Chapter 14 Emery #2
We packed up, consolidated where we could, refilled our water bottles from the tub, which was honestly disgusting, but better than nothing, and left the apartment.
The morning streets were quiet, and we didn’t talk as we walked to the bridge.
I could see that the bridge’s traffic lanes were full of abandoned cars.
When we got to the bridge, we had a decision to make: take the road or the pedestrian path.
“We might be able to find some useful items if we take the road,” Papi said.
“But we might also encounter more zombies unable to get off the bridge,” I argued. “The cars might provide us with cover, but they could also be obstacles to work around. The pedestrian path shouldn’t have as many obstacles.”
“Emery is right,” Luis said. “I vote we take the pedestrian path as well.”
“It is the safer route,” Papi conceded.
“Then it’s settled?” Nico asked.
With everyone in agreement, we set out across the iconic bridge.
The bridge’s history and the thought that we might be the last humans ever to cross it weighed heavily on me.
Never in a million years would I have thought something like this could happen.
As we hoped, the pedestrian path was deserted and we were able to cross easily.
The challenge came as we set foot in Manhattan.
Lower Manhattan was eerily quiet, but showed clear signs of attempts to contain the virus.
Barricades and walls were erected randomly throughout the streets.
Sometimes, MTA buses and Army tanks blocked our passage completely, forcing us to detour around them.
Add in evading and sometimes fighting off zombies, and it had taken us far longer than it should have.
When we finally stopped for lunch, we had only made it halfway to the river, and where we assumed an evacuation point would be.
“It’s a good sign it’s so quiet, right?” I asked as we settled inside a deli to eat. “That means the evacuation worked in Manhattan. And might still be happening?”
“Maybe,” Miguel replied unconvincingly.
“Lack of military presence worries me,” Papi stated. “In Brooklyn, we know why we didn’t see anyone. They were overrun. We’re seeing plenty of signs that they were here, but none that they are still here. I wouldn’t hold too much hope, Piccina. We might have to walk out of here on our own.”
Nico got up from the booth and walked to the door. He stared out at a tank half a block away. “Maybe there is a way we could find out,” he said. “Luis, come with me. Everyone else, stay here.”
I went to the window and watched as they jogged down the street to the tank.
They climbed on top of it, and after what looked like a heated debate over how to get in, they managed to open the top.
Luis ducked his head inside, and after a few seconds, he sat up and disappeared inside the tank.
I chewed on my lip nervously as I waited for him to reappear.
What if there was a zombie inside that he hadn’t seen?
Miguel wrapped his arms around me from behind and hugged me. “They’re going to be ok, Em.”
I nodded. I knew that, but circumstances change at the drop of a dime.
No one was safe, no matter how capable you were.
I didn’t relax until I saw Luis climb back out of the tank, and they were both headed back to the deli.
When they came back in, Luis held up the handheld Army radio he had retrieved.
“Hopefully, this will tell us what we need to know,” he said as he switched on the radio.
As soon as the radio was turned on, it started playing a message.
All evacuation points have been closed. Military personnel are advised to evacuate Manhattan and the surrounding areas.
Fuck. Not the news we were hoping to hear.
“Now what?” I asked.
“We’ll have to find our way out of the city on our own,” Nico replied.
“We have options, I’m just not sure which would be the best,” Papi said.
“Based on the direction we’ve been heading, the Holland Tunnel is closest,” Miguel commented. “I don’t know how I feel about going into a tunnel, but it’s the closest way to get to the mainland and out of New York.”
“It isn’t ideal,” Mr. Higgins agreed. “My suggestion would be to stop by a store and grab any light source we can find. The tunnel is going to be dark, and the last thing we want is to go stumbling around in the dark ninety feet below the surface.”
“He has a point,” I commented.
“Then let’s get moving,” Mami said. “The sooner we get this over with, the happier I will be. I never liked those tunnels.”
I rubbed Mami’s back comfortingly as we left the deli. If we ever had to travel to New Jersey, which was rare, we never took the tunnels. Ever. Even if there were delays on the bridges, the tunnels were never an option. “It’s gonna be ok, Mami.”
“I know, Pequenino. I know.”
We’d made it a block when we had to detour down a narrow alley to get around another blockade. As we stepped into the alley, a man appeared from the shadows of a doorway. He raised a gun and pointed it at Nico, who was in the lead.
“Give me all your bags, and nobody gets hurt.”