Read Online The Fall (Book 4): Genesis Game by Joshua Guess - Free Book Online Page B

commission.
    Rather than wander aimlessly, Lee guided them in a wide circle along the fence. The instinct to search for danger was so deeply ingrained that neither man even realized he was doing it, but the complete lack of anything living made the job simpler still. There was always a chance someone had followed them or waited at a distance, though, so there was merit in having a look anyway.
    “Wow,” Kell breathed as they slowly spiraled back in toward the main complex. On the side farthest from their camp, a massive array of tanks filled what appeared to be numerous refill stations. That the place had once been a chemical plant and repository was without doubt, and the thought filled Kell with equal parts wonder and fear.
    “You know, people probably didn't give this place a second look in the old days,” Kell said. “Took it for granted like most things. It was just a place to work at or an eyesore on the edge of town.”
    Lee's brows drew together. “But not you, right?”
    “Not me,” Kell agreed. “Though apparently I'm predictable.”
    Lee shook his head. “Nah, I'm just used to getting a different perspective from you.”
    “I think you're being nice, but I'll take it,” Kell replied. “But I mean look at this place. Look at what it represents. The steel and aluminum and composites used to make these containers are the end result of thousands of years of ingenuity. That's just the vessels to hold stuff, mind you. The chemicals? Fifty years ago some of them didn't even exist in nature, or if they did we had no means to store them. The sheer amount of work and knowledge needed to make a place like this possible is staggering.”
    Kell pointed at a ruptured tank, the place where its valve stem should have been only a corroded, ragged hole. “I hadn't really put much thought into it before, but do you realize how many places like this must be out there? Hundreds, even thousands, of abandoned businesses, factories, and processing plants full of highly complex systems no longer getting any maintenance.”
    Lee nodded in understanding. “Heard something similar happened with New Haven and the supply depot in Richmond. Bunkers full of dozens of tons of ammo, missiles, you name it. We knew for sure people have been raiding military facilities for years...”
    “Yes, exactly,” Kell said, cutting in with a strange excitement. “Those are just the obvious threats. What happens when places like this start to fail one after another? Or when some self-made warlord decides it's time to up his arsenal?”
    They had reached and climbed a small staircase leading up to what Kell assumed was the main office building. It wasn't high by any measure, but as the whole facility sat on a hill it even the slight change in elevation gave them a bird's eye view of the land below.
    The answer to Kell's question was unspoken and obvious, etched into the earth as an empty ring of death.
     

Nine
     
     
     
    Trouble didn't find the group that night, which isn't the same thing as not being troubled. Kell in particular looked haggard the next morning, his night a hellscape of dreams featuring the lost and forgotten weapons of yesterday being put to new and terrible uses.
    Not that he was one to judge; he had played his part in killing the world. That it had been involuntary and with the intention to help didn't matter to the billions of corpses at his feet.
    “Good morning,” Mason said in a singsong voice.
    “Meh,” Kell muttered in response. Something slapped against his sleeping bag and slid down; a meal ration. One of the good kind they made back home, thank heaven. The smell of granola and dried fruit filled his nose as he tore it open. Not fancy, but a damn sight better than any of the military rations he'd tried.
    “We got the all-clear while you were out,” Mason said, already stowing and strapping gear. “We'll head out as soon as you're ready.”
    Kell eyed the bag of food, then sat it on the chair before starting