I started writing “A Day without Sunlight” back in 2011. At the time, I was a reservist in the US Army and bouncing back and forth between deployments every year. After serving in such a manner for several years, I had to spend a long time as a regular reservist. This meant I had to get a regular job. So for a while, I worked for Guardsmark, LLC., doing my security time in a Hanes Underwear Distribution Center in Montgomery, Alabama. The job was easy, if criminally underpaid. And it was blessedly simple. I worked a 12-hour shift during the weekdays. I would do my security checks, fill out the paperwork, watch a movie, work on a story, rinse and repeat. I had developed several story ideas during my time there. One involved a Fallout styled city built within the factory floor. Another was a zombie movie where the older part of the factory was both haunted and infected the workers with a zombie-like virus.
Many of the scenes from Separated Sunrise were inspired by actual encounters I had whilst making my rounds. Wrecks along North Highway or Highway 65. Random encounters with the employees of the factory itself. I remember receiving the call from the factory manager himself, asking me what I was doing online. At the time, I was listening to Live365,com while working on what I will later title “Reward of Heroes.” This story I hope to introduce to you all later on. I was then approached by our site security manager, and former NCIS agent, with regards to our continued Net usage. Shortly afterward, I was hired on to a better paying, but the much more depressing job at Johnson Controls car seat manufacturing factory in Clanton, Alabama. Surprisingly, I worked on a completely separate story while working in that factory as well.
The current draft of Separated Sunrise began in 2015. The original story began as a 1st person perspective of my fantastical experiences at the factory in Montgomery, Alabama. It is surprising of how much of life happens in such a short amount of time. How much of that short amount of time shortly becomes a long amount of time. I found that my adaptation of the story became an amalgamation of people I knew from my past before it was ready for publication. Even then I had to add several more scenes, flesh out more background, and develop more story elements before it would be ready for public viewing.
All in all, I hope that you, my fellow wanderers enjoy my first published story. I will be checking back to it in the next few weeks to make sure that all the hyperlinks work and the continuity is sound. I will be working on more stories and non-fictional research after this. Stay tuned and always: live the adventure.
James C Gilliam 
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