H.A.L.F.: ORIGINS
by Natalie Wright
Publication date: August 24th 2017
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
A deadly alien virus spawns an epidemic. Predators attack Europe.
And a clandestine organization conspires to profit from chaos and forge a New
World Order.
BLURB
In this heart-pounding
finale of the award-winning H.A.L.F. series, Tex, Erika and the rest are in a
race against time. They fought for their lives. Now they battle to save our
species.
Tex and Erika are fugitives and
running for their lives. But when Tex falls gravely ill, a Navajo healer is his
only hope for survival. Tex emerges from the ordeal changed in body and mind
and with vital information: how to stop the predatory M’Uktah from overtaking
the human population and destroying those he has come to love.
Erika Holt seeks a respite from
the constant threats to her life but she’s not about to give up. As she and Tex
launch a mission to shut down the intra-galactic highway used by invaders who
prey on humans, she grows closer to her troubled half-human companion. But what
about her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Jack?
Jack Wilson, with his friend Anna
Sturgis, is on a mission of his own. He’s determined to destroy The Makers, an
illuminati-like organization behind the H.A.L.F. program. It’s time to put an
end to their schemes for world domination. Complicating matters, an anti-viral
that could save millions from an alien virus has been stolen. As both alien and
human forces line up against them, the destiny of all mankind is hand the hands
of these young warriors. And time is running out.
Buy Link: Amazon
EXCERPT:
1
ERIKA
ERIKA
Raindrops
pelted the windshield of the rust-bucket truck Erika had borrowed from Ian’s
dad. Nearly an hour had passed since she’d seen the lights of the last police
car recede in her rearview mirror, but her fingers still shook as she turned on
the windshield wipers. They were little help. The spittle of rain turned the
dusty windshield into a muddy mess, and the sun-rotted rubber of the wipers
streaked the glass.
The
jacked-up truck tackled the harsh terrain of the desert like a pro. The police
cars were no match for barrel cacti and creosote bushes as large as small cars.
The local Ajo police that had tried to stop them likely didn’t know that they
were chasing a human-alien hybrid that had escaped, again, from a secret
underground lab controlled by the clandestine organization known as The Makers.
The Makers had surely spun the lies necessary to convince local law enforcement
that Tex was a dangerous fugitive. Ironic. The lie had become the truth. Erika
and Tex were, in fact, fugitives on the run and again fighting for their lives.
It was like déjà vu all over again.
Erika’s
bottom was bruised from bouncing on the seat. Her wrists ached from gripping
the wheel. After nearly an hour of rough riding, they hit a two-lane road going
east. Erika was heading to New Mexico, where her Aunt Dana, her father’s
sister, lived. Without complications, they would get to Aunt Dana’s in about
eight hours. If she’ll
have us.
Tex
had been quiet but awake as Erika navigated the bumpy ground. Once they reached
the smooth pavement, he tucked his knees to his chest, hugged his arms around
his legs, and became a silent egg-shaped blob on the seat next to her. Erika
had seen him withdraw into himself before, but he was even more quiet and still
than usual.
Erika
wished he’d have stayed awake longer. She wanted to pry answers out of him. She
had questions about his time with the Conexus, when he had been linked directly
to their hive-mind collective. Ever since Dr. Randall had unhooked Tex from the
Conexus, he was acting distant and short-tempered. Erika wondered what had
really happened to him during his time with the Conexus. And what did he mean when he spoke of
struggles for humans to come and the knowledge he got from the Conexus? She
hoped he would answer these questions and more when they got to Aunt Dana’s.
The dribble of rain became a hailstorm. Peanut-sized ice balls pinged the metal roof of the truck. Within minutes, the hail turned into a deluge. Erika turned the wipers to full blast, but that only smeared the windshield faster. The Tex blob remained eerily quiet and unperturbed.
The dribble of rain became a hailstorm. Peanut-sized ice balls pinged the metal roof of the truck. Within minutes, the hail turned into a deluge. Erika turned the wipers to full blast, but that only smeared the windshield faster. The Tex blob remained eerily quiet and unperturbed.
Erika’s
swollen right eye, a gift from one of the Makers’ guards during their escape
from the school, made it difficult to see. Both eyes were heavy with fatigue.
She blinked rapidly and shook her head, trying to clear the drowsiness. She
switched on the radio, and raucous Tejano music blasted. She wasn’t a fan of
the accordion-heavy genre. The ancient truck speakers distorted the sound,
making it nothing but noise to her ears, but at least the booming music helped
keep her awake.
Erika
had never been much of a life planner. Her current situation of living
day-to-day did not bother her as much as it might have irritated some people.
She was focused on her current task, getting Tex safely to a location where he
could heal. She’d help him find a place to stay hidden from the Makers and
Sturgis. She wasn’t sure what came after that. Just stay awake. And alive.
Tex
didn’t stir or acknowledge the radio. Is
he dead? She poked at him with a finger. “Tex? You okay?”
With
his head still to his knees, his voice was muffled but cool and even. “I am
alive if that is what you mean.”
“You’ve
been so quiet. With the escape back there at the school, the dogs, and now the
rain… I was just hoping that you’re all right.”
Tex
raised his head slightly and turned toward her, his large eyes peeking over his
arm. “I have been through worse.”
The
understatement of the century. She’d been through worse, too: the days of fever
she endured after the Conexus gave her the virus, the long hours of watching
Ian wracked with pain when she could do nothing but watch him inch toward
death, weeks of hunger and thirst. She had been forced to take the lives of
others or lose her own, and she had watched her mom breathe her last breath.
They’d all been through hell and back.
Tex’s
indifference was still better than silence between them. The tinny horns and
the beat of the music stopped abruptly.
The
radio announcer broke in, speaking in Spanish. “There has been a massive
terrorist attack in Europe. The entire continent is without power.
Communication systems are down. Though reports are sketchy, US authorities
state that the attacks appear to be focused on London and Paris.”
Erika’s
chest tightened. For a moment, she forgot to breathe. “He said that
communication systems are down in Europe and there’s been a massive terrorist
attack. The terrorists hit London and Paris.”
Tex
unwound his arms from around his legs. “I understood what he said.” He sounded
condescending, as though everyone could understand Spanish as well as English.
“Oh.
I just assumed that—”
“You
assume a great many things.”
Erika
didn’t know what he meant, but she was more worried about what the heck was
going on in Europe than her traveling companion’s surly attitude. The radio
announcer spoke of the apparent sophistication and coordination of the attacks.
He stated that the terrorists had clearly used an advanced technology that took
out the power grid across Europe. Terrorists
with advanced technology? Could the Makers be behind this?
Continuing
in Spanish, the announcer said, “The US has raised the terrorist alert level to
high and has closed all borders, effective immediately. There are reports of
disruption to GPS and cellular service in the United States, indicating
possible destruction or interference with multiple satellites.”
“Just
what we don’t need. First the virus to deal with, now terrorists run amok.”
“It
is not a terrorist attack,” Tex said with total conviction.
“You
just heard the guy say it’s a terrorist attack. He said the report came from
NORAD.”
“Then
this NORAD fellow is wrong… or lying.”
During
her time at Casa Sturgis, Erika had lost most of her faith in the authorities.
Getting locked up in an underground city run by crazy government scientists and
black-budget military would do that to you. Even if The Makers were behind
AHDNA, that didn’t negate the fact that, somewhere along the line, some
important people were very corrupt. Maybe even a lot of people.
Even
after all she’d seen, though, she still believed most of the people working for
the government weren’t crooked, self-serving traitors who would sell out the
lives of millions just for their own little piece of the post-virus pie. People
like Dr. Montoya worked for the government. Dr. Montoya had risked her life to
help them to keep the antivirus out of the hands of the Makers so it could be
synthesized to help the masses rather than the elite few chosen by William
Croft and company.
“Why
would the military lie about terrorists?” she asked. “And if it’s not
terrorists, then who would cause a massive power failure?”
“Something
far worse than extremists with a vendetta. Pull over. I will drive now.”
“Have
you ever driven before?”
Tex
shook his head. “Pull over,” he repeated.
“And
what do you mean ‘worse’?”
“Erika,
I tire of questions every time I ask something of you. There is a helicopter on
its way. You did not think that the Makers would send only a few local
law-enforcement vehicles after me, did you? Shall we argue further? Or shall I
attempt to lose those that tail us?”
Buy Link: Amazon
Author Info
Natalie
is the author of the award-winning science fiction series H.A.L.F., and The
Akasha Chronicles, a popular young adult fantasy trilogy with over 2 Million
reads on Wattpad. She lives in Tucson, Arizona with her husband, teen daughter,
and two cat overlords.
Natalie
spends her time writing, reading, geeking out over nerd culture and cool
science, and meeting readers and fans at book festivals and comic cons
throughout the western United States. Natalie appears frequently on radio,
podcasts and vlogs such as The Speculative Fiction Cantina, Front Row Geeks and
iHeart Radio.
Author Links:
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