The Kingdom: Successor

Chapter One

CAPITAL BUILDING, NOVEMBER 14. 8:30 A.M.

Talia stepped out of her office one Monday morning. She yawned as she shut her door, then adjusted her binder under her arm.

Talia was the president of New Kingdom, put into power after the Battle for the Capital a year before. She was quite tall, with the help of her heels, and had brown hair and green eyes. She was thin, but with enough muscle to pin a man to the wall if she had to. Which she had done before.

"Good morning, Mrs. Zykalo," a woman smiled as she walked by.

"Morning," Talia greeted back in a half tired voice.

She walked to a room marked 111, opening the door and walking inside. Inside sat a man with a labcoat, a government scientist by the name of Zeke Akoso. He stood behind the other side of the table next to a briefcase, looking her over.

"You're Zeke, correct?" Talia asked.

"That is correct, yes," Zeke responded.

"Have a seat," Talia suggested.

Zeke took the offer and sat down, his hand resting on his briefcase handle.

"So, you wished to talk to me about..." Talia began, her voice trailing off so he could answer.

"The bunker system, yes. I, along with other scientists, wish to create a bunker system in major cities for the protection of the citizens. These bunkers will house over ten thousand citizens each for three years. Though this will come at a cost, as food and water for this many people is the cost of a city itself, along with furniture and bedding, and other things," Zeke answered.

Talia nodded, taking notes. "I will consult the rest of the council, and we will get back to you."

Zeke nodded and stood, grabbing his briefcase and walking out.

Talia read through her notes for a moment before doing the same. She closed the door behind her and walked to Deryle's office. Knocking on the door first, she stepped inside and closed it behind her.

"Hey Tal," Deryle greeted.

"Hi Deryle, do you know about the bunker system already?" Talia asked.

"I know a little bit, why?" Deryle replied.

"I just wanted to get some input from other people, and I trust you the most with something big like this," she responded.

She handed him the clipboard of the notes she took and he looked them over. He thought for a moment before asking, "How many of these will there be?"

"I'm not sure, I'll have to get back to Mr. Akoso about that," Talia answered.

Deryle nodded and handed the clipboard back to her.

CAPITAL CITY GRAVEYARD, NOVEMBER 14, 2:57 A.M.

A man put up his bandana and got out of his truck, grabbing his shovel. He snuck across the graveyard road and towards the brightly lit grave of Reilious Johnstone. The moment he stepped up to it, the lights went out. All according to plan.

He dug the shovel into the ground, digging deeper and deeper as the clocked ticked by. He found the coffin and lifted it out of the ground with trouble, dragging it slowly to his truck. He loaded it into the back as the lights on the grave came back on, speeding off.

HORIZON LABS, NOVEMBER 14, 8:00 A.M.

"Kyle, I need to go to that meeting with the president, make sure nobody finds the body," Zeke told one of the other scientists.

The scientist nodded and wheeled the coffin into one of the lab rooms, where three more scientists lifted the body out of the coffin. They began their work of opening the skull and removing the brain. They carefully put it into a jar filled with liquid and attached wires into it, pushing a button after. The jar sank into the console and the scientists looked towards a set of screens.

The screens turned on, a yellow horizontal line showing up on the screen. There was silence between the scientists as lights flashed a few times on the console.

The line moved. "Hello?"