They Don't Have to Burn the Books

45 minutes was all that they had, just that amount of time to save everything. 45 minutes that will shape Simone Zhang's entire life. She grows up in a world of chaos, fires destroying cities, the world's power grid half-melted, strange bubbles of energy driving people to madness. Even worse than all the noise is the silence. No cars on the road. No birds in the sky. Not even her cat begging for food. And just as the world changes, so does she. Growing harder, and smarter, if only to protect her brother. Even as the world rebuilt itself it only became more dangerous, more and more side-effects of the incident known as The Wave. People with random psychic gifts, and a fascist government with all the answers. What rises from the fire is not always whole, not always right. So stay vigilant, and remember: Beware of Birds.