He remembered standing on the street in the center of New York, grabbing a quick bite to eat on his lunchbreak before he was forced back into the sweaty office building he almost lived in. The incident had been so sudden, like a stone falling off a bridge into a river. Much like a falling stone, the effects of the collapse had rippled out further and further until the whole world was in tatters. Back then, Samuel had never imagined things spiraling so out of control and lasting for so long, but now he couldn’t think of anything else.
Standing in an empty house, he wondered if he knew then what he knew now, would he have said anything different when he made that news broadcast? It was probably the last thing to ever be aired on television before the power went out, potentially reaching billions across the globe and shaping what was about to come. The effect it had directly on his family was too real and painful for Samuel to deal with properly and if it could affect one family like that, there was no telling what it might have done across the rest of the world. Samuel lingered outside the lost boy’s room and took a moment to himself, preparing for whatever else the future was going to bring him. He had no idea, but no matter what, he was going to be ready.
Chapter 5
A short distance across the city, Austin and his family were reaching a similar conclusion. After arriving at their apartment in Queens, Austin and Dante had found almost nothing left. Their front door had been kicked in and left entirely off its hinges, their apartment a free for all for all who passed by. The entire block that they lived in was in a similar state, people’s homes ransacked for whatever valuables had been left there and then turned into nothing more but an empty hole to squat in.
As they had first climbed the staircase to the apartment on the fourth floor, Austin had walked with his fingers pinched over his nose, doing his best to block out the smell of sewage and rot which swept through the building. There was a burst pipe on the street outside which was the source of most of the smell, but as he passed by an apartment on the second floor and felt another wave of what smelt like rotting meat, Austin figured there was something much worse than just sewage floating around the building.
He and Dante didn’t want to stay there, but they had little other choice. A few of the other apartments on their floor had people living in them, though neither of them recognized the new residents.
The lovely young couple who used to live opposite them, Esmerelda and Warren, had been replaced by two middle aged men who glared at Austin’s family as they passed by. Austin wondered what had happened to his friends, the four of them often having dinner and staying up into the early hours drinking white wine while Bowie slept – he wondered whether they had survived the madness and managed to escape the city, or if they had fallen victim to the collapse as well.
“Bowie, go and check if daddy’s tool kit is still under the sink, will you?” Austin said to his son after they set their limited possessions down in the apartment and took in what had happened to it. Austin couldn’t believe it, but he knew he had to prioritize their safety before he could mourn the loss of their home. After everything he had seen over the past few weeks, he had sort of expected to find the place like this, but seeing it in the flesh was something else entirely.
“Still here!” Bowie called over from the kitchen sink, holding up a hammer in his right hand. “Want this?”
“Not that,” Austin replied with a smile as he walked over to Bowie, glad his son’s spirits were holding up throughout their awful return to New York City. “There’s the one,” he picked out a screwdriver and handed it to Bowie. “Can you look after this for me?”
Bowie took the tool with a determined grin and a nod, grasping it firmly in his hands. Looking up, Austin saw the bemused expression on Meghan’s face as she watched the exchange, Dante unaware as he paced through their now-empty rooms, muttering to himself as he figured out what was missing.
“For the door,” Austin said in a way of explaining himself to his mother-in-law. “I don’t want those two creeps walking in on us at night.”
Meghan nodded and left Austin to his work, Bowie followed his father and did everything he could to make himself useful. He was a good kid and Austin couldn’t help but smile every time he looked at the boy. Just having him back by his side meant everything, and when he saw his little face and the resilient look in his eyes, Austin knew that all the troubles and traumas he had been through to reach Poughkeepsie had been worth it. He’d walk through fire for that little boy, every single day if he had to.
Looking around the apartment, Austin tried to figure out which door was best to use. His plan was to replace the broken front door with another from their home, the hinges thankfully undamaged and so a relatively easy job for someone that knew how. The apartment however was largely open plan, with just two bedrooms and a bathroom that had their own doors. The storage was all built in, so Austin made his way to the bedrooms, quickly deciding that privacy was less important for his little boy and unscrewing the wooden structure from its place.
As he worked to make their apartment more livable again, Austin felt a gray cloud of guilt begin to amass above his head. He looked around at his husband, his son and his mother-in-law and wondered whether they would have all been better off if he’d left them alone in Poughkeepsie. He had no regrets in terms of how he felt seeing his loved ones again, but he was just terrified that he’d brought them into an even more dangerous environment than the one they’d already been living in.
Protecting his family was the most important thing for Austin. After he’d gotten over the initial shock of coming home to find all his possessions either stolen or damaged, Dante set to work straightening up the kitchen and making note of what food the four of them had. There was no way near enough, not even for a couple of days – they had returned to New York with almost empty backpacks and even emptier stores of ideas for what to do next.
Austin could see the concern and fear spreading around the apartment as he watched on. With Bowie’s bedroom door now protecting them from the rest of the apartment building, a crudely fashioned chain screwed on to act as a lock, they at least had some privacy to discuss their next steps. After he had finished the task, a shred of doubt crossed Austin’s mind about putting the door there – all others in the building had been kicked in and he feared that erecting a new barrier would only entice people to find out what lay behind it. The chain wouldn’t protect them at all if someone really wanted to get inside, but Austin knew that he could and for the mental wellbeing of his loved ones, he stuck with the decision to hide behind a closed door.
“It’s not so bad now,” Austin announced once he was finished, packing up the toolkit which he was surprised hadn’t been stolen and replacing it in its home under the sink. “Can hardly smell the street down below.”
“What are we going to do about food?” Meghan asked, “I don’t think we’ll last more than three days on what we’ve got.”
“It’ll be okay,” Austin replied, trying to keep the conversation light while Bowie was listening in. The young boy was curious and since being reunited with Austin, he was reluctant to leave his side meaning it was difficult for Austin to have an adult conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was scare his son, already ashamed for what he had put him through in Poughkeepsie.
“I can head out and get some more tomorrow.”
“Where from?”
“Err,” Austin didn’t have a response for that question, but he refused to be disheartened by it. “I’ll find somewhere – there are plenty of stores nearby, there’s bound to be something left. Besides, things might have changed since we were last here, there might be more of a routine or something in place.”
“What do you mean?” Dante asked with a skeptical shake of his head. The father sat on their couch with Bowie on his knee, bouncing the five-year-old up and down in order to keep him entertained while the adults spoke. “It didn’t look like there was much in the way of law and order out there.”
“I know,”
Austin replied, wishing that Dante could join him in having a more positive attitude. “But there has to be something, the city isn’t empty. Everyone else has found a way to survive so we’ll just have to do the same.”
“I’m not sure I’d call some of it surviving,” Meghan muttered under her breath, the sentence not intended to be heard. Austin’s finely tuned ears picked it up and he glanced over at her, deciding for everyone’s sake it was better to just ignore what she’d said.
“Why don’t we try and get some rest?” Austin proposed instead, his energy levels rapidly depleting as he did everything he could to try and keep morale high in a desperately depressing situation. “Bowie, do you want to bunk with us? Let your grandmother have your bed for the night?”
Bowie nodded reluctantly and with nothing else to do, the four of them started making their way to the two bedrooms. At least they had mattresses to sleep on and a roof over their heads, Austin had been through far worse on his plight to Poughkeepsie and he knew they needed to be thankful for what they had. As he’d seen more of the destruction and encountered more obstacles than Dante and Meghan, he understood why the adjustment was harder on the pair of them. He just hoped that in the morning they would see things in a similar light to him; things might not be easy, but this was their life now and they had to do what they could to make it work. If not for themselves, then at least for Bowie.
“Maybe I should go,” Dante whispered the next morning as he lay in bed next to his husband, while Bowie slept between them. “It shouldn’t always be you putting yourself on the line.”
“I’m not suggesting that it’s always me,” Austin replied, grateful for the time alone with his husband, their relationship one of the many things which had been unsettled by Trident’s collapse. “But I’m just a bit more prepared for whatever’s out there right now. I’ve been living in this disaster for weeks; things haven’t been as hard for you.”
“You don’t think what I was doing in Poughkeepsie was hard? That’s rich. I told you about…”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Austin cut his husband off, not wanting to start a fight with him and especially not while their little boy was still fast asleep. “I just meant I’ve been out on the road more; I’ve spent time in this city. I know Poughkeepsie must have been horrible for you, babe. I wish it hadn’t been like that, but in this playing field I think right now – and I’m only saying this for right now – but I think I probably hold the upper hand.”
Dante sighed and looked at his husband, the lines in his forehead deeper and more defined than he remembered them being. As a result of Trident’s collapse, they’d spent the furthest time apart from one another than they had since first meeting many years ago. Dante had thought of Austin every day, yearning to have him back in his life. He had fallen asleep every night with his arms wrapped around himself, wishing that he would wake up and Austin would be there. He knew Austin loved him back, but Dante couldn’t help but feel that he hadn’t been the driving factor in his husband’s trip up to Poughkeepsie. It was Bowie who had kept Austin fighting, not him, and Dante was frighteningly aware of that.
Dante knew their marriage hadn’t been perfect for some months now. They were united over their son and deep down both still loved each other, but like every relationship, theirs came under stress. The fact that Dante was already in Poughkeepsie with his mother when the news about Trident broke was a telling point to how things were going between them.
What was supposed to just be a long weekend apart to make themselves realize why they were together had turned into the biggest nightmare of their lives. That was over now – in some ways – but the underlying issues between the two men weren’t and Dante was silently very aware of that. Austin had never been very good at talking about his feelings, however if they were going to survive in New York City and keep their family fighting strong, certain things like that would have to change. Dante knew he just needed to be understanding and play his part, hoping that what was meant to be would miraculously fall into place.
“Okay,” he sighed eventually, agreeing with his husband. “But don’t be too long.”
“I won’t,” Austin replied, leaning over and kissing Dante on the cheek. “I love you, you know?”
“I love you too. Always.”
The words stuck with Austin as he pulled on his clothes and quietly left the apartment. He didn’t want to be doing this, but he knew he needed to strike while the iron was hot and that meant getting out early to get a view on how the city had changed. Food was at the top of his priority list, the meagre rations that remained on their kitchen table insufficient for a family of four. He needed to find enough to keep them going for a few more days at least, then he and Dante could discuss the future after figuring out their new home.
Being out by himself was a strange feeling. Austin felt the empty space to his side and found himself longing to not be alone; it was better than bringing Dante along, for he was needed in the apartment, but he wished Samuel was there. Saying goodbye to him had been a weird feeling. Samuel Westchester was not the usual sort of man that Austin would’ve struck up a bond with, but what they had been through together had changed them both and Austin missed his friend more than he’d ever thought he would.
He picked his path through the streets, heading to what used to be a fairly busy avenue and recalled the days when they had run through the city, chased by gangs and criminals, doing everything they could not just to escape, but to stay alive.
It was still very early, the sun not entirely risen over the buildings and New York was in a strangely quiet state of dawn. Prior to the collapse it had been the city that never slept, but now there was an eerie quietness about it, certain buildings giving off a foreboding vibe and somehow warning Austin to stay away. He knew this part of Queens well and wasn’t at risk of getting lost or turned about as he walked, but still the surroundings looked different – the once familiar streets now filling him with unrest.
Turning a corner and approaching one of the entrances to the local dog park, Austin stopped as something caught his eye. Just to his right there was a fairly insignificant brick building, Austin had never known what it was used for but figured it was where gear and equipment for maintaining the park was kept. One wall of it, previously nothing but brickwork, had been entirely transformed. Papers fluttered in the breeze and flapped against it, hundreds or maybe even thousands of notes pinned in place.
Curious, Austin walked over to it and stood in front of the paper mosaic, looking up at the new decoration in front of him. His breath hitched in his throat when he realized why it was there. It was a wall for the missing, for those who were lost or were searching for someone. Hundreds upon hundreds of notes read all the same things, messages to loved ones, directions of where people had gone and how to find them, pleas for families to be reunited. Some stuck out to him, letters from parents searching for their children or pictures of families who were no longer together. People had left addresses, phone numbers, directions – anything that they thought might help someone to find them. They were heartbreaking to read.
Standing there, Austin felt just how lucky he was to have his loved ones still in his life. How easy would it have been to lose them in the city, one wrong step potentially separating you forever.
Amongst the letters and notes designed to help track people down, there were some which had been stuck there with no other purpose but to encourage life.
Stay safe. Stay alive. Don’t give up hope. Keep fighting. God speed.
Austin looked at these comments and nodded as a lump formed in his throat. That was what he had to do; keep fighting, keep surviving. The end was far from sight but he knew they would get there eventually. The last thing he would ever allow to happen, was for any member of his family to find their face pinned up on a wall.
Chapter 6
Spending a little time reading through the messages pinned to the wall, Austin began to understand a little more of what had happened to the
city while he had been away. There were snippets within individual stories, one family saying they had fled the city when the rolling blackouts ended and darkness fell permanently across New York. Another said they were staying by a loved one’s side in hospital until the end, waiting until his heart gave out, the help of life support no longer available.
It was difficult to read some of the messages, people laying their feelings down on the page so plainly, speaking from the deepest part inside of them. Raw emotion bled from each and every word, telling the story of what had happened to the city. How one of the biggest powerhouses across America had crumbled to a land stricken with poverty, desperation and disease.
The more he read the more Austin found himself worrying if returning to New York had been the right decision, he had been so driven by the notion of coming home, that he hadn’t ever really stopped to consider whether it was the right thing to do or not. He squinted as he continued to read, the sun now rising higher in the sky and finding its way through the gaps in buildings to blind him. The skyline of the city was just one of the things which had changed, many of the highest buildings now laying in piles on the street where they once stood.
As the heat from the sun warmed his skin, Austin remembered what he was supposed to be doing. The letters on the wall made him feel thankful for the family he had waiting for him back home, but there was little point spending his day being thankful for them if he couldn’t do what he’d promised to help them. Turning away from the shrine, Austin paced through the dog park and toward a nearby market square.
It was strange being back in Queens. Everything was so familiar to him and yet, it had all changed so much. The streets were covered in trash and debris, shattered windows making his feet crunch as he walked along the sidewalk, reminding him of the fall when icy leaves would crackle beneath his boots. The city was starting to wake up now, a few other lone men and women walking the streets. Austin wondered where they were going and if he should speak to them, but whenever he managed to make eye contact with someone, they immediately put their head down or looked away, frightened to strike up a conversation.
Wipeout | Book 5 | Foul Play Page 4
