title: Lucky
author: Cutrera, Barbara
description: It’s 2034. In 2029, the D Plague struck and killed half the world’s population. Those who contracted the virus faced certain death and the disintegration of their bodies afterwards into dust. Unbeknownst to all but a handful of people left on Earth, one twenty-two-year-old man contracted the D Plague and lived. His name is Aric Rodrigue. Aric may be a living miracle, but he’s haunted by survivor’s guilt. His entire family gone, he gave up his dream of attending medical school in order to take over his parents’ pharmaceutical company. He allows doctors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to routinely perform tests and examinations on him in hopes that whatever helped him to survive might lead to great medical advances. Aric knows he’s doing good work but feels as though he can’t alleviate his depression and loneliness. Then, he meets Chelsea Capra. He immediately senses that the sweet, beautiful woman with blue eyes and almond-colored skin is anything but average. He discovers that she suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2033 and remembers nothing of her previous life. All of the doctors who treated her after her accident have died or disappeared. A computer genius who has lingering emotional and physical challenges, Chelsea improves with Aric’s help, and they fall in love. However, their relationship only complicates matters. The couple comes to the conclusion that their pasts are somehow linked. They become suspicious of CDC employees and those Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who are supposedly protecting them. When friends fall prey to murder and a trusted associate almost succeeds in killing Aric, they must decide whether to stand their ground or flee. Chelsea’s inquisitive nature may get them killed or save their lives. Aric combines his resources, connections, and drive in his efforts to save them, but he wonders whether or not he’s been betrayed by his closest friend and former lover, the President of the United States. Both Aric and Chelsea have been told how lucky they are – him for surviving the D Plague and her for surviving the accident. Their desire to stop evil incarnate and remain together unites and strengthens them. Only if they can outwit the masterminds of a plot to eliminate them will they be lucky enough to find lifelong happiness together and to understand the surprising hidden truths in their pasts that have led them to be targeted for assassination in their present.