Deadfall — Andrew McDonald

The world five minutes into the future is a world far different from our own. Devastation to an extent which we can only dream of in our nightmares plague the Earth and desolation walk hand in hand with fear and contempt. Disease, famine and war have scarred the surface of the land and where people once lived in prosperity, now there is nothing but an empty space where hope once flourished. Where towns and cities stood, in their place now stand examples to a scarred world as vast domed constructions gaze down over the landscape, passing their own quiet judgement on mankind's folly. These are the city states and are all that remains of society, all that remains of hope... But even inside these vast complexes, the very degradation of society prospers, breeding contempt and deceit within the lower levels of the cities, while the rich grow richer, looking down from on high. Each city state is connected via a series of hollow Deadfall iv tubes which run above the hostile ground, standing at over one thousand feet in height and supported by vast concrete legs, piled deep into the damaged surface. The transit system operates by a network of tube-trains, transporting populace, trade and consumables from state to state without the need the transverse the outlands of the planet. This is the future. This is the new world. This is the world with no hope. Welcome to life... Welcome citizens... Welcome to Earthshock..