Free The Push Chronicles (Book 1): Indomitable by J.B. Garner Page B

dormitory, stopping once for a long backward glance at me before letting the glass door close behind her.  I turned to walk back to the lab, wiping a thin trickle of blood from my cheek where I had cut myself against her, the first time I had managed to do so during the entire day.  I swore to myself as I stalked down the sidewalk that I would fix this, now more than ever.  Before I had only seen the outward destruction the Whiteout was causing, now I had a chance to see the more personal damage it was threatening, not just to normal humanity but the Pushed as well.

Chapter 8 Icarus
    I strode across the deserted campus, back to my lab.  Just like the rest of the city, Georgia Tech seemed locked in the same state of shock.  The quiet was welcome; there were few distractions from my thoughts.  What today had shown me was how urgent action was becoming.
    I had originally considered simply trying to recreate Eric’s experiment.  Eric had said the God particle was generated by belief or strong thoughts.  I could, in theory, simply use my feedback prototype and amplify my own thoughts, then proceed to think very, very hard about the world the way it was.
    There were two immediate problems with that idea.  First, most obviously, I had a strong suspicion my prototype wasn’t the only component that generated the Whiteout.  Eric had said that most of his equipment had been to detect and quantify the God particle, but not all of it.
    Second, I wasn’t entirely certain if I could get it all correct without extensive practice.  It’s not that I was bad at visualization.  It was more my concern of having my own preconceptions color the reality it would cause.
    If I took Eric at face value, it was obvious to me that, already, things were not going according to what he believed he would be bringing about, despite his extensive planning.  Right now, until I could either turn Eric’s mind around or collect more data, trying to mitigate the damage seemed to be the best way to go.  I was mulling over specifics when the campus announcement system crackled to life.
    “Please remember, all students and faculty must obey the 7 pm curfew as set by the Department of Homeland Security.  All evening labs and classes have been indefinitely suspended.  If you need to leave class early to comply with the curfew, please inform your professor or teaching assistant.  Thank you.”
    I glanced at my watch.  It was already 4:28.  Fortunately I kept an overnight bag in my office, the result of one too many all-nighters.  I had work to do and here was the best place to do it.  By the time I got back to the lab, most of my colleagues had already left or were packing up to go.  I passed Ken on the way to my office.
    “Hey, Kenneth, do me a solid?”
    “What’s up, Irene?”  Ken flashed me a jovial smile.  “I’m just about to get up out of here, but if it’s quick, I’m your man.”
    “Please let Eugene know I’m going to be working late.”  No reason to freak out the night watchman, after all, not these days.  “I want to get a head start on Alma’s biomechanics numbers.”
    “Sure thing!  Want me to swing by your pad and let Eric know?”  Ken was a great guy.  Unfortunately, he was being too helpful right now.
    “Oh, no, no,”  I smiled in response.  “I already called him, he knows.”
    “Cool beans!  Well, I am outta here.  Have fun with your numbers!”
    With that, I locked myself in my office and booted my computer.  It seemed like I had some major news to catch up on before I did anything else.  What I found plastered on every news agency’s front page was a link to the joint Presidential/Congressional press conference from earlier that day.  I watched it, replayed it once to put it to memory, then sat back, letting it all sink in.
     
    To be fair, it was about what anyone should have expected in response to what was, by all measures, a global natural disaster.  The entire nation was declared to