Innova

Prologue

I guess I should start by introducing myself.

My name is Raven Kryne. I'm seventeen and I live in the Dome. Well, duh, that's kind of a no-brainer, its the only place that humans can survive. Anyway, my world is Black and White. No seriously, it's literally Black and White. Here we have our skin altered to be either Black or White. It gets kinda dull after a while. Wait, no, scratch that- it gets VERY dull after a while. I'm not doing a very good job of this am I? Here, just let me start over, I promise this gets more interesting.

I live in the Dome. What is the Dome you may ask? It's the last sanctuary for human beings. Why do we need a sanctuary five hundred years in the future? Well, to answer that question I'll have to start over five hundred years ago. You ready?

Five hundred years ago, humanity was just starting to kick off. The crime rate around the globe was the lowest it had ever been in two hundred years. People were more accepting of just about anything; race, religion, sexuality, gender, you name it. So of course someone had to screw it all up.

Not that they meant to. I honestly believe that it was just a mistake. No one could have predicted that there would actually be life on Mars. And who could have predicted that that life would be a parasite? A parasite that would worm it's way under your eyeball and activate the part of your brain that stimulates hunger and produces violent cravings. For human flesh. So to sum it up: zombies.

Whooo, those scientists F*CKED. UP.

Yeah, seems almost unbelievable. But it was real. Millions, infected. Billions, consumed. So many people just died. Killed. Murdered. Sometimes it happened over something noble, like saving the lives of others. More often it was just over something simple, like a can of soup. For a few cases, it was the result of psychopaths taking advantage of the dire predicament.

So to sum it up again: DEATH.

After a couple of years, things had settled down enough for a few smart scientists and architects to establish a base. The Dome. The ultimate base to defend against the Infected. Why do you call them the Infected and not just zombies? Well...

Technically, everyone who was Infected was still human. They still had thoughts and could communicate pretty well. But at the same time they were blood-thirsty monsters. There was no way to predict when they would snap, or have cravings. Some people just went insane and accepted the demon inside of them, letting it consume everything they were. So, no. They are not zombies. They can die just like a human can.

But back to the Dome. Now at the time it wasn't a dome, in fact it wasn't even called the Dome, it was called the Ark. I don't know why, it's not a frickin' boat.

People would flock by the thousands to enter but gaining entrance was brutal. You had to have some type of skill or talent that would make you valuable if you couldn't defend yourself. Children were the one exception. There weren't a lot of kids back then. They were considered invaluable. After a while less people started coming to the Ark. Not because people didn't want to, just there wasn't that many people. Rumor was spreading that the Infected were up to something.

Something bad.

Rumors that people were changing, not mentally but physically. The parasite was finally showing it's true colors. Autopsies on dead Infected revealed something. What exactly it was is lost to history. But it was terrifying enough that the Leaders decided to stop accepting others in. They built their walls so high that it blocked out everything, even the sky. That's where the Dome comes from. We're safe under the Dome.

Not really, cause there were attacks. Infected finding their way in, wreaking havoc and claiming lives. Pretty soon people were divided. And here is the real reason my world is Black and White.

Racism.

Such a cold word. And brutal too. Even just saying it gives you a chill. People turned against each other. Ethnicity against ethnicity. You'd think that some part of the past would stick to them but it didn't. And yet more people died. Over something even more worthless than a can of soup.

So the Leaders had to do something. They figured that if people couldn't help one another to save their own lives, just for the sole purpose of being different, than they had to do something to show everyone that all people are more or less the same. They changed what you looked like. They took away all color as a 'punishment' and 'reminder' that this is the consequence of fighting. Anyone who refused the treatment was kicked out, and your skin color was chosen by lottery.

Crazy thing is, it worked.

WTF. I guess all it takes for humanity to grow up is taking away one of the only things that makes us unique.

And that, is how we get here today. Five hundred years later and the Dome is still standing. Five hundred years later and I find myself staring up at the pale glow the Dome casts to all under it's protection. Five Hundred Years.

And still history repeats the same old tired story.

I just didn't know it yet. Funny thing is, I actually thought I was safe. I thought that of all the places in the world, I was in the safest one.

But if I was in the safest place on planet Earth, then what happened wouldn't have happened. Friends wouldn't have died.

But here we are.

This is quite poetic actually, I'm usually not this melancholy. But deep down I know this all boils down to him. If I had just turned down a different corner, walked down a different street, I could've avoided all this.

Yet still I know that even if I had the power to turn back time and get a redo, I wouldn't change a thing. Cause this is my story.

Question is: Are you willing to hear it?

If so then prepare yourself, cause this isn't going to be pretty. I changed and so will you.

So...

Are you ready?