Free The World's End Series Book One: Dymond's World by CW Crowe Page A

handed her a blanket and took one for himself.  He turned off the lights and sat on the other couch.  He took off his pants and lay down.  He could feel her watching him.
    Just before he dropped off, he looked up at God.  Humpty Dumpty was sitting on his ledge, but he wasn't pointing and laughing.  His normally round eyes and mouth were all slits.

To Living Like Men
    Being the future Richest Man in the World meant that Jason was almost always busy.  There were constant phone calls, texts and meetings - all designed to help him decide which piece to move on his world-sized chessboard.  For years, his total focus had been on the development of his battery technology, now it had shifted to the development of his fortune.  He worked just as hard today as he did back at his lab.
    But even someone like him could have his plans interrupted by events.  The bombing and the closing of all the airports had made it impossible for him to get back to his office.  Just as bad, the Internet had become slow and unreliable as so many people around the world were watching events unfold via news websites.  The traffic volume had increased tenfold in the last week and, on top of that, a group of hackers had managed to take two of the Tier One networks offline.  These networks, known as the Internet Backbone, handled traffic for many millions of users.  Losing two of them made a measurable difference in connection speed and quality for just about the entire world.  Even the cell networks were affected - at best, one in five calls got through and then the connection was likely to be dropped without notice.
    Being isolated from his growing empire was bad enough, but it was obvious the world was starting to spin out of control and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.  He'd barely seen Regina Martin for the last three days and no one else in her company "headquarters" would talk to him.  They would make small talk, but if he asked any meaningful question he was told he had to "talk to Regina."  Plus, it seemed that the entire group of fifty or more employees were tremendously busy - most seemed to not have any time to talk.  When he'd asked one harried girl why everyone was able to be constantly on the phone, she told him that they were talking via dedicated lines to their other facilities.
    Late on his third day there, he went outside to once again try to hire a jet to take him home.  He had a list of companies who offered such charter services, but on his first try, he didn't get through to any of them.
    He sat on a bench and looked at the desert vista.  In the distance, jagged mountains rose.  There were white puffy clouds that seemed to be below their peaks.  The desert floor was beautiful in a wasteland kind of way.
    The offices of R. Martin were low slung red brick.  Even though the entire structure was only one story tall, it was quite big inside because it seemed to meander here and there.  It was as if it was expanded more than once with a new portion shooting out of the old.  He was staying in the part that contained suites for the VIPs who came to buy security in an insecure world.  When he left with Regina the other day, there had been five of his fellow one percenters.  They must have all signed up and left, because he was now the only guest here.
    Across the desert were other buildings.  They looked more high tech with cutting edge architecture, courtyards, and large open green spaces.  They rose for six or eight stories from the desert floor.  Probably they housed high tech companies.
    As Jason looked back, he saw Regina walking towards him.  She was wearing a skirt today and heels.  He could hear her click as she walked.
    She sat beside him on the bench.  "Sorry to leave you on your own this way, Jason.  It's been kind of hectic.  We had a close call."
    "Who did?"
    "Us.  The world.  That bombing threatened to make everything spiral out of control."
    He didn't understand exactly what she was