Free Breakdown: Season One by Jordon Quattlebaum

incredulously.
    She tucked her hands into her hips. “Now’s not the time to get macho and question my prowess, mister manly-man.”
    He nodded, and the two ran to the common room and out onto the balcony. Six floors was a long way up, and Anna realized that she’d need to lower her new friend, and he’d need to repel one handed. This would be fun.
    “One level at a time, Brian. We do this slowly, and we get back to the ground. Before we celebrate.”
    He nodded at her, his face ashen.
    After a few moments working with the rope and some carabiners, she nodded to herself, apparently satisfied.
    “I’m going to use a climbing technique called lowering. You use it sometimes when someone you’re climbing with becomes injured. Basically, I’m going to tie you into this rope and help lower you, and then I’ll follow you down, and we’ll repeat. Do you follow?”
    Brian nodded again, sweating profusely, his eyes a bit glassy.
    “Are you okay, Brian? First time with ropes?”
    His Adam’s apple bobbled up and down as he gulped. “Heights. Don’t like heights.”
    Anna smiled sweetly and rested a hand on his shoulder. Her brown eyes met his, and she held his gaze for a moment, stepping close.
    “I’ll be gentle,” she teased, gently leading him to the edge.
    “Anna?”
    “Yeah, Brian?”
    “Sorry for calling you a bitch.”
    She grinned.
    “I’d say I was sorry for breaking your wrist, but it serves you right for coming into a girl’s room uninvited.”
    He laughed weakly and tested his hand.
    “Don’t think it’s broken, thankfully. Probably just a nasty bruise.”
    Dutifully, he hoisted himself over to the outside of the railing and stepped back, allowing her to lower him down. When he was just even with the 5th floor railing, he used his momentum to swing him over onto the balcony.
    “Clear!”
    “On my way.”
    Moments later, Anna’s feet touched down. Flipping the rope like some sort of magical Tolkien elf, she pulled the remainder down from the 6th floor, and the duo repeated the process.
    When both of their feet were finally firmly on the ground, they let out a cheer, and Anna wrapped Brian in a hug that lasted a split second longer than it needed to. The firelight bathed them in its glow, working its magic, gleaming off of the sweat on their faces.
    Anna stretched out her hand. Brian took it in his, and they watched their world burn, happy to be alive.

Chapter 7 — Tin Foil Theories

    “Wait, wait, back this up. You’re telling me that we were attacked and that someone is ballsy enough to just come in and take over?”
    Herbie shrugged noncommittally. “Could be that it plays out that way.”
    “Unbelievable. We go from being the number one military power in the world, and then one sucker punch and someone can just step in and take over. That’s one heckuva glass jaw, Herbie.”
    “You’re right about that. Folks have been trying to warn the government about it for years. Partisanship wrecked any attempt to harden the grid.”
    “So how long until you think whoever it is goes all Red Dawn on us?”
    Herbie chuckled, “Now there’s a reference I understand. To answer your question, I doubt it’ll be like that.”
    “Don’t think it was the Russians this time?”
    “Oh, I think it’s the Russians, all right. There were articles all over the place last month about a series of satellite launches they’d done. There was some suspicious space debris that was moving on its own toward other satellites over the U.S. Guessing that’s where they hid the nuke that did this.”
    He waved a hand. “Getting me side tracked. Won’t be like any movie. I think they learned their lesson in Ukraine. They’ll need to be more subtle. They need to come in the saviors instead of the conquerors. They’ll seal a deal with China to rebuild our transformers. Of course, it’ll be months until they get here. Most likely, the U.S. will default on at least some of its loans by that point in time. Bad guys