The five of them were packed in the car and ready to leave not long later, the sun starting to go down. They might not make it to the city before nightfall, now. If they had to find somewhere to spend the night then so be it, but at least they were all refueled and more prepared for what was to come. Their bags were stuffed to the brim with dried food and there was an extra cannister of gas in the back of the car as well.
It was a tight squeeze for the five of them. Austin and Samuel had chosen the vehicle in the best shape, but it wasn’t the largest. Samuel, Bowie and Meghan all ended up crammed in the back seat. Samuel did his best to get comfortable as Dante drove them away from the rest area and further south toward the city.
Being in a car again was a weird feeling. It had been a while since Samuel had ridden in one, remembering the horrible moment when the truck he and Austin had taken from the city ran out of gas in the middle of the forest. The resulting aftermath of that had been worse than he could’ve imagined, but they’d made it through and lived to fight another day. The road this time was empty and easy to drive. They wove through small hamlets and little towns as they approached New York. Samuel watched for the high-rise buildings that would decorate the sky in the distance, though there was still a ways to go before they’d see those. Bowie soon drifted off in the middle seat and the car was quiet, just the noise of the engine as the soundtrack to their journey.
“There’s the turn for the Bear Mountain bridge coming up soon,” Dante spoke up after some time in silence. “Shall I take it, or keep going south?”
“Keep on here,” Austin replied, making the decision for them not to enter New York City through Newark this time. It had been necessary for him and Samuel to leave that way, but he figured with a vehicle, the five of them could take their chances east of the river this time.
Dante nodded and continued to drive in silence, heading into the small town of Peekskill. He only managed to drive for another few minutes before he spoke up again, looking out of the windows in disbelief at what had happened to the small town just outside of New York City.
Chapter 14
“What is this? What’s happened here?”
Austin shook his head in the passenger seat, also fascinated by the scene outside as they drove through Peekskill. It hadn’t exactly ever been a busy or bustling place, simply a commuter town where people lived if they worked in New York CIty but didn’t want to stay there full time. It had been quaint, peaceful and quiet – but now there was a whole new meaning to those words. The town was empty and dead, every single building burnt to the ground and left in a pile of ashes and dust.
“This is crazy,” Samuel breathed from the seat behind Austin. “What could’ve caused this? Do you think it was natural or done on purpose?”
With his forehead resting against the window, Samuel peered into the ruined town and tried to make out any signs of life or an explanation for what had happened. There wasn’t a single structure that wasn’t fire damaged in some way, most of them entirely ruined and laying in rubble on the ground. Trees were scorched and shriveled, brought down by the fire. One way or another the flames had spread, leaving no place untouched as they destroyed everything in their path.
“Surely no one would’ve done this,” Samuel said. “It couldn’t have been on purpose.”
“I don’t know,” Austin eventually responded. “Perhaps it was a riot that got out of control; starting as something small but then taking over entirely.”
“Do you think there were people here?”
Meghan’s question fell on heavy hearts as the four adults looked out of the windows and tried not to search the rubble for bodies. It almost went without saying that people would’ve died in these fires. The town might have been small, but those who lived there would’ve likely stayed after the collapse and had surely been there to witness its destruction. There was no telling how many would’ve died in the fire, but the number would surely be in the thousands. As Dante drove through the ruins as quickly as was safe, the question hung in the air unanswered.
Seeing Peekskill in that state didn’t fill Samuel with much hope for what New York would be like. The drive into the city was less than an hour now, though with the sun setting quickly they all agreed they would rather wait until morning to make the final part of their journey. Several more towns were still to come before they reached the outskirts of the city. They’d need to find somewhere suitable for them to spend the night.
However, as Dante reached the next collection of houses, to everyone’s horror the scene was all too familiar. It was just like Peekskill – everywhere burnt to the ground and left in ashes, the former homes now carried away on the wind and the memories of those who had lived there lost and left to disappear.
From each village to the next, they found more of the same. It was impossible for the fires to have spread this far on their own, meaning that they must have been started by the people themselves. The question still remained whether it was a coincidence – something that seemed more and more unlikely the more destruction they witnessed – or whether each fire had been carefully planned and sparked for a reason. While the latter seemed most likely, it caused more fear to run through everyone’s hearts as they wondered exactly what that reason was.
“Take this next turning,” Austin commented to Dante as he saw one approaching. “I want to check something.”
“Okay,” Dante replied, flicking on the indicator, turning off the main road and driving east. “What is it?”
“All these fires have been set along the direct route into the city,” Austin explained. “I wonder if the towns further away from the river are the same too? It’s just a hunch, but it feels like those fires were started to send a message: to warn people approaching the city to turn back.”
“Right,” Dante spoke, drawing out the word as he processed his husband’s words. “That theory doesn’t sound great, Aus. Was New York really that bad? Would there really be people going to those lengths to try and stop people from coming in?”
“I don’t know,” Austin answered. “Like I said, it’s just a hunch. But with where we’re coming from, we can’t exactly be surprised by the lengths people will go to in order to protect their own. If Poughkeepsie and Jeff have their fences and barricades, maybe New York opted to use fire instead.”
“Should we really be going there then?” Meghan asked, frightened by what she had seen and very aware of the sleeping child beside her. Much like Austin and Dante, she felt a responsibility to keep Bowie safe and the more she saw of the world outside of Poughkeepsie, the more she questioned whether she and her grandson should’ve left. “It doesn’t seem very safe.”
“I don’t know what other option we have,” Austin said as he swiveled around in his chair to look at his mother-in-law. “Where else can we go?”
Meghan didn’t have an answer to the question. She looked from Austin to Bowie and stroked his blond hair softly, pleased that he continued to sleep throughout their debates. Austin swallowed as he watched Meghan and his son, finding himself almost jealous that she was the one comforting Bowie instead of him. That little boy was the reason for all of this, and Austin was determined to do right by him. If New York wasn’t safe then they would find somewhere else to go, but he wasn’t giving up on the city just yet.
“Look, there’s another town coming up,” Austin spoke again, gesturing to a signpost outside of the window. “Let’s see what this one is like. The roadside certainly seems less chaotic here.”
Samuel nodded in agreement, though he remained quiet. He wasn’t sure exactly where he fit in the discussion, now. Austin and his family all put Bowie at the forefront of their minds and made their decisions based on him. There wasn’t really much difference than how Samuel and Austin had acted on their way to Poughkeepsie. Samuel wasn’t sure how much longer he would be with Austin and his family. He knew there would eventually come a point where Austin needed to look after his family and Samuel’s priorities would lie elsewhere.
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Leaving that issue for later, Samuel watched the scene outside of the car. Everything here was far less fire damaged than it had been along the main road. Austin’s theory might be correct, the town ahead of them stood erect and untouched – buildings free of damage and destruction.
“Pull over.”
“Seriously?” Dante questioned his husband, slowing down but not yet stopping the car. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Austin replied. “We might as well. We have to stop somewhere for the night if we’re not heading straight into the city and this place looks as good as any. Look,” he exclaimed and pointed to an upstairs window of a house as they drove past it. “There was someone in that window. There are people here. Come on, stop the car. We might be able to get some answers.”
“What if it’s like Poughkeepsie?”
“It won’t be,” Austin replied confidently. “Just trust me,” he laid a hand on Dante’s arm as his husband finally stopped the car. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
Swallowing, Dante nodded and switched off the car engine, the five of them now parked up in the middle of the small collection of houses. Samuel felt adrenaline starting to bubble up inside of him as they all waited, ready for whatever was about to come. Austin was right – if they weren’t going to enter New York that night then they needed to stop and rest somewhere. The question of where they were excited Samuel and he was ready to find some answers. His hand rested on the door handle, ready to exit the vehicle as soon as Austin gave the word.
“We’re really just going to knock?” Two minutes later when Samuel and Austin stood outside of the house where Austin had seen someone in the window, Samuel was still dealing with the jumbled up concoction of nerves and excitement in his stomach.
Austin rapped on the door ahead of him three times, the sound echoing through the air and filling the silence. Neither of them expected much of a response, so when a male voice shouted out from inside, they were both taken by surprise.
“What do you want? We haven’t got any food or medicine.”
“We don’t want anything,” Austin shouted back, “except maybe a place to spend the night. We’ve traveled down from Poughkeepsie and saw all the fire damage along the main road. We’re trying to get into the city. Do you know what’s happened? Why is everywhere like that?”
“You shouldn’t go anywhere near the city,” the voice shouted back from inside. “It’s not safe.”
“Please, if you can explain things to us, we’ll be forever grateful. We have food we can share with you. Please, can we come in? My son is with us – he’s only young – we won’t cause any trouble, I swear.”
A window twitched to the side of the front door and both Samuel and Austin turned their heads, catching a glimpse of a woman. The people in the house were simply being cautious about the new arrivals. Rightly so, judging from everything that had been going on around them.
“My name is Austin,” he called out. “This is Samuel – my friend, and in the car over there is my son, Bowie, my husband, Dante and my mother-in-law, Meghan. We honestly don’t want to cause any trouble. We just need a place to spend the night and hopefully gather some information, then we’ll be out of your hair as soon as it’s light, I give you my word.”
The sound of muffled conversation carried on behind the front door. “Do you have food?” A woman’s voice, this time.
“Yes,” he replied, “we do. We can share it with you if you let us in. I promise we won’t cause any trouble. Look,” he paused and held up his hands, indicating for Samuel to do the same. “We’re just people trying to get home and look out for our families. We’re just like you. Please, we’re not here for trouble.”
After another minute of muffled conversation, they heard the door being unlocked and Austin looked to Samuel with a grin on his face. Slowly, the front door was pulled open to reveal a man and woman standing there, nervous. The man clutched a kitchen knife in his right hand.
“Hello,” Austin said, his gaze flitting from their faces to the knife. “I swear we’re not going to cause any trouble. We’re unarmed. We just need a place to spend the night.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Samuel agreed. “There’s enough violence happening these days without us adding to it. We’re not here for that.”
“Okay,” the man nodded, looking them over and seeming to come to the conclusion that they weren’t dangerous. “I just had to be sure,” his face slowly formed a smile as his defenses lowered. “You can come in – bring the others from the car too.”
“Thank you,” Samuel smiled, holding out his hand to shake the man’s while Austin beckoned Dante and the others from the car. “I’m Samuel Westchester, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The man shook Samuel’s hand. “Eduardo Sanchez, and my wife, Marlene.”
“Wipe your feet,” Austin instructed Bowie as he reached the doorway, taking his son’s hand and guiding him into the house. “You have a lovely home,” he commented with a smile, looking around the initial reception room and marveling at the oak staircase that led to the second floor. “It’s stunning.”
“Thank you,” Marlene smiled, ushering everyone inside and closing the front door behind them all. “Please, head through,” she indicated toward a doorway. “Can I get you anything?”
“We’re fine,” Austin declined for the group. “In fact – we have food we can share with you, if you want? Are you hungry?”
Marlene nodded and Austin quickly struck up a conversation with her about the diners they had passed by and the ample supplies of dried pasta and rice they had managed to salvage from them. The two of them peeled off into the kitchen while Eduardo escorted the rest into their living room, indicating for them all to sit down and relax. Samuel did so with ease, instantly feeling like he could trust the elderly couple. They had rightly tried to protect their home from intruders, but now that they had welcomed them all inside, they seemed like trustworthy people and Samuel was keen to get to know them and discover what they knew about what had happened since the collapse. He had questions about the fires on the main road, but mainly about New York. Now that they were so close, he was eager to stock up on information and prepare for their trip into the city. He hadn’t really realized it until they got so close, but Samuel had been missing his home.
Chapter 15
After spending the day truly doing his part for society – and not just in the way he had previously thought he was doing it – Walter sat down on a bench and took a well needed break. Through hiding the fact that he was a police officer and asking people where help was needed rather than telling them, Walter had uncovered a whole new realm of problems that were plaguing New York City.
Access to food, water and medicine where required were still the main issues across the city. But while Walter had previously believed the resurrection of food banks and rationing was helping the community, it had actually only succeeded in making the poverty line even more pronounced. Those who weren’t able to work and earn their keep were suffering from smaller rations and poorer quality of food as well. Walter had eaten every meal he’d had since the collapse in the police station and he’d never once questioned whether the quality was different outside those four walls. But it clearly was. Through the implementation of rationing and the chain of command, a class system had immediately been put in place and much like before, those at the top only saw the suffering they wanted to see, ignorant to what was really happening around them.
Children were quite literally starving in the streets. In a matter of weeks, they had transformed from well-dressed, educated and presentable teenagers to gangs of rabid street urchins. It was like going back in time and living inside a movie, except this was very, very real and unavoidable, if you knew where to look. Thousands of children across New York City had been orphaned by the collapse, their parents killed or missing as a result of the riots and fires which had spread across the city in the week after Trident’s bankruptcy was announced.
At fi
rst, the children had relished their new freedom; Walter had seen them running amok throughout the city before but never really given them much thought. They were actually responsible for a large amount of the looting and thieving, doing as they pleased with no one to answer to at first, but then later doing it to survive. With no one to look out for them, the children of New York banded together in groups, the older kids left with the responsibility of finding food for the younger ones. In some cases, they were successful, but in many others, the children simply weren’t up to the task. Now there were large groups of them shut away in homes, starving to death.
Just as the sun had started to set earlier that day, Walter had stumbled across one of these homes. The windows were all smashed in with graffiti all over the exterior walls. Walter had simply been walking past when he heard noises coming from within. At first, he assumed it was just rats or maybe a stray dog wandering around inside, but when he heard someone yelp out in pain, he couldn’t resist going in to take a look.
Reaching the front door, Walter knocked a couple of times and waited.
“Hello?” He called out, apprehensive about just walking inside unannounced. “Is anyone in there?”
When no reply came, he was tempted to give up and walk away, but the sound of someone shushing someone inside piqued his curiosity and he tried the handle. Finding it unlocked, Walter pushed open the door and stepped inside, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight that lay on the other side.
“What the…” Roughly twenty to thirty kids sat on the floor in the large, open plan home, some of them barely looking strong enough to get up. They were dirty and smelly, their faces blackened and unwashed and their clothes torn and stained. Several pairs of eyes moved in Walter’s direction as he took in the room, the dim light from the open doorway illuminating some of their faces, causing a number of them to squint or look away.
Wipeout | Book 4 | Overdrawn Page 10