Free The Prometheus Effect by Jonathan Davison Page A

wait for some kind of assistance. He could hear wailing sirens in the distance and a wisp of black smoke on the horizon unnerved him. He did not want to be on the street alone and unprotected. He was a intelligent man, he knew that things would only get worse from here on in.
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
     
    Joshua hobbled with best haste the rest of the way back to Fleet Street. Clutching his ribs, he snorted a small run of blood which dribbled down to his top lip. Several police cars tore past him on the way but all were moving with too much speed in order to flag down. He felt terribly guilty about leaving the crash scene and the youth on the roadside. He had written a short note and attached it to the windscreen of his car with his contact details. He did not expect to get a call any time soon. It was becoming clear that the authorities had far more pressing matters to attend to.
     
    The only people who now walked the streets were those seemingly with the intent to line their pockets or profit from the lawless nature of the day. Joshua saw gangs of both men and women armed with primitive weapons pushing shopping trolleys loaded with looted goods. At times, the pained reporter slipped down an alleyway with the intention of staying out of view. He was suited, injured and an easy target for those who wanted the contents of his wallet or his mobile phone.
     
    It seemed that these anarchists did not only want to fight the authorities but also themselves. Turning a corner, Joshua stood and stared in disbelief as he witnessed a pitch battle between at least twenty or so people who were hurling objects at each other or beating each other with their precious clubbing weapons. The melee was only stopped when a crackle of a gunshot tore through the air and a limp body fell to the asphalt. The crowd suddenly dispersed in all directions and Joshua ducked back around the corner as a young teenage girl ran right past him. Her face was pale and shocked although a bizarre excitement was etched upon her features, almost a smile even.
     
    Joshua wondered if he was ever going to make it back to the office at this rate. He had never seen anything like it. It was almost as if these people had suddenly been given licence to act out their most base desires and the prospect of the consequences of their actions was utterly ignored. The one thing that was clear was that the police force were in no way prepared for such a large scale event. Their resources spread so thinly across the capital that the looters did not fear arrest. It was only when Joshua encountered another melee further up the road that he realised that the control of the population had now been handed over to the military.
     
    An armoured car was parked in the centre of the street, surrounded by a throng of excitable anarchists who cajoled and harried the soldiers. It was a tense standoff, even from a distance, Joshua could see that the crowd were pushing the soldiers, testing them. One of the vehicles began to rock back and forth as the crowd pushed and pulled the heavy car, a single soldier visible from a turret waving his arms furiously.
     
    Joshua crept further along the road, he was conscious that there were more and more people around him but he was not overly familiar with the London thoroughfares. He knew that both his hotel and his office were in the direction past the belligerent mob. A crackle of gunfire stopped Joshua in his tracks. The soldier had hoisted his assault rifle into the air and let off a volley of shots. The crowd all ducked down low as one giant quaking mass but then rose defiantly bringing the soldier to aim his weapon lower. The show of force had not had the desired effect of dispersal, instead it appeared to enrage the crowd who flailed their limbs around in protest. Joshua wondered how many of the people were just members of the public who were scared and needed some kind of reassurance, their number seemed to be growing by the second.
     
    Bravely,