Today we have a sneak peek from Michael Poeltl’s dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel, The Judas Syndrome – Book One:
Joel and his friends are on the verge of graduation and excited and optimistic about their futures. But when they return from a camping trip in the remote woodlands to find themselves faced with a post-apocalyptic world, their daily lives acquire burdens and terrors hitherto unexperienced.
The Judas Syndrome is an unforgettable portrait of survival against the odds. Joel, the protagonist, is an average teen whose dreams of entering college in the fall have disintegrated with the rest of the civilized world.
The Judas Syndrome – Book One is available through Amazon.com, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.
And now, from The Judas Syndrome – Book One:
My name is Joel. Ever heard the expression; Shit happens? It hardly does justice to what’s happened to me, but in a pinch it will suffice as a summation of my life these past few months.
I know now that a single action can put in motion a series of repercussions. Should that action be positive, the repercussions are rewarding, but when that action is negative, so too are the events to follow. A single action can change you forever. Sometimes, if the deed is large enough, if the intent evil enough, the results can be disastrous.
My friends can attest to this. My friends have always featured prominently in my life. Some helped shape my earliest memories while others I only met in high school. But as much as my friends have shaped my past, no memories can compare to those of the last few months as we struggled to survive. Their actions changed me and the way I lived as much as mine shaped their day to day lives. For those of us who made it out of this thing alive, the rewards were bittersweet. We kept our lives but lost our innocence and our faith, the lack of which can empty your existence like water evaporating under a merciless sun.
And for the rest of us…
The Apocalypse came quickly. Growing up in a small northern town located over two hundred kilometers away from any major city left me impervious to such global threats as war, famine, disease, and vicious dictators. I watched the news every night and knew the world wasn’t right, but I never suspected just how wrong things were getting.
*****
Three weeks before disaster struck, I was planning to go to the beer garden at the town park. Remembering past events, I suspected there would be a few fights throughout the evening, but nothing too brutal unless some yahoos from another town decided to show up and make a play for our beer and girlfriends. I tried to steer clear of such free-for-alls unless a friend was getting the worst of it.
That friend was usually Sonny. Much as I loved the guy, drinking with him was a risky undertaking, for me as well as him. Big, beefy, and fearless, he attracted idiots like flies. Whiskey-fed farm boys, frustrated by a week of shitty work for shittier pay, would try to score a reputation by taking on Big Sonny. When he handed their asses to them, they’d try the strength in numbers routine and come back with some friends. That’s when I had to get involved, whether I liked it or not. The morning after, it was hard to tell which hurt worse- my hangover or my bruised ribs. Wincing at past memories, I stocked up on aspirin.
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