Chapter 1

HIRO

The sun was still resolutely below the horizon and the street was as dark as an old school black and white film. The world was silent as there was no drone of cars to fill the air.

Hiro leaned his head against the window of the bus while watching the buildings they passed by. He could see his reflection in the window.

He sported wavy black hair which was neatly trimmed and he had angled cheekbones that gave him a prominent jawline. His eyes were a light brown colour that mesmerized anyone who stared at it while his pink lips were shaped like a cupid's bow which accented his pale skin.

The interior of the bus was bathed in a yellow glow that came from the light bulbs overhead. The bus was filled with people that were essential workers and on their way to their different work places.

Essential workers were farmers, doctors, engineers, scientists and other jobs that included providing basic human needs. Musicians, actors, footballers and the likes of those had been deemed extremely unnecessary and were no longer needed.

As Hiro closes his eyes, he feels the heady pull of his dreams, beckoning him back, and he succumbs to it.

Darkness soon melted away and the orange glow of sunrise seeped over the horizon. A fleck of sunlight glittered on the window pane Hiro was resting his head on, reflecting the light into the bus. Cars and more buses filled the road while people walked out of their apartment complexes after a couple of minutes.

"Next stop, Stone avenue. Next stop, Stone avenue," the bus conductor called out from the front of the bus, jolting Hiro awake.

That was his stop.

He quickly brought his hand to his face to check if his full face gas mask was in place before he got up from the seat. He grabbed his back pack from the seat next to him and slung it over his shoulders before he made his way to the front of the bus.

A couple of people also got up from their seats and put on their full face gas mask as the bus came to a stop. Hiro pressed the button next to the sliding door and the button flashed red before air jetted out of small holes with a hiss inside the decontamination chamber.

The button flashed green after the jet stopped and the door to the decontamination chamber opened. He stepped into it and the door behind him closed before the door that led outside the bus opened and he stepped out.

The door closed behind him and repeated the same process for the next person as Hiro walked down the street. Everyone on the street was wearing a full face gas mask.

Some stores that lined the streets were already opened and there were queues forming outside them as people waited to get into the decontamination chamber.

Twenty years ago, a couple of deadly diseases were ravaging the world and killing thousands. Cures were created for them but a scientist decided to take it to the next level to ensure that diseases won't exist anymore by creating airborne particles.

It backfired. The particles became radioactive and deadly to anyone who breathed in even a tiny amount.

If someone accidentally breathed in the air, they wouldn't die immediately. It would take three to four months but death was definite because the particles would slowly kill all the organs in the human's system.

Everything became poisonous. Everything died. Aquatic animals and land animals no longer existed. The food and other crops planted on farms all withered. Most of the people that had been outside their houses the day the particles were released into the air also died after three months.

As a result, all buildings and buses built decontamination chambers at their entrances. Some of the buildings, especially apartment complexes and offices, had also built in a green house for air filter. Though not everyone could afford to live in those apartments.

Foods in supermarkets were grown in green houses and after they're harvested, they're tightly sealed in plastic bags.

Cars also had a decontamination process but it could be very risky if someone didn't keep their full face gas mask on while in them.

Some accidents had happened over the years. People not wearing their full face gas masks properly, some buses and buildings that had a faulty decontamination chamber and things like that. Accidents like that were one of the reasons Hiro and other scientists worked hard daily to try to fix the planet.

Another reason was the Outlanders. They were getting more dangerous to people living in the Central with each passing day.

The Outlanders were people that lived in the city that surrounded the Central. They didn't have jobs and couldn't afford good food or gas masks. All of them were dying to the airborne particles but they wanted to destroy as much as they could before they died.

They had destroyed some apartment complexes and supermarkets which lead to an increase in street patrols and constant checkpoints, day and night. Everyone was required to carry the identity card that had been issued to them by their work place or school whenever they were on the street.

Hiro pulled his identity card out of his pocket when he got to one of the checkpoints and handed it to the patroller. The man gave him a nod when he saw the 'SCIENTIST' written on the card in block letters before he scanned it.

The colour on the scanner bounced from green to red and back to green repeatedly before it settled on green and the man handed the card back to him.

Hiro got to the Falone Institute of Medical Research a couple of minutes later and clicked on the button next to the sliding door.

The button flashed green and the door to the decontamination chamber slid open and closed after he stepped into it.

He let out a harsh breath when the cold air jetted from the holes as the chamber hissed, hitting him from every side. The light overhead flashed green before the door that led to the lobby opened.

He had only taken a step into the lobby when a voice called out.

"Hiro Tachibana!"

He looked up to see his boss, Barney Smith, standing by the elevator.

"My office."