Apocalypse of the Heart — Eliza Knight

A sizzling, hot, post-apocalyptic romance novella...

The world as we know it ended on December 21, 2012 when world wars, and nuclear powered weapons destroyed the planet. Now, nearly twenty years to the day of the apocalypse, two factions, the Sols and the Scies must come together to save the planet once again from unseen forces who threaten a second apocalypse.

Cambria Sullivan, is the sister and co-leader of the Scies, scientists who believe in using the power of the brain and development of new power sources to help aide in their survival. Her brother is missing and she fears the Sols -- soldiers who rule by power of might over mind -- have taken her brother in order to steal his natural power plans. But before she can make plans to avenge her brother, the leader of the Sols, Gerard Vaughan, shows up at her compound offering a trade: Marry the enemy and save the world.

Cambria's deep-seated hatred of the Sols and what they've done to her, wreak havoc with her conscience, and at every turn her body and mind betrays her. Can Gerard and Cambria save the planet and find a deep love, one that started before the apocalypse of the world, and ends with an apocalypse of the heart?

Excerpt from Chapter One:

October, 2032

Albert Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

How right he was. The man was a genius. And does that make the rest of us ignorant? How we could use a man like him right now.

Nightfall. Here I am again, atop the cement warehouse, our faction's compound, gazing out over the wreckage that used to be Washington, D.C. I kick a small chunk of rubble to the ground below to see if I can hear it crash as it lands. But I can't.

My gaze is drawn back to the abandoned buildings. Some razed. Some still standing. I'm looking for my brother. I've done the same thing the last three nights, and yet I don't see him. He doesn't come ambling up the street past decades old broken down, rusted vehicles, bones and trash. I'm worried. I want him home. My heart constricts, and every muscle in my body clenches.

Does this make me insane? I keep looking and expecting for him to walk from the shadows…

The Scies need him. I need him.

In the distance I hear a blood-curdling scream, shouting, and the tell-tale signs of imminent destruction. One hears those sounds a lot. And the protector inside me wants to run and help, but I know to do so would mean my own death. These streets are safe for no one.

My gaze falls on the old bridge in the distance, its name long since forgotten. Across the structure, which managed to stay intact through it all, there is another compound. That of the Sols. Our rivals.

I'm almost sure they have my brother. And I pray that he's still alive. Not that praying will do me any good. Any God there once was has surely deserted us.

A shudder passes through me, and I gaze up at the full moon, which seems to get larger and closer to earth with each passing month. Stars are out, and they too get brighter and brighter. Does the universe sense we need the light of the moon and stars? When daylight breaks the sun will shine brighter and hotter too.

The cynical side of me thinks the universe doesn't give a damn. When the Eve of Destruction arrived nearly twenty years ago, this world was abandoned to its fate. Life as we once knew it disappeared, and mayhem ensued.

Mayhem still surrounds us, and we capitulate to her demands. Survival of the fittest. A fight for power -- and fight for energy. Scies vs. Sols.

We've been led to believe the rest of the world is dead. Without power or any means of communication, we are powerless to prove otherwise. But I don't believe it. We can't be the only ones left. Communication may have been cut off. The way we live may have changed. There may be no more satellites, electricity and all other manners of the old world, but we are remedying that. We will bring the world together again. We will survive this.