“Valid point,” he smiled back. “Not a necessity though,” he added. “What else?”
Austin ran through the checklist of everything he believed the pair of them needed for the journey. They both hoped they’d find a car once they were out of the city, but knew a large chunk of the journey would have to be made on foot. Neither of them was dressed for that sort of hike and the clothes in Samuel’s apartment didn’t bring much to the table in that department either. Too many years of living in offices and hotel rooms had limited his options to crisp white shirts and intricately patterned ties.
On top of that, they needed more food and water and what Austin deemed the most important item: a method of protection. They had both stood in the window and watched riots and looting take place across the city; they had seen people chased through the street – much like they had been – and murdered for no apparent reason. If Austin hadn’t been convinced of it at first, he now believed the two of them needed a way to fight back if they wound up in any trouble. Yet another resource that couldn’t be found in Samuel’s apartment.
“So what do we have?” Samuel lamented, Austin’s list not reassuring him at all that they were ready to go outside.
“You’ve actually got a surprising collection of battery powered equipment. Would’ve thought you’d have upgraded to all the latest technology.”
Samuel laughed. “It’s probably because I use those sorts of things so infrequently I didn’t realize they were out of date. Which ones are you talking about?”
“Well this wind-up radio for one,” Austin remarked, pulling it out of the rucksack. “I don’t think they even make these anymore, Sam. It’s practically an antique.”
“That works?” Samuel was shocked by the revelation and burst out laughing.
Austin looked confused.
“I thought it was broken,” Samuel explained, “I’ve never been able to find a station on it.”
Austin shook his head, astonished by Samuel’s lack of basic skills. If the man couldn’t even get a radio working, how much hope did he have of surviving outside in the madness?
“What else?”
“You’ve got a lot of battery-powered flashlights,” Austin continued, pushing his worries to the back of his mind. “And plenty of batteries too which is good. Then there’s this old Walkman and a camcorder, though I’m not sure how much use either of them will be.”
“You never know,” Samuel replied. “I’d still bring them, just in case.”
“Okay,” Austin nodded, returning the items to his rucksack. “There’s still a lot more that we need though. And I don’t see how we’ll get it without looting the stores like everyone else. My only worry is that everything will have already been taken.”
“I hear that,” Samuel said, well aware that a lot of stores had been picked clean by looters and of how violent the streets outside had quickly become with law and order dissipating into the skies like dust. “I don’t think we have a choice though.”
“What’s it like now? I’d still rather wait until its dark.”
“I don’t know,” Samuel replied, turning his head to look out of the third-floor window once more. “I think we’re safer in daylight.”
When to leave the apartment was the key thing that the two men had struggled to agree on so far. Samuel had spent a lot more time watching the streets and listening to the people outside and he was convinced things got worse overnight. Austin knew that he was probably right, but to avoid being noticed by as many people he still favored the cover of darkness. As of yet they hadn’t managed to reach a decision on when exactly they would leave.
“Is there even that much more we can do in here now?” Samuel asked. Austin stood beside him and they watched as a scruffy teenage boy hustled down the street below, a filled-to-bursting canvas bag thrown over his shoulder. A man stood on the sidewalk a few houses down and yelled at the boy to come back, but he didn’t give chase. A woman and two small children loitered on the front porch, watching. As the boy disappeared, the man sighed and trudged up to the porch, gathering the woman and children into his arms and guiding them back inside.
Austin thought for a moment, his mind running back through his mental checklist of what they needed for the journey to Poughkeepsie. “I guess,” came his response. He had gathered together everything of use in Samuel’s apartment and that hadn’t taken more than half a day. Beyond that the pair of them had just been delaying, both more frightened than they would admit at the thought of going back outside.
But it needed to be done. The streets below were ever-changing and if they remained inside waiting for that golden opportunity, they might end up waiting forever. Sooner or later the two of them had to leave and as he accepted that fact, Austin also accepted that he was fed up of waiting.
“Let’s do it then,” he announced, taking Samuel by surprise. “Let’s go.”
“Now?”
“Yeah,” Austin nodded. “Why not? You said it yourself, there isn’t really anything more we can do here. I want to see my family again, Sam. So, let’s get out of here and make that happen.”
“Okay,” Samuel replied after a brief pause, the reality washing over him that they were about to step back outside into the city. “Let’s do this.”
The two men walked away from the window in unison, both letting the magnitude of their decision wash over them. Austin picked up both rucksacks – one practically empty still – and took them into the kitchen with Samuel following behind. There he started filling them with the tins of food they’d lined the
