10/28/2018
Been a long time since I've posted but just to get you ready, here is the synopsis for the second book in the Push Series. Keep in mind, this story takes place far from the setting in the first book. New people, a different place, but the same strange world. This story is different in many ways. This is The Push Series: The Second City.
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In 2020, the world ended in a catastrophic event known as The Push. The unknown force suddenly shocked the earth into losing its gravity, sending everything into the sky that wasn’t somehow connected to the ground. Even after The Push turned the world upside down, the worst was yet to come. The mass confusion and lack of communication caused the city to fall into a chaotic nightmare. It wasn’t just the unfamiliar environment that people had to adapt to, it was threat from the people themselves.
The Push took everyone’s basic instinct of survival and kicked into overdrive. There was division among everyone and it wasn’t long before the killing started. Small factions of people would attack each other over shelter or necessities. The factions grew into larger groups; the attacks into battles. For years, war would plague the streets as everyone simply tried to survive. This chaos lasted for nearly twenty years before it finally ended. Today, that time is known as the Dark Millennium. And in the end, it wasn’t even the people who ended the war, it was the cold. Even as civil war raged, the winter killed more people than anything else combined. The cold brought the peace that the city of Chicago so desperately needed.
But not everything was forgiven, people were still divided. Some even retreated underground into the sewers where it was warmest. Most others continued living within the buildings that surrounded what was left of the Chicago River. The buildings were renamed over time, but others were just called towers. Each of the towers had their own leader who oversaw order and safekeeping within their building. Together, the tower leaders formed a group known as The Table. They would occasionally meet to discuss common issues and to keep the peace within the city. After the Dark Millennium, they agreed on protection from the weather as their number one priority.
During the winter, the concept of snow itself was completely different. Just as everything else did in the past, snow used to fall. Now the snow would pass through the city much like a giant cloud of fog. Protection from this constant bombardment was one of the first innovations that The Table brought to the city.
Most of the inner city stood protected due to man made structures called ramps that deflect most of the heavy snow. The massive structures were built on the Western side of the city where most of the precipitation came from. The Table continued to work together to move the city and its people in the right direction. And for the first time since the end of the Dark Millennium, a new light was shed over the city of Chicago.
CHICAGO 2060
It was now forty years after The Push first silenced the world. Nature reclaimed the areas nearest to the ground, creating a congested mess of debris and hibernating plant life. Aside from hunting, a centrally located building, called Halos, served as a mega garden for the city. It would take a lot of energy to keep the building fully operational. The main source of this energy comes from a nearby building called Cans. Other sources of energy are used for various tasks, but Cans energy is a key part of what keeps the remaining population alive every year.
The closer to the ground, the more dangerous everything became. Over time, the congested mixture of jagged metal, floating debris, and accumulated snow made movement minimal. Most of it cleared just above the 13th floor. Anything below that was considered off limits, at least to people with common sense. The few who did manage to survive down there would kill for the old newspaper stuffed inside another's coat. Those who lived within the towers called them Roaches. As bad as the Roaches seemed to be, even they stayed clear of venturing into the world that existed below the streets. Underground was a place of nightmares, a place they now called Labyrinth.
Those who lived underground had been without contact since before the Dark Millennium ended. Some time ago, messengers were sent to try and contact the massive group of people who retreated into the sewers so long ago. None of the messengers ever made it back. The underground dwellers were assumed dead until 2061 when reports surfaced that rabid humans would emerge from the sewers and take people down below, never to return. The Roaches would say they had teeth like fangs and nails sharpened into claws. The myths spread like fire among the towers, striking fear into the everyone above ground.
The myths turned true not long after when a man was attacked near lower Wacker Drive. This man happened to be armed with a six-shot revolver and shot the creature dead. The creature took all six shots before it stopped moving. The body was taken to the city lab where it was examined. Although the attacker was still somewhat clothed, the exposed skin was as pale as the snow itself. It also appeared that some of the myths were true, as the nails on his fingers were sharpened to points. Teeth were in poor condition, but otherwise normal. His hair was long, thin, and nearly transparent. The muscle definition and density indicated its strength to be above average of a normal man. The underground world known as Labyrinth had now been confirmed to be home to the newly named Noctorans. It was the first case of its kind, but more were soon to follow.
Soon, additional reports of people being taken surfaced. The people began to panic, and The Table got to work. A cable system was developed for speedy transport anywhere in the city. The cables lined each corner of almost every building downtown. There were also cables that would cross over to the next building every fifty feet. They were also to be used with a newly developed machine called a Gripper. It was a battery-operated piece of machinery that one would wear on their forearm. With the accelerator pressed, tiny cogs would spin at a high rate. When clamped onto the cable, the wearer could swiftly be in and out of any area within minutes.
The system was designed to help people avoid getting kidnapped, but it never stopped the Noctorans from trying. It was then decided that something else had to be done. The Table leaders put together a group of volunteers that would protect the towers. The troopers were supplied with the most advanced weapons, gadgets, and even a modified gripper with twice the power. Every tower had their own group of trained agents.
Their relevance was in question until the day two teenagers were snatched. The rescue team from Cans sprang into action, catching up to the Noctorans and quickly disposing of them before returning with the victims unharmed. Suddenly, the rescue crews of every tower became rock stars. But it wasn’t until a man was taken below the streets into Labyrinth that the tower rescue teams became infamous. Tower Team 23 were the first to venture into Labyrinth and come out alive. They were heroes.
They were put together to Rescue, Escape, and Protect. Twenty years later, they continue to protect the people in their towers across the city. As a tradition, the troopers have R.E.A.P tattooed on their forearms. This also prompted their name change from the original Tower Rescue Teams. They called themselves Reapers.
Chapter 1. Fear the Reaper ...
