The Dawn: The Bombs Fall (A Dystopian Science Fiction Series) Read Online Free PDF

watching the greenery, motionless in the absence of
breeze, trying to ignore the line of faceless Guardians who were all armed with
their Assisters and positioned along the perimeter. Within the first year the
trees died, and the lobby died with it. It became barren, infertile, and the
loss destroyed the dreams of many. It was devoid of decent life, and when the
final leaves fell from the trees a lot of people lost hope.
    The Guardians were positioned as
expected at the entrance to the sublevels as Zack exited the lift. Five
subterranean floors that were supposed to be uninhabited, yet they were full of
people who remained unaccounted for. When the explosions came the doors were
locked and the lifts to the basement decommissioned. The sublevels became an unwanted
appendage. People from outside rushed underground from the streets, a place to
hide, they thought, until the dust settled and they could return to their homes.
But the dust never did settle, and they never made it out. Some of the
wealthiest traded their way into the building in the first few days of anarchy.
But the rest stayed down there, becoming the underclass, irrespective of where
they came from. They mourned in the cold and the dark, tended their wounds and
burns the best they could, shivering under coats in corners that didn’t catch
the nuclear breeze. But eventually a form of camaraderie took over. They found
ways to trade with those above ground. Some braved the fallout and went outside,
bringing in things like clothes and blankets from the shops that were not
completely destroyed. Others smuggled in alcohol. Others traded the only thing
they had, which was themselves, and this brought a steady stream of men from
the upper levels once word got out. New Omega soon shut them in, boarded up the
basement doors from the outside world. For their own safety they were told.
    “Hey, Sam. Croft.” Croft always went
by his last name. Zack got the impression that it made him feel more
intimidating this way. Less human. Like it was necessary.
    “Zack,” they both said in unison like
a chorus line. “Coming down to savour the delights below deck again?” Croft
smiled to reveal a set of ugly brown teeth through the hole in his balaclava. He
chewed tobacco like a Texan cowboy and spat a glob onto a brown patch on the
floor. It was against regulation. Zack took a step back.
    “You know that’s not my style, Croft.
I’m here to do business. Just like always.”
    “Level B3 has some good business,”
said Sam, nudging Croft in the side which resulted in them both sniggering,
celebrating the joke with a high five. Sam was huge, stood at nearly six foot
seven, and almost as wide. “Ask for Roxanna. Tell her I sent you.” There was a
glint in his eye that Zack didn’t care for, made him think that there was some
mutual agreement between him and Roxanna. He knew people had to survive, but he
liked to think that people did it off their own bats, not off somebody else's.
    “Why, you get a cut of whatever she
gets?” Zack snarled. Sam straightened himself up, puffed up his chest. “Like I
said, not my style, Sam. Got some ration cards to give out.”
    “What about our cards?” said Croft. “When
you gonna top ours up again?” Croft was the dumber of the two. It was a close
call, difficult to compare, but he made it. Just made it.
    “Soon, just like I said three triple
bells ago. Now,” he said, patting Croft on the shoulder, the smell of tobacco
escaping from his mouth. “You going to let me through, or is it going to be a
dry month ahead for the pair of you?”
    As he walked down the steps he passed
B1 and B2. He thought about Roxanna on B3 and the deal she had with Sam, and
realised that his own life could be harder. The stairs were empty tonight, and
there were no drunks blocking his path. Arriving at B4, he pushed open the old
fire doors and stepped through. There was no commotion, no chatter, or music. It
was dark even by the standards in Delta, and it