Wipeout | Book 3 | Empty Vault

by Richards, E. S.

  “Uh, yeah,” Jessie replied. “I guess so.”

  “Thanks,” Kitch replied, already turning to walk away. “If anything does change, come and get me?”

  “Okay,” Jessie nodded, her breath catching in her throat as she replied. Kitch flashed her one last smile and then took off at a jog across the fields, heading for the Surf Shack.

  Jessie looked back to the ship and exhaled slowly. She hadn’t been frightened when she first thought she saw movement on the deck of the ship, but now she was. She didn’t know whether to carry on digging or simply stand in place and watch the vessel, wishing she had some binoculars or something that she could use to get a closer look. Kitch was right about one thing though – if people had been on board the whole time, what had changed in order to make them emerge today? The question lingered in Jessie’s head as she looked out to sea, both anxious to find out and reluctant to know the truth.

  Chapter 21

  Sitting in front of his small fire by the Hudson River, Samuel warmed his hands and looked out over the expanse of the water and into the darkness. Somewhere over there he knew Austin was in a similar position. The telltale light of his fire marked his location and provided Samuel with some comfort. Mason and Noah were both asleep in the tent behind him and while the day’s activities had exhausted Samuel too, he couldn’t bring himself to sleep while Austin was still awake on the other side of the river.

  Much like Austin, all Samuel cared about now was reaching Poughkeepsie and seeing his friend reunite with his family again. He had heard so many stories about Dante and Bowie in particular over their days of traveling together, Samuel almost felt like he knew them both. It made him long for that sort of connection himself, for a family of his own. He missed his parents and his sister greatly and hoped with all his heart that they were okay. Samuel also realized he wanted more than that. He wanted to love someone and he wanted children of his own. He had no idea whether he would ever have the opportunity now, but he knew if it ever arose, he needed to take it and not shy away like he often had in the past.

  Samuel had been on much more than just a physical journey since leaving New York, but an emotional journey as well. He had learned a great deal about himself and the type of man he wanted to be; the type of man he was gradually transforming himself into. As he sat by the dwindling fire and recounted his thoughts, Samuel heard a faint crackle coming from beside him. He turned and squinted into the distance, trying to keep his breathing steady as he listened for the noise again.

  It sounded muffled somewhat and almost like someone was trying to talk to him. After the encounter with the bear in the forest a few days earlier, Samuel was extremely cautious of what could be hiding behind the tree line. He looked to his rucksack, trying to remember whether there was anything in there that he could use as a weapon.

  Staring at the bag though, Samuel tilted his head to one side and listened again. The sound seemed to be coming from inside his rucksack. Pulling the bag closer to him, Samuel opened it and stuck an arm inside, rifling around for what the source of it was. Surely there couldn’t be anything trapped inside. The bag had barely left his sight all afternoon. It just wasn’t possible.

  “Samuel? Come on, Sam. Austin to Samuel. Do you read me?”

  Samuel’s hand clasped around a rectangular device and he pulled it out of the bag, holding it in front of his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. The walkie talkies. They’d found them in a sporting goods store back in New York, just before they were nearly arrested for shoplifting by a lone policeman. With everything that had happened in that moment and since, Samuel had entirely forgotten about the small devices, shocked that they were even set up and working.

  As the walkie talkie crackled in his hand again, Samuel realized he finally had a way to communicate with his friend on the other river bank.

  “Samuel to Austin,” he spoke into the device, using the same type of language that he had heard Austin use. “I’m here. Are you okay? Over.”

  “Sam! My God, I am happy to hear your voice. I didn’t know whether your receiver would be working. Over.”

  Samuel grinned from ear to ear, hearing his friend speaking again. “Are you okay?” He asked again, anxious to know what had happened to Austin after he had disappeared out of sight down the river. “What happened?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Austin’s voice answered from the device in Samuel’s hand. “The last thing I remember is flying down the river. The current got so bad, so quickly, I was way out of my depth. I think I must have been thrown from the canoe. I woke up on the river bank and then luckily found my bag washed up as well. Took me a while to get my bearings and then I eventually figured out I was on the wrong side. Typical, isn’t it?”

  Austin huffed in what Samuel assumed was wry laughter, trying to gauge as much as he could about how Austin was really feeling from his words and the tone of his voice. With the radio crackle and without being able to look into his friend’s eyes, it was difficult, but Samuel put himself in Austin’s position and knew his friend would be both frightened and upset about what had happened. They were so close to Poughkeepsie now and everything Austin had been fighting for. To be pushed back several steps while his companions forged on again had to be hard to deal with, but Samuel had no intentions of leaving Austin behind. When the sun came up the next morning, he was going to do everything he could to reunite with his friend again and then together, along with Mason and Noah, the four of them would find a way into Poughkeepsie and make two families whole again.

  “You’re okay though?” Samuel asked again. “You’re not hurt or anything? We’ll find a way to get you over here, just so long as you’re okay.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just can’t believe this, pal. I can practically see the city.”

  “I know,” Samuel tried to sooth his friend. “We’ll figure it out in the morning though, we managed to cross the river once, I’m sure we can do it again.”

  “How are the boys? Are they both okay?”

  “Yeah,” Samuel replied, keeping his voice low as not to wake either of the sleeping children. He reassured Austin that they were both fine and just worried about him, too. The pair of them caught up over the walkie talkies and both found comfort in the remote conversation.

  Samuel learned that while his walkie talkie had already been ready to use, Austin had needed to put in the batteries from his flashlight to get it working. They shared some awkward laughter about how much use the devices would’ve been if they’d remembered about them earlier, the night they’d spent shouting for one another in the forest after the bear attack. It was nice to hear each other’s voices again. Samuel reminded Austin that he wasn’t alone and Austin reminded Samuel that he should never give up hope.

  They talked for several minutes until Austin finally yawned and decided he was going to call it a night. With loose plans put in place for talking the next morning, both men said their goodnight’s and Samuel carefully crawled into the tent alongside Mason and Noah. It was a tight squeeze, but he was grateful for their company and that he wasn’t separated and in Austin’s position.

  The next morning as he woke, he told the two boys of the conversation he had shared with Austin as they ate a quick breakfast.

  “Can we speak to him?”

  “Maybe later,” Samuel smiled at Noah, encouraged by both how the youngest boy had been managing since they lost Austin. It couldn’t have been easy for him to jump from the canoe and then watch Austin paddle away down the river. He knew he could’ve been taken away with him if he hadn’t jumped when he did. Mason was helping his brother cope with it all, though. The pair of them seemed closer than ever before and encouraged by each other’s mood.

  “We’re going to keep heading back down to the city and see if there’s anywhere he can get across. Apparently, the river narrows off for a bit just before the city. That might be a good option.”

  “Will Austin have to swim across?”

  “Potentially,” Samuel replied
as he packed up his rucksack, everything stuffed inside as best he could manage. “Or he might need to make a raft, I’m not sure.” The two of them had talked about both options the night before, neither certain what was the best way for Austin to rejoin them again.

  “The water will be too cold to swim in,” Mason mumbled as they left their small campsite behind. “I don’t think I could swim in that.”

  “Are there fishes in it?” Noah questioned, looking out onto the water and shivering as flashbacks of their crossing returned to him.

  “There’s nothing that can hurt you,” Samuel said reassuringly. “And you’ve both seen how strong Austin is, he’ll be able to make it across fine, don’t you worry. Look,” Samuel paused and pointed across the river, slightly further downstream than the three of them were. “There he is – he’s got a head start on us already. Think we can catch up with him?”

  Mason and Noah cheered in agreement, kicking up their heels and skipping through the long grass that lined the river bank. Samuel knew they needed to be on the lookout for anyone else from Poughkeepsie, but he couldn’t help but smile at the two boys. It was easy to forget that they had been separated from their parents and their home, then lived in a donut store for days until he and Austin had found them. Children could be so powerful sometimes. A sharp reminder what youthful positivity and an unawareness of the world’s problems could do for morale.

  As they walked on, Samuel constantly checked their surroundings for other people or something that might help them. He watched Austin across the river and kept an eye on the two boys. He knew from their rough position that Poughkeepsie would soon become visible again and when it did, they might have to rethink their plan. If there wasn’t a way for Austin to get across to them before then, they had both agreed the night before that they would need to retrace their steps. What they hadn’t come to an agreement on however was whether Samuel would lead the boys away from the city once more, or whether Austin would have to go back upriver alone in search of a crossing. It wasn’t something either man had wanted to discuss, both of them focusing on positivity and the happiness they felt simply from talking to the other again.

  “Hey Samuel. What’s that?”

  Looking over at Mason and Noah, Samuel saw the pair of them standing still by a tiny wooden jetty that cut out into the river. It looked like the sort of platform that someone would stand on to fish, giving them the advantage of being a couple of feet further away from the river bank itself. Samuel was just about to explain that to the boys when he realized they weren’t talking about the jetty itself, but rather what was moored up to one side of it. It was a small, wooden row boat, floating peacefully on the water almost like it was just waiting to be found.

  “Oh wow,” Samuel exhaled, looking around to see if there was anyone nearby the boat might belong to. It seemed odd to just leave the thing unattended by the small jetty, but then they were in such a remote area along the river that it was probably unlikely anyone would ever pass by to make it a risk. Regardless of who it belonged to, Samuel wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass them by. The boat looked like it was floating comfortably on the water, with no leaks or damage to speak of. This could be the one chance they might get to help Austin return to them and he was going to grasp hold of it with both hands. Shrugging off his rucksack, he dug out the walkie talkie again and sent the call out to his friend on the other side.

  “Samuel to Austin. Come in. We might have found something over here.”

  After sending out the message, Samuel and the boys waited patiently for a reply. Mason and Noah were noticeably excited, looking between the small row boat and the walkie talkie in Samuel’s hand as they waited for Austin’s response. They were almost holding their breath, both gasping as the device crackled to life and Austin’s voice carried through from across the river.

  “Austin to Samuel. Sounds promising. What’ve you got?”

  Chapter 22

  “You promise me you’re not going to go anywhere? Both of you, I want to hear you say it.”

  Sitting in the row boat, Samuel was swiftly beginning to question his plan. There were dozens of worries and concerns swimming around in his head, not the least of which was the safety of Mason and Noah as they stood on the jetty with his rucksack. All of a sudden, they looked so small and Samuel didn’t want to leave them on their own. What if something happened to him on the river and he couldn’t get back to them? What if somehow they got hurt?

  The row boat wasn’t big enough for all four of them though. It was going to be a squeeze just to get Austin and his bag in there as well, taking the boys in the boat was entirely out of the question. Yet another of Samuel’s worries was the boat starting to sink with the added weight, the small vessel rocking substantially as he had climbed on board and got himself seated. But now that he was ready to push off, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it – at least not until he heard the boys say that they were going to be okay.

  “We promise,” Mason replied. “We’ll be okay, Samuel.”

  “Yeah,” Noah nodded. “We’re going to wait and get to see Austin again. I wish we could come across with you.”

  “Promise you won’t try to find another way across,” Samuel replied, still not satisfied that he could leave the boys behind. He had very quickly taken to the role of their single guardian in Austin’s absence and he was finding it harder than he would’ve ever thought to leave them behind, even just for a few minutes.

  “We won’t,” Mason answered firmly. “I promise. We’ll sit right here.”

  Tugging his younger brother down by the hand, Mason and Noah both sat cross-legged on the jetty and stared at Samuel in the small boat. There was nothing else to do now, Samuel needed to go. Looking back over his shoulder to where Austin waited on the other side, he tried to guess how long it would take for him to reach his friend but he had no idea. He knew his fear about leaving the boys behind was only masking his fear about being in the middle of the Hudson by himself. After what Austin had experienced, Samuel doubted whether he would have the strength to control the wooden rowing boat. But this was the only way he was going to reunite with Austin again and he owed it to his friend to try.

  “Okay then,” he exhaled, pushing away from the jetty with one of the oars. “I’ll be back soon.”

  As he rowed, Samuel kept his eyes on the two boys. He felt the water pushing him sideways with the current and fought against it, keeping his body firmly in the center of the boat and his strokes with the oars even and strong. It was different from the canoe – he didn’t have to twist his body to move the paddle from one side of the boat to the other. Samuel could remain in position and direct the little boat to the other side, hoping to reach his friend in one piece.

  Without turning back to look over his shoulder, Samuel had no idea how much distance he had covered. Mason and Noah were gradually getting smaller and smaller and more to the left of him as he drifted with the current, but they both remained firmly in place as they had promised. He pulled strength from them as Austin had often told him he did with Bowie, forcing himself to keep rowing for the boys, terrified of upsetting them or leaving them to fend for themselves.

  After a while, Samuel started to hear his friend’s voice calling out to him from the river bank. He still didn’t turn and look for Austin, scared of unbalancing himself and losing control of the boat, but hearing his voice properly and not over a walkie talkie instantly put a smile on his face. He knew he had to be almost there and pushed on even harder, determined to reach his friend as Austin cheered him on with encouragement.

  “You’re almost here, Sam! Just a little further. You got this!”

  Samuel had never been much of an athlete, a few college swim meets the closest he ever came to competitive sport. But as he listened to Austin’s encouragement and fought against the coursing river, he imagined that was the sort of scenario he was in. He was pushed on by the cheers and the shouts of his name and kept moving in the right direction, fighting
against the burn in his muscles until Austin’s voice was so loud, he was practically right behind him.

  “Take it easy now,” Austin shouted. “You’re going to hit the bank. Get your oars out of the water for the impact!”

  Samuel did as he was told, jolting forward somewhat as he rammed into the river bank behind him. There was no jetty to pull up alongside here, meaning Samuel was forced to try and keep the small boat in place by using his oars alone. As soon as he had recovered from the impact of the shore, he thrust one into the water and pushed back against the current, holding the boat as still as possible so Austin could join him.

  “Okay, I’m coming in!”

  The boat rocked tremendously to one side as Austin stepped onto it behind Samuel, the man forced to climb over his friend to position himself opposite. Samuel did everything he could to keep in control, not even allowing himself to look at his friend until Austin was sat in place across from him with a huge grin on his face.

  “You did it, pal!” Austin congratulated him, their knees knocking together in the small boat that now sat an inch or so lower in the water. “Thank you.”

  “Let’s make it back to the other side first,” Samuel replied with a smile, shifting the oars over to Austin. “You’re going to have to row now, you up for it?”

  “Always,” Austin replied with a nod, taking the oars from Samuel and heaving them back in the water, leaving the wrong river bank behind and cutting their course back across the Hudson to where Mason and Noah waited for them. They were too far away now for Samuel to see the young boys, but he knew they would be waiting for them exactly where they had promised. He trusted them both and he couldn’t wait for his little unit to be complete again.

  With Austin at the helm, Samuel knew they would make it back. His friend rowed with power and confidence and before long he could see the two boys waiting for them on the other side. They were a far distance further downstream from the jetty. They would have to dismount rather roughly and risk losing the boat, but they didn’t really have a choice in the matter. The boys jumped up from the jetty and started running along the river bank to meet the boat.