Edge of Ruin: The Complete Series: Part 1 by Bell Justin & Kraus Mike

Author:Bell, Justin & Kraus, Mike
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2022-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Denver, Colorado

Day 07

Heading back toward the city felt somewhat odd, the battered skeleton of Denver smoldering in smoke and fire before them, glaring back at them like some sort of angered hell beast. For a man who had always considered Denver his home, the landscape before Jake appeared to be some foreign land, a scorched and burning war zone somewhere across the ocean, a third world country far removed from the rocky barrier between west and Midwest America. Their trek through the residential neighborhoods had taken far longer than they’d anticipated, and half the day had slipped away as they traversed quiet backyards, slipped between houses, and ventured down trash-strewn streets, peppered with stalled vehicles and the occasional signs of violence.

They’d stopped at a small Indian restaurant in the shadows of a looming gymnasium where local emergency responders were desperately trying to organize some sort of refugee camp. With the sun beating down, nobody was outside waiting for entry, but there were clear signs of a gathering, trash littering the sidewalk, even a couple discarded umbrellas and a table with several sheets of paper held down by a large rock.

Inside the restaurant, they’d disrobed, spent a few minutes cooling off, drank a bit of water and used the employee rest room, hiding out there for a handful of minutes before donning their suits once again and emerging out into the bright, daylight hours. That had been almost ninety minutes ago and they were staring down the belly of the beast, walking toward the emerging city, thick clutches of tall buildings shrouded in dark smoke.

“I thought this was supposed to be a straight shot? We’ve been walking for hours.” Scott kept his voice low, clearly trying not to sound like he was complaining.

“There’s no such thing as a straight shot these days.” They’d come across a tractor trailer accident that had left the truck sprawled across a few lanes of traffic, apparently having barreled through the red light as it malfunctioned from the EMP. It had crashed into a pickup, shoving it sideways and pinning it against a nearby building, creating an effective blockade. It had forced them to stop and double back, adding perhaps another hour to their commute which carried them a bit further south, so they had to work their way north as they moved east, keeping the location of the helicopter locked into their minds. As they crossed from a residential neighborhood to the outlying business district running along the eastern perimeter of the city center, Jake found himself tensing, his eyes darting from beneath the lenses of the gas mask, taking in their surroundings. It was still full daylight, but his nerves were raw and frayed, sparking beneath his MOPP suit, his cop’s instinct telling him there were eyes everywhere, watching them.

Buildings emerged, shifting from low-profile rentals and residences to multi-level office buildings, the oppressive heat rippling through the group, generating even more sweat and exhaustion than before. Morris signaled for them to take a

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