SURVIVE THE LAWLESSA Powerless World Book Two Jack Hunt Direct Response Publishing Copyright © 2021 by Jack Hunt All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to an online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work. SURVIVE THE LAWLESS: A Powerless World Book Two is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. For my Family Contents Also by Jack Hunt Prologue ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN FIFTEEN SIXTEEN SEVENTEEN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN TWENTY TWENTY-ONE TWENTY-TWO TWENTY-THREE TWENTY-FOUR TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-SIX TWENTY-SEVEN A Plea Readers Team About the Author Also by Jack Hunt Click here to receive special offers, bonus content, and news about new Jack Hunt’s books. Sign up for the newsletter. If you haven’t joined Jack Hunt’s Private Facebook Group you can request to join by clicking here now. A Powerless World series Escape the Breakdown Survive the Lawless Book #3 coming in March 2021 Outlaws of the Midwest series Chaos Erupts Panic Ensues Havoc Endures The Cyber Apocalypse series As Our World Ends As Our World Falls As Our World Burns The Agora Virus series Phobia Anxiety Strain The War Buds series War Buds 1 War Buds 2 War Buds 3 Camp Zero series State of Panic State of Shock State of Decay Renegades series The Renegades The Renegades Book 2: Aftermath The Renegades Book 3: Fortress The Renegades Book 4: Colony The Renegades Book 5: United The Wild Ones Duology The Wild Ones Book 1 The Wild Ones Book 2 The EMP Survival series Days of Panic Days of Chaos Days of Danger Days of Terror Against All Odds Duology As We Fall As We Break The Amygdala Syndrome Duology Unstable Unhinged Survival Rules series Rules of Survival Rules of Conflict Rules of Darkness Rules of Engagement Lone Survivor series All That Remains All That Survives All That Escapes All That Rises Mavericks series Mavericks: Hunters Moon Time Agents series Killing Time Single Novels Blackout Defiant Darkest Hour Final Impact The Year Without Summer The Last Storm The Last Magician The Lookout Class of 1989 Out of the Wild Prologue Merced County, California Gilbert Sanchez was ready to kill the day they released him from jail. Trudging west down Sandy Mush Road, he glanced back at John Latorraca Correctional Facility, thinking any minute now they would realize they’d made a mistake. But they hadn’t. He’d been one hundred and fifty-two days into his sentence when the power went out. It had happened before. He didn’t think anything of it until they were forced back into the cells, and the COs turned to manual operations because the backup generators weren’t working. Five days later, as conditions got worse, rumors began to swirl that it was related to the pandemic, and that’s why he’d believed them when a guard showed up at his cell to escort him out. “Sanchez, you’re up.” “For what?” “Release.” “I still have twenty-eight days left.” “Yeah, well, consider this your lucky day. The pandemic is your winning lotto ticket. Come on,” Marko said. Gilberto’s cellmate slipped off his bunk bed, thinking he was getting out too. The guard pushed him back in. “Nope, not you. You’re staying here.” “Hell no! Why’s he being let out and not me?” “Because I’m better looking,” Sanchez said jokingly as the CO locked the door. His cellmate banged on the door as they walked away, rage getting the better of him. “This is not right. No power for five days. The food has taken a nosedive, and now you’re letting out criminals?” A criminal. The term still hadn’t sunk in, but that’s what he was in the eyes of the law. He’d made threats to shoot up the Gustine high school, and he might have followed through if it wasn’t for his friend Gareth opening his big mouth. He knew he shouldn’t have told him, but he figured he’d be on board and provide the firepower as his old man owned a gun store in town. “I don’t get it.” “You don’t need to,” Marko said. “Be grateful your name was pulled from the hat. If I had my way you’d be locked up for the next few years.” “But there must be a reason. Is it to do with the blackout?” “Yes and no.” He held a door open and ushered him through. He looked as if he was in a hurry. “The CDCR has been doing it since the outbreak. It’s meant to reduce population and maximize space. They think it will alleviate the impact on hospitals from those we would have had to transport there.” “So they’re letting me out?” “Crazy, isn’t it? I’d say look it up online but the internet is down.” The CDCR was the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They were the arm of the government responsible for the operation of state prisons and the parole system. He came to learn that it wasn’t just California inmates released, it was happening across the country, in every state, as the outbreak spread behind bars. “Okay, but why me?” “Well, you’re special, Sanchez. Haven’t you heard?” “Special?” Marko chuckled. “I’m pulling your chain, dickwad. No one cares about you.” “So why then?” “Do I look like Google?” He opened another heavy door. “If you must know, the CDCR is only expediting the release of inmates who have non-violent offenses, who aren’t sex offenders and have sixty days or less to serve. You fit the bill.” Non-violent? He had violent intentions, was that not enough? “And before you ask. Yes. I think they made a mistake. I don’t like the idea of sending you out on the street any more than the next guy, but obviously, intent for violence isn’t the same as what some of these guys have done. So they’re letting you go.” “Well, slap my ass and call me Norman,” he said. “I won’t argue with that.” “I didn’t think
