The Age of Embers: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Ryan Schow

Author:Ryan Schow [Schow, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River City Publishing
Published: 2019-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

One minute Xavier, Ryan and I are talking, and the next minute the three of us see the Predator drones heading straight for us. As if everything is happening in slow motion, our brains fighting to catch up to reality, we watch the missiles detach from the drone’s wings and take flight.

The first pair of missiles hits the seven story Skytech Lofts in a massive explosion that rocks the ground beneath us. With only an open parking lot between the lofts and the OEM, the second drone drops two more missiles. They head straight for the ground floor of the Offices of Emergency Management building we’re standing in front of, and that’s when I scream out for the others to run.

It doesn’t matter that all of us are dead tired, we’re not so tired that we can’t turn into Olympic level sprinters long enough to clear the shadow of what could very well be a toppling building. The direct hit sends a blast wave of heat at our backs, one that literally shifts our organs and roars through our ears.

We get up and crawl behind an SUV only to see four more follow-up drones launching their payloads on both the Skytech Lofts and the OEM building. The lofts come down hard, the OEM a little harder. This whole time the three of us just cower there in the middle of this unfolding disaster, powerless to help, powerless to do anything but just watch and pray.

Ryan is now cursing up a storm, and Xavier is profoundly silent, his eyes wide, his brain clearly trying to comprehend all this. Before the dust even settled on the OEM, Ryan stands and says, “There have to be survivors, let’s go.”

Neither Xavier nor I object.

The three of us trot toward the building, half ducking, our heads on a swivel for more drones. The half of the building facing Skytech Lofts is sagging, completely collapsed. The other side is weak and crumbling, certainly unstable.

SAC Wright never hesitates, even though Xavier looks back at me with sheer panic in his eyes, the kind of panic that says, “We’re supposed to follow him into that?”

We find a way in.

Despite the incredible risks, Xavier and I follow Ryan’s lead because if you can save just one life, let alone many, what kind of a selfish jerk would even take the time to question it? Xavier never makes another face, and he doesn’t say a word.

With our hands covering our mouths so as not to breathe in the clouding debris, we make our way through a dark, half-collapsed hallway toward a broken water pipe that’s fountaining out. The lights are mostly out, but they flicker here and there giving us enough light to work with.

Up ahead, Ryan pulls to a stop.

From his pocket he takes out a knife, thumbs it open, then cuts a strip of his shirt away. He hands me the knife and I do the same. While I’m cutting away a square of my shirt, Ryan is soaking his in the spraying water.

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