Firewalk: Fracture Book 3 by Soward Kenny & Kraus Mike

Author:Soward, Kenny & Kraus, Mike
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2021-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Deputy Ryan Davis, Napa, California

The cruiser pulled into the police station’s front lot, jumping a cracked curb to get around another car on its way out.

It parked in the first empty spot it found, sat for a moment, then shut off. The officer inside placed his hands on the wheel, resting his forehead on his wrists.

The Napa City Police Department was on a tree-lined lane with finely cut curbs and intricate red brickwork on the sidewalks. But the pavement was cracked and shifted. Trees leaned over, bent at their roots in the upturned earth.

The station itself had suffered very little quake damage, a few cracks here and there, glass fronting shattered and covered with plastic along the lengthy, two-story building. The patch of landscaped ground at the edge of the lot had sunk on one side, causing a cherry tree to fall across the pavement and crush a police cruiser. Sheriff Forero had already gotten a team out there to cut everything into pieces and stack the wood in the station yard.

Cracks riddled the wheelchair ramp and front stoop. But aside from all that, the building had remained relatively undamaged. Located in an especially beautiful part of town with eateries and wine houses along the lane, the police station and its surrounding structures had become a hub of authority.

There was the fire station just west of the police station, though every firetruck was out on a critical call. On the same block stood Napa City Hall, bustling with community members, civic leaders, and counsel folks constantly meeting and trying to direct rescue efforts. Some had taken to living in the building as the crisis unfolded. Citizens were showing up at the door, demanding to know when aid would arrive or when they could count on someone to come see to their insurance claims.

Davis expected things to go from bleak to worse before too long.

The Napa streets were barely drivable, with heavy traffic everywhere, causing the deputies to leave their vehicles to address calls, which numbered in the thousands. The police department was overwhelmed, pushed beyond their limits, tired and haggard, clinging to patience.

Aside from the spot of tea he’d had at the Willard’s house, Davis had taken very little time to rest, eat, or even sleep. The forty-four-member squad was perpetually running, breaking up fights, keeping stores and their precious goods from being looted, and scattering mobs of people threatening others or causing trouble.

What he’d seen of humanity over the past forty-eight hours was nothing short of terrifying. After the swell of confusion and fear from the first quake, and the news reports of the damage in the rest of California coming in, people were forming into tribes. They were circling the wagons, defending themselves after realizing the police could no longer protect them.

Those residents with weapons carried them plainly in sight, several groups taking positions on rooftops, flak jackets covering their chests as they stared into the streets, shotguns in hands, pistols on hips. And while it might have been strange to see in the small California town days ago, it had become a new way of life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.