Willow

Willow comes from the sewers of Taliville. Deep in the sewers. She and her tiny family have lived outside, in dumpsters, with rats, in alleys, attics of bars, and crowded common rooms where fifteen people try to fit into a ten by twelve space. Her two jobs are in the category of the most dangerous: housekeeper and cook. The former means that her skin comes in contact with harsh chemicals, sewage, disease, and rotten food. The latter means that if she is caught outside, on the city streets, chances are she will be murdered. Because she knows how and where to find food in the most unlikely of places.The only thing that has kept her somewhat safe is that no one wants to touch her. Willow is mutant. Rainbow Blood.Mattie, fearing for both her daughters, since Ivy has a lung disease and may not survive and Willow has a new price on her head, decides to take Ashley's plea for help seriously and as a means of escape. Even into a warzone.Brogan Duncan LaBrelle has been shot. Again. After a possibly crippling fall out of the attic at Yugi's, he is told he may never walk again. No one says it. The word. Cripple. But he sees the looks of pity, the dodges, the lack of reassurance. From everyone except Rowan, Ashley, and this new woman he doesn't even know.His promising career in the Guard was literally shot to hell out of jealousy and spite. Ashley's mouth and inexperience now has him under investigative review. On top of being lame, he is also told he may be discharged for repeatedly disobeying orders, and if found guilty, he will receive no medical assistance once the surgery to save his life is completed.He has nowhere to go. No means of survival outside of the Guard. His brothers, Matthew and Pete, lost the family farm. LaBrelle managed to make a new life for them with Mrs. Latterly, but being a cripple will prevent him from adding his back to the hard work it takes to run a farm. As bad as it had been before he joined the Guard, in a matter of a year, all of his options for a better life shattered and now, he faces a lifetime of near starvation and helplessness. Hi. My pen name is Katrin Greene.I have lived most of my life as an office manager, accountant, auditor, math-geek, and applications specialist. Sometimes this has been in someone's garage. Sometimes, a cube farm. That's my "work life."The life inside my brain??? Well, that's a bit different. A friend once told me its like watching glitterbombs go off like fireworks.My current worlds:The World of Novo: a post-apocalyptic world, twenty years later, and how much fun some people bring into the world.Haven Point: A semi-rookie police officer and her dog in the Adirondacks trying to pay off her student loans and deal with a mother that is gender-biased and trying to marry her off…See you around the stacks sometime! Welcome to Ridge Lake, a small farming community about an hour's drive north of the City-State of Taliville. There, you can visit The Co-op, Yugi's Tavern, or Terry's Cafe. Just be careful not to walk to closely next to the jacketed oxen. Meet this fun cheesecakey apocalyptic world where one day you might be simply sitting behind your desk and the next, outrunning goats and potatoes.The Beginning: Twenty years previous, the City Elite call it Fallen Stars. When scientists decided to change the year calendar from A.D. to N.M. Novo Mutanis…. When the satellites fell, crashing into the land, sea, volcanoes and bio-research stations, releasing a deadly combination of toxic chemicals, diseases, and radiation into the sky. The water… all the water in the world is now acidic. Burning to exposed skin. It has to be purified to be usable. Life on Earth is still struggling to rise. Living in the city means protection from the acid rain. It also means high taxes, high rent, and high prices for the most basic needs. Rainbow Bloods, they are called. Whispered by those who survived wars, starvation, terrorists, disease, and cancer. Those who are different, mutated, are feared.