Free DIRE : BORN (The Dire Saga Book 1) by Andrew Seiple Page B

the dark city again. It had fallen silent, during our conversation, a lull that almost made it seem like the looming, dark buildings were listening. Waiting for any sign of weakness.
    Then came a series of stuttering gunshots somewhere in the distance, and a roar of engines, and Martin shook his head. “Yeah. First night, people be all like eh, this'll pass. Second night? No power? Starting to sink in that fresh food might be a while coming? Well, now people are gonna start thinking stuff like shit, I gotta survive. Gotta feed my family. They're gonna hit the convenience stores, the grocery stores and restaurants first, go from there. Maybe grab extra blankets cause it's getting colder, too. The ones that ain't desperate will try to pay at least, but the ones that can't or think we gone full on apocalypse are just gonna take. And some of them, the bad ones, are gonna think 'shit, it's the end of the world and I can party like it ain't nineteen-ninety-nine are gonna do the shit they always wanted to do, cause why the fuck not?”
    “That's a rather bleak outlook,” I said, tossing a chunk of old planking into the barrel. The fire set it smoldering immediately, and I rubbed my hands in the heat.
    He shrugged. “I know people. Joan or Roy, they told you I deal, right?”
    “If you mean being a drug dealer, then yes.”
    He nodded. “You meet a lot of dumbasses in the trade. Folks who can't think more than a few hours ahead of shit. Course you meet some smart ones too, but they just don't want to think past the next high, cause they so smart they see it's just gonna get shitty again. But the thing of it is, it's all about desperation. People get desperate, they stop caring about shit like acting civ-i-lized, like trying to be brave when the lights are all off and there's strangers in the dark, and they got things they want and need but can't find a way to get. They do shit, they deal with the consequences later. Now, what do you think happens when you throw superpowers and magic and shit into this mix?”
    I shrugged. “No clue.”
    “Same thing, just weirder and harder to get a handle on. More chaos. Costumes are people too, lot of folks forget that. Though I doubt you gonna see someone like Crusader or Doc Quantum raiding a camping store for winter-weight bags. No, the real good ones are gonna be busy as shit keeping the dumbass villains like Hardware or Groundpounder from doin' shit when the city's off the grid and the cops are busy keeping the Lord of the Flies shit down.”
    “Lord of the Flies?”
    “It's a book. I got a copy if you want to borrow it.”
    “Sure.”
    He looked at me again, and his eyes narrowed. “I got a reason for bringing up costumes. Powers.”
    “Oh?”
    “Yeah. You got them, don't you? Some kind of inventor bullshit?”
    I shook my head.
    He waved a hand in the air, sending the smoke from the barrel swirling away as he laughed. “No, don't bullshit me. You put together that harness thing in like an hour from a bag of scraps and a busted TV. That thing ain't never nohow in the world been tried before, I'm pretty damn sure. But you did it without even breaking a sweat or checking a book. That. My lady. Is powers.”
    I drummed my fingers against my thighs, scratching the denim as I frowned. There's a certain point where stubborn denial becomes stupidity, and I was approaching it. Not an appealing option. I lowered my voice before responding. “You may have a point,” I said. “The mask, and a few behavioral mannerisms seem to hint at Dire being a villain.” I scowled, raising a hand as he opened his mouth. “For the record, she is not. Villainy requires crime, and she's done nothing of that. That she remembers, at any rate.”
    He nodded. “I can see it, maybe. But it don't make much difference to me. You acting mostly like a hero anyway. Though, far as I can tell the difference ain't big. Hero, villain, the difference seems to be mainly how selfish they are.”
    I cocked an eyebrow