"When you realize that you are wrong, my dear? The heroes are gone. They don't exist anymore. What is left of them are now just pawns of the government, made to control the people they once served. There are no more heroes."

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

AS HUMANITY progressed and developed throughout the years, so came the discovery that the genes within some humans were starting to morph and change, giving these individuals superhuman abilities. Over time, the delicate balance of society began to tip as more people gained powers and used them for good or evil, and to keep the balance stable, an organization was created by the government known as the Heroic Superhuman Society, where specially assigned heroes would patrol the cities of the world to make sure that peace was being kept between the superpowered and the normal.

But peace could only last for so long without being disturbed, and as the popularity of the heroes grew, so did their arrogance. One of the most powerful heroes named Sunstar began to spread ideas of dissent among the heroes of the H.S.S., no longer wanting to be kept on a leash like a prized pet. He convinced them to break free and fight back against the government, and soon various heroes started rebelling across the world, reveling in their newfound freedom as they sought to gain power for themselves, grinding the very meaning of a hero into the dust along with the tentative balance of society.

With the start of the Superhero Riots came the division they caused for the people who supported the heroes and those who stood against them, and when Sunstar rose to power after murdering the president of the United States, the world government's control started to crumble. To appease the demands of the people, they agreed to outlaw the use of superpowers, afraid of someone else trying to rise up against them. Knowing that superpowers could only be contained for so long, they issued special wristbands to identify those with powers in case there ever was another incident.

The year is now 2044. Society has somewhat returned to normal, but many things have changed. The government is run by paranoid men, puppets controlled by their fear of Sunstar. They look over their shoulders as they clutch their money to their chests and snatch what more they can get their hands on without thinking of the consequences, keeping the people in line through patrols and curfews. They will do everything in their power to prevent another world ending event, no matter what it takes or who it affects.

Society has been rebuilt, but it's been rebuilt wrong.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

MAGNOLIA "MAGGIE" AUTUMN feels trapped as she goes through day after day living in New York City. Marked as a powered individual by the red light from her wristband, she struggles with handling a lot of things, including hiding her fire powers from the public, surviving the world of her rich adopted parents, and just about everything else in her life. As humiliating as it is to have to wear the wristband that sets her apart from the rest of society, it's nothing compared to the stares and whispers she gets at school, where people either see her as someone to admire or a freak. Maggie wishes she could escape from everything and find her real parents, who she only remembers in her memories. When she overhears a conversation involving her and a "deal", the girl decides to leave her rich life behind her. Surely anything that comes from looking for her parents is better than living in a fake world surrounded by wealthy and uncaring people.

As soon as Maggie steps out onto the streets, she is bombarded with how different life is for the people there. Unlike those inside the center of the city, the life for the lower class is rushed and busy, struggling to scrape by with every dollar and cent to their name. It isn't long before Maggie becomes a target for a group of thugs, who corner her in a back alley with no way to escape. She thinks this might be the end for her, until a mysterious boy appears to rescue her in the nick of time.

Unfortunately Maggie blacks out before she can properly thank him, but the opportunity will come again soon enough...

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

ALEXANDER "ALEX" AUGUST is searching for someone. Ever since the day Sunstar ended the world, he's been looking for his little sister Josie, who he lost on that day. Almost seven years of searching and he still hasn't found her, his only clues being the dreams he keeps having of her and scraps of information that nearly always end up being nothing but dead ends. Working within the outskirts of New York City as a scavenger, he finds parts to sell and trade for money to keep himself alive. The boy has been told over and over again to give up on what seems to be a fool's errand, both by others and his own doubts, but he refuses to listen. He knows in his heart that Josie must be alive, and he can't stop searching for her if there's a chance that she could be somewhere waiting for him.

Alex himself is different from others. According to the government, he is known as an Abnormal, a person with superhuman genes whose powers haven't manifested yet, identified by an orange light on their wristbands. In the eyes of the government, Abnormals are the most dangerous and unpredictable of the superhumans due to the many possibilities of their future powers, and so they are watched with extra care for the moment their abilities do come. The boy lost his wristband three years ago due to "unforeseen circumstances" and never went to get it replaced, and by the time the government found out about it, he had already gone off the grid to look for his sister. During the quieter moments, Alex wonders what his powers will be or if he will even get powers, but his fears and doubts are second to his determination to find out where Josie is.

While out looking for supplies one day, he runs into a girl getting ambushed by thugs. Alex isn't one to leave someone behind in danger, so he steps in to save her before anything can happen to her, although he arrives too late to keep the girl from getting hurt. With no choice but to bring her with him, the boy takes her back to his apartment, caring for her injuries while he waits for her to wake up. At least then he can get some answers to figure out who she is and where she's going...

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

BROUGHT TOGETHER BY CROSSING PATHS, Maggie and Alex decide to stick together after learning each other's stories. Maggie needs Alex to guide her out of New York and beyond so that she can find her parents, and Alex needs Maggie to stay with him so that he can get her somewhere safe before he returns to looking for Josie, even though he doesn't mind a little company after months of being on his own.

As they start on a journey full of adventures and escapades, they come across a group who takes them in, seemingly acting in opposition to the government and Sunstar. The longer they stay with them, the more these people seem like enemies rather than allies, and as much as Maggie tries to convince him otherwise, Alex continues to grow more suspicious by the day. Something isn't right, and soon he discovers why when he learns that the group is actually working for the H.S.S. and that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal, even if it means using superhumans as tools to get it. With the help of a few new friends, he manages to escape with Maggie, but not before the H.S.S. has begun to use her as a test subject.

This experience shakes them to the core. The idea that the government wants kids like them for some reason and that out of all of them, Maggie is one of the ones they want the most makes no sense to the girl. Why would they want someone like her? What's so special about her that they need her for their plans? Why is her power wanted above anyone else's?

Alex on the other hand is horrified. It sickens him that the H.S.S. would see Maggie as nothing more than a weapon, and that if he had been too late to rescue her, something worse might have happened to her. Despite the fact that they haven't known each other for very long, he feels scared at the thought of losing her, having grown used to her company and her friendship. Without realizing it, he has added a new task to his mission: protect Maggie Autumn from harm.

As terrifying as learning they now have targets on their backs has been for them, the two have had their eyes opened to the fact that they now need each other. Bound by a shared experience, they must stay together if they want to survive. Their separate journeys have merged and become something bigger, something that could change the course of their world. For that to happen, they need to join with others like them, others that can give them both a way to discover what's really been going on.

Even though society has been rebuilt wrong, maybe it can be rebuilt again. Maybe there are people willing to take a stand and fight against the government and the control of Sunstar, encouraged by the hope of a better future. Maybe Magnolia Autumn and Alexander August were always meant to meet and become something more than they could have ever imagined. Maybe, with some help along the way, this is the time for them to understand where they truly belong in their world...and how they have the ability to change it. 

𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓 !

(❝weirdos like us have to stick together, y'know?❞)

(dakota fanning)

𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐀 ❛𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐄❜ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐍

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆

𝟏𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

❝how can you be so positive when we've almost died for the fifth time today?❞

✦

❝how do you know i can be trusted? i don't even know if i can trust myself.❞

(dylan o'brien)

𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 ❛𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗❜ 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌

𝟏𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 (𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧)

❝after a while, you learn to appreciate the smaller moments in life when the entire world is trying to kill you.❞

✦

❝i trust you. that must count for something, right?❞

(thomas brodie-sangster)

𝐖𝐘𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒓

𝟏𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 / 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 

❝why do i get the feeling we're heading off on yet another adventure?❞

✦

❝it's funny how you can discover how stressed you really are when you're responsible for a slightly annoying but terrifyingly smart fourteen year old who only has two friends and one of them is you.❞

(raffey cassidy)

𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐄 ❛𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐄❜ 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐄

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆

𝟏𝟒 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲

❝ooo, i think i read about that in a book once!❞

✦

❝even though wyatt's always trying to keep me out of trouble, i always manage to find a way to drag him into the trouble with me. it's more fun that way.❞

𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓 !

(patrick wilson)

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 (𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐍)

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

(as described)

𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝟏𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬

(patricia clarkson)

𝐉𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐑

一 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉.𝒔.𝒔.

𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞

"The world is broken, and maybe it might always be. But that doesn't mean we can't do our best to change it. Maybe now, with all of us working together, there's a chance we can fix it for the better."

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

welcome to autumn and august ! i'm going to to keep this one short. this book sprang from my love of the superhero genre and other similar genres. i've also recently watched the maze runner movies, which provided some inspiration for this story as well.

anyway, i'm really excited to work on this project. thank you for checking out my book and enjoy autumn and august !

[COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER]

this plot and all characters mentioned in this book are of my own property. plagiarism is a crime and I will not tolerate having my work stolen or copied. all names and places are used in a fictitious manner and any relation to living or deceased people is purely coincidental. if used, all song lyrics/quotes used within this book do not belong to me unless stated otherwise. passages of Holy Scripture quoted within this book are also not mine. this book will contain elements such as violence, death, war, sketchy government dealings, and more.