Untreatable
By- J. Laslie
Genre- YA Dystopian
Publication Date- May 15th, 2015
People are dying...
Tahlia and Quentin live in a world where the US population is starving to death one hundred years after a government-mandated "cure" for obesity. Tahlia's ancestors escaped genetic mutation. Now she and her tribe must hide in the wilds of South Dakota to avoid being harvested for their untainted DNA. When Tahlia is captured on a supply run, she becomes a lab rat for the scientists searching for an antidote. The fate of humanity lies buried in Tahlia's genetic code, and her own survival lies in the hands of Quentin–the only son of the very doctors who want to cut her open.
Harrowing and suspenseful, Untreatable transports readers to a dystopian future where everything is not as it seems and resilience of body–and spirit–is required to survive.
Prologue
Life in our village was simple. We lived and breathed nature. We were free from the toxic, artificial substances the government pushed on the unsuspecting population. Being isolated from the world was wonderful. No one but the outlying tribes we occasionally traded with knew of our existence and we planned to keep it that way. We were the descendants of the Lakota Sioux. We practiced a lot of their ways, but also developed our own over time to ensure survival.
My village had been standing for almost one hundred years. Our founders believed that the cure the government pushed on the population was lethal. They thought the human body should not be manipulated in such a way. The government boasted that their cure would treat the epidemic crisis of obesity. It was exalted as the cure-all for diabetes, heart disease, and insulin resistance. We knew better.
Our Elders always spoke of the beginning of our isolation with hushed tones, but their stories trickled down to us. When our runners went into the big cities to get supplies we could not obtain in the wild, they would bring back information as well. There were horror stories of the things they saw.
The United States was dying. The whole world was dying. The cure the government had sought for so long was going to be their undoing. At first, the treatment appeared to work. Those with a predisposition for obesity were able to maintain healthy weights. They were no longer dependent on the medications once needed to sustain a mediocre existence. Still, our ancestors had stayed hidden, biding their time.
Subsequent generations did not fare so well. The cure their parents had taken changed something within them on a cellular level. Children were unable to get enough sustenance, enough nourishment. Their metabolisms were off the charts. The problem got worse with each generation, until their metabolism reached a point where some children didn’t make it past their second year of life.
Those who did survive to become adults were lucky if they retained enough nourishment to conceive. With the population dwindling, the US was scrambling for a countermeasure. Our country was shut off from the rest of the world, and no aid would be given. The US had shared the cure with the other inhabitants on this planet, and when the unthinkable happened, we were cut off from the rest of the world.
I thought it served the US right for expecting to find a quick fix for obesity. The government’s unclean methods of treatment were going to be the downfall of many. Then my people would be the only ones left. We would get our land back and have the freedom we desired. Our tribe would no longer have to live in isolation. We would be able to start fresh and have a population free from pollutants.
About the Author-
J. Laslie lives in Louisville, KY with her wonderful husband, two kids, four dogs, and mother-in-law. She has always been an avid reader and now has taken the leap of faith needed to start writing her own novels.
In her spare time she loves to do digital scrapbooking, hanging out with her BFF Heather, or reading a good book. Her favorite genres to read are Young Adult and Young Adult Dystopian. Though she loves a good romance novel too.
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