“Prepare yourselves, juniors,” Senior Trooper Randolf announces. “We’re entering a restricted zone. This is hellbeast territory now. Keep your heads on a swivel.” Her body stiffens, as though preparing herself for an ambush, but there’s nothing but dirt ahead of us. A screeching sound rings out, like the whistle of a train that’s being crushed into itself.
In the year 2099, Cassel is a teenage soldier in what was once Virginia, ravaged by hellbeasts and a cold war between the three factions vying for control. After the loss of his best friend, he is thrown into the midst of a conspiracy that will forever change his world.
A young adult dystopian novel.
Read Kingside Castle on AO3.Image: Cassel Fowler by @noahdeaart on Twitter.
But wait! There’s more…
Benji flops on the couch like a frog. His light-up elf suit seems to follow the beat of the curious blinking of his eyes. "So, Biscuit." He cocks his head to the side. "What really happened?"
Bishop Samory hasn’t seen her family since she graduated from the ETC, so they don’t know anything about what she’s been getting into. A prosthetic leg? A girlfriend? Two girlfriends?
A side story of Kingside Castle.
Read on AO3.
Image: Brett Sayles from Pexels