Wipeout | Book 4 | Overdrawn

by Richards, E. S.

  “I’m not saying it’s a bad idea,” he continued, looking at Samantha but aware he had a much wider audience. “I just think it might be too soon. Has Damien even been out in the city since Trident collapsed, has he seen the way things are changing? Have you?” Walter paused for effect, letting his words sink in.

  “We can’t be so eager to put money – whether it be the dollar or the dot – at the top of our livelihoods again. Look where it got us the first time around. There are more important things that we need to concern ourselves with, like starving children and suffering mothers. Once the streets are clean and the people are safe, then we can think about currency again. But other stuff has to come first, don’t you agree?”

  Samantha looked at Walter and pursed her lips, really considering what he had said to her. Walter watched with baited breath, nervous for how the woman was going to respond. Through speaking to her, he had realized how passionate he felt about this motion. After his day interacting with people not as well off as he was, Walter knew they were not doing enough and he knew they had to change things if they were really going to make New York City better in the long term, not just in the next week or two. He respected Samantha and he really wanted her to be on the same side as him, but he couldn’t change his views on this matter, not anymore. As her response came, Walter knew that he would have to walk away.

  “I’m sorry, Walter,” she shook her head. “I don’t.”

  Sighing, Walter’s shoulders slumped. He had kind of expected that response from her but had held out hope that his speech might change her mind. Disappointed, he knew there was nothing more he could say on the matter and didn’t want to fall out with the woman he had been growing very fond of over the last couple of days. So instead of making the situation between them any worse, Walter simply turned away from the woman and exited the room. If there was nothing more he could do inside the precinct, then he was going to head back outside and try to make a difference where it truly mattered.

  As he left the precinct, Walter knew he wasn’t really dealing with the new information he had just received in the most respectable or responsible manner. What he should do was go and speak to Damien Cratchit, or better still, Captain Banes. But he was too wound up for that just yet – the effects of everything he had learned that day were still weighing heavily on his mind and Walter knew he would be better off after a couple of hours surveying the sidewalks again.

  With Harriet and Maisie fresh on his mind, Walter started walking in the direction of the rescue center where he had first met the mother and daughter. He walked slowly and gave himself time to calm down, aiming to push his frustrations to the back of his mind and let them linger under the surface rather than tormenting his every minute. Instead of thinking, Walter cleared his mind and took in the city around him, noticing the stark differences that had emerged over the last few weeks.

  In cracks along the road, nature was already trying to take control again. Weeds were sprouting in the tarmac, able to grow for the first time in years without thousands of cars speeding over them every single day. They gathered around the outside of parked vehicles which lined the road, some burnt out shells while others were simply abandoned, their owners nowhere to be found. Much like the vehicles, the buildings on the street sat in any manner of disarray. Windows were smashed and walls vandalized, new graffiti appearing every morning from the kids that ran through the city at night.

  Even with the work that was going on to restore order, it would take years to reverse the damage that the collapse had caused. The area around the Trident building along Wall Street was almost entirely burnt to the ground, the fire that was set in the Trident building catching and spreading throughout the district, carried on the wind and scattered as far as its flaming red arms could reach.

  From there, the damage rippled outwards. It wasn’t targeted or calculated anywhere else, the destruction simply a result of the city-wide terror which had plagued New York for days on end. It had been almost a week before things started to calm down and the chaos morphed into reality. The transition period had been the weirdest – as people gradually began to realize that what had happened wasn’t just going to go away overnight. Little by little, the people of New York slowly understood that their lives had changed forever and they couldn’t continue to ignore that fact.

  That was what Walter wished Samantha and the many others in the precinct would understand. Things had changed far too much for them to simply revert back to what had worked before. They needed to approach matters from a different perspective and test new opportunities. Walter didn’t want to see anyone else hurt when he could make something better and yet, he feared that the suffering they’d encountered so far was only the beginning.

  Change had to start somewhere, why couldn’t it start with him?

  Chapter 8

  Squeezing her husband’s hand in her own, Jessie tried to transform her thoughts and react more positively to what was happening, but she just couldn’t. Even though everyone around her was happy and excited, ready to be saved from the island and taken to safety, she just couldn’t get on board with the idea that the ship was there to save them. It had been moored up just beyond the harbor for over a week now, watching and waiting. What had changed? Why were those on board no longer hiding below deck and why were they finally making the move to shore?

  Jessie may have been the first to notice the change with the ship from her post on the farmlands, but it hadn’t remained unnoticed for very long. Now that Jamie had addressed everyone and told them to prepare for the arrival of whoever manned the vessel, people were rushing around like they were preparing for the rapture. It was crazy. Kauai was just about surviving as it was, what with Dennis deserting the group and taking a number of skilled workers to the north with him – they needed to continue to focus and band together, not sit back and wait for someone to save them.

  As Art squeezed her hand in return, Jessie knew her husband felt the same way. They had always joked between them about being skeptics, never believing in anything until they saw it with their own eyes and always raising their sons on the motto if it was too good to be true, it probably was. This ship was a prime example of that and rather than pack up their home and prepare to leave, Jessie and Art were thinking more about how they could protect their small family.

  Jamie continued to talk on the stage outside of the surf shack, repeating the same few short lines over again and telling people to prepare for the mystery arrival from the ship. Mostly he answered questions, reassuring people that the ship was actually going to help them as some people feared they needed to protect the island from what was coming. The people asking these questions were the only reason Jessie and Art were still there. While both of them respected Jamie and agreed that he was a good leader for those that remained on Kauai, they worried that he was losing his head somewhat with this challenge. Everyone wanted to hope for the best, but they needed to be rational and they needed to prepare for all eventualities – good and bad.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Art whispered to his wife as someone else jumped up onto the stage and tried to wrestle the mic from Jamie, opposing his views and wanting to be heard. “This is going to go south quickly, I think.”

  Jessie nodded. Life had been hard on the island since the collapse of Trident and everything that brought with it, but the one thing that had kept everyone going was their willingness to work together and support one another. Dennis’ departure had fractured that on the island and now that there were differing opinions about what the ship would bring with it, the peace and comfortable society that they had worked so hard to establish was starting to crack and break apart. It was fragile and something like this could very easily be the catalyst to bring everything they had worked toward crumbling down.

  “We should get the boys from school,” Jessie commented as the two of them made their way out of the crowd and away from Jamie and his stage. Zayn and Axel were both still in the care of Martha, kept away from the beac
h while Jamie made his announcement and pumped adrenaline and anticipation into the islanders. They’d had a number of meetings like it over the last few weeks, children in some cases deemed too young to be involved.

  This was going to involve everyone though, whether they liked it or not. Jessie worried about her two boys, aware how much trauma they had already faced as a result of the collapse and unwilling to put them through anything further. Until she knew for certain what was happening with the ship and who was on board, she wanted to keep both her boys away from it and all the attention it brought with it.

  Meandering through the streets of Kauai, Jessie and Art seemed to be going in the opposite direction of most people. The island still looked pretty normal considering everything it had been through. Jessie could remember the few sparse images she’d seen on the news before the power went out – cities were burning and people were running desperately through the streets for help. Kauai hadn’t really experienced that, other than the mad rush to the departing cruise liners when the news first broke. But they had managed to handle things well and keep their small island as alive as possible.

  People’s homes and businesses still lined the streets in a neat and orderly fashion; the roads were empty, with vehicles lining the sides of them rather than driving down the middle. Those people that Jessie and Art did pass were heading toward the surf shack to download the information, or frantically making their way to their homes to pack up for the big departure Jamie was preaching to them.

  Hope could be a very powerful thing, but it could also be incredibly dangerous and Jessie feared that Jamie was giving it to the islanders for all the wrong reasons.

  “Hey Kat,” Jessie greeted the woman who was shepherding a few children into the school as they arrived. “You okay?”

  “Hey Jessie, didn’t expect to see you today. Have you heard the announcement? Can you believe it?”

  “Yeah,” Jessie nodded, telling immediately from Kat’s tone of voice that the woman was excited for the ship’s arrival and didn’t share any of the same apprehensions she did. “It’s something alright. Are Zayn and Axel inside? We want to take them back home to...get ready.”

  Kat grinned, she was a sweet woman who had spent her life working with children and the elderly, dedicated to caring for those who needed help and support. However, she was also naïve and didn’t seem to have even considered that the ship may have an ulterior motive other than to save the waiting islanders. Jessie was reluctant to get into a lengthy conversation with her about it. So was Art.

  “Axel is,” Kat replied, “Zayn is down on the beach with some of the older boys. April is teaching them some survival skills or something.”

  “I’ll go and get him,” Art cut in immediately, planting a quick kiss on Jessie’s cheek and turning to head down to the beach. “I’ll see you back at the house.”

  “Okay,” Jessie called after her husband before turning back to face Kat and prompting her. “Axel’s inside?”

  “Yes, yes,” Kat smiled and nodded, pulling open the door to the building. “Come on, let’s go and find him.”

  The school building was just like it had always been. Bright pictures lined all the walls, decorated with drawings and paintings done by the children. There were photos and trophies to show their achievements, framed awards and any number of essays and poems which had been written by the older children. Jessie was glad it had remained a constant for the kids since the collapse, giving them a sense of normalcy as they returned each day to a familiar environment.

  “Mom!”

  “Hey darling, are you okay?”

  Axel nodded and hugged Jessie. “What’s going on, mom? People keep saying stuff about the ship and we’re not allowed to go outside and see it anymore.”

  Jessie looked up at Kat who pulled a face and started to explain. “We didn’t want any of them getting upset or worked up about it,” she spoke in a hushed voice. “We thought it would be easier if they stayed inside for the time being.”

  Jessie nodded, understanding Kat’s logic and knowing it couldn’t be easy to look after this many curious children. “Nothing’s really happening with it, sweetheart,” Jessie replied to her little boy, anxious to get him home before she and Art explained things properly to them. “Anyway – you can see for yourself if you want? Grab your stuff and I’ll take you home, okay?”

  “Okay!” Axel smiled and let his mother go, running over to the other side of the room to pack up his bag and various belongings.

  “Are you going to be okay here?” Jessie asked Kat, momentarily forgetting that the woman didn’t share any of the same worries she did.

  “Oh, don’t you worry about me,” Kat replied with a shake of her head and a smile. “We’ll be just fine. I’ll see you later, Jessie. Bye, Axel!”

  Taking her youngest son by the hand, Jessie allowed him to say goodbye to Kat before sweeping him out of the door and down the corridor. She was certain Axel could tell something wasn’t right with her. The boy always showed incredible powers of perception for his age, but to his credit, he kept quiet until they were out of the school building, staying close and keeping up with the fast pace she set.

  “What’s going on, mom?”

  “Let’s get home first darling,” Jessie replied. “We’ll explain everything to you then. Your Dad’s gone to get Zayn as well, so they’ll meet us there.”

  “Is what they’re saying about the ship true? Is someone coming to save us?”

  “I really don’t know, Axel,” Jessie replied honestly to her little boy. “Let’s just get home first, please. Then we can figure it all out.”

  Jessie didn’t know how to answer him. She remembered how frantic everything had been when the news about the collapse first emerged and everyone rushed to the few final departing ships leaving the island. Her family had been among them: Jessie had been so desperate to get her children off the island that she hadn’t considered how dangerous it was going to be. The road to the harbor was packed with people practically climbing over one another in a last chance attempt to leave Kauai and get to safety. She wondered how far the ships had made it, where the people had got to. Jessie could still see the bodies of people tumbling over the side of the jetty into the water as they did everything that they could to board the last ship. But even more terrifying than that, she could still hear her sons’ cries as they struggled to stay on their feet in the crowd. She almost lost her babies that day, putting them in harm’s way for a reckless shot at safety. Neither she nor Art were ever going to make that mistake again. Their family came first and no matter what the ship from the horizon brought with it, they were going to keep their sons safe above everything else.

  “I don’t want it to be like before.”

  “It won’t,” Jessie looked at Axel and reassured him. “I’m not going to let that happen again, okay? I promise you. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Using her words to encourage both her son and herself, Jessie and Axel finally made it back to their home and rushed inside. Art and Zayn were already there waiting. Jessie rushed to her eldest boy and wrapped her arms around him while Art picked up Axel and hugged him. Both of their children were well aware that something was going on now and the lack of information was making them increasingly worried. After the brief greeting, Jessie looked at Art and nodded, both of them aware they needed to break the news to them.

  “The ship is moving,” Jessie announced first and foremost, earning grins from both of her boys. “I don’t know what you’ve each heard in the last hour or so, but I’ve seen it myself. There are people on board and they’re starting to come in closer to shore.”

  “Are they coming to rescue us?”

  “We don’t know,” Art answered honestly, shaking his head at Axel’s question. “And to tell you both the truth, we won’t know until whoever is on board that ship comes onto the island and explains themselves. But what we do know is that we need to keep you both safe. We’re not going to risk putting either of you in danger
again, or doing anything that might get either of you hurt.”

  “You think the people on the ship want to hurt us?”

  “No, no,” Jessie cut in, seeing the fear in Zayn’s eyes as he asked the question. “Your dad’s not saying that. We just mean, we want to be sure of what we’re doing before we go running into anything again. We want you both to go upstairs and pack a bag, just in case, but we don’t know what’s going to happen. We just need to wait this one out a bit and see, do you understand?”

  Zayn and Axel both eventually nodded their heads, their confusion obvious.

  “We’ll keep you updated with everything that we find out,” Art assured them both. “We just need you to be ready, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Yeah, we can be ready.”

  “That’s my boys,” Jessie smiled at them. “So, can you both go and pack a bag? Think about what you might need to bring with you, some spare clothes as well as toys, okay?” She laughed, winking at Axel as he looked down at his shoes and smiled to himself. “Go on,” she encouraged them, letting them both make their way upstairs so she was left with Art. They would both have to go and help the boys with what to bring obviously, but they wanted to try and keep their fears to a minimum and so were treating this more like a vacation or a trip than what it potentially was.

  “Are you sure about this?” Art asked Jessie, placing a hand on her waist and looking deep into her eyes. “You really think we might have to run?”

  “I hope not,” Jessie replied. “But this just doesn’t feel right to me, Art. I just don’t trust that ship.”

  “Okay,” Art nodded, “we’ll do what we need to. We’ll be okay, Jessie. We’ll get through this. So long as we’ve got each other, there’s nothing we can’t do. Remember?”