Ten years ago, when the Outbreak destroyed the only home I knew, I thought that the worst had happened. I was wrong. Every day is a battle, and there are no guarantees. But her? I'm willing to risk it all for her. She has ignited something in me, something I haven't felt since my mother's death - a burning hope. "Spark" is a short story prequel to Submerged told from Glate's POV.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, so the saying went... Strength is a short story that takes place during the events in Submerged. It features Ana, a character we meet briefly near the end of Submerged. This is her story. Word Count: 4,220

After a mysterious virus makes its way into the United States, the government demands that states seal themselves off from one another and do their best to protect their surviving residents. When the state of Florida is bordered off from the surrounding states, Taylen Fincher, a seventeen-year-old girl with a yearning for her former life finds herself wondering how much of what they’ve been told is true. When Troum took control of the state, he told the residents that the other states had fallen to the virus and that he wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen to them. But Taylen doesn’t believe it. She insists that there is still life outside of the state, and she is going to do whatever it takes to prove it… but her actions will cost her more than she ever expected. Troum kidnaps Taylen’s sister, Penelope, in hopes of coaxing her into behaving – into being a submissive resident, much like the others. But Taylen isn’t one to give in that easily. Eager to rescue her sister, Taylen will set out on an adventure that’ll force her to open her heart to the unexpected and to uncover secrets that will change everything.

We thought that the worst was over. We had never been more wrong. After seeking refuge within a small community in Georgia, Taylen and the others believed that they’d put the worst behind them. But the horror that they’d experienced at the hands of Troum had only been the beginning. Every single person has secrets. Some are just far more deadly than others. The Outbreak began with Troum, but he wasn’t the only one with secrets to guard. General Hack spent the past decade working for Troum within the Sectors, serving in the guard as to avoid revealing just who he was and what he’d done. They thought they knew what had led to the Outbreak. But the world they’d spent the past decade living in had been built upon lies. There is more to the Outbreak than the others know. And I will see to it that the truth is told. In this conclusion to the Outbreak duology, secrets will be revealed, hearts will be tested, and choices will be made. And in the end, only those brave enough to push through the pain will survive.