The Shattered Earth (Surviving the Fall 3)

Dianne and Rick Waters sit on the couch in their living room. Outside, through the open glass sliding door, they can see and hear their three children playing near the water down by the bottom of their property. It is shortly after dinner, the sun is setting and Dianne and Rick are enjoying a few moments of peace before their children are back inside.

On the television across the room plays a nightly news broadcast that Dianne watches intently. Next to her, Rick browses on his tablet, swiping through news stories and opinion articles from the day while simultaneously replying to mundane emails that have piled up from work. Dianne elbows Rick gently in the side and points at the television.

“What’s up?” Rick looks at her, then at the TV.

“What’s with all this bad stuff going on the last couple days?”

“Hm?” Rick squints as he reads off the ticker at the bottom of the screen. “What stuff?”

“There were those oil platforms catching fire, then half a dozen tech companies just went out of business.”

Rick shrugs. “No clue. Maybe sabotage on the oil platforms? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“What about all the companies going out of business.”

“Well, we’re near… wait, no.” Rick furrows his brow. “Huh. That is odd. I haven’t heard anything about it at work and they’re generally tuned in to the latest that’s going on in the tech world.”

“You think this could mean trouble for the company?”

Rick shakes his head. “Nah. If there was trouble coming I’m sure I would’ve heard of it.”

“You have been pretty busy lately with that big project and presentation.”

“Ugh.” Rick rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck. “Don’t remind me. I’m trying to forget about that until tomorrow morning.”

Dianne smiles and puts an arm around Rick, pulling him in for a kiss. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”

Rick lets his tablet slide off his lap onto the couch as he leans in to return the kiss. He is about to say something in return when the sound of three children all shouting “ew” at the same time makes him look up. Mark, Jacob and Josie are standing on the back porch, panting with exertion after charging up the hill back to the house. Josie and Jacob are both soaking wet and covered in dirt and leaves while Mark is standing behind them with a grimace.

“Sorry.” Mark speaks sheepishly. “They sort of… fell in.”

Dianne laughs at the sight and stands up. “Don’t you dare come inside like that. I’ll get some old towels for you to dry off with then it’s time to get cleaned up before bed.”

Rick smiles as he watches Dianne help the children get out of their clothes and upstairs for their showers. After the living room empties out and there are sounds of loud talking, playing and running water from upstairs, he picks up his tablet and glances back at the television. He considers—for a moment—watching to find out more about what’s going on before he realizes that he needs to do yet another read-through of his presentation before work in the morning.

Rick leans back on the couch with his tablet and sighs, diving back into his little corner of the world, remaining oblivious to the storm that is approaching.

Chapter 6

Las Vegas, Nevada

“I never thought stale bread and water would taste so good.”

“Anything’s better than prepackaged crap at this point.”

Jane chuckled and nodded in agreement before taking another bite from her loaf of bread. A few minutes after the sound of the Humvee engines disappeared, the pair had found their way into a nearby kitchen. The smell of rotting food had nearly driven them away, but Rick had insisted they look through the storage shelves to see if anything was still good.

Most of the food was meant to be heated up on a grill or in a pan instead of being cooked from scratch and had been kept in the freezer and fridge. When the power went out, the food spoiled quickly and all that was left were a few canned staples, bread and drinks. Rick packed a couple bottles of high-proof alcohol away in one of his bags along with more canned goods, but he and Jane took a few moments to sit down, eat and rest their feet.

“Ready to go?” Rick stood up and brushed his hands on his pants. Jane nodded as she took another gulp from a bottle of water.

“All set.” She stood up and followed Rick out of the kitchen.

After exiting the main floor of the casino, Rick and Jane entered the lobby for the hotel proper. A side entrance to the hotel was caved in, though Rick could see a few shafts of light coming in through the debris. He climbed on the pile of rubble and peered through the crack, squinting in the bright sunlight as he tried to gauge how far back through the building they were.

He was about to say something to Jane when he heard the low rumble of a diesel engine rapidly approaching. Outside, Rick could just make out the next building down the street. In the gap between the buildings was a clear patch of gravel and pavement and as he watched, he suddenly saw the blur of one of the Humvees tearing by.

“Was that one of them?” Jane whispered fearfully behind Rick and he held up a hand, motioning for her to remain quiet. While he couldn’t see where the Humvee went from his vantage point, he heard it stop shortly down from the caved-in hotel entrance. The sound of car doors opening and closing followed, along with a group of voices talking.