In 2074, a failed A.I. experiment in Japan tore the world apart, leaving humanity on the brink of extinction. Cities burned, governments fell, and the earth itself became a fractured wasteland. What remains of the United States is now a single Dome, an isolated refuge and the last fragile illusion of safety.
By 2242, life inside the Dome is controlled, suffocating, and unforgiving. Every choice is monitored, every movement tracked, and freedom is a distant memory. Outside, the world is a lethal wasteland: silent, mutated, and merciless.
Each year, twenty-five citizens are Chosen. They are armed, equipped, and sent beyond the Dome's walls, never to return.
This year, the next Chosen will face the truth hidden in the ruins of a dead world. They will discover that survival requires more than courage. It demands the courage to confront lies, betrayals, and secrets buried deep within the Dome itself.
Out there, beyond the walls, life is raw and unpredictable. Love burns as fiercely as hate. Loyalty is tested, trust shattered, and death waits for every misstep. The Dome may be the only home they have ever known, but the world beyond will teach them that nothing is safe, nothing is certain, and no one is untouchable.
Short Preview:
Her breath hitched as she looked up, her gaze finding Remi's face in the candlelight. The soft glow brushed against her cheekbones and lines of her scars. Nova's heart clenched, her throat tight as realization washed over her.
Nova didn't see Remi as something small or distant. No, Remi felt infinite. Endless.
She wasn't the moon in the sky.
Or the stars.
Remi was the whole damn galaxy.
(This story contains a wlw/gxg/lesbian love story. It is a slow burn, but I promise that it's epic!)
#1 under #wasteland 10/17/25
*THE UNEDITED VERSION* Beware of typos, errors, and general mistakes. This is a very, very rough draft.
"I live in a place called Compound 4. We are one of ten different compounds placed at strategic locations around the US. It's been thirteen years since the virus overtook humanity, turning about ninety percent of us into zombies. I'm not sure how it started exactly; that's classified information. I do know that in order to save what was left of the human race, the president at the time took a bunch of really smart people and kids and relocated them into new 'protected' cities. My father was one of those really smart people. I was only five at the time, but I knew what was happening."
Within the walls of the compound, Jay makes stupid mistakes, mistakes even she doesn't understand, putting everyone inside at risk. All because she can't shoot someone. All because she misses the wind in her hair, the flowers on the hillsides, the sound of crickets at night. All because she's different, the only person untouchable by the Virus.
When the mistakes begin to duplicate, and a girl shows up who knows her name, everything begins to change in Compound 4.
Highest rank in Science Fiction: #9