Holding a front door open for them, Samuel ushered the children in and waited for Austin to follow. His friend hesitated for a second in the road before sighing and joining the others, closing the door to the unfinished property behind him. Work had clearly stopped on the place when the collapse happened, but that wasn’t until after the floorboards had been put in and the basic layout of the rooms mapped out with the window holes boarded up and sealed tight. It wasn’t warm or homely, but they were hidden from sight and sheltered from the wind – giving their small group the opportunity to calm down and process what had happened.
“Are you both okay?” Samuel asked the boys, concerned with checking them over first before he moved onto Austin.
Both nodded, Noah stepping out from behind his brother and looking down at his feet as he mumbled in response. “Can we see our mom and dad yet?”
Samuel softened at the question, trying to put himself in the place of either of the two boys and imagine how they must be feeling. It was difficult. All memories of Samuel’s own childhood were happy and privileged. He had never wanted for anything in his life, never been away from his parents for longer than a weekend until he was old enough to go to college and never once been put in a dangerous situation where his life could’ve been on the line. Up until the collapse of Trident, there had never been a real situation in his life – including all his adult years – where he had been truly afraid for what might happen to him. That luxury had been taken away from both of these boys. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right.
“Soon,” Samuel replied to them. “As soon as it’s safe to get further into the city, I’ll help you find them, okay? Do you remember where they lived? What was your address?”
Noah looked at his older brother with a questioning gaze, the boy too young to remember what his street address was. Mason chewed on his bottom lip and thought about it, trying to jog his memory and answer the question as best he could.
“There was a park nearby,” Mason offered, “and it was close to the river.”
“Okay,” Samuel nodded. He would have to consult a map and would need Austin’s help to get the boys back to their home. “We’ll find it,” he told them. “I promise.”
Mason and Noah smiled and nodded. Samuel offered them his water canister and some food and stepped to one side to speak to Austin. The other man had been quiet since they’d entered the house, sitting beside one of the boarded-up windows as he listened to the road outside and remained on the lookout for any passer’s by.
“How you doing?” Samuel asked softly. “How’s the head?”
“Huh?” Austin lifted a hand to the back of his head where he’d slammed it into the asphalt. “Oh,” he rubbed it absentmindedly for a second. “Yeah, fine, thanks.”
“What happened back there,” Samuel started, choosing his words carefully as he spoke in a low voice to his friend. “It wasn’t your fault. That other guy had a gun as well, you only did what you did in order to protect us.”
“Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“The guy?” Samuel asked. “Yeah, I think so. You only hit him in the shoulder. He’ll get help and he’ll heal; nothing to worry about.”
“I just thought,” Austin started to try and explain what had gone through his head to make him draw his gun, but he realized he didn’t really know himself. The truth was that he hadn’t really thought – it had all been instinct, the actions of a desperate man who thought he was going to be stopped at the final stumbling block and not given the chance to see his son again. “I wanted to be able to get to Bowie.”
“I know,” Samuel started to reply, understanding his friend’s motives when the sound of an engine outside cut him off. All four of them froze as they listened to it passing nearby, likely on the main road which they had recently turned off. At this hour of the night there was only one possibility for where the vehicle was heading: to the roadblock. Word had to be out about their arrival. While Samuel had originally felt confident about his idea to get them off the road and out of sight, now he wasn’t so sure. What if they were captured before they had a chance to reunite Austin with his husband and son and the two boys with their parents? They had come so far, to be thrown out of the city without accomplishing their goal would be heartbreaking. As the sound of the car died down in the distance, Samuel turned back to Austin and continued.
“We’ve got to get out of here. We need to find your families.”
Back on the road the four of them moved with a newfound purpose. Austin was back at his best and he knew the exact route they needed to take to cut through the city and reach Dante’s mother’s house. There was no mistaking that the city was waking up around them to the news of the intruders, what should’ve been a peaceful night was occasionally punctuated with shouts or banging. Without seeing it, it was hard to say what the locals were gearing up for but it didn’t sound good and neither Austin or Samuel wanted to find out. With each noise they heard, their pace only increased until Austin had led them well away from the barricade and into the neighborhood where Meghan lived with his husband and son.
“It’s just around the next corner,” Austin whispered with excitement as he looked back over his shoulder. The sun was rising and as it did, it illuminated the look of exhaustion on everyone’s faces, particularly Mason and Noah’s. They had been awake for most of the night now and it showed, the race through the city in darkness taking its toll on their young bodies. Austin was still running on adrenaline and Samuel looked like he was coping alright as well, but Mason and Noah were definitely suffering and Austin immediately felt guilty at the sight of them.
“It’s not much further I promise,” he whispered to them. “Do either of you need to take a break? Do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?”
Mason shook his head, determined to carry on going under his own steam. Noah however was a different story. Now that they had stopped briefly on the street, the little boy was practically asleep where he stood, swaying gently from side to side. Austin wrapped a strong arm around him and picked him up, positioning the boy on his hip so he could carry him while still wearing his backpack. They were so close to his family now, that any feeling of exhaustion had fled Austin’s body. He was very aware that he would be seeing his own little boy again very soon.
“This is it,” he announced no less than five minutes later, gently putting Noah down and allowing Samuel to support the young boy instead. “This is the one.”
“What do we do?” Samuel asked as they stood in the street outside a plain-looking house, nothing specific to identify it or single it out to anyone but the people who lived there. “Should we knock?”
Now that he was there – in front of the very house Austin had been trying to reach for weeks – he didn’t really know what to do. Knocking seemed sort of stupid, but he didn’t want to just walk in unannounced especially with the city already on high alert. They couldn’t loiter outside for too long in case someone saw them and identified them. So, raising his fist, Austin brought it down on the wooden door and rapped three times.
“Hold on, I’m coming. I’ve heard the alarms. What’s the matter? What’s ha–”
When Dante yanked open the door, his mouth dropped open in surprise and he stared at Austin in disbelief. His husband was standing there in the flesh and grinning from ear to ear. Before Dante could say anything more, Austin lunged forward and wrapped him into a crushing embrace.
“Austin? How?” Dante stuttered into his husband’s ear as he returned the embrace, utterly stunned to see him back in Poughkeepsie. “Where did you come from? How did you get here?”
“It’s a long story,” Austin replied with a grin, finally releasing his husband and taking a step back. “I’ll tell you all about it in a minute. Where’s Bowie?”
“In his room.” Dante beckoned Samuel, Mason and Noah inside and shut the door behind them. “He’s asleep,” Dante continued. “Austin, I don’t understand, how did you get past the road blocks? How did you get int
o the city?”
Despite Dante’s questions, Austin stepped around his husband and made his way to the stairs. He was overwhelmed by the desire to see his little boy again.
At Bowie’s bedroom, he pushed the door open and walked inside, collapsing onto his knees beside his little boy’s bed and staring at his beautiful face. He was there. He was alive. And most importantly, he was okay.
Chapter 4
“Dad!”
Holding his little boy in his arms, Austin knew in that moment that everything he had gone through and everything he had done to get himself into Poughkeepsie had all been worth it. To see his son in person, hear his voice and feel his tiny heart beating against his chest meant the world to Austin. Bowie was not only alive and safe, but he was happy and healthy – living as close to what a normal life could be in the world after the collapse.
Austin wasn’t even sorry that he had woken the little boy from his sleep in the early hours of the morning. He didn’t care what time it was or that he had been awake throughout the whole night. Seeing Bowie gave him a new lease on life and Austin clung onto that with all his remaining strength. Everything he had gone through had been so he could have this moment and he wasn’t going to just let it pass him by.
“Dad, where have you been?”
“Shh sweetheart,” Austin murmured into his son’s ear, rocking the little boy from side to side. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now and I’m never going to leave you again, I promise. I missed you so much, little man. So, so much.”
“I missed you too, dad,” Bowie replied, his voice muffled as Austin hugged him tightly against his chest. “I knew you’d come back, though.”
“Always, Bowie,” Austin whispered. “I’ll always come back to you.”
Austin was so utterly enraptured in his reunion with his son, that he didn’t hear Dante climbing the stairs after him. He didn’t even realize Dante was in the room until his husband laid a hand on his shoulder, joining the embrace. Austin smiled at Dante and let his eyes drift closed for a second, resting his forehead against his husband’s and exhaling all the air from his lungs. He felt at peace. He felt whole again. Right there in his arms – that was his little unit. His family. They were all he needed.
“We need to talk,” Dante whispered in Austin’s ear after a couple of minutes. Austin nodded his head very slightly. He just couldn’t bear to part ways with Bowie just yet. Austin felt like he never wanted to let his son out of his arms ever again. If he ever went an hour without the little boy again, it would be too long. The love he carried for him was unreal – like nothing Austin had ever experienced before. It seemed to only increase with every additional second he shared with his son.
He knew his husband was right, though. No matter how long Austin held his son in his arms and imagined the world was a better place, he still couldn’t avoid the reality that was waiting for him downstairs. They had tackled the road block to get into the city and he had shot another man. There were going to be repercussions for his actions and he needed to find a way to deal with them. Hopefully he could lie low in the house for a day or two at least, but eventually Austin was going to have to act again, and it was best to think about how sooner rather than later.
As Bowie yawned in his arms, it offered Austin the perfect opportunity to slip away. “I’m sorry I woke you, little man,” he spoke softly, releasing the tight grip he had on his son and laying his small body back down in the bed. “Go back to sleep for a little bit. Daddy will be here when you wake up.”
“Promise?”
“Of course,” Austin nodded, squeezing his son’s hand as Bowie laid his head back down in the pillow and snuggled into the blankets. “I love you, Bowie.”
“I love you too, Dad,” Bowie mumbled, sleep quickly returning to the young boy. Austin stayed by his bedside for several minutes until he was certain his son had drifted off again and then pushed himself to his feet once more. He tried to shift the tiredness that was threatening to take over his body now that he knew he was safe and his son was okay. As he exited the bedroom, he took one last look at his sleeping angel before pulling the door closed and retreating down the stairs. Whatever life threw at him now, Austin knew he could handle it. Seeing Bowie was an inspiration and a reminder of what he was fighting for. With him as motivation, there was no way he could ever lose.
“Austin, hey,” Samuel was the first to spot Austin as he walked down the stairs and toward the family room where everyone was seated. “Are you okay?”
Austin looked over at his friend and nodded, a satisfied smile etched across his face. Immediately Samuel could see how momentous it had been for Austin to see his son again. After hearing so much about the kid, Samuel couldn’t wait to meet him. Before that could happen though, they had other matters to deal with. Dante had already filled him in on the details of what had happened to the city. It frightened him a great deal.
Austin sat on the couch next to Dante and took his husband’s hand in his. It was all still so surreal to be back with his family, like a dream that he never wanted to wake up from. Taking in the rest of the room, Austin quickly realized that everyone else wasn’t on cloud nine like he was. There was a nervous atmosphere and Samuel looked like he was ready to bolt at any second, despite the two boys, Mason and Noah, both lying asleep next to him.
“I’m guessing you’ve told him then,” Austin said to Samuel, assuming the details of their journey had already been shared.
“Yeah,” Samuel nodded, “but there’s more than that. Dante thinks that –”
“Dante! Open up, we know you’re in there!”
A loud banging on the front door interrupted Samuel and all eyes shot to the noise, no one daring to move or make a sound. Austin looked at his husband with a questioning gaze, as if to ask him who was outside and exactly why they were trying to get in.
“We’ve received reports of the intruders in this area,” the voice from outside spoke up again, banging once more on the door. “We need to cordon it all off and do a sweep. Come on, Dante. Let us in.”
“Just a minute!” Dante called back loudly. Mason and Noah were waking up on the couch now and looking around sluggishly, both slowly remembering where they were and what had happened.
“Get upstairs, now!” Dante whispered. He recognized Danny’s voice outside and knew he wasn’t the type of man that he should be keeping waiting. There would be time to explain everything to Austin later.
“Hey!” Another voice called out from outside, Dante’s eyes moving to the window in the room. “They’re inside!” the man at the window yelled. None of them had thought to draw the blinds. “It’s them! It has to be!”
“Dante!” The banging on the door intensified, Danny using a lot more force now. “Open the door or I’m going to break it down!”
“Get upstairs!” Dante snapped at Austin, his husband cautiously hanging back while Samuel was half way up the stairs with the two boys. Meghan helped the boys as much as she could, Noah still half asleep and confused about what was happening, asking after his mom and dad as he rubbed his bleary eyes.
“Now, Austin!”
Dante’s words were too late. With a tremendous crash, Danny kicked the front door off its hinges and burst into the room. His gaze landing on Dante and then quickly going to Austin and the boys rushing up the stairs.
“It is them!” Danny yelled, thundering toward Austin. “Hank, call it in! We’ve got ‘em!”
Austin stared at the huge man who was charging toward him. As Danny closed the gap, Austin still stood uncertainly until Dante stepped in front of his husband and landed a hard punch to Danny’s jaw.
Danny stopped in his tracks and stumbled backward, his right hand going to his face. Standing his ground, Dante stared at the man with whom he had shared several drinks and card games with over the last couple of weeks, the man who he had pretended to become friends with in order to keep himself safe in the city. Danny stood a good three inches taller than him and was stacked with muscle,
Dante’s skinny frame looking even weaker in his shadow. Recovering from the punch quickly, Danny tilted his head to one side and smiled at Dante, his pearly white teeth showing as he grinned.
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” he purred, shaking his head slowly from side to side as he looked between Dante and Austin. “What have we here, Dante?”
As Dante struggled to find the right words to say, Danny slowly lifted his t-shirt and pulled out a gun from his waistband, holding it casually by his side as he waited for a response. Upon seeing the weapon, Austin’s own hand immediately went to the small of his back like before, however this time the Glock wasn’t waiting for him. Samuel had taken it with him as he pulled Austin away from the road block, yet despite the absence of a weapon, the movement hadn’t gone unnoticed by Danny.
“I’m guessing it was you who shot my friend earlier tonight,” Danny said, raising his own weapon and pointing it at Austin. “I ought to put a bullet in you right now.”
“Don’t,” Dante jumped in immediately, putting his hands up and stepping in front of his husband to protect him. “Please, Danny,” he pleaded, “I can explain.”
Danny scoffed. “Oh yeah, I can’t wait to see what line you can come up with to explain this one, Dante. I always knew there was something off about you. I don’t get what Jeff saw in you.”
“Please,” Dante begged again, unsure what else he had to say. “You don’t have to do this.”
Danny smirked, twisting his arm so he held the gun sideways in the air as it pointed in the direction of the two men. He seemed to be enjoying the moment, toying with them both as he decided what to do. “Shut up,” he spat. “Where are the rest of them? Hank!” He called for his cousin to step inside from the doorway. “Go and check upstairs. Have you called this in?”
Wipeout | Book 4 | Overdrawn Page 3