*~*Waterfall by Amber Garr Blitz – Excerpt & TWO Giveaways!*~*

Dying of thirst is the new reality.

Five years after the last drop of clean water disappeared, global societies collapsed and nuclear war shattered all hope of recovery. In a place now only a skeleton of its former self, survivors fight to avoid capture by the government. Forced to work in factories that produce the only drinking water available, those who go in, never come out.Zach and Vivienne have lived as deserters since they were teenagers. Fighting amongst their own and scrounging for the necessities of life, they’ve learned to rely on each other in every way. Yet when tragedy strikes and the true objectives of the government facility are revealed, their world is ripped apart. A fate once thought to hold their demise may be the sole answer to their survival. Who can they trust? Who can they believe?

In this life, it pays to be waterproof.

Disclaimer: Waterproof is a new adult dystopian with sex, violence, and language that may not be suitable for a younger audience.

“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.