by Bruno Miller
BREAKDOWN
Dark Road, Book One
Bruno Miller
Do you have what it takes to survive?
Ben Davis was prepared for disaster. He just didn’t know it would come so soon.
He and his teenage son, Joel, are miles deep in the backcountry of the San Juan Mountains when high-altitude nuclear electromagnetic detonations light up the pre-dawn sky. Ben, Joel, and their dog, Gunner, must make their way home—or whatever’s left of it—on foot.
Without the ability to communicate with his ex-wife in Maryland, Ben has no idea if Joel’s brother and sister are okay. The two decide they have no options but to head East. Before their journey begins, they venture into town to check Ben’s outdoor store for supplies and discover one of Joel’s classmates, Allie, alone and in desperate need of help.
When Ben realizes Allie’s flight attendant mother is most likely dead and her father lives in Pittsburgh, he knows he has to take her with them. Ben must use the skills he learned as an Army Ranger many years ago to survive the post-apocalyptic world they now live in.
Can he keep himself and two teenagers safe as they navigate the dark and dangerous road ahead?
Breakdown: Dark Road, Book One
Copyright © 2018 Bruno Miller
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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NEWSLETTER
Table of Contents
BREAKDOWN
About the Book
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
About the Author
For my sister, who encouraged me to write.
Chapter One
The morning was already well under way by 6:00 a.m. for Ben Davis who was polishing off his second cup of coffee. He enjoyed this quiet time every morning before his son Joel rumbled down the stairs looking for breakfast.
If the weather allowed, Ben would open the rear slider that led onto the deck and wander out to enjoy the view. It was early June, and the mornings were still crisp but warmed quickly, and Ben was very comfortable in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Of course, Gunner, their Chesapeake Bay retriever, always took advantage of the open-door policy.
The dog trotted out onto the deck and down the steps that led to the yard. He did his customary perimeter check, sniffing all the early morning smells before making his way back up onto the deck to find a spot in the sun.
They lived about five minutes outside of Durango, Colorado, in a little subdivision located on the side of a mountain overlooking town. If you took the dirt road up about three quarters of the way, you would find their house sitting among the aspens and scrub pine at just over nine thousand feet in elevation.
There were about fifty homes scattered across the mountainside although, from their house, you could only see a few of them. Ben liked it that way. He cherished the privacy it afforded them.
On a clear day you could see all the way through the valley and barely make out a distant mountain range in New Mexico. Most people would find this location quite remote, but not Ben. He would have liked a place a little farther from town with more land, but he was concerned that it would be too far removed for his oldest son Joel to have a social life.
Joel had come to live with his dad after the divorce about five years ago. His younger brother, Bradley, who was ten, and his younger sister, Emma who had just recently turned twelve, lived with their mother in Ocean City, Maryland.
The divorce had been hard on the kids, and it hadn’t helped when Joel’s mother had moved away with Bradley and Emma. She’d said it was to be near family, but Ben suspected an old boyfriend from her college days was the real reason.
Ben had fought her on it hard, over a year’s worth of time in and out of family court and God knows how much in attorney’s fees. Joel was the only one of the three kids that the court deemed old enough at the time to decide for himself which parent to live with.
Ben was sure it had been a bittersweet decision for Joel, but he’d confessed he’d always felt closer to his dad. The countless hunting and fishing adventures they had been on together started at a young age and had no doubt contributed to that feeling. Even before Joel was old enough to participate in the activities, Ben would carry little Joel in a backpack while fly fishing the Animas River, the water splashing up occasionally and tickling at his feet. There were too many good memories like this one for Joel to want to leave.
It was hard on both of them with Bradley and Emma living so far away, and they looked forward to them coming out to Durango for the summer as was their normal routine. In fact, Ben had been hoping to FaceTime with the kids this morning as he did a couple times a week, but he couldn’t get through for some reason and resolved to try later on.
Most mornings, Ben made time to fix Joel a decent breakfast of eggs and bacon or sausage before school, but Joel would have to fend for himself this morning. Something else had Ben’s attention, and he’d lost track of time. He had left the slider partially cracked and was listening to the news on the television in the other room while still trying to enjoy the morning from his deck.
The news anchor was talking about how North Korea had successfully tested and proven the effectiveness of their long range missile program recently and how the UN was threatening further sanctions when Joel’s footsteps coming down the stairs caught Ben off guard.
He slipped back inside, grabbed the remote and quickly turned off the TV. He normally listened to music in the morning or nothing at all, but this North Korean threat had been occupying way too much space in his mind lately. Things had been escalating for quite a while now and it seemed that it was coming to a head.
Still, there was no need to worry Joel unnecessarily. Besides, the boy had better things to think about, like their fishing trip this weekend. Ben had to get things squared away at the store, too, since they would be in backcountry for a few days and he would be unreachable.
Ben owned an outdoor store in town with an emphasis on fly fishing and backpacking. It wasn’t a big place, but they had the essentials anyone would need to gear up for a proper backcountry trip. At one time, he had considered carrying firearms and hunting gear, but the paperwork required to get an FFL (federal firearms license) was long and daunting. In the end, Ben decided it wasn’t worth having the government in his business and passed on it.
“Hey, Dad, morning,” Joel called out as he headed downstairs. He was in a good mood this morning no doubt because it was the last day of school before summer break. At the sound of his voice, Gun
ner came running back inside.
Joel shouted, “Look out, Gunner!”
He skipped the last two steps and landed at the bottom of the stairs nearly crashing into Gunner, who was waiting impatiently to greet him. Ben knew Joel considered Gunner his dog. Ben had gotten the dog for him as a puppy right after his mom moved away. He’d hoped it would ease the pain and help Joel cope with his siblings and mother moving. Joel had bonded instantly with the puppy and they’d been inseparable ever since.
“Sorry, but you’re on your own for breakfast today. I lost track of time this morning,” Ben said as he began to clear a spot on the table for Joel to eat. Ben had been cleaning one of his pistols on the table the night before.
It was a desert tan Glock 19 that he planned on taking with them camping this weekend. The gun was only a 9MM and not the biggest caliber pistol he had, but it was lightweight. The gun was also one that Joel could handle with proficiency as well, should anything ever happen to Ben.
Ben always carried a gun when camping, just in case, and in the last six months or so had started to conceal carry on a more regular basis. He often had cash from the store on him at night if he didn’t get a chance to make a deposit at the bank, and he thought better safe than sorry. Some parts of town had really gone downhill in the last year or so, it seemed, and he didn’t want to risk it.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just grab something and take it with me.” Joel was already closing the fridge door with a banana and an orange juice in his hand.
“You’re in a hurry today. What’s the rush?” Ben asked.
Joel dropped his head and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, I’ve gotta pick up Brian and give him a ride because his piece of junk isn’t running. Again.”
“I’m sure he appreciates it, Bud,” Ben said.
“It would be nice if he appreciated it with a little gas money,” Joel said with a smile, and laughed a little at his own joke.
“I hear that.”
“Oh, and Dad, after school today a few of us might go up to Lemon and hang out if that’s okay with you? You know, last day of school and all.” Joel looked hopeful.
“Yeah, okay, just remember you still have to pack your backpack for the trip. And we’re bugging out early tomorrow morning,” Ben said.
“I know. I got it, no worries. I won’t be home late, promise,” Joel said sincerely.
“All right, Buddy. Well, have a great last day. Love you,” Ben said.
As the door closed behind Joel, Gunner sat and watched through the glass in the door and would remain there until Joel drove out of sight. Ben thought for a moment about turning the TV back on, but he hesitated and decided not to.
“Nope, got to keep moving. Can’t get sucked into that today and waste time,” he said to Gunner.
Time was something he wasn’t going to have a lot of today. But the real reason he didn’t want to hear what the news anchor had to say was because he had heard it all before.
North Korea had been in the news daily for quite some time now. Ben had done his own research as well out of curiosity. It seemed the most intelligent theories he read were of the opinion that the greatest imminent danger from North Korea would be a HEMP bomb. HEMP was an acronym for high-altitude nuclear electromagnetic pulse.
Basically, it was a missile with a nuclear payload that would be detonated at a high altitude. The higher the detonation the bigger the radius of affected areas. The effects of a HEMP attack could literally reach out for thousands of miles depending on the altitude and power of the nuclear burst.
He’d also read that back in 1962 the U.S. government had conducted tests in Hawaii under the code name “Project Starfish.” It had been a small HEMP detonation at a low altitude and it had adversely affected electronic devices over 800 miles away. Experts believed North Korea was successfully making the nuclear weapons but lacked the ability to consistently launch the missiles and put one over a specific target for detonation.
He’d learned most of this information by doing his own research and reading, but these were just the basics and there were many unknowns about the potential damage that could result from a HEMP or multiple HEMP strikes. Unfortunately, he’d found limited answers to his questions online, with much of the information being classified or not available to the public.
All this weighed heavily on his mind at times. He worried for the future of his children. He hoped and prayed that his kids would know a peaceful life and never have to face the awful things they spoke of on the news.
But if things did go south, he knew at least Joel would be equipped to handle most situations. Ben was doing his best to pass on all the skills the military had taught him as an Army Ranger, and Joel was a quick study.
If the world did come to an end, Ben and his son would be prepared.
Chapter Two
The clock moved so slowly, it was almost painful.
Then again it was hard to believe that when that minute hand reached the six, Joel’s junior year of high school would be officially over. At 3:30, summer would begin.
It had been a good year overall and, like most kids, Joel was focused on the immediate future, which for him, meant the quarry.
He was so focused, he hardly noticed his friend Brian throw a wadded up piece of notebook paper at him, trying to get his attention. “Dude, what’s up,” he whispered.
“You’re not going to chicken out, are you?” Brian asked.
“I’m committed, man. I’m doing it.”
The unofficial plan was to meet up at their cars in the parking lot after school let out. Not that he needed a reminder since that was their usual daily routine after school, but today was to be a little different. Joel had agreed with Brian and a few friends to head to the local reservoir and take the plunge as it was known among upperclassmen or those soon to be. It was a matter of pride and, to Joel’s inner circle of lacrosse teammates, a rite of passage.
The speaker sounded with the final computerized chime. That sound had always reminded Joel of what prison must be like. Until today.
Finally the school year was over and they were all free.
Joel quickly navigated the room with his sparsely loaded backpack, making his way to the door.
His English teacher, Mr. Valdez, caught his eye for a second and blurted out, “Read something this summer.”
“Yes, sir,” Joel gave him a respectful nod and darted out of the room into the hallway. Truth was that Joel planned on reading up on one particular thing this summer, something he had already been researching for quite some time already, and that was how to prepare himself for entry into the Navy.
Even more specifically, the Navy SEALS.
He had been fascinated with the Navy SEALS since he was a young boy. Both his father and grandfather had been in the military, and he felt it was his path to continue that tradition.
Joel cruised right past his locker on the way to the parking lot, no need to stop as he had cleaned it out the day before in anticipation of a hasty exit today.
As he rounded the corner of the gym building on the backside of the school that led to the student parking lot, he laid eyes upon his 1972 K5 Chevy Blazer. It was very easy to spot, considering it stood several inches above the other vehicles in the parking lot thanks to the four-inch suspension lift he and his dad had just installed a couple months ago.
This truck was a labor of love for him and his father. They had found it online some years back before Joel even had his license. Being the perpetual planner that he was, Joel had decided what he wanted to drive at an early age and spent many hours researching and locating “The One.”
His dad was good with mechanical things so they’d agreed to fix up something Joel could afford. They had painted it a simple dull tan not unlike the military vehicles Joel had drooled over as a kid. It made sense primarily because it was cheap, since they could do it themselves, and it was a good match with all the hunting and fishing they did. There were never any worries about scratching it on any of
the mountain trails they were on.
With the black rims and utilitarian appearance, it could easily be mistaken as a military vehicle. Joel was very proud of his truck. Because of how easy it was to spot, it had become the after school gathering place for Joel and his closest friends. Somehow Brian was already there talking with a couple girls that had recently taken notice of the truck since the lift.
“Hey guys. Brian, you ready? Today is the day.”
“Let’s do it, man,” Brian responded.
Joel knew better. For a couple weeks now, Brian had been apprehensive about the jump.
“You guys are crazy,” the girls said in unison.
That only stoked Brian’s machismo. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “I’m ready.”
Joel played along to his advantage. “Outstanding!”
He felt like a dork for saying that but saw that Allison grinned. Allison Young was one of the girls hanging around his Blazer. Allie, as she was known at school, was a good-looking, athletic blonde that had caught Joel’s eye when she transferred to their school as a sophomore last year. She had moved from the East Coast somewhere, and no matter how hard he had tried, he’d never worked up the nerve to talk to her.
Yet here she was, standing at his truck in the student parking lot, talking to him.
