American Midnight | Book 3 | Daybreak by Kazzie David

Author:Kazzie, David [Kazzie, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | EMP | Survival
Publisher: Grub Club Publishing
Published: 2021-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

16

Jack spent a chilly but dry night in the warehouse. Trinity arrived shortly after sunrise bearing his pack and weapon.

“I’ll escort you to the front line,” she said. “After that, you’ll be on your own.”

Jack nodded.

They made their way to the back of the building, which sat on the edge of the riverbank. Once upon a time, this facility had supplied fuel, equipment, and repairs to the boats that had tied up here.

The weather had turned sour. A brisk wind and low clouds greeted them as he stepped outside. They were very close to the bridge. Jack paused near its edge, looking out across the river, which curved away from him to the southeast. To the east, a wedge-shaped peninsula lay between Virginia and the city proper. It was home to East Potomac Park, which came to a point directly to Jack’s east. In the shadow of the next bridge over stood a series of buildings, part of a U.S. Park Police station.

The Department of the Interior had made its home in a building close to the riverbank. Beyond those buildings, farther to the east, lay a bustling tent city, home to hundreds of survivors. It looked cold and miserable. He scanned the camp with his binoculars. A group of kids was shooting baskets on a hoop. The land had been cleared, probably now home to farmland.

Off to his right, flying across another slice of the Potomac, another bridge cut northeast into the city. The bridge, whose name Jack did not know, ended at a marina that had once been home to yachts belonging to D.C.’s rich and famous. None of the yachts was still moored. Two had foundered right here in the channel, their bows still visible in the dirty water. The main building was in rough shape, its windows long since blown out.

They continued north, walking in silence. There wasn’t much more to say. Either he would accomplish his mission or he wouldn’t. He couldn’t have asked her for much more than the chance to do so.

At the intersection of 31st and M Streets, they parted ways. Beyond was an automobile graveyard. Thousands of vehicles wedged together to make it impossible for an advancing vanguard to cross. Clever. Anything could work as an impenetrable perimeter these days if you had the wherewithal to move it.

“Good luck,” Trinity said. “I’m rooting for you. The Shepherds, they’re bad news.”

“You ever wonder they may think the same about us?”

She scoffed.

“They’re lunatics,” she said. “Anytime we try to make progress, dig ourselves out of this shithole life, they just knock it down.”

“Maybe they have a good reason for it.”

“Oh, sure, protecting the natural world, yeah, I’ve heard all their stories. You know what, though?”

“What?”

“It’s all bullshit,” she said. “Some folks just want to watch the world burn.”

She chuckled and gestured to the silent darkness around her.

“As if this wasn’t apocalyptic enough for them. I swear to God, if we just went along with them, they would get even crazier, move the goalposts even more.

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