Wipeout | Book 2 | Foul Play

by Richards, E. S.

  “Go,” Walter nodded to Naylor, stepping to the side so Naylor could move past him. “Right, listen up –” he addressed the victims sternly now, using his no-nonsense voice that was retained for these sorts of situations. “We’re going to try and get the hatch above your heads open,” he explained, causing Phoebe, Allie and John to all look up in unison, none of them even noticing the emergency exit before. “And then we’re going to try and hoist each of you out. Who is physically trapped? And who thinks they can be pulled free with a bit of help from above?”

  “I don’t think I can move,” Allie replied in a straightforward manner. “My ankle is caught I think.”

  “I can, I think,” Phoebe replied. “I’m just worried about my baby.”

  “Maja?” Walter tried to address the foreign woman, “Maja, do you understand me? Can you move?” His attempts at conversation were useless, the woman only increasing the volume of her mumbling but offering nothing useful in response to the Lieutenant.

  “And we’re in!”

  Walter and everyone else looked upwards as the clatter of the roof hatch filled the subway car and both Naylor and Harris’ faces appeared above them. Illuminated by their torches against the top of the tunnel, they cut an eerie sight in the darkness, looming above the ruined carriage like angels looking down on them. Walter hoped this was a good omen and that they could get all the victims to safety, his silent worry increasing each minute the unnamed man remained unconscious and John and the others complained about their lack of mobility.

  “Okay Phoebe,” Walter smiled at the pregnant woman, recognizing the nervous expression on her face as she realized what was about to happen. “Are you ready for this?”

  Phoebe looked upwards and swallowed, her nerves getting the better of her as a sheen of sweat formed on her forehead. She opened her mouth to answer back when the sound of footsteps started to echo down the subway tunnel and bounce around the car, distracting everyone. Shouts rang out to the group as well, Phoebe recognizing one voice above the rest.

  “Mom!”

  All of a sudden, Dicky arrived back at the wrecked carriage, a twelve-year-old boy with short, dark hair appearing just ahead of him. He ran past Walter without even acknowledging the man was there and threw himself onto Phoebe, wrapping his small arms around his mother despite the situation she was in and what was going on around them both.

  Walter looked back at Dicky who gave him a brief nod, his concentration more focused on the reunion between Phoebe and her child. It was a touching moment: Phoebe previously sending her son away as she wondered whether help would ever come to rescue her and those trapped alongside her. Now they had a real chance of getting out and being a family unit once more and that realization could be seen clear as day on Phoebe’s face. She kissed her son on the forehead and made him step backwards a couple of paces, looking upwards at Naylor and Harris who still hovered above her.

  “Alright,” she declared with a firm nod, lifting her arms upwards above her head and holding her hands out to the two officers. “What do you need me to do?”

  Chapter 16

  A bullet pinged off of the brickwork beside Samuel’s head. Gravel and dirt exploded into the air as he ran for his life. Samuel and Austin pounded down the alley, ducking and weaving. Bullets flew all around them, a hundred yards of alley stretched ahead of them.

  Austin did his best to zigzag as he ran, but in such a narrow alleyway it was almost impossible. Either one of them could be hit at any moment, their lives hanging in the balance. He and Samuel had overheard what the group was planning. That was enough to sign their death warrants.

  Thoughts of Dante and Bowie gave Austin just that little bit of extra energy that he needed as they fled the scene, the end of the alley almost within reach.

  After what felt like a marathon for the two men, they finally burst out of the alleyway and onto a wider street, both still running at full pelt as gunshots rang out behind them. Neither slowed a fraction as they turned the corner, glancing at one another from the corner of their eyes and knowing this was not the time for slowing down. They may have gotten lucky so far, but their lives were far from safe.

  Austin wondered what his family was doing in that moment. They couldn’t possibly be in a more dangerous predicament than he was. Poughkeepsie was a safe place. It was filled with survivalists and preppers, men and women who loved to spend time in the mountains and only needed a proper address for their mail and other formalities. Dante’s father, Russell had been just like that. Austin recalled the camping trip he’d been forced to take with the man just a few short weeks before his wedding.

  That had been a very peculiar weekend. Dante wasn’t all that close with his father to begin with, the older man struggled with the life choices his son had made. It was something Dante had always found difficult to deal with and so when Austin was invited to spend a weekend in the Catskills with Russell, he felt like it was something he needed to do to try and help their relationship.

  The two of them had hunted, fished, cooked their kills and drank beer around a campfire. What they hadn’t done a great deal of however, was talk. Still to this day, Austin didn’t know exactly why Russell had invited him on that trip. The man had died only a few years after their wedding and the question was never raised. Dante had mourned the loss in his own way, with Austin there for him however he was needed.

  The one good thing to come out of Russell’s passing at least was that it confirmed for both Dante and Austin how much they wanted to be fathers themselves. It was only a month later that they started looking into adoption and ended up finding Bowie, the little boy who had turned their lives around and given them more purpose than they ever could’ve imagined. Once you had a child to care for, everything seemed to change and all other worries or problems faded into the background, that child becoming the be all and end all of everything. That was why Austin knew he had to survive. Not for Dante – though he loved the man dearly – but for Bowie. His little boy was his world and Austin would do anything to make sure he saw his face again.

  Samuel was already losing track of how many times he’d been forced to run for his life since Trident went down. He wondered if it was punishment for his actions since the crash, whether this was in some way making up for his selfish deeds and the people he had let down.

  Samuel was now doing everything he could to help others and to be a better person, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was all just a bit too late. Perhaps the world was trying to tell him something, perhaps he wasn’t one of the people who was worth saving.

  “The bridge…” Austin gasped as they sprinted down the street.

  Picking up his head, Samuel saw what Austin was referring to – the George Washington Bridge. His sense of direction was totally shot. He had no idea how they had ended up near the bridge from where they had started that morning.

  The bridge signified safety for both him and Austin and both of them quickly started moving toward it.

  New York was the epicenter of the disaster. While Trident’s collapse signified great loss and a new way of life for people all across America and the world, Samuel felt like things were worse in New York because that was where it had all started. It was maybe just because he was connected to the center of it all there, but the idea of crossing into New Jersey filled him with hope for an easier journey north.

  But the nearer to the bridge they got, the more apparent it became that they weren’t the only people with that idea. New York City had a population of over ten million people before the crash, but that number had dwindled significantly in the days following the crash. Each day more and more of them considered that life might be easier elsewhere. It came as little surprise that the roads and bridges out of the city were gridlocked and the sidewalks awash with pedestrians carrying their most valued possessions.

  “This is crazy.”

  “Come on,” Austin encouraged as Samuel paused to take in the scene ahead of them. Thousands of people rushing out of th
e city at once. He wondered if the surge had been like this from the get-go, or if the deteriorating conditions in the city, and the increased danger, were pushing more and more residents out. “We need to get in there.”

  Austin was right. The two men still wore the large rucksacks, but all the supplies were worthless if they didn’t make it out. They continued jogging toward the crowd, sweaty and tired but still without time to stop and process what had happened to them.

  “Sorry,” Samuel apologized as he bumped into a woman with his rucksack.

  She glared and flipped him off. “Watch where you’re going.”

  While there were narrow sidewalks which ran down either side of the bridge over the Hudson, pedestrians had moved into the road too, blocking the route for the cars. Several people sat in their vehicles and honked their horns, trying to move the throng of people out of the way, while others revved their engines and threatened to drive anyway. But for both types of drivers there was nowhere to go. The tarmac was covered with people and gradually more and more people exited their cars and grabbed their belongings, joining those on foot as they tried to get out of the city.

  After about ten minutes of shuffling along and knocking into strangers, Samuel apologizing at first as he kept his head down and tried to avoid being recognized, he and Austin had made it into the middle of the crowd. They trudged forward as fast as possible in such a large crowd. Everyone walked with their heads down and their mouths shut as they crossed the bridge into New Jersey.

  On the other side, the crowds didn’t thin out immediately. A lot of people stood around trying to figure out what to do now. With more and more people coming off the bridge and less and less space available, the pushing and shoving quickly got out of hand.

  Fights broke out as New Yorkers encroached onto land they weren’t familiar with, the roadways widening but only giving space to more people and vehicles. Desperate individuals tried to stop the few moving cars and either beg for a ride or threaten the driver and try to force their way in. Austin and Samuel watched on in horror like many others, trapped in an intersection of troubles with each route only serving them more difficulty.

  “We need to get off the highway,” Samuel shouted to his friend, the noise almost drowning out his voice. Austin nodded, agreeing with Samuel and just as desperate to escape the madness.

  The two of them battled against the moving crowds, feeling at times like they were swimming against the current as they headed for one of the service roads down from the bridge, a route that would hopefully take them into a quieter area of New Jersey. The buildings close to the river were mainly industrial factories or office complexes. No one lived in the area and so all the traffic was moving with purpose. There was no one setting up camp here, everyone was just trying to escape the madness.

  Half way down the service road and already in a much steadier moving stream of people Samuel stopped, the sound of crying halting him in his tracks. “Do you hear that?” he asked Austin, looking around and trying to focus on the sound over all the noise.

  “What? Oh, yeah,” Austin replied after a second, also hearing the crying. “Where is it coming from?”

  The two men turned back, Samuel stepping forward against everyone else as he saw the source of the crying. Just off to his right huddled underneath an overturned roadworks sign was a young girl. She hugged her knees up to her chest and sobbed into them, tears streaming down her face as her eyes surveyed the crowd, searching for someone.

  “Hey there,” Samuel crouched down beside her, Austin shielding Samuel from the passersby to stop him being trampled as he tried to help the young girl. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he soothed her. The girl looked frightened by the arrival of the two men. “Are you okay? What’s your name? Are you lost?”

  The little girl moved her head up and down slightly, nodding in response to Samuel’s questions. He guessed she was maybe nine or ten years old; old enough to understand what was happening, but still young enough to be petrified by the situation. Samuel himself was scared about what was going to happen next on his journey, he could only imagine the fear this little girl had to be feeling.

  “My name is Samuel,” he introduced himself to her. “What’s your name? Have you lost your mom and dad?”

  The little girl nodded again, her movements more pronounced this time as she became more confident around Samuel. “Izzy,” she replied, “I let go of my mom’s hand then I couldn’t find her again.”

  “Okay Izzy,” Samuel nodded, “can you tell me what your mom looked like? Was it just the two of you, or were you with anyone else?”

  “My dad,” Izzy replied, her voice getting louder and less timid as she continued to speak. “And my older brother, Danny.”

  “Okay, good,” Samuel continued to smile and encourage the young girl, speaking calmly to her and doing his best to use his body to protect her from the people rushing down the service road behind him. Austin stood guard as best he could, but it was a difficult job when everyone was so focused on their own goals and wellbeing. “And what do they look like? Do they have blonde hair like yours, or is it darker like mine?”

  “Like mine,” Izzy replied. “And my dad has glasses.”

  “Great,” Samuel returned the girl’s smile. “That’s great, Izzy. Do you want to come out and help me look, or do you want to wait here?”

  Izzy paused for a moment and considered Samuel’s question. He could see the little girl was weighing it up in her head, figuring out if she was brave enough to come out of her hiding place just yet. After a few seconds her face transformed into an expression of determination and she nodded, shuffling forward and moving out from underneath the road sign to stand beside Samuel.

  “Alright,” Samuel grinned down at her. Austin moved closer now that she had stood up. “This is my friend, Austin,” Samuel explained to Izzy as he looked down at her. “He’s going to help us find your family.”

  “Nice to meet you Izzy,” Austin said. “What’s your mom and dad’s names?”

  Izzy pursed her lips and thought for a second, trying to come up with an answer for Austin’s question but coming up short with a disappointed shake of her head.

  “No worries,” Austin replied, giving Izzy the reassuring smile that he used on his son when he was feeling nervous or uncomfortable. Austin was much more natural with children than Samuel so, as a result, the young girl quickly feeling at ease around him as well. “Do you want me to lift you up so you can help us look?”

  “Okay,” Izzy agreed, allowing Austin to pick her up and hold her against his hip, balancing her weight with the rucksack on his back. Samuel smiled at the moment; glad they could do something to help the little girl. Now they just had to find her family.

  “What’s your last name?” Samuel asked as an idea came to him, wondering what to shout into the crowd. Izzy had given them a vague description of her family, but having a name to call out would be extremely helpful.

  “Harvey.”

  “Great,” he replied. “We’ll find your mom and dad, don’t worry, Izzy.”

  Samuel started shouting into the crowd for Mr. or Mrs. Harvey, his eyes scanning the group in front of him. No more than two minutes had passed by before a blonde-haired man wearing glasses caught his eye, the man’s relief visible as he noticed Izzy in Austin’s arms to Samuel’s side.

  “Look there,” Samuel said to Izzy, “is that your dad?”

  “Dad!” Izzy called out with excitement when she figured out where Samuel was pointing. “Mom!”

  The man, followed by a blonde woman and a young teenage boy, started pushing through the crowd toward Samuel and Austin. Putting Izzy back down on the ground, Austin smiled at Samuel, thrilled that they had managed to reunite the family.

  “Izzy, sweetheart. Are you okay? We were so worried. Where have you been?”

  As Izzy threw herself on her mother, Samuel and Austin stepped to the side somewhat to give the family room. It was a touching moment, all four of them hugging one anothe
r and smiling, a feeling of pure joy in the swirling sea of grief and torment that surrounded them.

  After a minute the father stepped back and let his children and wife embrace without him, turning to face the two men who had saved his daughter. Tears filled his eyes. “I can’t thank you enough,” he said, shaking each of their hands in turn. “Don’t know what we’d have done if you hadn’t found her.”

  Samuel smiled. “We’re just glad we could find you.”

  “Are you local? Do you live around here? Do you need anything at all?” Mr. Harvey asked.

  “We’ve just come across the bridge,” Austin answered. “Heading up north toward Poughkeepsie to find my family.”

  “Do you have children?”

  “One,” Austin smiled, “a little boy.”

  “He’s very lucky to have you,” Mr. Harvey gushed. “Honestly. I don’t know what to say. Just thank you, thank you so, so much.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Yeah really,” Samuel continued, “we’re just glad she’s safe now. You’ll take care of yourself, won’t you Izzy?”

  “I will,” Izzy nodded, looking up at Samuel and Austin from her mother’s arms. “Thank you.”

  Samuel and Austin both knew that was their cue to leave. Austin’s husband and son were waiting in Poughkeepsie and they had to keep going until they completed that journey and made another family whole again. Turning away from the family on the serivce road, the two men fought their way back into the crowd and onto quieter streets. They were out of New York for now, but there was still a long way to go.

  Chapter 17

  “Do you think they’ll be okay?”

  Austin looked over at Samuel and smiled, pleasantly surprised by how much the interaction with Izzy and her family had affected him. “I’m sure they will be,” he replied, “they’re a whole family again, that’s enough to keep them going.”