Sawkill [Omnibus]

by Matt Fitzgerald

  At five forty, Ron Donavan, the sports agent from 303, got up on the roof of the Land Rover and yelled for everyone to listen up. He was holding his cell phone above his head.

  “I got a call from my guy in Albany. He can have a news chopper here tomorrow morning. The first five people that wire me a million dollars can have a seat.”

  Several people rushed over to him and a shouting match broke out. It ended when Jack Hogan shoved his cell phone into Donavan’s face and asked for the necessary numbers to complete the transfer. The others that were arguing dove into their pockets for their phones. By the time the garage door opened Ron Donavan had his five million dollars and five of the tenants would fly away in the news chopper tomorrow morning.

  The alley was empty and the parade was short. It was six sixteen when they rolled the door back down.

  “That went a lot smoother than I thought it would.” Burke said as they rode the elevator back up to the lobby level.

  “You better knock on some wood there, mister.” Kim said.

  Burke smiled and pretended to knock on his crotch. He made a clicking sound with his tongue as he did it.

  By eight o’clock Kim was exhausted. They ate dinner down in the sushi bar with the other twenty six that remained. Johnny Vo from 710 was one of two chefs that lived in the building. He didn’t work here, but he knew a lot about sushi. He had recommended the meal once the others left.

  “We should use up whatever is left. It won’t last, and it would be a shame to waste it.”

  The meal was grand as Johnny kept producing roll after roll. When Ethan from 707 asked if he was being wasteful he said whatever didn’t get eaten today would be bad by tomorrow. After that everyone loosened up and seemed to enjoy the normalcy of the meal. The wine and beer flowed, but Kim didn’t think that was bad. The less booze around the better once they were confined for a while.

  When Kim and Anna excused themselves, Ethan from 707 was suggesting they break out the karaoke machine.

  “You got this?” Kim asked Burke.

  “The party will be over by ten. Get some sleep.”

  The women undressed, showered together and slipped into bed.

  “Do you think we will be alright?” Anna asked as they were settling in.

  “I think so. We go down to P4 and stay put for a while. We have ten gas masks and half a dozen axes in the terrorist preparedness room.” She said this last part making quotations in the air with her fingers.

  “I would have left with you if you decided to go.” Anna said.

  “I know you would have.” Kim said and kissed Anna. “We are going to be fine here, I promise.”

  The next morning, Ron Donavan and his little troupe made their way to the roof of the building. There were several other people on the roof. Some came to see the show, others to see if there were more than six seats. Kim and Burke were there because they felt they should be.

  As the chopper landed, the six that were leaving stepped forward. Donavan, The Millers, Jack Hogan, Kelly Tate and the magazine editor from 812 all had their luggage and the Millers had their fucking dog, Lady. The engines shut down and the blades came to a stop. The cargo door slid open and a man with a giant machine gun stepped out and aimed the gun at the crowd. A second man climbed out, he was wearing a black track suit with black sunglasses.

  “Donavan, Miller, Miller, Tate, Hogan, and Allen, let’s go.”

  The Millers were the first to move. As soon as they took two steps the man in the sunglasses held up his hand.

  “What is this? Do I look like Jet Blue? You each get a backpack and there is no way I’m taking that fucking dog.”

  “But she’s my baby.” Ruth Miller sobbed.

  “Then stay here with her.” The man said.

  “I’ll take her place.” Devin Dorn said stepping out from the crowd of onlookers.

  Ruth looked over her shoulder at Dorn and dropped the dog. The man smiled.

  “I have to take a shit. You people have until then to figure out what you are bringing. One bag each. When I come back, I’ll load you in and we are leaving.

  As the man walked towards Donavan to follow him to the shitter, Devin Dorn approached him.

  “I’ll give you two million to fit me on.” Devin said.

  “The arrangements have been made, sir.” The man said.

  “Five million. I can transfer it right now.” Devin said and held up his cell phone.

  “Step back, sir.”

  “You are going to turn down five million dollars?” Devin asked.

  The man in the sunglasses grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him in close.

  “I will not get into a bidding war out here on the roof. We are at max weight. All this bullshit was supposed to be sorted out before I got here.” The man said and glanced at Donavan who looked away. “If you don’t give it up I’ll have Christos shoot you. Understood?”

  Devin didn’t say anything, just pulled his arm free and let the man walk away.

  When the man came back everyone was ready with a single bag. The rest of the luggage sat discarded behind them. Kim looked at it and thought, there must be some decent plunder in those bags if that was the stuff these people thought to take, but could not.

  One by one they got in and sat down. Hogan was the last in. As he sat, Devin Dorn stepped forward again.

  “Devin.” Burke said and made a grab for his arm, but he missed.

  “Hey, buddy. Christos is it? You seem to be the man with the power, having the gun and all. I’ll offer you five million dollars to get me on that thing.” Devin said pointing at the bird.

  “Stay back, sir.” Christos said.

  Devin took two more steps and kept talking.

  “Five million dollars. It’s everything I have. I can transfer it right now.” He said and reached into his pocket while taking another step.

  Christos fired the gun once. The round took Devin center mass in the chest. The impact blew him off his feet and five feet backwards. He landed with a dull thud. The cell phone he pulled from his pocket danced across the cement as the echo of the shot bounced off the nearby buildings. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  For a second Burke thought about pulling his revolver, and Kim sensed it. She put her hand over his, never taking her eyes off the man with the machine gun. The chopper cargo door closed, the pilot fired up its engines, and took off north. Once it was gone the people on the roof stood in disbelief at what just happened. No one spoke for a long time. The Miller’s abandoned dog, Lady broke the spell when she went over and started lapping from the expanding pool of blood on the roof of the Silver Tower.

  “What do we do with the body?” Burke asked.

  “We throw it off the roof.” Dixon said.

  “I agree.” Freddy from 312 said.

  “What?” Kim asked.

  “We toss him. We don’t want him coming back, do we?” Freddy asked.

  “Don’t you have to get bit?” Burke asked.

  “Do you know that for sure? Dixon asked.

  “No.” Burke replied.

  “Then we toss him.” Freddy said.

  Kim and Burke had no reply. They stood and watched as Dixon and Freddy picked up the body by the arms and legs and dragged it to the edge of the roof. The trail of blood looked like some giant made one stroke across the roof with a ragged red brush.

  “Does anyone want to say anything before we toss him?” Dixon asked.

  “Geronimo.” Paul Pratt said from the small crowd of onlookers. Kim hated him for that.

  The two men swung the body as if they were starting a jump rope and tossed it on a three count. Neither man watched it fall. As they walked towards the crowd Dixon wiped tears from his eyes.

  “We have to get ready.” Dixon said. “We have twenty three hours.”

  As everyone helped loading up carts, dollies, and luggage racks, Brenda Jacobs from 309 kept inventory.

  The morning the US government blew up New York City, the twenty remaining oc
cupants of the Silver Tower were huddled four levels below ground with one hundred and fifteen cases of water, juice, soda, energy drinks and iced coffees. They had made endless trips from Whole Foods to the elevator, bringing as many dry goods as they could get in the time they had. They had three guns, ten gas masks, four axes, toilet paper, paper towels and a shit ton of bedding, pillows and clothes. The dog was conspicuous in its absence. Everyone seemed to have a silent agreement it was an annoying little yapper and no one wanted to smell dog shit for the next couple of weeks. They were all grateful there was a single bathroom down here. No one wanted to shit in the corner.

  The bombs fell and Manhattan was reduced to rubble. The walls and the floor shook in the Silver Tower basement, but they held. As the day went on there were massive explosions, awful sounds of twisting metal, and the deep never ending rumble of collapsing buildings. At noon the noise was the loudest. There were cracks and snaps and then a deafening growl as the building above let go.

  “That’s ours going.” Dixon said.

  The earth shook and the walls shifted and cracked as the building fell down on itself. A section of the garage collapsed, but it was the opposite corner and no one was hurt. The lights went and then there was perfect silence. There were no more explosions that they could hear, no more alarms or sirens. Just the sounds of twenty people breathing in the dark remained. Kim jumped when Burke spoke.

  “Anyone hurt?”

  A general mumble of “no” came out of the darkness.

  “Did anyone bring a flashlight?” Kim asked.

  No one answered.

  “Hold on.” a voice in the darkness said.

  Then the garage filled with flashing light and the deafening squeal of a car alarm. Kevin from 505 walked towards his Prius and chirped the alarm off. He got in and turned on the headlights. The air was thick with dust and particles.

  “This should last a while.” Kevin said closing the car’s door.

  Burke looked around and counted twenty six cars down here.

  “We turn on one at a time and run them till they die. We shouldn’t turn on the engines though. We don’t know how the ventilation is.”

  “I have a flashlight in my truck as well.” Kevin said.

  “We should check the other cars.” Burke said.

  Kim liked the idea. It gave everyone something to do as they absorbed the shock of what had just happened.

  Two weeks later, Kim woke in Anna’s arms. They were asleep in the bed of the Ford F150 they had claimed as theirs the second night. She heard voices somewhere in the dark. As her eyes adjusted she could see men huddled around one of the flashlights they had found in one of the glove compartments. She pressed the button on her watch as saw it was nine in the morning. At nine thirty Dixon would blow the horn on the Prius to wake everyone up for breakfast. They made a schedule so people would not simply sleep all day.

  Kim got up and went over to the huddled gathering.

  “What’s up guys?” She asked.

  Burke, Dixon, Ed Mueller, and Paul Pratt and all stood up to greet her.

  “We think today’s the day Kimmy.” Dixon said.

  She hated being called Kimmy. Her creepy uncle Peter used to call her that.

  “Yeah?” She said.

  “It’s been fifteen days. I don’t know how much more settled things can get out there.” Burke said.

  “I suppose you are right. What’s the plan?”

  “I guess it’s as simple as we go up the access stairs and poke our head out and see if there is still a lobby up there.” Burke said.

  “Should we all go, or send a scout?” Kim asked.

  “I think we should send a small team, just to check it out and see what’s safe.” Paul said.

  “Why don’t the five of us go? The rest can stay safe down here until we give it the all clear.” Burke said.

  “Us and Anna. I want her to come too.”

  “Works for me.” Ed Mueller said.

  “Let’s go in an hour. Dixon, you can wake everyone up and we will let them know what we are doing.” Kim said.

  They put on the gas masks and took axes. Burke gave Dixon one of the extra guns.

  “We have to be ready for whatever is up there. If the shutters didn’t hold there could be people or those things in the lobby.” Burke said before they took to the stairs.

  Kim was in the middle of the procession. Burke took the lead with Dixon bringing up the rear. When Burke reached the door to the lobby he tried the lever. It moved and the door clicked, but it didn’t move in its frame. He gave it a harder tug and it gave a fraction of an inch.

  “It’s alright. The frame is bent. We can work it loose.” he said.

  They took turns whacking the door and its frame with both sides of their axes. They tried prying the door open by sliding the blade of an ax between the door and its jam. Finally half an hour after they started Burke gave the battered door a series of hard tugs and it let go. Dixon and Pratt caught Burke as he stumbled backwards. Once he regained his balance he looked at the open door. There was a pile of rubble blocking it, but he could see a faint glow and judged the debris a few feet thick.

  “We need to dig.” Burke said.

  So they dug. They dug using the axes and their hands and a shovel one of them found in the trunk of a car. It took them six hours in rotating shifts to make a big enough hole to crawl through. Once the hole was done, the five of them went through and found themselves in the mostly intact lobby of the Silver Tower. There had been a collapse on the right hand side obliterating the gym and the dry cleaners. That was what blocked the door. But to the left they could see the sushi place and the Starbucks seemed alright. They would have to climb over some rubble to see what shape the Whole Foods was in. The shutters had held so there was no one squatting.

  “Now what?” Kim asked.

  “We need to find an opening for some fresh air and to get out.” Burke said.

  “Do you think we can breathe up here without these?” Dixon asked pointing to his gas mask.

  “I wouldn’t try it.” Burke said. ”Let’s see what we can find.”

  Kim and Anna followed Burke while Dixon, Pratt and Mueller went off separately. They all met back at their hole a little while later.

  “You can get to the third floor on the stairs, but there is rubble out the windows, at least in the hall. I broke one of them, but couldn’t feel any air moving.” Dixon said. “The door to the fourth floor is buried in rubble. I checked the stairs at both ends of the hall. Same thing.”

  “I did the same on the second floor. There are no clear windows. Everything is rock and steel outside. I broke one, and felt some air, but couldn’t see even a sliver of daylight.” Mueller said.

  “We checked the lobby.” Burke said. “No way out here either.”

  “Now what?” Anna asked.

  “Now we be patient and we don’t panic. We have plenty of food and water, and there must be some air coming in the cracks and openings. We have to make a plan and keep the others calm. We figure out where we think is the best place to dig and start digging. I’d say it would be the highest point we can get to.” Burke said

  “I like it. We tunnel out like Andy in that prison movie.” Mueller said nodding.

  “I like it too.” Pratt said. “Let’s go tell the others the plan.”

  They reached their tunnel and decided to widen it before climbing back down. They cleared away particleboard, plaster, and insulation as they went. Dixon was using his axe to chop the bigger pieces up so others could toss them aside. He was hacking away and singing Springsteen songs when he heard the metallic clink and then the hiss.

  “Oh fuck, oh fuck.” He said. “I think I got a gas line.”

  Burke grabbed Dixon by the arm and rushed him to his feet.

  “Everybody run.” Burke yelled. “Sushi.”

  The six of them ran as hard as they could to the sushi bar. They flew through the dining room and into the kitchen, the other five following Burke.
He ripped open the door to the walk in fridge and ushered everyone in. As he pulled the door closed behind him the axe in the lobby fell from the gas line it had been stuck in. It struck the pipe a little further down and sparked. They felt the impact of the explosion in the walk in fridge and were sure they would be trapped in here and that the explosion brought the rest of the building down.

  Once they got up the courage to open the fridge and see what was left they were amazed by what they saw.

  “No fucking way.” Dixon muttered.

  The lobby was scorched, but not destroyed. There were random fires where the floor ended. One of the piles of rubble to the left was smoldering. All the windows in the lobby were broken, shattered from the intense heat, but the fire itself acted in a way none of them understood. An expert could have told them the spark ignited and the fire raced down the pipe and into the pressurized tank twenty five feet below the fourth underground floor of the building. The tank could not handle the pressure or the heat, so it exploded with the force that created what Burke, Kim, Anna, Mueller, Pratt and Dixon were looking at now.

  Where the stairwell and the gym and the dry cleaner used to be was now a giant void in the floor. Burked inched to the place where the floor ended and the hole began.

  “Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Mueller muttered as he came up next to Burke.

  Kim came up beside them and tried to process what she was seeing. Down below there was an impossibly deep hole where the parking garage and other survivors had been fifteen minutes ago. Kim judged the cavern at least ten stories deep. The blast must have destroyed a subbasement and maybe broken through to the subway system, or some old sewer network. Whatever it was, her tenants were dead – burned alive most likely and dropped into the abyss.

  “Our food and water were down there.” Mueller said in a dry tone.

  “So were our dead friends.” Dixon said.

  “Now what? Anna asked. “What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink?”

  “Relax.” Burke said. “We have what’s left in Starbucks and the sushi place and whatever we can find in fridges in the suites and in the condos on three. That should be more than enough to keep us until we dig out.”