Russo was one shop down, looking at books in a broken display window. He selected a paperback from an author he liked and tucked it into his backpack. The shops were set up in a small semicircle around a brick-paved plaza with little metal chairs and tables, an almond tree growing out of the center. In addition to the Chinese restaurant and bookstore, there was a candle store, a small gallery, and a boutique coffee shop. An empty bicycle rack stood to one side. Russo used to like coming here before the plague, sitting alone at a table beneath the almond tree with a latte, surfing on his tablet computer. The film student looked around and shook his head at the random violence of earthquakes. On his side of the street there was only broken glass and overturned chairs. The opposite side of Wisconsin Street was a line of rubble and shattered timbers, barely recognizable as a row of houses. An eight-foot-wide fissure had opened up just down the block, swallowing part of a two-story house.
What do You think about Omega Days (Book 3): Drifters?
