The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval Read Online Free PDF Page A

she did care. Tears burned her eyes, she couldn’t abandon the girls, her team; her friends. With new determination, she turned toward them. “Brie, do you have your phone?”
     
    Phones were supposed to be left behind during practice and training runs, but Riley was well aware of the fact that Brie always kept hers stashed between her ample breasts. The girl was unable to part with the thing for even a minute. For the first time Riley was truly grateful for that fact.
     
    “Huh? My uh… Oh! Yeah! Yeah, I do!” Brie responded dazedly.
     
    Riley thrust her hand out and seized hold of the small phone. “Who are you calling?” Carol asked tremulously.
     
    She was tempted to call her family, but she wasn’t the most important thing right now. She quickly dialed nine one one. She hadn’t known what she expected, to get through, perhaps not. To get an all circuits are busy was a more obvious choice. But the dead silence, the absolute nothing that accompanied her pushing of the send button was enough to make her skin crawl. She swallowed heavily, pulled the phone from her ear and hit the buttons again with a trembling finger.
     
    Nothing.
     
    She blinked back the tears burning her eyes and numbly handed the phone back to Brie. The faces surrounding her were all ashen; their eyes were larger, rounder; more childlike as they looked to her. For the first time she wished they had elected another Captain this year.
     
    “We can’t stay here; we have to find shelter, or somewhere safe. Carol we should go to your house first. Perhaps a landline…”
     
    Riley broke the sentence off. If a cell phone wasn’t working, and all around them lines were down, what were the chances a landline would work? Somewhere in the distance a siren began to wail, followed swiftly by a second one. Something popped and exploded with a loud BANG. Riley ducked, instinctively throwing her arms over her head. A few seconds later, she peeked out from under her arm as the transformer across the street began to smoke.
     
    They had to get out of there, now.
     
    “Go. We have to go.” She couldn’t stop the tremble in her voice.
     
    “Yes,” Carol agreed. Carol took a few tentative steps backward before she seemed to recall what had happened to Kelly and looked nervously over her shoulder.
     
    Riley and Carol led the way down the suddenly hostile sidewalk. There were plenty of times they had to move into yards, into the street, and go well out of their way to avoid the multiple holes. Though not all of the openings were steaming, but none of them were brave enough to chance going near the possible death traps. As they ran they passed dead birds, but when Riley looked to the sky she didn’t see any in flight.
     
    She continued to hear sirens, but saw no emergency vehicles. Though not everyone seemed to be losing it, confusion still ruled. The screaming had died down, and some people were gathering their wits, while others wandered in a haze that frightened Riley even more than the suddenly deadly world surrounding them.
     
    Carol’s house came into view, the vivid blue of its front door clearly visible from anywhere within eyesight of the structure. No one could miss that blue. It was worse than The Smurfs. Carol’s mother liked things bright, and thankfully her father was colorblind, but the rest of the world had to deal with the color. A fact that Carol’s mother found entertaining, and laughed about when people complained. She somewhat enjoyed aggravating people, said the color amused her. It embarrassed Carol, but Riley thought it was hilarious.
     
    She broke into a jog, mindful of obstacles in her way as she began to move faster. Her legs pumped vigorously as she bolted up Carol’s stairs and thrust open the hideously blue door with no thought to any peril that may linger within. Her only thought was the phone.
     
    She’d been in Carol’s house often enough to know where everything was located. She shoved the toppled coat