Waterfall
(The Water Crisis Chronicles, #1)
(The Water Crisis Chronicles, #1)
by Amber Garr
Publication date: June 2015
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult
Publication date: June 2015
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult
The water is gone. The wars have
begun.
Clean water is a luxury most can no
longer afford. Climate change, industrial sabotage, and greed have turned
country against country as each one tries to provide for its citizens.
Terrorist groups target desalinization plants and frustrated governments hunt
those who work against them. Rationing, sequestering, and patrolling have
become routine at a time when there are too many people and not enough
resources.
While the world around them
disintegrates into chaos, Zach and Vivienne hope that their life in a
government-run complex will retain some semblance of normalcy. But when attacks
on their water supplies bring war to their sheltered community, they must
accept their new fate. Stay and fight or flee and endure—it’s a difficult
decision with lasting consequences.
Will they choose what’s safe? Or will
they choose to survive?
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“Enough!” Mr.
Lenhart slammed his hand on his desk and everyone fell silent. “We will not be
learning how to fight. We will be learning about how to survive.” He lifted his arm, stopping one of the guys up front from
saying something. “And by that I mean we’re going to learn how to take apart the
sterilizers and put them back together again.”
“But we
already know how to do that.”
“Yeah, we did
that last year.”
“This sucks.”
I had to
agree.
Mr. Lenhart
bent down behind his chair and picked up a large box. Letting it fall to the
desk, the contents rattled around like broken pieces. “We haven’t worked with
the new ones yet.”
“I thought
this was chemistry class. How come we don’t blow anything up anymore?”
“Because we’re
using chemistry to survive,” Mr. Lenhart said.
“That’s much more important for your future.”
A chorus of
groans filled the room and I swear I saw Mr. Lenhart smirk. Most of our regular
classes had been reorganized to include lessons about the world we were living
in today. History focused heavily on the last two decades leading up to the
water crisis. We studied drought tolerant species and extinction science in
biology classes. Math was…well math. And chemistry had focused on teaching us the
reason why sterilization drops, sanitizing equipment, and desalinization plants
worked the way they did.
“Now, first,
I’d like you to divide into small groups. I only have a few prototypes of the
new sterilizer so we’ll have to—”
A deafening
boom shook the classroom floors a split second before all of the windows along
the side wall shattered. Tiny glass shards flew through the room, covering most
of us in sparkling pieces. Everyone screamed. Some tried to run. I covered my
head and fell to the floor, feeling the glass slice my arms like a thousand
little teeth.
Jessa’s red
hair blended in with the crimson blood running down her face. Her shallow
breaths and teary eyes met mine, begging for help. My focus narrowed on her and
I lifted my arm. Scrambling to my side, Jessa hugged me tight and sobbed
against my shoulder. I looked around the room, ears ringing and adrenaline
pumping. Most students were on the floor. Those behind me, and closest to the
windows, were covered with scratches and bloody wounds. Some were on the verge
of passing out.
Another
explosion ricocheted through the air and another round of screams pierced my
ears. The blast wasn’t coming from our school but it couldn’t have been more
than a couple of blocks away. Glass
continued to fall to the floor while I scrambled out of Jessa’s grasp and up to
my feet.
As you probably already know, I work as a scientist in my
other life. Over the years, my research has often focused on the conservation
and restoration of aquatic species. And a lot of that time, their issues have
stemmed from contaminated water or excess pollution in the environment.
Worried yet? I know I am. So anyway…back to Waterproof. What will happen when the water disappears? How will society react? What unique science may evolve out of this type of tragedy? All questions I’ve asked myself for years and then had a chance to answer (or hint at) in this book.
*Sources: www.water.org; www.worldwatercouncil.org; www.fao.org
For several years, I’ve wanted to write a book about what would happen to the
world when humans began fighting over drinking water. And I say began, but really, it has already begun. Do you know you have to purchase
water rights in some states out west when you buy property?
Have you ever experienced water restrictions in your
neighborhood? Or did you know that several countries are already considered water-stressed?
It’s happening, and just to show you how scary it is, here are some facts to
consider:
1)
1 billion
people currently don’t have access to clean drinking water.
2)
3.4
million people die from water related diseases each year.
3)
By 2025,
two-thirds of the world’s population will live in a water-stressed county.
4)
An American taking a 5 minute shower uses more water than the average person living in a
developing country uses in an entire day.
5)
Over 260 river basins are shared by two or more
countries without adequate legal or
institutional arrangements regarding water utilization.
6)
By 2020, California will face a water shortage as great as the amount
they consume today.
Worried yet? I know I am. So anyway…back to Waterproof. What will happen when the water disappears? How will society react? What unique science may evolve out of this type of tragedy? All questions I’ve asked myself for years and then had a chance to answer (or hint at) in this book.
I also wanted to highlight the idea of friendship and
romance rising up out of the chaos. At a time when the survivors have to fight
for every second of their life, I thought it would be nice for them to find some
type of comfort in their closest friends. No time for love triangles or petty
games when you’re being hunted!
So as you read this book and start thinking more about the
water shortages (as I did!), check out these sites to see what little things
you can do so that some day we aren’t deserters running for our lives!
Amber Garr spends her days as a scientist and
nights writing about other worlds. Her childhood imaginary friend was
a witch, Halloween is sacred, and she is certain that she has a
supernatural sense of smell. Amber is a multiple Royal Palm Literary
Award winner, author of the bestselling novels The Syrenka Series, the
award-winning Water Crisis Chronicles, The Leila Marx Novels, and the
Death Warden Series. When not obsessing over the unknown, she can be found
dancing, reading, or enjoying a good movie. Find out more at www.ambergarr.com.
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