t be prepared to face the reality when it reared it’s ugly head.” “What’s this harsh reality?,” Josh asked. “We call it the abomination, man. It’s an old church word. It mean’s disgust, or something that causes hatred, or something like that. It’s a reference to what the lacertus race did over a period of many generations. It all started around 200 to 250 years ago, man. My family had lost count, but it’s in that ballpark. Around this time a great crisis emerged in a region of the world called the mid-east or middle east. The ruling powers in many of the Nations there began to lose control because people with a different and violent belief about God and the world destabilized these nations. At least that’s how I have come to understand it, man” Benjamin continued, “After these nations collapsed, leaving very little government present, the world’s economy started failing too, because of the abundance in the middle east of a resource known as oil” “I know what oil is, Benjamin. I’m not an idiot,” Josh said frustratedly. “I’m sorry, man.  Anyways, because of the economic instability, the rest of the world’s governments started facing increasingly violent political instability as well. People became disenchanted with their government’s inability to solve the economic crisis. They began to turn to more radical beliefs and ideologies. You know what an ideology is? Don’t you, man?” Josh responded with a solid “Yes, I do.” “Good. Then I’ll continue.  In many of the major powers, a new political party emerged. It was called the Lacertus party, meaning strength in an old language called latin. It was very similar to an earlier belief system called Nazism. The lacertus party eventually took power in most of the world’s major nations, and eventually took control of most of the world. The members of the lacertus party began thinking that they were superior to the rest of humanity and decided to deviate from it by breeding themselves and genetically modifying themselves into a new, superior species. And this is where it gets disturbing.” “Why’s that?” Questioned Josh nervously. “Well, you see, man, this new species, in their sense of superiority and their spite of the rest of humanity, they turned humanity into their primary source of sustenance! That’s why we call the Lacertus race ‘carnivores’ as their nickname.” “You mean they eat us?!! No! That can’t be!” Josh responded, shocked of course. “Have you ever wondered why everyone who reaches a certain age disappears from the community?” asked Benjamin. “I was told they go to the cities to retire.” Josh said. “Josh, man, do you know how silly that sounds. They get harvested like a crop and made into food for the lacertus race.” “What about my parents? Did this happen to them?” Josh asked. “What do you think, man?” Benjamin said somberly.  Josh, instead of crying, felt a disgust and anger the likes of which most men can’t imagine.

Chapter 2: Josh’s Origins

 Josh was born and raised in a tiny village in a region of the world once known as Montana. He spent his upbringing playing in the hills and roaming the forests of the mountains surrounding his hometown. He absolutely loved sports, and partook in any sporting activity he could while he was young. His best friend, Trevor Springfield was, you would say, his “partner in crime.” They did everything together. They would fight here and there, but they would always make it up to each other. In the little town was an old abandoned bunker, fairly deep in the ground, that the community used for a makeshift school and library. The reigning government did not subsidize school for human beings, so the community organized schooling for the young with the use of ancient textbooks and reading material as the basis for their curriculum.  Josh spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours pouring through that old library. He had a particular affinity for physics and engineering textbooks, and he loved to use what he learned to build interesting and useful contraptions to either help him fish or hunt. Josh was extremely intelligent, but a gentle soul at heart. He would contrive of new ways to get what he needed to survive and help his family survive. Food often was scarce in this community, as the reigning government provided very little in that regard, just enough to keep the population quasi-healthy, the intentions behind this were not pleasant or benevolent in the slightest. Josh would often use his parlor tricks to try and impress the beautiful girls of the town. He didn’t really need to impress these girls with any tricks or skills, as he was captivatingly good looking, with jet-black straight hair and piercing emerald green eyes, a handsome facial complexion and a solid jawline with a beautiful, almost hypnotizingly mischievous smile that made you suspicious only in the regard that he was gonna pull a playful prank  just to get a rise out of you. Josh was indeed very mischievous. He liked to mess with people, for fun of course and no ill-will intended. He loved to laugh and his laugh was infectious. If he laughed, you laugh because he laughed. His friend Trevor, however, was a little bit on the serious side, and Trevor always pushed Josh to his physical and mental limit in everything they did together. In later years Trevor started taking up a mentorship role in Josh’s life, pushing him to excel at everything from his academics to his athleticism. Trevor was often overbearing enough to induce suspicion in Josh, but Josh usually just brushed the suspicion off as simple paranoia. Little did Josh know that Trevor had taken up this mentorship role as a job for the most despicable and dangerous of employers. Josh’s parents, Frank and Anne Reynolds, were simple Christian folk. They raised Josh relatively sheltered from the horrors of their world. Their intentions were to protect his innocence, but mostly they could barely stomach the subject amongst themselves. They wanted Josh to have as good and fulfilling of a childhood as he possibly could, but they knew full well that a strong, athletic, and intelligent child like him is prime pickings for the harvesters that come every half-decade or so. The Harvest always happens at night, and the following morning there is weeping and sorrow, but Frank and Anne never tell Josh what happens during a harvest. They simply say the people who went missing “went away for a while.”

 Christianity has taken a more significant and involved role in the lives of people since the abomination occurred. It gives people hope in a Savior not only of the soul, but also of a liberator in this life in the form of the Second Coming. The preachers of the faith would often preach on the subject of the advent of Christ being the force that liberates mankind from the horrors of the Lacertus Race. Faith gave people a reason to live and survive because of the hope that God will not let their cries for freedom go unheeded, and that he will save them from the abomination.  The significance the Church plays in this time period is it’s pacification and motivational functions for humans, which is why the Reigning government allows it to maintain its existence. In the government’s eyes, it keeps human beings appeased and it creates good work ethic which fills a necessary and important function in maintaining control of outlying regions. In the more controlled, oppressed regions of the world, such as the regions where the presence of the Lacertus is more noticeable and much stronger, the church’s role is distorted and perverted in making people content with being a food source and happy as their role as mere slaves and cattle for the Lacertus. The doctrine and very message of the church is aimed at subduing any desire of revolt and any discontent with the role human beings are supposed to play in this new world order. They are, in essence, brainwashed to think that being food for a species that was once human is not only ok, but God’s will. The churches on the outlying regions, like the ones in Josh’s family’s region, have enough autonomy to be able to practice the faith in it’s near identical form that has existed for thousands of years.  

Josh, being an appealing fellow in almost every respect of the word, acquired a love interest early on in his teenage years. Her name was Sonya Todorovic, and boy was she gorgeous. She was a cute little girl at first who had a huge crush on Josh from an early age. Josh didn’t really pay to much attention to her in their younger years. In fact, Josh would pick on her to annoy her and get a kick out of her, but as they both started maturing, both became increasingly more attracted to one another. Sonya has dark brown hair with powerful hazel eyes. She had a beautiful body, one of those bodies that aren’t magazine perfect, but because of their naturalness they don’t have to be. The two began dating when they were fourteen, and they were very committed to each other, conjoined at the hip, you could say, by the time of the Harvest when they both were 19 . Josh’s relationship with her was very strong. He looked out for her, protecting her from harm of all kinds, including that of other boys in the community. No one else touched her. Only he had that privilege. Sometimes even if you looked at her wrong you attracted his ire. After all is said and done, though, he loved her dearly. They were even thinking about marriage about the time the Harvest happened. She never told Josh, but she was three weeks pregnant at the time Josh was taken.

Chapter 3: The Educating Flight

 Back on the airship, Josh’s conversation with Benjamin grew stale. Josh simply didn’t want to hear any more of the history of the world for right now. So Benjamin and Josh sat quietly, both bound at the wrists and ankles, and both had breathable bags over their heads. You could see a little bit through the tiny holes in the bags for breathing, but not enough to get a good layout of the compartment. There was a small window to his left and he could see the Sun coming up over the eastern horizon. Since the window was to his left, that means he was facing south. He still couldn’t tell if they were going north or south. He didn’t have a good enough view of the ground to get his bearings. He could tell that it was just him and Benjamin in the compartment and no one else. Josh slept for about 20 minutes until he woke up sobbing. The shock of what happened at his house wore off  for but a moment and he felt the full sting of the realization of what happened to his family hit him hard. He wept, but the shock of it took hold of him again, and he went numb. He then began to pray, “Blessed Father, receive my mother and my father with open arms into your Kingdom. May they be granted eternal rest in the comfort of the presence of your host, and may you watch over me and guide me as I enter into the darkness and uncertainty of what’s to come, oh God. Whatever may come, I pray that you give me the strength and perseverance necessary to overcome any challenge or danger I may face. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” “You’re a religious man, I take it?” Benjamin laughed as he said this. Josh thought he was asleep, and was kind of dumbfounded and uncomfortable with the question. Josh simply replied “Well, I try to be anyways. Times like these are definitely the times when you need God the most.” “If God existed, man, then wouldn’t you think he would have stopped the abomination from happening, stopped those beasts from ever coming into existence? You keep your faith, man, but this is the reality. Those things are real, man. They do not have any respect or concern for your faith. It is like a river’s concern for the embankment it erodes, or a bird’s concern for the well-being of the worm it eats. I’m not here to dishearten you, but God is of no concern of theirs, man. He may bring you strength, but will he spare your life? Time will tell, man,” Benjamin stated his opinion forcefully. Josh became curious about what was happening and changed the subject. “Are they gonna kill us?,” he asked. “To put it bluntly, yes, Josh, they are. I don’t like to Sugarcoat shit,” Benjamin stated. “Why didn’t they just kill us back at the town?,” Josh asked excitedly. “Because we’ve been chosen, man. We’ve been chosen for the Hunt,” Benjamin stated. “The Hunt? WHAT HUNT?!,” Josh asked aggressively. Benjamin yelled back, “IT’S A SPORT HUNT KID!!! A SPORT HUNT!! THIS IS WHAT THEY DO FOR FUN! THEY PICK THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST OF THE YOUTH OF MANKIND, AND THEY HUNT THEM FOR SPORT!,” “I don’t know much else about it. It’s like a rite of passage for some of the big families or some shit like that. The youth of their kind hunt the youth of our kind to bring honor and glory to their families. If they fail, it’s disgrace to the whole family. I’m sorry for yelling man. You gotta understand we are both in the same boat here,” Benjamin explained soberly the reality of what was going on to Josh. Josh was on emotional and mental overload. He had just lost his parents. He found out about the dark reality of the Lacertus regime. And now he just found out that he is going to be hunted for sport by a creature who eats humans for food. He wasn’t sure if his sanity would hold for another minute, let alone how long he has until this hunt begins. “Has anyone ever survived this ‘hunt’ before?,” Josh asked. “Not that I know of, man,” Benjamin answered. “But you know what?,” He stated with a snicker. “I think you’ll be the first.” “Oh yeah? Why’s that?” Josh asked with mock curiosity. “Because you have God on your side!” Benjamin began to laugh hysterically as the plane descended rapidly towards its final destination. The suddenness of the descent caught both guys off guard and they were shaken and hurdled across the compartment, into walls, and boxes, and each other. After a few minutes of being thrown back and forth the plane landed and reached an eerie, terrifying stillness. The foreboding kind of stillness that comes before an inevitable plunge into the clutches of monsters.

Chapter 4: Anne’s Stew

It was after one of their few fights. Josh had punched a hole through Sonya’s room wall because her parents didn’t want him coming around as much. They said it was because he was wearing out his welcome, but in reality they just feared her getting pregnant, as birth control was something of a luxury commodity in that part of the world. Sonya was yelling at the top of her lungs, “DON’T BLAME ME FOR THIS, JOSH! I LOVE YOU AND CARE FOR YOU, BUT IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT MY PARENTS DON’T WANT YOU AROUND!!” Josh, who was angry at first, calmly responded “I know. I’m sorry for blaming you for their problem. I--(sighs) I just want to spend as much time with you as I can. That’s why I punched a hole in your wall--” “Right in front of them, Josh! Right in front of my parents. I’ve never seen you lose it like that! It scared me!,” Sonya interrupted. “I’m Sorry alright! I was just frustrated,” Josh quipped back quickly. “It’s ok to be frustrated just don’t lose your composure, Josh. Seriously, you’re one of those guys who could seriously injure someone. Who knows, maybe even kill them.” “Look, uh, listen Sonya. I would NEVER hurt you. EVER. Hurting you is the last thing I would do, intentionally or unintentionally, it doesn’t matter.” “Promise me you won’t lose it like that again, and promise me you’ll get some spackle and fix the hole tomorrow,” Sonya commanded. “I promise, babe. I swear to God,” Josh answered. Josh asked,”Well, since I can’t go back to your place, do you want to come to my place and have supper?” Sonya was hesitant at first. She was wondering what her parents would think about her going with Josh to his house, but she remembered that Josh’s parents were trusted by hers, and she said “oh, what the hell” and was off.

Josh and sonya got to the house a little before dark. Anne Reynolds opened the door and said, “oooh goodness, you guys better get in here before it gets too chilly for you two. It is fall you know. Josh, goodness gracious me! Why on earth are you wearing shorts in this weather? You could get pneumonia. You also know what your father says about wearing shorts in cold weather-””I said if you wear shorts in the winter, you better damn well wear thick pants in the summer! But you’d never do that my son, now, will you,” Frank interjected. “Not in a million years, Dad!,” Josh responded. Frank called out to Sonya, “Sonya, how are ya, sweetheart? Keeping my boy out of trouble?” Sonya sighed and said, “trying to, Frank. I’m putting in a good effort for you.” Josh just smiled his big, mischievous smile at her and continued into the kitchen. “What’s for supper, mother?,” Josh yelled out so she could here him. She yelled back sharply, “STEW!! YOUR FAVORITE!” Josh looked down at the floor, smiled and shook his head and said “God I love that woman!” Sonya came into the kitchen and sat down at the table with Josh, and they started discussing many things, from the insurrection to possible marriage. “I hear that the uprising has spread across the northwest and some of the cities have been liberated from the government,” Sonya exclaimed. “Yeah, but, that’s just rumor babe. We don’t have the means to validate that information,” Josh replied.  In the background while they are talking, Anne was cooking her “world-famous” stew, made from freshly grown garden vegetables from her own backyard. “If it’s true Josh, it mean’s they could be within 300 miles of our town. What if they liberate us!!,” she said excited. “Oooh enough of this talk you two. Rambling on about such nonsense as being liberated. The government gives us all the freedom we need and leaves us alone for the most part.” “You know that’s not true Mrs. Reynolds” Sonya said as she gave her a piercing, stern glance. Josh caught this glance, and in his ignorance wondered why she gave it to his mother. His mother also caught the glance, and it lit a fuse under her. She yelled, “ALRIGHT YOU WILL NOW TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE OR YOU ARE OUT OF MY HOUSE YOUNG MISS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Sonya answered modestly, “yes ma’am.” “Great, I piss of your parents by hitting your wall, and you almost get kicked out of my house for talking politics. What a day, huh?,” Josh stated. “Do you think we’ll ever get married?” Sonya asked. Josh choked on his water a little bit and laughed as he asked, “why are you asking me this now? We’ve talked about this before. Of course we’re gonna get married when the time is right, babe.” “I know, I just want to have a good, safe, future with you. Free of any dangers,” Sonya exclaimed. Josh nodded in agreement and said, “I want that too.” “Here’s supper for you two!,” Anne excitedly announced. It was a small portion of stew. Portions were always small here, as food was more scarce than normal because of the insurrection. It was not much, but it was delicious, the smell of onions and garlic and beef broth and meat filled the young couples nostrils, and they were almost put in a trance because of it. One could say the smell of it introduced a minor drug-like Euphoria in the couple, and they devoured their small portions and guzzled down their water. They asked politely to be excused, then Josh dropped the ultimate question of the evening, “Can Sonya stay the night? I think her parents are ok with it.” They probably weren’t, but Anne said it was fine. They hiked up to Josh’s second story bedroom which was fairly secluded from the rest of the house. They began talking about how much they loved each other and what the future held for them. They shut the door and, well, let’s just say they had an unbelievably glorious night together. That was three weeks to the day before the Harvest.

Chapter 5: Preparation

Oh, what Josh would give for even a smidgen of his mother’s stew. He would give his life to see Sonya again. The memory of that wonderful night was agonizingly painful to recall. He wanted Sonya back. The touch of her soft skin, the smell of her freshly shampooed hair, all of it. He would trade all the wealth of the world just to see her again, and now he is in a situation where the likelihood of seeing her again fades by the minute. He doesn’t even know if she is alive still. He started to tear up, not cry, but tear up, but he remembered what Sonya said: “keep your composure.” He can’t afford to show weakness here. It makes him look like an easy feast, he thought. He was a man now, not a little boy, and men show courage in times of fear and find strength in times of weakness. At this moment he was being brought into a processing station of the Lacertus government, where he was unbounded and given clean linen, a small bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap. The cell he was in was quite nice, not luxurious by any means, but nice enough to feel comfortable in. There was a bed with a padded mattress that was quite comfortable to lay on that had freshly bleached white sheets with a mink blanket top. There was a decent shower with a clear glass door and a toilet right next to the shower door. He noticed that there were about 3 cameras in the cell that he could see, and that there wasn’t a single corner or edge of the cell that wasn’t under surveillance. This was disconcerting for him for a second, as he had no privacy, but after what he’d been through he didn’t think it really mattered. In fact, he could care less, to be honest. He had been separated from Benjamin, who had his own cell in another part of the complex. Josh didn’t know how many other people were in this complex, and how many of them would be hunted for sport like he was soon to be.  All of the sudden the electronic door zapped open, and in came two carnivores and one human. Strange, he thought, that a human would be working so freely and willingly alongside the carnivores.  He became curious and asked this human quite directly, “what is a regular old human being like yourself doing working with these SCUM!!” When he said that, both carnivores let out a deep growl and snarled at Josh. The man had a the makings of a weathered scientist or doctor. He was balding, with white, short trimmed hair on the sides and back of his head. His face was well groomed, and he had haunting grey eyes that had a slight light in them, but they gave a feeling of morbidity when you peered into them for too long.He had a squeaky clean lab coat covering part of a professional-looking suit.The human just smiled and said “ I work with them because they pay me well, good sir, among other things. There are certain ‘perks’ to being on their payroll, namely the perk of not being consumed and living a full life. That alone guarantees my loyalty, and now that I am an asset, I get a great deal more liberty and status than I do as just a typical commodity.” “Human beings are NOT commodities!,” Josh shot back. The man cackled and looked at Josh and said “Oh, my dear boy, human beings have been a commodity for a hundred and fifty years for first the Party and then the Race. The Lacertus Race has been utilizing the free labor and abundant food supply for the better part of the last century. It’s been around 50 years or so since the project was completed.” “What project!!?,” Josh asked sternly. “Well, my good son, the project was called the Genetic Reengineering and Restructuring project. It entailed sophisticated genetic reprogramming and selective breeding to create a far superior species to human beings, one whose sole birthright is to rule all of mankind and hold dominion of the world. The project was conceived of over 200 years ago, and completed over 50 years ago. It took 6 generations to complete” the man exclaimed semi-excitedly.  Josh looked at him sternly and said harshly “It’s an abomination of God is what it is!” “Abomination of God? Huh! You people and your damn religious fervor never ceases to amaze me! It’s no matter, we’ve found ‘methods’ to use this to our advantage, in many parts of the world, it has actually works to our advantage. The church keeps people WORKIN’ HARD AND BOWIN’ DOWN!! My question for you, Joshua, is where...is...your...God? Huh? Where is he?” Josh, who was beyond enraged at this point, made this vow, “I swear to you upon my life and the lives of my mother and my father and upon the throne of the God that I worship and upon the lives of those who died because of this unholy atrocity that there will be a great reckoning brought upon you by the hands of men like me, and if I am to die soon hereafter I swear to God there will be those who will avenge me to completion. If I survive this hunt, I also swear that I will not cease, I will not tire, and I will not waver until every last carnivore and carnivore accomplice is dead.” The man laughed and said, “well, my boy, best of luck to ya in that endeavor. You’ll need a hell of a lot of it. The name’s Samuel by the way. Dr. Samuel Weathers.  I will be your trainer, your doctor, and your master until you are suitable for the Hunt. I will make you hurt, I will make you cry, I will make you collapse and fall, and then I will make you rise. I will make you the strongest, smartest, fastest piece of meat this side of an elk herd. As of this day, I OWN YOU!”

Chapter 6: The First Week of Training

They let Josh get a good night’s sleep. In fact, they insisted upon it with the aid of a needle. Oh God, oh dear did Josh hate needles, so he fought the technicians tooth and nail, even broke one of their arms before being finally subdued by an influx of carnivores into the room. After a restful night’s sleep, the training began. It started with running. A LOT of running. The good doctor Samuel devised a nifty little tool that resembled a shock collar, so that every time Josh stopped without permission, or fail at a task, he would send 5000 volts jolting into his neck. The running was particularly gruesome, especially it being the very first phase of the training. Josh was required to run a hard pace for 30 minute intervals with five minute water breaks in between for four hours. That was the first half of the day If he slowed down past a certain pace, he was shocked. If he stopped, he was shocked. If he cursed or said anything out of line, he was shocked.  That was tough. The second half of the day was much worse. They did sprints until burn out. Now burnout in present day training and burnout in Josh’s circumstances was different. Josh was pushed beyond most limits, and with the shock collar and some of the drugs they gave him, it was possible to do so. Josh did God knows how many sprints, and just when he thought he couldn’t do anymore, the good doctor “shocked” more out of him. “You’re a real stellar Son of a Bitch, you know that?,” Josh said sarcastically, knowing full well what was coming next. He felt it, the numbing, muscle contracting electricity that sent him to the ground in spasms. He never liked a traitor of any kind, but this particular kind of traitor he loathed with such intense passion that if the shock collar was removed and the good doctor was within five feet of him, one might say the temptation to rip this bastard’s head clean off would be quite overpowering. He was so stiff and sore he literally couldn’t move. He was promptly taken of the training course and taken to his room, where he was put on an IV of fluids and given a new type of non steroidal drug which contributes to the strengthening of muscle tissue and bone density. The process was a rapid break-down, rebuild process that took only two weeks to complete. And with the help of advanced medicine, large nutritious meals, a good intake of water, and a good deal of rest the good doctor believed he would easily meet the two week deadline to prepare for the hunt. Josh, of course, wanted nothing to do with it, but after the first day he reached a quite obvious epiphany, the carnivores are providing his best chance of surviving the hunt by training him. They do it to increase the sport by making it more challenging, but Josh cooperates with the hope of being made into something stronger than he was supposed to be. He cooperates for the necessity of survival. The only way he can make good on his vow is to live long enough to actualize it. Josh quietly lectured himself,  “Josh, remember what your Dad said before he died, ‘Survive and Escape, son.’ To put it simply, Josh, DON’T...DIE and GET THE HELL AWAY FROM WHERE EVER THEY PUT YOU!!” As the training progressed Josh’s self-talks and remembering his vow kept him motivated to not only to complete, but excel in the training. Every morning he would wake up early and pray. Josh never liked traditional prayers. He liked his talks with God to be exactly that, talks. He conversed with his creator, and of course most of the time it was a one way conversation, but he loved to talk through things with God. It helped him process his grief and pain and guilt of his past mistakes. He treated God as his guiding father, and now He is the only father Josh has left. The first three days were running and aerobic days to the point of brutal exhaustion. Josh was given an excellent breakfast, exceptional lunch, and an overwhelming dinner on all three days, along with very advanced medication which rapidly enhanced his performance and musculoskeletal development and stabilization. Josh was beginning to feel quite Euphoric and unstoppable, and his success in training was getting to his head a little. He caught himself in his sense of superiority quick enough to quell it and shut it down. He suspected that that’s how the carnivores feel all the time, and he wanted to have absolutely nothing in common in terms of character with those things. The fourth day they began heavy anaerobic regimens for Josh and the other prey, lifting and various forms of strength and muscle building exercises. It was also the first day that the prey got to interact with each other. Josh saw Benjamin in the shared commons for the first time since the airship ride. He didn’t recognize him by his face, as their faces were bagged the last time. He asked the group of about 10 prey, “Hey is anyone of you named Benjamin? I can’t remember your face, but I know your voice.” “Hey Josh, I’m right here man,” Josh heard coming from the back of the group. He saw Benjamin’s face clearly for the first time. Not the best looking of faces, but not the worst, he had wavy reddish blond hair that went down to his shoulders and his face was heavily freckled, with the freckles extending to most of his body. He was wearing a work-out tank, like every other guy in the group. His was a metallic silver color, while Josh’s was a metallic gold, one could speculate they had something to do with the value of the wearer in the eyes of the carnivores. They would find out later what they stood for. “How’s your training going, man?” Benjamin asked. “Good, given the fact that I’m apparently training for my own death,” Josh replied. “In fact, I feel really good, and happy. Not even the slightest bit afraid! How is that possible,” Josh said with a smile. “Oh it’s a combination of things, one of which is the endorphins from the high intensity exercise you have been doing, the other of which is the drugs they’ve been giving you in your food. Anti-anxiety, anti-grief, and anti-fear pills. Anti-fear pills were developed at the start of the great oil wars to take away fear in undertrained draftees to make them as effective killers for their skill level as possible, rightly nicknamed ‘courage in a capsule.’ Anti-grief pills, well, the name speaks for itself. If you suffered severe trauma or loss of someone important in your life, anti-grief pills shut off the neural pathways that lead to the grief response and make you feel no effect from the loss. In your mind you remember the loss or trauma, but you feel little to no emotional affect regarding it. In your memories, it feels as though you’ve gone through years worth of grief processing in an instant, like you’ve accepted what’s happened and forgiven it at the pop of a pill. Don’t worry, man, you won’t feel this good for long. Once the drugs wear off, the grief comes back, and so does the fear. They want us to feel the pain of our existence and the fear of those monsters, man. I gotta admit, man, I feel pretty damn good myself right now.” They ate their generous meal and most of the other prey minded their own business. They were in jovial moods, though, and although Josh maintained a healthy skepticism about the new information that Benjamin presented to him, he couldn’t help but notice the unusually merry atmosphere of the table. Perhaps there was validity in Benjamin’s rants, and Josh admired him for his wealth of knowledge of the happenings and history of their world. Josh was beginning to trust Benjamin, especially now that he was his only friend in this place. They went back to their respective training quarters after lunch, and they had a short break to allow the food to digest to prevent regurgitation. The conditioning was no less forgiving than any other, but thanks to the brain chemical alterations and the sheer exercise Euphoria from the overload of endorphins, Josh was beginning to enjoy the brutal work. His mind didn’t want to, of course, as he was still fully aware of the situation at least cognitively, but the state of his moods and his emotions were out of his control now. He felt amazing, but he didn’t want to. His parents’ deaths seemed ages ago, even though they were only a week or so ago, in a sick and drug-induced way, he felt almost happy they were gone, even though he knew in his head that he shouldn’t feel this way. “Shit, Ben’s telling the truth on this one too. I wonder if he loves being right all the time.” Josh laughed and then felt a sudden jolt through his system again, but even the good doctor’s torture seemed pleasurable to him now.

By the sixth day, with the help of advanced medicine, Josh and the other prey were in prime shape. You could just take one look at Josh and see how much his body has changed in a week. His physique was stunning. Very toned and muscular, his appeal had not subsided in the slightest. There were 4 girls out of the 10 people that were at the facility. All four were very athletic girls, and they all had their eyes on Josh. Josh’s 6’3’’ stature and imposing build and boyish good looks didn’t do anything to push away the female attention he was getting. It also didn’t help that his hormonal activity, as well as that of his lady-friends, was through the roof and his libido was on overdrive, quite a frustrating byproduct of a rigorous exercise routine, especially when you are trying to maintain control for the sake of the one you love. It didn’t matter, the facility’s staff didn’t give any time frolicking, as they were to train, eat, and sleep. The prey only saw each other when they were eating in the Commons. During the seventh day’s training, Josh finally dropped the question that has been weighing on his mind heavily. “Do you put drugs for mental stuff in our food and drinks, or in the IV’s you give us after exhaustion?,” he asked. “Yes,” the doctor responded without hesitation. “It makes our Job easier. We put it in your food for the most part, and some in the IVs. The Anti-Fear drugs make you stay focused on the current task at hand, without being distracted by unproductive anxieties about what’s to come. It has a mild, natural euphoria component that doesn’t have the negative cognitive effects of most other drugs that induce euphoria. You just feel content and in a state of motivational dissatisfaction. You are always wanting to do more than what you did before. It causes you to be high achieving and continuously striving for improvement. The Anti-Grief drugs eliminate the neurobiological response to loss. It doesn’t eliminate memory, but it does neutralize the unproductive feelings about the past. Don’t worry, good son, we won’t keep you on them forever,” the doctor smiled and continued his tests. “Why are you so willing to tell us all this?,” Josh asked. “It’s like it doesn’t even phase you, the things that the Lacertus do.” “I disclose this information, good chap, with the utter certainty of knowing that you won’t survive the month to talk about it with anyone, and It doesn’t phase me because my family has been working with the Lacertus race since they were just a political movement. My ancestor, Dr. Robert Weathers, was one of the chief architects of the Project. He exempted from partaking in the Project, and kept our lineage human, but our loyalties, no matter the circumstances of our species, are strictly to the Lacertus for the remainder of our lineage. They pay us damn well for our work” “Back to work, good son, break’s over, and you have 15 minutes to get every single one of those 250 pound balls across the course. Carrying, no rolling, please! You know the drill.” After the doctor finished talking, he went back to his own assignments. The balls were about 3 feet in diameter with handles on them for lifting. There were around 20 to 25 of them. Josh didn’t have time to count. The distance across this particular course was about 50 meters. Not far for sprinting, but when you are carrying 250 pound balls in your hands it took a little longer, especially when there were over 20 of them. He carried them one by one, moving as fast as he can with them in his hand, and he sprinted back after completion to retrieve the next one. He was finished in 10 minutes, and he couldn’t have felt better. “Excellent, good son! Now do it again,” the doctor stated excitedly. “Would you please stop calling me that? I’m not your damn son!,” Josh said angrily. The doctor simply stated, “Well, my good...son, given your position, and given mine, I do notice there is a bit of a power differential between us, and given that I am at the high end of that differential, I do believe I can say what I please. I hate to break it to you, good son, there is not a thing you can do to stop me.” He laughed and yelled “DO IT AGAIN!” At the end of the day Josh had completed the exercise 8 times, and even the meds they gave him couldn’t keep him out of exhaustion. He was done for the day, and again carried off the course in the hands of two Lacertus guards. He slept hard that night and dreamed of Trevor, his longtime friend and mentor.

Chapter 7: Trevor

 “Oh great. Just freaking great!,” Josh exclaimed to Trevor strongly as he searched through his pack. “I forgot my rope and hooks. How are we gonna get to the top of that rock face without them.” “Don’t worry about it dude, we’ll improvise. There is a path that circumvents the face and still gains elevation, we’ll make it to the top. It’s only a two hour hike dude, although it does get pretty steep.” Josh sighed and agreed it was best to take the secondary route. “Damn bro, I really wanted to climb that cliff, though,” Josh said disappointedly. “You’ll get another chance. We gotta keep pushing. We set a deadline remember. Gotta make it back before dark. Come on, hustle now bud.” Trevor was 3 years older than Josh, and at this time Josh was 13 and trevor was 16. Trevor had always been more of a mentor then a friend, but lately he had even been more insistant with Josh that he stay in shape, keep up on his readings, and hone his skills, especially those relating to survival. Trevor taught Josh how to build a good fire, how to find shelter or build it if necessary, and also how to fight. Trevor fought with Josh for fun or sometimes seriously to toughen him up. He could be the kindest kid on earth to him one minute, and the next he could humiliate and be incredibly harsh to him. Trevor was a bigger guy, solidly built, with moderately long wavy brown hair and light brown eyes. He had a gap in his tooth that was a distinguishing feature in his complexion. He had thin brown facial hair that could grow fairly thick if he let it. He would always kiddingly ask when Josh was gonna grow his out.

Trevor pushed Josh excessively, reminding him that he had to get in shape for his first season of sports. “Hurry up, nancy! We don’t have all day, I gotta get you back by supper,” Trevor said to him as they climbed the trail. “I hope your car starts when we get back. Did you get enough gas?,” Josh asked. “Yeah, as much as my rations would give me. The government doesn’t give us much to go with. We’re not even supposed to use it for stuff like this. It’s supposed to be strictly for economic uses or some bullshit. They say there's a scarcity of it, but that’s a lie. They make gallons of that stuff down at the refinery in town. There’s no damn scarcity, or whatever you want to call it. The Lacertus are all about control, and what better way to control people than to control how and when we can move around. Without gas for our trucks and cars we can’t get very far. You have to tell the officials what your business is and where you are going in order to get a ration, and it’s by their estimates on how much you get. It’s no wonder our families have been here for ages. We can’t go anywhere, kid. We just can’t,” Trevor explained. “I told them I had to go check on cattle over in the breaklands along the river. I figured they’d give me enough to get us up here and back.” “What if they caught us?” asked Josh. “Well, kid, we’d probably be shipped to the cities, and don’t ask me what they’d do to us there. It’s not a fun subject,” Trevor told Josh. “What do they do there?,” Josh asked defiantly. “I said DON'T ask me, Josh.” Trevor warned. “Why won’t you tell me? What’s the big…” “DO YOU HAVE A GODDAMN HEARING PROBLEM. WHEN I SAY DON’T ASK ME ABOUT SOMETHING, DON’T ASK ME ABOUT IT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? THERE ARE THINGS YOU JUST DON’T NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW!,” Trevor yelled forcefully at Josh. Josh by this time was getting accustomed to his snaps, but he was frustrated at all the secrets kept from him and sheltering that his parents and his community did with him. He wanted to know the truth. He wasn’t much of a cryer, only on rare occasions, but the young Josh started getting emotional at this moment. Trevor was unrelenting. “What, are you gonna cry now. Give me a fuckin’ break Josh. TOUGHEN UP! You’re 13, not 5. Trust me you’re too young for this stuff. I guarantee you’ll find out more than you want to know about the world when the time’s right, trust me.” Josh asked trevor, emotionally, “why are you such an asshole sometimes, Trevor? I just wanna know, that’s it. What are you protecting me from. I’m strong, I mean, I’m a really strong kid.” Trevor told him sharply “Josh, trust me, you can’t handle some of this stuff. Hell, I can barely handle it, dude. It’s not fun, and I’m leaving it at that. No more about this, ya hear. Now hurry your ass up so we can get to the top. I’m sorry for being a dick, but that subject is now off limits between us two.” Josh gathered himself and they continued climbing. They reached the top of the ridgeline, and they could see Old Town in all it’s dreary splendor to the north. The smoke from the refineries was billowing up into the air in the distance. You could smell a hint of it from the top. The labor camp was to the east of old town. People used for mining the gems in the mountains, Sapphires to be precise, and also workers for the refinery and surrounding wells. Josh knew that they weren’t paid in money, but in food and shelter. They were not just poor, they were more or less slaves to the reigning government. They couldn’t do anything without the officials’ permission, and often the only permission they got was to eat and sleep. Josh’s and Trevor’s families were better off. They were Agricultural people. Trevor’s family were ranchers, with a few hundred head of cattle. They were part of a collective conglomerate of ranching families that split a large swath of land northwest of Old Town, towards the river. The conglomerate was under the direct control of the officials in terms of production and management. They produced food mostly for themselves and the local communities, the rest was dispersed amongst the neighboring regions for the people their. Josh’s family ran a small farm that grew wheat and barley and they had a large garden that produced fruits and vegetables for the community. “The view’s pretty awesome Trevor. Thanks for taking me this time.” “Anytime dude. Old Town’s not much to look at, kinda run down, but it’s there at least. You can almost see the village from here, but you can’t make out too much of it. Too small. We should get going back, I’ll cook you something to eat at my place.” Trevor’s parents were taken to the cities. They had reached the age where most people were taken, and Trevor was left to fend for himself about a year before or so. He got to keep his parent’s house. He had 3 older sisters who were married and were raising families in Old Town. When they could afford to, they came out and checked up on him, otherwise Trevor spent most of his time alone or mentoring Josh. They made their way down the mountain. Trevor challenged Josh to a race to see who gets down the mountain and to the truck first. Josh pulled ahead first, and moved as fast as he could down the mountain. Trevor was right behind him, though, and kept a quick, but steady pace, reserving himself for when it was necessary to pick up speed. Josh was about a half-mile from the truck but began to get winded and started slowing down. Trevor decided it was time to kick it into high gear and picked up speed. Josh saw him coming, and forced himself to pick up his pace. They were neck and neck until the last hundred yards from the truck and Trevor overtook him, gloating at the end by saying “See. I always beat you when it matters, and I always will.” Josh just looked at him and shook his head. “It’s only because you’re older. One of these days I’ll be better than you. I promise.” “I doubt it!,” Trevor said, even though Trevor knew Josh was a better athlete at his age than he was. He was certain that Josh would eventually get stronger and faster than him. A three year difference in development has its perks, but Josh had better genes for strength and agility than he did. Josh’s father was a great athlete in his time. He was lucky he didn’t get selected by the carnivores. It was probably because he already had Josh by the time the selection happened. Trevor and Josh got in the truck and headed back to the village. The drive was about an hour or so to get home from the mountains. In the truck on the way home, Trevor and Josh conversed about various subjects, ranging from small talk about the weather to serious subjects like love and family and work. Trevor asked about Sonya. “How’s your lady doing? She good?.” Josh replied, “She’s doing fine. She’s been busy with her family helping her parents with her brothers and the store.” “Oh, those little shits can be a handful, can’t they? Hahaha. I can see Sonya being good with them though. She’s so sweet and patient. A very even tempered girl that one. You two ever gonna take it further?” Trevor smiled as he asked. He was trying to make Josh uncomfortable. It worked. Josh squirmed in his seat. “Come on man, we’re 13, we don’t do that stuff yet. We’re just friends. We just hang out and go for walks and stuff. I sometimes help with her little brothers, and that’s about all we do.” “Have you ever kissed her?” Trevor asked with a smile. Josh squirmed a little more. “Of course I have. God. We’ve been dating for two months now. We just haven’t ‘taken it further’ as you say?” “I wouldn’t call two 13 year olds kissing and holding hands every once in awhile dating. I’d call it puppy love.” Trevor Laughed. “Shut up Trevor, we’re serious about each other.” “Oh yeah, well I hope so. Hope it lasts man. I mean that. She’s a good girl.” “How come you don’t have a girlfriend? You give me shit for having one, why don’t you have one?,” Josh asked. “It’s slim pickin’s for me, Josh.” “What about Sarah, or Angie?” “ They’re not my type,” Trevor stated. “You shouldn’t be so picky. There are only a few girls to choose from in our town. You should shape up and get together with one of ‘em” “I’m too busy with the ranch, dude. Plus, I like my me time.” Trevor pretty much runs the ranch on his own, albeit with the help of a few friends and relatives, since his parents were taken. It is quite the responsibility for a young teenager to be undertaking, but Trevor handles himself well with it. The rest of the drive home was quiet. They passed the refineries and houses on the way back to the village. It was a poor area. The refineries were entirely government run, and the people who worked there were paid only in food and housing. The amenities of home were quaint  and small for these people, and the quality of their lives were low. They got to Trevor’s house. It was a decent sized house with a fenced back yard and and an old patio with a fire pit in the middle of the yard. He grew up in it, and since his parents were taken, he inherited this good sized family house all to himself for now. Trevor and Josh went through the front porch door and Trevor’s dog, a big black lab named quake, came running up excitedly to them, panting and whining, and he jumped up onto Josh. “Quake, down! You dumbassed dog. Get down! You know better!,” Trevor yelled. “Oh, he’s fine. He’s not bothering me.” Josh was quite fond of Quake. For how big he was, Quake wouldn’t hurt a fly. “He’s a useless dog. Not good for hunting, and definitely not a good guard dog. He’d lick an intruder to death. Probably lead him right to anything valuable. I’d give him to you if your parents actually liked dogs. You at least like him.” Trevor and Josh continued into the house, and Trevor cooked up some pork chops and made a small garden salad. He brought out some old unmarked cans and gave them to Josh. “What is this?,” Josh asked. “It’s a little special something I got from some of the traders. We’ll have some after supper, and I’ll put on a fire outside.” They ate pork chops and salad. Josh always thought Trevor was a good cook, but he was mostly just a simple one. He liked his meals quick and easy, and not taking much preparation time. He wasn’t a Chef by any means, but he definitely knew how to make anything taste decent given the limited supply of spices. Even salt was hard to come by sometimes. Trevor built a small fire and they sat out underneath a beautifully clear starry night sky. Trevor gave Josh one of the cans and said “open it. See if you like it!” Josh opened his can and took a sip. He winced for a second and set the can down. “What is this stuff?,” He asked again. Trevor laughed and said, “It’s beer, dude! You’ve never had beer before?” Josh took another sip. “It tastes...different.” “It’s the good stuff too. Straight out of one of the western towns. They brew their stuff for the government officials.” “How much did it cost you?,” Josh asked. “Oh about fifty pounds of meat or so,” Trevor answered. “Jeesh Trevor, that’s a lot. That could have fed you for a while man,” Josh said concerningly. “It’s ok, I got 30 cans out of the deal, and I have plenty of food, man. Don’t worry.” They sat back in there chairs and Trevor said, “you know, this is exactly what I think our ancestors did before things went bad. They built a fire, cracked open some beer, and looked at the stars.” “I don't know, Trevor. If they were anything like us, they probably would have. They probably had better beer, too!” Josh and Trevor both laughed and Trevor said with a snicker, “oh c’mon dude, this stuff ain’t so bad.” “I've never had beer before, so I can't compare it to anything else,” Josh replied. Josh and Trevor were up for an hour or two more, talking about girls and sports and the past, but around midnight they were beat. “Well dude it's been fun, but I'm going to bed,” Josh told Trevor tiredly. “You get my sister’s old room tonight. You know where it is. Use the downstairs bathroom. The upstairs toilet is broken.” “Thanks for the heads up. Goodnight Trevor” “Goodnight. It's been fun. You're like the little brother I never had. I mean that Josh.”

Chapter 8: Sparring With Benjamin

Josh was still dreaming about Trevor, but in his sleep he felt something disturbing, as if something in his room didn't feel right. He felt as though he wasn't alone, and he woke up. There were two carnivores standing above him, and they grabbed him and took him out to the Commons. He didn't struggle. What was the point. In the Commons he saw the rest of the prey, all escorted in by carnivores. Dr. Weathers announced to the room, “Alright, my good friends, this week’s agenda is weapons and skills training. You will be paired with a person of peer or near peer strength and skill level, and you will train with that person from here on out.” “Weapons training? What kind of weapons to they give us here?” Josh  thought. He reasoned that they probably weren't going to be given guns or projectiles of most sorts, because they could be to easily turned on the staff of the facility. The good doctor confirmed this. "Oh my dear friend Joshua, your weapons training will consist mostly of blades, knives and blunt objects. Things that we can handle more easily. Guns are out of the question. They are not even in The Hunt. What thrill is there if the Carnivores can't exercize their physical and sensory superiority to the fullest. Blades, ingenuity and physical prowess are the weapons of the sports!

-they complete his tra

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Your story concept is rich, expansive, and laden with intense themes, offering a mix of dystopian horror and the resilience of the human spirit. It’s clear you’ve put immense thought into the world-building, character arcs, and the emotional depth of the narrative. To help you refine and organize this epic story, I’ll distill the key elements, structure, and themes into a more concise framework while keeping its essence intact.

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"The Abomination" Trilogy Overview

Book 1: The Abomination

Theme: Survival and Revelation

Synopsis:

Set in a dystopian world where humanity has been reduced to livestock and prey by the genetically engineered Lacertus race, the story follows Josh, a young man chosen as prey in a brutal sport hunt.

After witnessing his parents’ deaths and being thrust into a nightmare he could never have imagined, Josh is abducted and forced into a training regimen to prepare him for "The Hunt." He discovers that he and others are drugged to suppress fear and grief, making them ideal prey for their carnivorous overlords.

During the hunt, Josh demonstrates extraordinary ingenuity, courage, and determination. Against all odds, he manages to outsmart and kill his hunter, a feat never before achieved. Escaping into the wilderness, he begins a journey to find safety and purpose.

Along the way, Josh uncovers fragments of the Lacertus race's origins and connects with a secretive insurgency fighting to overthrow their reign.

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Book 2: The Insurrection

Theme: Resistance and Retribution

Synopsis:

After surviving the hunt, Josh joins the underground resistance against the Lacertus race. Utilizing the physical conditioning and skills imparted during his captivity, he becomes a key figure in the insurgency.

The resistance grows from scattered cells into an organized global movement, reclaiming lost technology and leveraging guerilla tactics against the Lacertus government.

As Josh rises to prominence, he devises a daring plan to lure the majority of the Lacertus elite to Berlin under the guise of a grand hunt. With the help of reclaimed military technology, the resistance drops thermonuclear devices on the city, decimating the Lacertus leadership and breaking their grip on humanity.

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Book 3: The Eradication

Theme: Redemption and Renewal**

Synopsis:

With the Lacertus race crippled, humanity begins to rebuild, but remnants of the Lacertus elite remain, posing a threat to global peace. Josh, now a general and hero, leads the charge to eradicate every last member of the abominable species.

The final conflict sees Josh confronting the last Lacertus leader, a cunning and elusive predator who embodies the worst of the species’ traits. In a brutal and symbolic battle, Josh eliminates the last of the Lacertus, fulfilling his vow.

The story concludes with humanity reclaiming its place as stewards of Earth. The lessons learned from the Lacertus era shape a new world order based on freedom and unity.

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Key Themes

1. Survival and Sacrifice:

Josh’s journey reflects humanity’s primal will to survive even in the face of unimaginable horror.

2. Hope and Resilience:

Faith, love, and the desire for freedom drive human characters to overcome despair and fight against tyranny.

3. The Consequences of Hubris:

The Lacertus race represents the dangers of unchecked ambition, dehumanization, and technological overreach.

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Central Characters

Josh Reynolds:

A resourceful, strong-willed young man who evolves from prey to liberator. His personal losses fuel his fight for humanity’s freedom.

Sonya Todorovic:

Josh’s love interest, whose fate becomes a driving force for his survival and motivation in the insurgency.

Trevor Springfield:

Josh’s mentor and a tragic figure who betrays him under duress but inspires Josh to rise above betrayal and weakness.

Dr. Samuel Weathers:

A chilling representation of human complicity in evil, he serves as a bridge between the Lacertus and their human prey.

Benjamin:

A fellow prey and unlikely ally who provides Josh with knowledge and camaraderie in the darkest moments.

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Potential Opening Scene:

Chapter 1: The Harvest

The story opens with Josh’s tranquil life shattered by the arrival of Lacertus soldiers during "The Harvest." His parents’ brutal deaths and his abduction set the stage for the harrowing journey ahead.

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Would you like me to assist further with specific chapters, character development, or refining particular scenes?