Read Online The Dark Trinity (Book 1): Shuffle by Steven Till - Free Book Online Page A

the river to the stadiums. That would
get us across the river and on the north side of town.”
    Ronnie seemed a bit more optimistic now. “You're a certified
genius, man.”
    “Let’s hope so. Alright, I need to call Eve and see if she’s
okay. I'll meet you at the subway station in about thirty minutes.”
    “Right on.”
    Nathan ended the call and speed dialed Evelyn. The phone rang
and rang; finally, she answered.
    “The Sprint customer you are trying to reach is currently
unavailable. At the tone…”
    Fuck . Something had to be wrong. She definitely would
have answered the call, especially knowing that he was downtown and near the
riots in the South Side. He tried again, hoping that she just couldn't get to
the phone in time, but yielded the same result.
    I gotta get home, he thought as he turned left onto
Sixth Avenue, crossed Penn Avenue, and ran a block up to Liberty. The city was
now in a full blown panic. Cars gridlocked every street and intersection. The
sidewalks were overrun with throngs of pedestrians, most of whom were in a big
hurry to get the hell out of there. Nathan pushed his way through the oncoming
people traffic and managed to go the three blocks to the surplus store. He
sidestepped into the doorway and peered in through the safety glass door.
    The place appeared to be vacant, although after his encounter
at the 7-Eleven, he wasn’t about to assume anything. Someone had shattered the
glass near the lock and mangled the security mesh. Reaching his hand in, he
turned the door lock, opened it, and walked into the store. The place appeared
to be deserted. No sounds emanated from inside. He looked around and took a
mental inventory of equipment he might need. The fact that he had zero
military, survival, or weapons training didn't bother him; coming up with a
shopping list was more or less common sense. Not to mention, he’d seen a lot of
action movies.
    Still, he wished that Evelyn was here. She had amassed a vast
knowledge of this kind of stuff while researching her books. The Navy even
allowed her to shadow SEAL training while she was working on her last political
thriller. While at the Naval base in Coronado, Evelyn had sent him a slew of
pictures, most of which depicted her surrounded by hard-bodied, roughneck SEAL
candidates. Dressed in the same attire as the recruits, she looked like one of
the boys. She knew how to shoot. She knew how to handle herself. She knew how
to survive.
    The first thing Nathan decided to do was to get a change of
clothes. The khakis, button down shirt and loafers wouldn't cut it in this
situation. People were going crazy all throughout the city as far as he could
tell. The temperature continued to plummet, so he had to go more tactical with
the attire. A few minutes later, he was clad in tactical winter gear; heavy
coat and cargo pants covered in pockets, wool socks, insulated combat boots,
and gloves. He looked like a soldier ready for war. I bet Eve would be
pretty turned-on if she saw me in this getup, he thought. Now, time for
some weapons .
    Grabbing a large duffel bag and backpack, he walked up and
down each aisle, pausing here and there to grab items off the shelves. First
aid supplies, a few ready-to-eat meal packs, flashlights, batteries, a canteen,
iodine tablets, rope, a couple KA-Bar knives, and anything else he remembered
seeing in all those war flicks.
    He then went to the front of the store. Breaking the glass of
the display counter, he began to fill the duffel bag. A few 9mm semi-automatic
pistols, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a couple of UMP45 automatic
sub-machine guns, and a shit load of ammunition for them. I might not be as
well-versed in this stuff as Eve, but I played a lot of Call of Duty on the
Xbox, he thought as he chuckled to himself. Time to see if I’m as good
with these weapons in real life as I am in video games .
    The gear weighed a ton and would slow him down, but whoever
was crazy enough to chase him with all this firepower