Broken Roads: A Tale of Survival in a Powerless World (Broken Lines Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

and picked up on what he was thinking.
     
    “I hope you printed our boarding passes before we left,” Nelson said.
     
    ***
     
    The muggers form last night confirmed what Mike already knew would happen: that people were getting desperate and traveling around, looking for easy scores. It wouldn’t be long before people started organizing into gangs to survive.
     
    That’s what Mike feared awaited them in the airport. It had been a week since everything stopped working. No power, no water, no food, no modern conveniences, nothing. He’d already watched his neighbors turn on each other, and that was in the first week. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen a month from now.
     
    Mike tried to convince Nelson to stay in the plane with Sean, but he insisted on coming to help. Mike finally caved. If he did find a stash of supplies he’d need all the help he could get carrying it.
     
    Clothes, trash, and abandoned airport equipment littered the tarmac. The massive jetliners stood motionless. Some were lined up at the terminals, while others stood frozen on the runways, never leaving the ground.
     
    Mike thought about how everyone on board started to complain the moment everything shut off. He could hear the mumbles and groans on the plane, people cursing under their breath that they’d been inconvenienced by what happened, but if they’d taken off thirty minutes earlier they all would have crashed, and most likely would have died.
     
    Mike kept his eyes alert. He scanned the tarmac for anything unusual, or out of place. He couldn’t afford anyone getting the drop on them now. As much as Nelson said he was okay Mike knew that he wasn’t going to be of much use if things went south.
     
    “How do we get in there?” Nelson asked.
     
    “We’ll have to go up to the main entrance. I’m not sure how to get in from the tarmac,” Mike said.
     
    The three of them walked around the outside of the terminal and followed the monorail to the airport drop off and pick up area. A few of the monorails were stuck on the rack in between destinations.
     
    “Dad, what’s that on the windows?” Sean asked.
     
    When Mike looked up at one of the monorail windows, he could see dried bloodstains smeared across the glass.
     
    “Dirt,” Mike said.
     
    Nothing moved. Mike still hadn’t become used to that. All the times he’d complained about people moving to fast, and now he’d give anything to see a car speed around the corner of the building up ahead.
     
    Then Mike saw him. It was only for a second, but he saw the flash of brown hair duck back into the airport. He pulled Nelson and Sean down behind a luggage carrier.
     
    “What’s wrong?” Nelson asked.
     
    “They’re people inside,” Mike said.
     
    “Do you think they’re dangerous?”
     
    “I don’t know, but if they’re keeping watch, then they must be protecting something.”
     
    Mike pulled the pistol from his waist and clicked the safety off. He peeked above the luggage carrier to the door the man had gone inside.
     
    “We should move to the corner by the front of the building. Sean, you stay close to your dad, okay? If anything happens you two run, got it?”
     
    Both of them nodded their heads.
     
    “Stay behind me,” Mike said.
     
    Mike led the three of them in a single file line. He kept the gun clutched in both hands, his eyes scanning the area. He slammed his back up against the corner of the building. Nelson and Sean followed suit, catching their breath. Mike placed his index finger over his lips.
     
    “C’mon,” Mike said.
     
    Most of the automatic glass doors were shut. A few had been smashed and the rest had been opened manually.
     
    The crunch of the glass behind Mike made him freeze in his tracks. Nelson mouthed “Sorry” and stepped around the remaining shards.
     
    Mike found one of the opened doors and stepped through. The airport was musty. A week of no air conditioning and continually being baked in the sun caused