The Barricade
Publication Date: August via Lycan Valley Press
When the computers said the planet was heading for disaster, an underground ark was built—a sprawling bunker complex housing the great and the good, the best minds and those who could pay. With space being limited, families were torn apart as personal survival trumped all else.
Those who were left behind had to manage as best they could in the face of climate change, war and disease. To focus their minds, to remind themselves of their abandonment, they built a huge Barricade around the entrance to the underground complex. Should life above ground improve, it was agreed those below would never be allowed back. This was their Unbreakable Law:
They chose to go in. They can never come out.
But the world didn’t end, the planet didn’t die and after twenty years, the climate began to return to normal.
Scientist Dr Faith Hamilton was one of those left behind, together with her daughter Josie. Her politician husband went below with their son – and his secretary.
As the world rights itself, Faith discovers her neighbour murdered whilst her daughter has disappeared. Her investigations keep taking her back to the Barricade which she discovers is not what it appears and which has been housing a secret for twenty years. A secret which threatens both sanity and survival. Science has kept them alive but at what cost?
And all the time, those below demand to return and reclaim their positions in society.
Will Faith and her community allow the Unbreakable Law to be broken?
Paused
A terrifying pandemic sweeps the world, rendering its victims completely immobile but leaving them conscious with their minds intact. The victims are helpless against the environment, completely at the mercy of wild animals, weather, out of control fires, and other dangers. There’s no hope for those safe in their homes either, as they slowly starve to death, unable to feed themselves or drink.
Dr. Alex Griffiths leads a team racing against time to find a cure before it’s too late. Will he succeed?
Stephanie Ellis 