The Survivors of Bastion (Fall of Earth Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

things.
                  Everything looked well, and for the first time in a while I felt a moment of calm that washed over me there in the solitude of the field, amongst the many things that we grew there.
                  Of course, that calmness wasn’t going to last for long.
                  I hadn’t heard from Carl in a while, but when he shouted my name it came right after I heard the creaking of the gate opening – the one that we had both come through just a few minutes ago.
                  ‘Tommy!?’ He yelled, and in a second I was bounding through rows of high plants until I finally reached the centre column where Carl stood. He looked shocked above anything, and when I looked in his direction for the second time that morning I saw why.
                  Immediately, I swung the gun from over my shoulder and pointed the barrel straight ahead of us.
                  Standing just inside the gate, in about as frozen a position as Carl, was a man I had never seen before. He was clad in dirtied clothes beneath a faded green utility jacket, with severely unkempt hair and a muddy face.
                  He held his hands above his head – both were empty. He didn’t seem to have a weapon on him.
                  ‘Freeze, motherfucker,’ I said, holding the gun steady in my hand. ‘Don’t move.’
                  ‘All right, all right,’ he said hurriedly, both of his hands shaking as he held them above his head. ‘I don’t mean any harm.’
                  ‘Neither do we, but saying it doesn’t mean much,’ I said, not taking my eyes off him. ‘Who are you?’
                  ‘My name’s… My name’s Luke.’ – I could hear the southern accent in his voice straight away. – ‘I’ve been walking and just came by this field… Or is it your field? I’m real hungry is all…’
                  ‘Damn right it’s our field,’ Carl said. I could hear the embitterment in his voice.
                  ‘Don’t,’ I muttered to him, making sure that no volatile emotions came into this. It sounded stupid but anything could cause a slip-up at any moment, including acting and speaking on impulse. ‘Listen,’ I continued, shouting over to the man, ‘we don’t mean you any harm and it’s not our intention to hurt you, but you have to understand the position we’re in right now. We don’t know you. Now, my friend here is gonna come and make sure that you aren’t holding anything that might cause any harm to come to us-’
                  ‘What?’ Carl exclaimed to me incredulously. ‘Are you serious?’
                  ‘I’ll keep a gun on him the whole time,’ I whispered to Carl, still keeping my eyes on our visitor. ‘You’ll be fine.’
                  Carl hesitated, looking at me and back at the man several times before taking a deep breath and finally edged his way towards the man, as if trying put the act off indefinitely.
                  Within a few feet of the man Carl came to a stop, glancing back at me before turning back to him.
                  ‘No hard feelings, buddy,’ he said, ‘I’m just gonna need to make sure you ain’t carrying anything dangerous.’
                  Carl reluctantly brought his hands to the man’s arms – honestly, I didn’t expect anything to happen seeing as how shaken the guy looked, but if anything my ability to reason with reality always slipped when I needed it most, just like this morning with the deer.
                  And right now.
                  The moment Carl’s hands came into contact with the man, our visitor executed a series of movements that I couldn’t even pin down with my sight as I watched them. He moved so quickly that it was almost incomprehensible, but at the end of