Breakdown: Season One by Jordon Quattlebaum Read Free Book Online

fact that emergency response vehicles wouldn’t start and the issue of plummeting water pressure, meant that, without a miracle, much of the city would burn.
    The wind was rushing east, away from the Willis home, and he prayed it would continue to do so.
    Taking John’s advice, he began heading toward the Broadway Bridge. The number of people on the street was less than Thom had anticipated, which gave him a sort of relief, but it also concerned him. Humanity had always been led to believe that there’s safety in numbers, so to be on his own again was a bit unnerving.
    Thom kept to the darkness and tried to remain unnoticed as he walked down the street, but he soon realized that the road he was on was starting to slope downward into a sharp turn. He’d driven this road five days a week for the last couple of years and had never taken the time to really look at it.
    There were huge retaining walls on each side of the road, and the stalled cars were starting to get extremely tight. Thom stopped and stepped behind one of the vehicles, remembering what John had told him earlier about potentials for ambush.
    Taking a careful look around, the pieces clicked into place. He was being herded into a funnel. About a hundred yards ahead, Thom could see the path between cars open up a bit wider right before the road disappeared into the turn. It could have been nothing, but the hair on his neck was standing up, and it was there, he guessed, that an ambush would be waiting.
    Back-peddling quickly, and staying low, Thom managed to trace his route back and took a different exit, leading deeper into the city. Adding distance to his trip home was a hard reality, but at this point, avoiding a potential ambush was his first concern. Better to get there slower than to be dead quicker.
    The smoke thickened as Thom delved farther into the downtown area, and soon he had to stop for a breather. Taking a minute, he removed his pack, took out a handkerchief, and used a little precious water from his camel pack to wet it down. Tying it around his face helped filter some of the soot from the air and made his passage a bit more comfortable.
    Zipping his bag and hefting it back onto his shoulders, Thom took a second to tighten the straps so that the weight rested properly. That’s when he heard the first shot.
    Ducking behind the engine block of a nearby truck, one of the few parts of a car that he’d heard would actually stop a bullet, he peeked underneath. He was met almost immediately with another shot that struck pavement three feet to his left, sending speeding chunks of asphalt up to greet him.
    “Toss out your bag, and we’ll let you live!”
    “All right, all right. Just give me a second!”
    The shots stopped, and he looked around desperately, knowing that they were most likely pinning him down in order for someone else to flank him. All of those afternoons playing paintball with Anna were coming in handy. Voices were shouting to one another, but Thom’s adrenaline was too high to discern what was being said.
    Okay, think, Thom. Look around. There’s a bar to the left of you on this side of the street. Across the street is an alley. Up the street is an unknown, but from the smoke, I’m guessing the fire’s raging the further I head into town. Heart pounding in his throat, he tried to calm himself. He needed to breathe, but his mask was making it difficult, and he began to hyperventilate. In a panic, Thom yanked the mask off, gulping in greedy breaths of thick, acrid smoke. As a result, he spent a few precious seconds coughing as he tried desperately to tie it back on.
    The shots had stopped, and Thom knew he only had a moment. He heard a mechanical sound that he assumed was someone dropping a magazine to insert a fresh one, but he’d made his choice and was halfway across the street when he heard the bolt slide into place, making the attacker’s weapon ready to fire once again.
    The world moved in slow motion, then, as Thom sprinted