Book Description:
The Undreamed is set in a post apocalyptic Enugwu. After a supervolcano destroys more than half of all life on earth, the remnants develop abilities. They develop the ability to travel in time through dreams. This created two factions- the Undreamed and dreamers. Chapter count: 23

Preface

The discovery of time travel through dreams changed everything. People slept more often and were becoming addicted to sleeping.

Up until the government came with its so-called cure. The xerx serum, whose true purpose was not to curb the addiction to sleeping, but was to prevent people from dreaming.

The dosages made it really easy as people only dreamt one out of three times, then to none. They made sure people never found out.

Even the few who found out, the government, through renowned scientists and mega media houses, made sure they convinced people, it was all just a hoax and a conspiracy theory.

Ikenna Igbo was the first to travel through time in his dream. The grandfather to Nnamdi Igbo.

Nnamdi became the resistance to the forces whose true goal was not only to prevent people from time-traveling, but to severe the connections to the realms that lie undiscovered in the passages of time.

The government passed into law, a decree that illegalised dreaming and considered it a form of mental illness.
They wanted not only to end the idea of dreaming, but also to create a fear around it.

Chapter 1: Without Time

He took his wristwatch and wore it. He smiled and shook his head.
"If only time mattered anymore."
It was a 2019 vintage wrist watch. The exterior was made from pure silver and the inside was gold plated.

His dad had passed it down to him as both a gift and a destiny. His grand dad had foresaw the future, and had brought on his family a burden they'd had to pass down from generation to generation. A noble burden he had called it.

He was going in again. He was the leader of the resistance. An elite group— the 'dreamed'.

"Happy new year Boss", Josh murmured.
"You do know, for the umpteenth time, time is a mirage concept", retorted Nnamdi. "And that's what the resistance stand to protect, together with dreams."

"I know, it's just that it's trending on Twitter and..."

"Argh, do people still use that thing? Common, it's the year 2100! What are you? A grandpa?!"

"Sorry boss. I just thought you wouldn't mind."

"Listen Josh! This is what they want— for you not to mind. It's a mind game. If you begin now, never minding, soon you'll question if what we do is real and if it makes any sense to remind humans of the forgotten ability, to have dreams."

"Because of course, when they succeed, even without the Xerx serum, you'll not dream. And when you don't dream, you'll not be able to time travel! And if you can't time travel..."

"We won't be able to stop them from succeeding in their evil plot", interjected Josh.

"Good. Stay woke soldier!"

Chapter 2: We are Dreamers

"Josh, you are late again", scolded Nnamdi.
"Boss, we can't be..."
"Late", Nnamdi completed.
"Good. I'm just checking to see if I'm the only one who still knows that."

He paced back and forth, trying to remember the question he had in mind to ask Josh.

"How many new converts to this movement were you able to garner", quizzed Nnamdi.

"Fewer. Fewer than yesterday. It's getting hard boss. Do we maybe need to kidnap them and force them through the dream process?"

He threw his hands like it was a heavy dead pack of meat and they clashed with the face of Josh, whose face reverberated like a drum whose skins are loosed.

"Never you take choices from people by force. They must freely and willingly submit to it. You will prove the government right by use of force. We are not terrorists. We are dreamers!"

For a minute, Josh thought he was blind. The side of his face felt numb to touch and his ears rang like an alarm on Monday mornings.

"Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes Boss", replied Josh, whose face was visibly imprinted with the palm of Nnamdi.

"Call Tony. His dream serum better be ready. We've spent too much money on that project."

Tony was their lead scientist. He privately studied biochemistry and biology and had the opportunity of being the only scientific mind who also believed in dreaming.
Suffice it to say, he was a longshot. There was no other alternative.

"Tony, the Boss wants to know if the serum is ready. Hope say you never Bleep up", quizzed Josh in pidgin.

"Why don't you lie down on this bed. I'll like to show you a live demonstration.

He injected Josh with the serum. Though he was adamant at first, but realised it had to be tested to report to Nnamdi.

"How do you feel", inquired Tony.
"I can't feel my legs. Tony, my hands! They are gone! I can't see!"
"Relax. It's working as it should," Tony retorted.

Josh fell into a deep sleep and started snoring almost immediately.
He stepped out of the bed, thinking he had woke up. The room was empty. The wall opposite his bed suddenly disappeared, revealing an endless passage filled with doors on either side.

He stepped into the passage, and immediately, the first door opened. He walked through the door and saw his parents.

He began crying uncontrollably. His parents had been killed because they resisted. They refused to stop dreaming. He had just gone to school when two men came into their home.

"You witch and wizard. You think we don't know what you people do? You fall asleep and travel back and forth in time. Doesn't that make you a witch?"

"If you would stop taking the drug from the evil government, you too will realise you can time travel. Doesn't that make you a wizard too", retorted Josh's Dad.

At that, he emptied the cartridge on both of them.
"Burn them. Burn this house. Good riddance!"

Just then, Josh thought.
"What if I could change the past and warn my parents before they got killed."

He went back to the passage of time. Just then, he heard a voice calling his name.

"Josh! Josh! Josh! Hope say I never kill this boy oh."

"Check his heart rate", suggested Nnamdi who had now arrived in the lab.

"It's normal, Boss."
"Pour some water on him."
"Okay Boss."

He looked around the lab and found a paint bucket filled with water. He emptied it's content on Josh who screamed back to life.

"Thank God!"
"Dude, why did you pull me out? And next time, not with water. This bucket of water, in that reality, seemed like a tsunami. I could have died from the shock!"

"What did you see when you went in", interjected Nnamdi.
"Boss, I only saw a passage with many doorways."

"Did you open any of the doors", Nnamdi asked with a curious askance.

"No, I was too afraid", lied Josh.
"We'll resume testing later. Tony, improve on the general procedure for this dream serum", commanded Nnamdi.
"Yes Boss".

Chapter 3: Out of Time

Anthony Olisa was the first of many children belonging to Caleb and Mary Olisa.
He was going in and out of the dream reality as a child. In one of his many travels, he unwittingly dabbled into his future. That very dream changed him into a man of many gifts.

He saw his future self, a renowned scientist. Up until that moment, he hardly read a page out of a book.

He had beckoned on his future self to teach him all he knew. He spent two years in the dream reality.

He learnt really fast because his future self knew exactly how to teach him. He learnt biochemistry and biology whilst 'adream'.

He was about to learn computer engineering when a tsunami came out of nowhere and almost drowned him.

Soon after, he woke up. He had been sleeping for two days, and no one took notice until the second day.

He immediately started shaking up and acted confused. They immediately brought him food and water. After eating, he asked his mom, "where do we go when we dream?"

Then she knew he had time travelled in his sleep.

He resumed school the next day and demanded to write the senior secondary school final exams, but his teachers refused, citing the fact that he was a primary school pupil.
Then he put forward a philosophical statement they could not answer nor refute.

"If I'm not intelligent enough to take the exams, you would find out. But if I could ace the exams, and you didn't let me, you'll forever wonder."

So they let him take the exams. He not only aced the exams, but corrected some questions, and even ended up asking his own very questions which he gave answers to.

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