The Lesser Light

Chapter One

Maddie flopped onto her bed, her phone held above her face as she scrolled mindlessly through her social media feed. The afternoon sun streamed through her window and cast a warm glow across her room, but she barely noticed.

Her plans for the day had evaporated when her friends canceled their mall trip at the last minute. Not that it really mattered. The mall was lame, with more stores closed than open. But still, it was something to do.

“Ugh!” She tossed her phone aside. The ceiling fan spun overhead, its gentle whirring the only sound in the quiet house. Her grandma was out of town, her mom was at work, and her brother was at a friend’s house, leaving Maddie alone with her boredom.

She rolled off her bed, wandered into the family room, and plopped on the couch. The remote felt heavy in her hand as she flicked through streaming services, but nothing caught her interest. Even her favorite shows seemed dull today.

With a sigh, Maddie turned off the TV and grabbed a book from the nearby shelf. She’d been meaning to read it for weeks, but now, as she stared at the first page, the words swam before her eyes. After a few minutes of trying to focus, she snapped the book shut and tossed it aside.

Her gaze drifted to the corner of the room where her brother Jackson’s VR sat. The headset and controllers gleamed in the afternoon light, almost beckoning her. Maddie bit her lip, considering.

Their dad had given them the two-person set a few months ago, insisting it was for both of them, but she’d never really been interested in gaming. Jackson had wanted to take it up to his room, but their grandma said since it belonged to both of them, it should remain in the family room.

“Well,” she muttered to herself, “it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the headset. She’d seen Jackson use it countless times, but she’d spent little time with it herself. He’d tried to show her how to use it by playing some silly game where they worked in a fast-food restaurant. She kept dropping the hamburgers on the floor, much to Jackson’s amusement. Maddie didn’t think it was funny and quit playing.

Maybe today, without her brother nagging at her, she could get the hang of it. With a shrug, she slipped on the headset and grabbed the controllers.

The world around her disappeared as the game booted up. Maddie gasped as she found herself standing in a vibrant, colorful landscape. This definitely isn’t the restaurant game, she thought. What has Jackson been playing? The graphics were incredible, more realistic than she’d imagined. She could almost feel the virtual breeze on her skin.

A menu appeared before her, floating in mid-air. Maddie reached out hesitantly, her virtual hand moving in sync with her real one. Suddenly, she was in a bustling city square. Avatars of other players moved around her, some chatting, others engaged in what looked like quests. She took a tentative step forward, marveling at how natural it felt to move in the virtual world.

When she pressed the help button, an avatar approached her and offered a tutorial. She accepted and followed the guide through the basics of movement, interaction, and combat. She found herself grinning as she successfully completed her first mini-quest. It consisted of collecting a set of magical artifacts scattered around the city.

Time seemed to fly by as she explored the game world. She joined a group of other players to tackle a dungeon, her heart racing as they fought off waves of monsters. The teamwork and strategy required were surprisingly engaging, and she found herself getting caught up in the excitement.

As she emerged from the dungeon, flush with victory and newfound confidence in her gaming abilities, a bright orange ball popped up in the bottom corner. Wondering where that would take her, she was just about to click on it when a notification covered her field of view—a message from player BreveBravo.

“Hey, JackAttack! Didn’t expect to see you on this early. How’s it going, cuz?”

Maddie froze, her virtual avatar standing stock-still in the bustling square. JackAttack was her brother’s gamer name. She probably should have signed off as him and on as herself before getting so far into the game. The player messaging her must be their cousin, Eddie, who often played with Jackson. She hesitated, unsure how to respond.

Another message appeared: “Earth to Jackson! You there, dude?”

Maddie’s fingers hovered over the virtual keyboard, torn between pretending to be Jackson and coming clean. Just as she was about to decide, the orange ball in the corner of the screen began to pulse gently, growing larger with each beat. Its glow was mesmerizing, almost magnetic, drawing her gaze and pulling her focus. Her hand twitched involuntarily toward it, the urge to click on it nearly irresistible.

“Hey! Why are you touching my stuff?” Jackson’s voice boomed from behind her. Before she could react, he yanked the VR from her face, sending it flying.

Maddie swatted his arm in frustration. “Knock it off! It’s not just yours. Dad said it was for both of us. Dork.” She reached out to reclaim the headset, but Jackson swiveled away, keeping it just out of her grasp.

“If Grandma were here, you wouldn’t do that.” She narrowed her eyes at her younger brother. “Why are you home? I thought you were at Billy’s place?”

“I was at Bobby’s.” He muttered something under his breath about how his dumb sister couldn’t ever remember his friends’ names. “She called. Said I need to get home.”

“Mom? Mom called you? From work?”

He shook his head. “I don’t— ” His lips stretched in a tight line.

“You don’t what?”

“I don’t think she was at work. The noise wasn’t right. Too loud.” He tilted his head and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I think she was in a bar.”

Maddie closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers along her forehead. “I’ll call her. It’s been over a year. She’s been doing good. Great, even. Staying on her medication and . . . and . . . Grandma wouldn’t have gone on her trip if she didn’t think Mom was okay. I mean, she almost canceled her trip because of the weird stuff going on. She wouldn’t have left us if she thought mom was going to . . . to . . . you know.”

Jackson gave an exaggerated shrug. “Call her. Don’t call her. I don’t care. I’m going to play my game.”

“Whatever. That dumb VR gives me motion sickness, anyway.” But even as she said it, Maddie couldn’t help but think of the orange ball. It had been so magnificent, almost hypnotic. For a moment, she felt a strange longing to see it again.

He smirked. “Too bad for you, Maddie. You just don’t know what you’re doing.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before spinning on her heel. When she reached the kitchen, she turned back. “Why’d she tell you to come home?”

“I don’t know. Who cares? Bobby’s was boring, anyway. His mom’s all freaked. Said she heard on TV that there might be martial law or something.”

“What? What do you mean martial law?” Maddie leaned against the breakfast bar, her mind racing from this news.

“How should I know? You’re supposed to be the smart one.” He slid into the headset and turned his back toward her.

“Yeah. Whatever. Fine,” she muttered on her way out of the room. When she entered the living room at the front of the house, she pulled her phone from her pocket and sank onto the sofa. Sure enough, there was a missed call from her mom.

She tried calling her back, but it went directly to voicemail without even ringing—typical for when she was working. She was a certified nursing assistant at a rehabilitation facility and wasn’t allowed to have her phone with her when she was on the floor. Maybe Jackson got it wrong and Mom was just on break when she called? Maddie thought. She really has been doing fine.

Leaning back on the sofa, Maddie ran a hand through her hair, feeling the need for a shower. She gave her armpits a quick sniff and grimaced. Definitely. If her grandma were home, she’d be nagging both siblings to take their daily showers.

You’d think that at almost seventeen and thirteen, they’d be able to remember on their own. During the school year, it was no problem and was part of their daily routines. Maddie always showered as soon as she got out of bed each morning, while Jackson preferred to shower at night. She thought that said a lot about their personalities. She had no trouble waking up in the morning, but Jackson was always a slug, preferring to stay up way too late.

With summer here and her grandma away on an Alaskan cruise with her friends, their routines had completely fallen apart. She had been gone for the past week and would be away for about five weeks in total, accounting for a leisurely road trip to and from, plus the twenty-four-day cruise.

Her grandma had called it the trip of a lifetime and had been as giddy as a teenager about the whole adventure. She never would have left if she’d even thought that Heather, Maddie’s mom, was struggling with her medication.

Maddie jumped at the ring of the phone. Glancing at the display, a smile crept over her face. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“Maddie? Where are you?” His tone was urgent. Concerned.

“Um . . . home?”

“What about Jackson? Is he with you?”

“Uh, yeah. Playing that stupid game.”

Dad let out a noisy sigh. “Okay. Good. Your mom?”

“At work.” I think. “Why all the questions?”

“You didn’t hear? About the explosion in Casper?”

“What explosion?” Maddie switched her phone to speaker so she could open her favorite social media app. It took only a minute of scrolling to find posts about the trouble.

Her dad was still talking. “It happened at a pub near the mall. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it.”

“At the mall?” Her eyes went wide as she considered how she was supposed to go there today. One of the photos in a post showed the building before the explosion. She immediately recognized the restaurant. It wasn’t exactly at the mall but was on Second Street, between the mall and where her mom worked. “I didn’t hear anything. It looks bad. Is it . . . do you think . . .”

“Is it part of the attacks? I don’t know. I hope not.”

“Attacks? No one’s calling them attacks, Dad. Oh, except Grandpa Dick. I forgot he thinks they’re part of some sort of conspiracy. But I saw an interview about it. It isn’t a conspiracy, but maybe an illness. Like hay fever or something.”

Her dad, Brian Reynolds, gave a snort. “Yeah, right. I saw that movie. ‘The plants made them do it.’ It’s science fiction, Maddie. I think my dad is right about this. I know he can come up with some weird ideas, but this time, there are too many strange things happening for them not to be some kind of coordinated attack.

“But to answer your question about the explosion, I don’t know. Not for sure. There isn’t enough info yet. It could’ve been a gas leak or something. I hope it’s only that building that is affected. It’s way too close to where your mom works.”

Maddie stifled a sigh. “I’m sure she’s fine. But, Dad? Have you heard anything about martial law?”

“What about martial law?”

“You know Jackson’s friend Bobby? I guess his mom said she heard we might get martial law.”

“In Wyoming?”

“Uh . . . I don’t know. Jackson didn’t say.” Maddie continued scrolling as they talked. There was more about the explosion at the pub, but she didn’t see anything about martial law.

She considered telling her dad about the weird phone call Jackson received from their mom but decided against it. He didn’t need to know about stuff like that. It only upset him when their mom had an episode, and then he’d talk about trying to gain custody again.

Not that Maddie wouldn’t want to live with her dad, but she didn’t want to leave Casper and her friends, and especially not Grandma Bea. Besides, Jackson didn’t always pay attention. Maybe he just didn’t understand their mom’s call. “So . . . we’re fine, Dad. Is any weird stuff happening up there? Everything normal at the lodge?”

“Normal?” He scoffed. “It’s tourist season. There’s not much normal this time of year. We’ve got a full house, with every room and cabin rented. Your grandpa and grandma even rented out those two new cabins.”

“The one we stayed in last summer? It doesn’t have any electricity.”

“Right! Seems there’s a market for off-grid living. Who knew? I guess people like the idea of roughing it for a few days, then they can appreciate their television and computers even more when they go back home. It’s good, though. Since it’s a mile hike to get to them, they don’t get breakfast delivery. They’re welcome to pick up a basket the night before, but they have to order in advance so we know they want it. Then they can walk down and join us for dinner. Have you heard from Bea? How’s her trip going?”

“Grandma Bea called the night before they boarded . . . um, embarked? I think that’s what they do on a ship? Embark and disembark?”

“Okay, sure. You haven’t heard from her since then?”

“Daaaad. She’s on vacation. She’s supposed to be having fun. We’re fine. Jackson’s good. I’m good.” Maddie hesitated before adding, “Mom’s good.”

“Is she? She’s doing okay with your grandma gone?”

“She’s fine, Dad.”

“I should’ve insisted on you and Jackson staying up here with me while Bea’s gone. I’d feel better about everything.”

“I told you, we’re fine.” Maddie rolled her eyes. “Look. I, uh . . . thanks for calling me about the explosion. No problems here. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay, Maddie. Take care of your brother. Tell your mom I called. Ask her if she can give me a call if she has a minute.”

“Sure, Dad. I’m sure she’ll be happy to call you.” Not. While Heather didn’t badmouth her former husband these days, she didn’t really talk to him either. When arrangements were made to visit her dad and his parents at the lodge they owned and operated near Yellowstone National Park, Grandma Bea usually handled it.

Grandma Bea got along okay with Maddie’s dad. She had hated him for a while, blaming him for some of the troubles with Heather, but she seemed to respect him for sobering up and doing well now. Brian lived in a cabin at his parents’ lodge up the North Fork, about an hour from the town of Cody and minutes from the East Gate entrance to Yellowstone.

After they said their goodbyes, which included a warning to “be careful,” Maddie went back to scrolling on her phone. Updates about the Casper explosion dominated the news, along with speculation linking it to other recent incidents.

It all started a few weeks ago with a random event. A girl around Maddie’s age attacked people on the New York subway with a knife, resulting in several deaths. The girl was stopped and seemed completely out of it, probably on drugs or something. Or maybe, like Maddie’s mom, she had voices in her head telling her to do things.

Since then, there had been more unsettling stories—a guy stole a semitruck and drove it down a sidewalk in Atlanta, leaving dozens dead. He seemed completely out of his mind.

Then there were a couple of mass shootings where the shooters acted disoriented, as if they weren’t aware of their actions.

Earlier today, a girl around Maddie’s age stole a small airplane and crashed it into a hangar—like she was driving a car, not flying a plane. Six people died.

Maddie heard an interview with a doctor who thought it was some kind of mass illness or psychosis making people do those things. He was even supposed to get the CDC to review the information and do . . . well, she wasn’t entirely certain what they were supposed to do. Maybe make a vaccine or something to get people to stop killing? Wouldn’t that be some kind of great invention?

Continue reading The Lesser Light: Lights of the Collapse Book 1