by Lee West
“You guys do that while I look at her clothing. I could really use a hat and more comfortable shoes,” said Nancy.
Marvin felt uncomfortable with the others looking in the couple’s medicine cabinet and using the wife’s wardrobe to swap outfits. It was one thing for them to eat the bars and water, but going through their medicine and clothing had an entirely different feel. It was more personal and felt to him to have crossed the line.
Nancy must have felt his hesitation because she added, “On second thought, I’ll be fine. And we have plenty of first aid supplies. Let’s just grab the food and get out of here.”
Marvin was grateful to his friend for her sharp intuition. She always had a way of reading a situation. Over the years she’d saved him from many gaffes with the senior university staff. Marvin was more of a combative employee. He never really grasped the politics or the careful treading one needed to do in order to survive in a highly competitive academic environment, but Nancy did.
They moved through the rest of the brownstone to get to the door to the next unit. The couple’s entire unit was elegantly appointed with the newest style in furnishings. The high ceilings, hardwood floors and elegant cream walls accentuated their high-end taste. Although Marvin appreciated the décor in the couple’s unit, he would never want to live in it. His home felt like an old pair of comfortable jeans that looked bad but were always worn with genuine satisfaction.
“The next door is in their back hallway. This way,” said Marvin. “A widow, Mrs. Cudlow, lives here. I think she has lived in this unit for the past sixty years.”
Marvin opened the door, which allowed a stale smell to leave the unit. He suspected that the smell probably was not much different from before the event. The home was jam-packed with family pictures, heavy overstuffed antique furniture, threadbare Persian throw rugs, and elaborate curtains. Like Marvin’s home, it appeared to have had very little updating over the years.
“Wow! Now that’s a piano!” said Brett.
A nine-foot gleaming black Model B concert grand piano made by Steinway & Sons sat in front of the bay windows. The piano’s lid was in its upright position, music on its stand suggesting that the widow must use the piano regularly.
“Does she play much?” asked Nancy.
“Every day. The grand is so loud that all the units can hear it. She’s really an amazing pianist.”
Marvin always felt lucky to hear Mrs. Cudlow playing. Most days she would play for a straight hour or more. Sometimes she would play for an hour, take a break and start again. He enjoyed her concerts, often marveling at the number of pieces she could play with confidence and competence.
“I’m not sure I’d be too happy if I had a neighbor playing a loud instrument every day,” commented Joe.
“No way. I love it. Besides, it’s the only way I know she’s still alive,” said Marvin with a wink. “I secretly suspect our resident yuppie health nuts are just waiting for poor Mrs. Cudlow to pass. They’ll probably buy her place and expand.”
Marvin led them through the remaining units. At the last one they took the staircase to the basement. The basement door led to the building’s furnace and storage area. The basement’s exit would deposit them in a narrow alleyway between the buildings.
Once in the basement, Marvin stopped the group and said, “Here’s what we do. I’m going to open the door a crack and listen. We should hear the sound of their trucks patrolling the area. Once we hear that, I say we wait ten minutes and then run to your place,” he said, pointing to Joe.
“Why ten minutes?” asked Frank.
“I’ve logged their movements extensively and have seen a pattern. They seem to patrol regular routes at predictable intervals,” said Marvin.
“That’s really impressive that you were able to keep such a close watch on them,” said Brett.
“I’d like to claim I had a master plan for doing it, but really it was just boredom. I started going stir-crazy. Watching and documenting their movements gave me a good distraction,” said Marvin with a shoulder shrug.
Marvin opened the exterior door just a crack and stood silently listening. Within a few minutes, a loud truck passed the building. The sound of the truck’s engine echoed off the brick building, interrupting the otherwise quiet city. Once the truck passed, Marvin set his timer.
“One minute and we dash across the street and to the entrance to your building on Freemont. It should only take a few minutes. Ready, set, GO!”
Marvin threw open the door and charged out of the building, and the others followed behind him.
— 3 —
Meg ran as quickly as she could toward their apartment building. She was never a runner, but sure could move a lot faster than the others, especially Marvin. Frank had slowed them down on their walk into the city, but Marvin took slow to an entirely new level. Nancy and Brett had estimated it would take them an entire day to reach their house on the outskirts of town, but given the group’s currently displayed level of physical fitness—it could take far longer.
The city streets sat eerily quiet. Without the people and cars moving around, the city felt abandoned. It reminded her of a trip north to Alaska during white nights. The sun stayed up well into the night, long past the bedtimes of most residents. One evening she walked into town at midnight. Although the sun was still up, the entire town was deserted. She thought it must look like a city would look after a major catastrophe. It bothered her so much that she stayed inside during the nights for the rest of the trip. Seeing Stevensville deserted shook her confidence in the plan.
“This is it!” said Joe as they raced toward the door to the complex.
Their apartment building wasn’t fancy, but it had one of the best locations in the city.
“What the hell is that?” said Frank, pointing at a red, spray-painted X next to the front door of the building.
“We can figure it out once we get inside,” said Nancy.
Joe opened the door with a key, and they piled into the entryway. Nancy peered through the opening before Joe closed the door, shaking her head.
“They must be marking their progress,” said Nancy, stepping back. “I saw red Xs on a number of the buildings.
“If they’re trying to capture holdouts, I would think that marking the buildings isn’t the smartest strategy. Anyone with half a brain would just move into one of the marked buildings,” said Brett.
“Who knows what they’re doing. What I do know is that we need to get inside and away from these glass doors,” said Marvin.
“This way. Our place is on the fourth floor!” said Joe as he yanked the stairwell door open.
“Of course it is,” grumbled Frank.
Frank’s face was already beet red from the short jog to their apartment, and Meg wondered if she should suggest that he wait for them at the base of the stairwell. They shouldn’t be gone for long. She dismissed the thought just as quickly. They needed to stick together, especially inside the city. She kept the suggestion to herself, hoping he wouldn’t have a heart attack on the way up.
When they reached the fourth-floor stairwell landing, Joe took out his keys and opened the door to the floor’s long hallway. The jangling sound reminded her of their life before the “event.” Deep down inside, she knew things would never be the same.
“We’re number 416. A few doors down,” said Joe.
He opened the apartment door and held it open for everyone to enter. Nothing seemed out of order inside. In fact, everything was just as they left it. Meg had been sure to close the blinds and keep one lamp on a timer as preparation for their weeklong trip. They’d even cleaned out the fridge before leaving so nothing would spoil.
“Nice place!” said Frank.
“I like how you’ve decorated. Do you have a water view?” asked Nancy.
“Sure do! It’s the reason we took this unit. The harbor is amazing at night. All lit up with boats coming in and out,” said Meg.
She parted the curtain so Nancy could look out.
“Magnificent. Brett, come and look at this view!” she said.
“Wow. Forget the view, and look at the buildings! Apparently our friends have been very busy,” said Brett.
Red Xs marked every building as far as Meg could see. The soldiers clearly had a plan to move through the city in a systematic manner. In the distance, several Coast Guard patrol boats slowly cruised the harbor. Armed men and women stood at the rails of the ships, holding rifles. The sight of armed Coast Guard personnel patrolling the harbor nearly pushed her anxiety over the edge. She took a deep breath and backed away from the window.
“You alright?” said Joe, taking her hand.
“Not really,” she said. “This whole thing is crazy.”
“The couple on the sailboat was right. We would’ve never made it into the harbor. The coasties would have stopped us. It was a good call to anchor the lifeboat where we did,” said Frank.
Meg left the group to grab a few things from the closet. She needed a hat and a change of shoes. She hadn’t intended to work out on the cruise and therefore had left her good sneakers at home. The walk to Brett and Nancy’s house would require the best shoes she had.
“Nancy? What shoe size are you? I can lend you a pair that might be better for walking,” she said.
Just as Nancy turned to respond, a hesitant, soft knock at the front door froze her in place.
“Did you hear that?” said Joe.
“Someone is here, knocking,” said Mike.
“Don’t open the door! It could be anyone!” said Meg, panicked.
“Let me just look.” Joe crept to their front door as quietly as possible and peered through the peephole. “It’s Chrissy and John!” he said, opening the door.
“Holy crap! You guys are here!” said Meg.
“We were thinking the same about you!” said Chrissy as she embraced Meg and Joe.
Meg made a series of introductions, acquainting the group with their neighbors. Chrissy and John had moved into the apartment next to them about one year prior. They were friendly, nice people who mostly kept to themselves.
“You’re really a sight for sore eyes. When did you get back into town? I thought you were on vacation?” said John.
“We were, but then the power went out and the cruise ship was in trouble. We managed to get back a couple of days ago,” said Joe.
Meg was impressed by how Joe avoided telling them the real story of them escaping the ship in a stolen lifeboat. There was no sense in letting everyone know what had transpired.
“What’s been happening around here?” asked Mike. “I’m trying to find my family. We live in Lawrence. They were gone when I got home. Just vanished without a note or anything.”
“Things have spiraled out of control around here. First, the power died. Then the troops started to round everyone up,” said Chrissy.
“Did they say why or where people were being taken?” asked Nancy.
“They said it was for our safety and that a national emergency requires everyone to be together. For our own safety. We didn’t buy it. I’d rather take our chances on the street than trust the government,” said John.
“You got that right. The government is usually behind things that go wrong. It rarely gets things right,” said Marvin.
“Exactly,” said John.
“But how did you manage to evade the soldiers? I live in the brownstones on First Ave and have observed armed soldiers going door-to-door—putting them in cargo trucks.”
“We saw that this building was marked with a red X. Our assumption is that they’re clearing buildings and marking their progress. How did you manage?” said Nancy.
Chrissy and John glanced at each other sheepishly. They looked unsure whether they wanted to admit how they’d evaded the roundup.
“We hid in the dumpster out back,” said John.
“You what?” said Meg, shocked.
“We suspect that they’re using some sort of thermal imaging to find people. Otherwise, how could they get everyone? People can always hide. Besides, once they’ve gone into a building and marked it, people would just move back once the threat is over. So we figured they must be manually pulling people out and then following up with patrols at night. Sweeping the buildings with thermal imaging,” said John.
“To make sure no one moves back in,” said Nancy.
“Exactly. We also needed a secure place to hide while they searched our building. We couldn’t run out onto the street because the place was crawling with them. We opted to hide in plain sight inside the large dumpster out back,” said Chrissy.
“Smart and effective. Gross but effective,” said Brett with an approving nod.
“Smelly but effective,” said Chrissy.
“You’re in the brownstones?” said John, turning to Marvin. “From what we can tell, they haven’t gotten there yet. Eventually they would have come for you. In fact, I’m surprised you weren’t seen at night.”
“Me too,” said Marvin.
“What are you guys planning to do? Are you staying here?” asked Meg. She didn’t feel as though she could invite their neighbors to Brett and Nancy’s house.
“We’re trying to hook up with other people who are holding out,” said John.
“Are there many?” asked Frank.
“We aren’t sure. You guys are the only people we’ve run into so far,” said Chrissy.
“Well, there’s no one in the brownstones. I can assure you of that. I’ve been in all of the units on my block. They’re empty.”
“What are you guys doing?” asked John.
Nancy was quick to answer, “We plan to head out of the city, away from the patrol trucks. Maybe things will be less crazy out in the country.”
Nancy’s response confirmed Meg’s suspicion that she shouldn’t invite the couple to tag along.
“Which direction do you plan to go in?” asked John.
“We thought we’d walk east. Why?” asked Brett.
“East is perfect. We’ve been exploring the city and have gone in all different directions. Going east will be really easy for you guys. If you just follow Grant, you can go along the back of the buildings for about three blocks. It’s a straight shot until you get to Foster. At that point you have to break out for a couple of blocks until Sherman. Then Sherman will take you about five blocks behind the buildings,” said John.
“The only time you have to leave the alleys is to cross the street to the next block. It’s super easy. We’ve gone that way a number of times,” said Chrissy.
“Geez, you guys have been getting around. Why are you out so much? Isn’t that a little risky? I haven’t left the brownstone the entire time.”
“Well, it started because we wanted better food than what we had at home. We walked to Marvino’s on Grant to see if we could grab breadsticks or cold slices. The adventure went fine. After that, we got bolder and bolder. Now we’re exploring to find others and hopefully learn what we’re up against,” said John.
“That’s really impressive. Brave, risky and bold—I like it,” said Nancy, eyeing the couple with approval.
“Thanks for the info. We’ll go in that direction. Any thoughts on when it’s best to go?” asked Joe.
“We’ve been out during the day and hide at night. There seems to be more action at night,” said Chrissy.
“Where do you hide at night? Seems like if they’re using thermal imaging, you would be found,” asked Nancy.
“We created a safe sleeping zone for ourselves.”
“Safe sleeping zone?” replied Mike.
“We call it our little nest. We tipped metal filing cabinets and the refrigerator on their sides to insulate the wall of our place that faces the street. If we lie flat on the ground, below the metal, it seems to work. We also take turns sleeping in the large cast-iron tub. It’s not great, but it works,” said John.
“Better than the alternative. We don’t want to get caught. As far as we can tell, other than the lights going out, there is no national emerg
ency. The federal government is up to something, and I don’t trust them,” said Chrissy.
“Too bad we don’t actually know what the alternative is,” said Brett.
“You’re right. We don’t know for sure, but does any one of us trust the federal government? Trust them to keep us safe? Who knows what’s happening, but I’d rather trust myself than that corrupt system,” said Marvin.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” said John.
“Good luck, you guys. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon,” said Chrissy.
After saying goodbye to their neighbors, Meg quickly retrieved a few things from her closet for the journey. She held Joe’s hand as they closed the door to the apartment—and their previous life. She got the distinct impression that they would never see the apartment again.
— 4 —
Frank struggled to keep up with the others as they leapfrogged their way through the city. The group started at the rear of Meg and Joe’s building, like their neighbor suggested, making slow progress as they moved from dumpster to dumpster. Fortunately, they stopped frequently enough for him to catch his breath when they hid behind the dumpsters.
The couple had previously moved the steel containers a few feet away from the façade of each building, allowing them to slip in between the dumpsters and the buildings without creating noise. They had even thought to place objects such as bricks and boards on the ground behind the dumpsters to stand on if a truck passed. More than once, Frank and the others had to hop up onto the platforms left by the couple in order to conceal their feet as they hid.
As a former Navy service member, Frank was less suspicious of the federal government than the others. While on active duty, he’d mostly encountered people who genuinely loved the country and wanted to serve to the best of their abilities. He had never encountered the level of sheer incompetence, bordering on malice, that Nancy and the rest of them seemed convinced was the case. For this reason, on more than one occasion, he dismissed Nancy’s conspiracy theories as completely crazy. At times, he considered leaving the group to go it alone. However, concern for Mike and his family kept him in place. He could put up with the misplaced suspicion a little longer. A lot longer if needed. However long it took to find Mike’s wife and kids.