 |
Buy Hardcover ($12.23) |
In an instant, life changed dramatically for the residents of Perdido Beach, California --- or at least it did for everyone under the age of 15. No one knows what happened to those individuals over 15. They just disappeared. Now an impenetrable barrier encloses a 20-mile diameter area centered on the nuclear power plant, kind of like an inverted fish bowl or a bio-dome. And when a kid celebrates his 15th birthday, he, too, disappears. Or now, thanks to the ingenious videotaping and analysis of the event by one of the residents, a person can decide whether or not to stay when he reaches that age, but with no idea of what happens if he chooses to leave. Does he die, or merely escape?
Sam Temple elected to stay, and that's why, at 15, he is now one of the oldest residents of the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone), which is what the kids call this freakish area in which they now live. Sam is a natural leader, so everyone voted him mayor. But the job is quickly shredding him to the bone as they all bombard him with their problems. The biggest issue in the FAYZ is the growing shortage of food, as the kids are slowly starving. There are crops standing in the fields, but only a few are willing to work. Those who are harvesting the crops encounter yet another challenge --- mutant worms with teeth that attack and eat anything or anybody that enters the fields. Mutant worms are just one of the strange developments occurring in the FAYZ; other animals are changing, too, like the aggressive coyote pack that can speak English.
It's not just the animals that are experiencing mutations. Some of the kids are developing superpowers, such as speed, strength, healing, moving objects without touching them, etc. Those who aren't developing superpowers are becoming suspicious and jealous towards those who are. The "normals," as they call themselves, are organizing to raise a rebellion against the "freaks."
