“What’s he like?”
“He’s incredible,” Austin smiled, picturing his little boy in his head and almost feeling him in his arms. “He’s such a smart kid, fascinated by history and animals; dinosaurs in particular. Dante bought him this robotic stegosaurus last Christmas that he’s practically tied to at the hip. Honestly, I don’t know where he finds these things out, but almost every day he’s got another fact or figure to tell us. Certainly doesn’t get it from either of us.”
They both laughed. The two men had been together for over a week now and yet they hadn’t really shared many details of their personal life with one another. Samuel knew the basics about Austin just like Austin knew about his parents in Long Island and his sister in Hawaii, but they had never really talked beyond the basic details. With everything else going on it wasn’t really the time for them to unearth feelings and emotive memories, their lives much more focused on practical requirements.
However, as they walked through the quieter streets of New Jersey in search of a vehicle, both men found they had this opportunity and Samuel was keen to discover more about his partner and the people they were journeying toward. He felt weirdly close to Austin for a man he knew so little about, they had run for their lives together and dodged bullets, and yet, Samuel didn’t even know where Austin lived or any of the mundane details of his life.
“How long have you been with Dante?” Samuel asked next, hoping he wasn’t being too intrusive with his questions. Austin didn’t seem to have any problem with answering, the two men having now been with each other for long enough.
“Nearly ten years now,” he answered. “We’ve been married for just about eight years, adopted Bowie not too many months afterwards.”
“Did you adopt him as a baby?”
“Yes. It’s quite a sad story actually. A friend of Dante’s was pregnant but didn’t want to keep the baby. She just didn’t have the means and had always struggled with alcohol after an abusive relationship. She managed to stay sober throughout the pregnancy and then Dante and I adopted her little boy. The plan was to have her involved as a friend. She was in rehab. She was getting much better.”
“She died a year later. She just couldn’t stay off the booze. Dante found her in her living room surrounded by a pool of vomit, paramedics said she’d passed out and then choked on it.”
“I’m so sorry,” Samuel breathed, shocked by the story and Austin’s openness when sharing it. “That’s awful.”
“It was hard,” Austin nodded, not looking at Samuel as he spoke. Emotion leaking out in his voice. “Dante was pretty devastated by it, but we had to keep reminding ourselves that she wasn’t truly gone. There was a part of her in Bowie. We’ve both agreed that one day – when he’s old enough – we’ll tell him about his mom and what happened to her, but until then he’s our little boy and even after he knows, nothing will change that.”
“You really miss them, don’t you?”
“More than anything,” Austin murmured in response, swiping at the tears in his eyes. “I can’t wait to see my boys again.”
Samuel reached out and rested a hand on Austin’s shoulder, doing the only thing he could think of to comfort his friend as they continued along the New Jersey streets. When he’d asked his original question, he had never expected to uncover such a harsh truth about Austin’s past. He was incredibly thankful his friend had shared that story with him though, Samuel feeling even closer to him than before.
It also instilled even more determination in the pair of them, especially now that they believed they were through the hardest part of their journey. They had made it into the more residential part of New Jersey, surrounded by family homes. A much more peaceful environment than the highway they had entered on. Hopefully somewhere the two men could find a car.
“Do you think there are people living in these houses?”
“Some of them definitely,” Samuel confirmed. “Look up there on the left,” he nodded in the direction of one house, pointing out two young children watching them through one of the windows. “You think their parents are around?”
“I hope so,” Austin answered. “This place seems weirdly quiet. I figure we just grab a car and get out of here. We need to cover some ground north before it starts getting dark again.”
“Okay. Which one though?”
The two men stared at the road ahead of them. It was a picturesque American street with white picket fences and kids’ bikes propped up against them. Any number of SUVs lined the sidewalk and sat in driveways. The only question was which of the houses with available cars were empty? Both Samuel and Austin knew they were being watched and the last thing they needed was to start taking a car only for the owner to step outside and apprehend them.
“See that place a little further down on the right?” Austin asked as they continued walking, both men in the middle of the road, their voices low and drawn out. “It doesn’t look like anyone has lived there for a while.”
“It’s as good a bet as any,” Samuel nodded. The SUV in the driveway was more battered and bruised than the others and, even better, it wasn’t locked. “Let’s just get out of here. This place is starting to give me the creeps. How long do you need to get it started?”
“Should only take a minute or so,” Austin replied as they drew closer to the vehicle. “Keep an eye out will you?”
“Sure.”
Samuel stood by and kept his eyes peeled on the street in both directions as Austin shrugged off his rucksack. He’d known how
