YA Christian Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Date Published: 03-05-2025
When a man in power believes he's God, mankind doesn't have a prayer
There was a nun here – the only one left at this church – and her name was Sister Theresa. Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church had lost everyone except for Sister Theresa, who silently kept up the grounds like a ghostly warden, providing shelter and praying for souls. She did it at great risk to herself. Half the church had been bombed right during a service. It was amazing that any of it was still standing, though it was now a blackened, bombed-out, husk of its former brick glory. All of the religious institutions like this one had, of course, been mapped out, and the Guardians may have some thermal imaging available to them; we weren’t sure. Thank God someone in their right mind had the prescience to build a bomb shelter below it. That’s where we now lived and worked out of.
I guess Nero regarded a blackened and charred half-structure like this church – like all the churches – as fait accompli because he moved on and didn’t have them check here again. For that, we were grateful.
Swifty sent us ahead of him, and then he and six other guys held off Nero’s Guardians until they could regroup and make a break for it. That’s when we high-tailed it home, sticking to the crops and fields. For whatever reason, Guardians weren’t good at picking out organic against organic. If you were stuck somewhere in the metro, they had you. All that signal bounced off the aluminum and metal, and they would zero you like you were in a 3D grid, and then they’d lock and load. That’s why we steered clear of the big cities. Chicago was uncomfortably close, at only an hour and a quarter away by car. We were safer in the country.
When the eight of us finally made it back to Maple Park, our mouths were dry and our lungs were burning.
The goal was a bit far-fetched, if you ask me: to get to DeKalb Taylor Airport and see if we might be able to catch a flight further out west. Maybe to Seattle, and then off to Hawaii. Many said that was pointless: Nero’s arm had grown long indeed, and his reach was greater than any of us had ever known. Others thought we should fly north and make for Canada. The prime minister was either dead or in hiding, but maybe there would be some stout souls that would be willing to stand up to Nero, enforce whatever remained of international extradition policies, and provide us asylum, at least for a while. Most everyone shook their head no matter the suggestion. The Guardians were everywhere.
About the Author
Award-winning and bestselling author Aaron Ryan lives in Washington with his wife and two sons, along with Macy the dog, Winston the cat, and Merry & Pippin, the finches.
He is the author of the bestselling "Dissonance" 6-book alien invasion saga, the post-apocalyptic Christian fiction saga "The End," the sci-fi thrillers "Forecast" and "The Slide," the children's picture books "The Ring of Truth," "The Sword of Joy" and "The Book of Power," the business reference business books "How to Successfully Self-Publish & Promote Your Self-Published Book" and "The Superhero Anomaly", 6 business books on voiceovers penned under his former stage name (Joshua Alexander), as well as a previous fictional novel, "The Omega Room."
When he was in second grade, he was tasked with writing a creative assignment: a fictional book. And thus, "The Electric Boy" was born: a simple novella full of intrigue, fantasy, and 7-year-old wits that electrified Aaron's desire to write. From that point forward, Aaron evolved into a creative soul that desired to create.
He enjoys the arts, media, music, performing, poetry, and being a daddy. In his lifetime he has been an author, voiceover artist, wedding videographer, stage performer, musician, producer, rock/pop artist, executive assistant, service manager, paperboy, CSR, poet, tech support, worship leader, and more. The diversity of his life experiences gives him a unique approach to business, life, ministry, faith, and entertainment.
Aaron's favorite author by far is J.R.R. Tolkien, but he also enjoys Suzanne Collins, James S.A. Corey, Michael Crichton, Marie Lu, Madeleine L'Engle, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, C.S. Lewis, Stephen King and Dave Barry.
Aaron has always had a passion for storytelling. Visit the Dissonance saga website at https://www.dissonancetheseries.com or The End saga website at https://thisisnottheend.com.
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