Wipeout | Book 5 | Foul Play

by Richards, E. S.

  “Hey pal,” Luc greeted the man aggressively as he tugged open the door. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Medicine,” he blurted out immediately, caught like a deer in headlights but not threatening to stop what he was doing at all. “I need medicine.”

  “Yeah I’d say that’s pretty clear,” Luc replied as Taggy and Walter entered behind him. “I don’t think you’re going to find much here though. Why don’t you pack it up and go home?”

  “No.” He looked up at the three new arrivals, shaking his head. “My name is Austin. I need help. My mother in law is sick. She’s dying. I need medicine to save her. Please. Do you have anything? Anything that can help her?”

  The words poured out of him like a waterfall, expectation and despair dripping off each and every one of them. Austin had been holding himself together while it was just him, whispering false promises under his breath and convincing himself that he was going to find the medicine Meghan needed just in time. That he was going to get home and everything would be alright. That he hadn’t made a horrible mistake forcing his family to return to New York City.

  The quiet murmurings had been enough to keep him together on his own, but upon seeing three other human beings, Austin’s façade immediately cracked and he felt his true feelings being laid bare to these strangers. [MP11]

  “This guy is whacked out,” Luc said out of the side of his mouth, leaning over to Taggy and whispering the words, though he was still sure Austin could hear him. “Maybe we should just go.”

  “Hang on,” Taggy replied, putting a hand on Luc’s shoulder and stepping forward. “Give him a chance. What’s wrong with your mother in law?” Taggy asked Austin directly. “What’s happened?”

  “I don’t know,” Austin heaved out a sigh. “But she’s sick – really sick. My husband, he said she needed Vicodin, Advil or Amoxicillin. Please. Do you know anywhere where I can get any of them? I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate.”

  His demeanor started to become less crazed as he explained himself, Taggy warming to him and wanting to give the man a chance. “I’m sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “We don’t have anything with us we can spare.”

  Austin looked at the three people and felt his shoulders sag as an overwhelming feeling of failure pressed down on him like a rock. What was he doing? “I’m sorry,” Austin spoke up, his voice cracking on the second word. “I didn’t –”

  Taggy and the others watched him carefully as Austin climbed to his feet, leaning against one of the aisle shelving units for support. He didn’t look like he knew what he was trying to say, looking from one of them to the next with his mouth open, words threatening to come out and then not.

  “Are you okay?” Taggy asked, taking a step toward him. “You don’t look so great.”

  Austin had paled in complexion and his knees seemed to shake underneath him. Just as she finished speaking, Taggy watched as they buckled beneath him completely, Austin’s eyes closing as he lost consciousness and his body tumbled toward the ground.

  “Argh!” She lurched forward and grabbed him just in time, Luc and Walter immediately by her side to help support his weight. Between the three of them, they lay him on the carpeted floor of the drugstore and looked at each other with wide eyes, confused over what had just happened.

  “Do you think he was on something?” Luc asked.

  Taggy shook her head in reply. “I don’t think so, he looked genuinely exhausted. I think he might just be running on empty.”

  “So, what do we do now?”

  “Wait I guess,” Taggy answered with a shrug. “He’s got to come round eventually.”

  ***

  “Just breathe,” Walter told Austin as they sat on the curb several minutes later, the sun rising over the hospital behind them. “Are you feeling any better? Fresh air helping?”

  “A little,” Austin nodded, feeling embarrassed by what had just happened. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Walter smiled. “What’s a morning without a bit of excitement.”

  “Do you have somewhere you need to be?” Taggy asked, glad to see that the color was returning to Austin’s face.

  “You mentioned your mother-in-law?”

  “Oh God,” Austin put his head in his hands and leant forward, his knees pulled up to his chest as he sat in the gutter. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “What’s happened to her?” Taggy asked softly, her calm voice making Austin remove his head from his hands and look up at the woman, standing just in front of him with the sun behind her. Austin had to squint as he looked at her, the blinding orange light creeping through the cracks of buildings and illuminating her almost like an angel. The contrast of it against her red hair was stunning, the woman standing out and cutting a picture that wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of a magazine.

  “She’s sick,” Austin answered, finally getting his voice back and feeling more like himself. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, my husband and son are back home with her. He’s a nurse. But even he can’t figure it out. He sent me to get medicine but there’s nothing left. I don’t know if…”

  Austin trailed off, unable to finish his sentence as panic threatened to make him lose control again. He hadn’t fainted like that since he was a teenager. But, it didn’t come as much of a surprise to him. Growing up, Austin had struggled with anxiety and in times of stress or fear he occasionally worked himself up to a point where he ended up passing out. Clearly that had happened again, the pressure of everything in New York getting to him and the sudden sighting of these three strangers giving him an outlet to vent. It was something he thought he’d gotten a handle on in his adult years, but in the current climate, Austin wasn’t too shocked to learn it had come back. Hopefully it was just a one-time thing. He didn’t need to bother telling Dante about it, the man had enough to worry about without Austin creating more trouble.

  “You won’t find any meds in the city now I’m afraid,” Luc consoled him. “Anything of any use has been hoarded by someone or other by now.”

  “I figured,” Austin sighed, picturing Meghan tossing and turning in bed. “I better get back.”

  Taggy looked at Austin and grimaced, then a look passed between her and Luc.

  “There might be a place you can get what you need,” Luc announced, giving Taggy a slight nod. “But you can’t come and get the medicine there yourself. You’ll need to bring your mother-in-law. Your whole family probably.”

  “And if you come,” Taggy added, “you won’t be able to go home afterwards.”

  “What?” Austin asked, visibly confused by what had just been said. “What do you mean? If you’ve got medicine then please, please let –”

  “It’s not ours to give,” Luc interrupted, “and before you try it, we don’t have anything on us right now.”

  “But we know a place,” Taggy took up the narrative again. “If you want to come there, and bring your family, then we might be able to help your mother-in-law. But once you’ve come in you have to agree to be a part of our group, you have to agree to not go back to your home and tell other people about us.”

  “What are you, some kind of cult?”

  “No. We’re just good people trying to get this city back in order,” Taggy explained. “We think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. We’re trying to make sure that doesn’t happen and that there are good people who can reclaim this city once it’s time.”

  “Okay,” Austin drew out the word, not entirely sure he was buying into what Taggy and Luc were saying. It didn’t sound very convincing or realistic, more like a strange vigilante group who thought they were saving the world when in fact they were only helping themselves.

  “It’s true,” Walter added, turning Austin’s head in his direction now. “I was with the police force and I was trying to do what I could to fix things around here, but those who are left in charge aren’t doing what’s right anymore, they’re just doing what
suits them. Their group,” Walter looked to Luc and Taggy then paused, correcting himself; “our group,” he smiled, “is doing the right thing by everyone. If you really need help, we can offer it to you, but you have to understand the terms it comes with. It’s not for our benefit, but for the good of everyone who still lives here.”

  “Alright,” Austin answered, still not entirely convinced but aware of the ticking clock that sat over his shoulder. “Where is it? Where should I come to?”

  Taggy gave instructions to Austin where he could bring his family and what to expect. Now he just had to convince his husband that this was his mother’s best chance. [MP12]

  Chapter 15

  “He’s gone!”

  “What?” Austin was almost knocked backwards as Dante rushed toward him; a look of panic etched on Dante’s face. The door to their apartment had been wide open, Austin surprised he heard Meghan’s screams filling the building from the floor below. He had taken the last set of stairs two at a time, the confused thoughts about his recent meeting lost in his head as he pictured Meghan flailing around in the bed and desperately fighting to survive. But it wasn’t Meghan who worried him now that he was back inside, it was Dante. The man was pale and nervous, breathing heavily as he grabbed Austin’s shoulders and almost shook him as he spoke.

  “Did you see him? I don’t know when it happened – I’ve been in our room with mom and then I came out not that long ago to get some more water and he was gone. We need to find him Austin. We have to!”

  “Calm down,” Austin replied, Dante was speaking so fast that it was hard to make out the words. He pieced it together though and then in a moment of clarity, Austin looked around the apartment and saw it was empty. Meghan continued to wail and cry in their bedroom, but Bowie and Miles were nowhere to be seen.

  “Dante,” Austin continued in a pressing tone. “Where is Bowie?”

  “I don’t know!”

  Before Dante could explain any further, Austin had turned around and was sprinting back down the stairs. How could this have happened? Why would Bowie have left? It didn’t make any sense and yet the apartment was empty, the young boy gone into the early morning. Miles was missing too, but whether he had left first and Bowie followed or the other way around Austin couldn’t know – nor did he care. He just had to find his son. Bowie wasn’t up to surviving this city on his own.

  “I’m sorry, Austin! I’m so sorry!”

  Dante’s shout barreled down the staircase behind him, but there was no sound of footsteps. The man remained upstairs with his mother and for a second Austin felt hatred toward his husband. How could he have just waited there while Bowie was missing? He was their son – nothing was more important than that. The feeling flashed through his mind like a bullet and was quickly subdued by the knowledge that Dante couldn’t leave his mother either. He would’ve been caught between a rock and a hard place, but still Austin couldn’t believe he’d done nothing. How long had Bowie been missing? How far could he have gotten?

  “Bowie!” As soon as he was back out on the street, Austin began screaming his son’s name. He didn’t care who heard him or who he upset, there was nothing more important to him than finding Bowie. He would scream the entire neighborhood awake if he had to.

  “Austin!”

  Austin turned and saw Miles running toward him, relief washed over him for just a split second until he realized the teenager was alone. “What happened?” He immediately asked, looking beyond Miles at where the boy had emerged from and willing his son to appear as well. “Where’s Bowie?”

  “I don’t know,” Miles replied with a shake of his head. “I’ve been looking for him ever since Dante woke me up. I must have drifted off again on the couch but then Dante woke me up panicked that Bowie was missing. I came out to look for him right away, Dante couldn’t leave his mother behind. I don’t think she’s…”

  Miles trailed off, dropping his gaze and looking down at the ground. Austin grimaced, knowing that things couldn’t be looking good for Meghan. As soon as Bowie was found he would be by the woman’s side helping Dante nurse her, but until he had his son in his arms, Austin couldn’t think of what was going to happen next. He and Miles needed to focus. They needed to find his little boy.

  “How long ago was it? How long have you been searching?”

  “Not long,” Miles replied. “Maybe twenty minutes? I’ve looked all around the building though – if he’s still here I would’ve found him. I’m sure of it.”

  “You think he’s gone further away?”

  Miles nodded. “Unless he’s deliberately hiding. I swear Austin,” Miles looked at the older man seriously, setting his mouth into a straight line. “I’ve looked everywhere, he’s not inside and he’s not around here.”

  “Okay then,” Austin nodded, trusting Miles and glad that he was there to help. “We need to cover more ground. Let’s try this way toward the park, Dante and I used to bring him down there sometimes.”

  “Do you think we should split up? Cover more ground?”

  Austin paused and thought about the question. They could definitely search a wider area if they didn’t stick together, but Austin had felt so relieved by finding Miles outside too, that he didn’t want to separate from the young boy. Especially after what he’d just been through with Walter, Luc and Taggy. Austin felt like he was almost too fragile to deal with this on his own.

  “No,” he told Miles with a shake of his head. “Let’s stick together. We’ll find him together. I know we will.”

  Miles smiled and nodded, reassuring Austin once more as the two of them ran off in the direction of the park, shouting and screaming Bowie’s name as they looked for him. The sun had risen now and New York City was starting to wake up. A stray dog started yelping as the two of them disturbed its early morning hunt for food, the mangey creature sniffing through trash cans as it tried to find something to eat. The poor animal looked like it hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks, its matted and dirty fur stretched tightly over its ribcage. The dog didn’t give chase or follow them though, stopping and barking before returning to its meal. Austin and Miles paid no attention to it either, their minds focused on the search for the lost boy.

  Entering the park, Austin felt a cold wind rush past him, creeping down his spine under his shirt and making him shiver. The once lively area was deserted, the children’s playground where Bowie had spent countless hours on the swings abandoned and desolate. The old equipment creaked and groaned in the breeze, the swings rocked back and forth despite the absence of children.

  Shivering again, Austin planted his feet and looked around. It was a large open space with very few places to hide other than behind the large oak trees that were dotted along the path. If Bowie was there, they should be able to find him. Surely his son wouldn’t have gone any further than this?

  “Bowie!” Austin called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to stop his voice getting lost on the wind. “Where are you? Come out, baby. Come back to Daddy!”

  Terrible pictures cycled through his head as Austin imagined his son dead in a ditch somewhere, a pool of blood surrounding him and staining his clothes red. What had he even been wearing when he left? Austin struggled to remember, everything back at the apartment blurring into one memory, punctuated by Meghan’s screams.

  “Did anything happen after I left?” Austin asked Miles in between calls for his son, the two of them crisscrossing over the park and searching everywhere that Bowie could possibly be hiding.

  “Not really,” Miles replied, thinking back. “Meghan just kept screaming and crying. I don’t know how I managed to fall asleep really. I should’ve stayed awake; I should’ve kept an eye on Bowie like you asked. I’m sorry Austin, I didn’t mean –”

  “This isn’t your fault,” Austin cut in quickly, saving Miles from making his apology. “I don’t blame you. You’re out here now, Miles. That’s what counts.”

  “We’ll find him,” Miles replied with a determined nod. “Where else could h
e have gone?”

  Austin paused to think. Bowie was a quiet boy, but he was intelligent. The time he spent silently watching and listening to other people, he was also thinking and learning. He was inquisitive well beyond his years and always eager to discover things, to uncover new experiences and information. When he did speak, it was to ask a question, hence broadening his knowledge and making important use of the precious few words he used.

  Austin knew his son – it was the pull of Bowie which had kept him going throughout the collapse. Thinking of seeing his little boy again had guided him to Poughkeepsie and encouraged him to keep fighting, he knew that if he stopped to think, he could track the boy down again. He just had to work out where Bowie might have gone, why he might have left the apartment.

  Then it hit him. Meghan. Bowie had been living with his grandmother in Poughkeepsie and the two of them were incredibly close. Seeing her like that – listening to her screams of pain and anguish – must have been difficult for him. Bowie must have understood that his grandmother was suffering and if he left the apartment, Austin was certain he would’ve done it in order to try and help Meghan. Spinning around, Austin gathered his bearings and looked across the park. Further down the street there was a large shopping mall with a drugstore inside. How could he not have thought of it earlier?

  “Come on,” he urged Miles, starting to jog in the direction of the mall. “This way.”

  New York City was a big place. It didn’t take much to turn down the wrong street and wind up lost for hours, or go out at the wrong time of day and never come home. Horror stories were told to everyone growing up, about certain parts of the city to avoid and how never to get into an unlicensed cab or walk through back alleys alone. The city’s crime rate increased every year, with the victims becoming more diverse in every way, proving how little the bad guys cared about who they hurt. And that was before the collapse.