Austin leaned down and pulled a handful of wires from under the dashboard. When he was younger, he had hotwired cars with his brother and friends for fun, driving away in their parents’ truck at night to go to the movies or pick up girls. It was very different knowing he was stealing this car in order to try and save his and his family’s lives. His moral compass was pointing in a much straighter direction than it had in his youth, even if he had wound up in the same position behind the steering wheel.
After picking out the ignition wires, Austin twisted two of them together and the engine sparked to life. “Yes!” He cheered and turned to Samuel. “We’re good to go.”
“Alright,” Samuel replied without looking at his friend. “Let’s get out of here then, we’ve gathered quite an audience.”
“What?” Austin’s excitement shifted to fear as he focused on the windows Samuel was looking at. “Why didn’t you say something? How long have they been watching?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you,” Samuel replied. “Besides, no one has come outside. They’re just watching. And I don’t think this thing belongs to any of them. I think we just need to take it and go.”
“Okay,” Austin replied, “come on. I’ll drive.”
Samuel and Austin sat side by side in the cab as Austin put it into drive and rolled out of the driveway. People had come to their windows in about half the houses on the street, but only stood silently watching the two men as they drove down the street.
It was spooky, like the residents were frozen in place in their windows, watching the deed unfold but unwilling to do anything to stop it. Samuel wondered who had lived in the house where the truck was parked and whether it was someone these people knew or not. The place seemed unlived in for some time, but with the vehicle in the driveway, he knew it couldn’t have been entirely abandoned – not for long at least.
Once they had turned the corner and were navigating their way out of the town, both Samuel and Austin began to feel more relaxed. Samuel leaned back in his seat and adjusted the headrest, letting it mold to his body and provide his back with some relief. Carrying the heavy rucksack wasn’t something he was used to, and it felt nice to just sit back and let the world pass him by without having to worry about it for once.
The roads leaving the city were much quieter than back in the center. They passed a fair number of cars also fleeing to the safety of the unknown, but they were still able to drive, only being stuck in gridlocked traffic on a couple of occasions. Some cars were abandoned or crashed, but most were moving, everyone trying to escape what was happening in the city.
“Music?” Austin asked after they’d made it out onto route ninety-five and were heading north toward Poughkeepsie.
“Good idea,” Samuel smiled, turning the knob on the old radio in the truck and trying to find a signal. He wondered if there was anything even broadcasting anymore. It took several seconds of static and white noise before a voice finally broke through the crackle. Samuel fiddled with the dial to tune in the signal.
“…is just the start of the government’s plan to get rid of us and make room for their elite race. They think that we will all just die out and they can hide away in their towers and in their tunnels and we don’t know what they’re doing. They underestimate us. They don’t give us the credit that we deserve.”
“What is this?” Austin asked as he raised his eyebrows and looked at Samuel.
“I have no idea,” Samuel shook his head. “Sounds like some conspiracy theorist to me.”
“Must be a bootleg radio station,” Austin concluded. “I don’t know who else would be broadcasting now.”
“Me neither,” Samuel shrugged.
“We have been stupidly sitting by and going about our daily lives for too long now without asking questions and look what has happened to us! They expect us to believe that all the money has just vanished – where has it gone? Money can’t just vanish into thin air. It’s out there and it’s just lining the pockets of the men who fed us this story. That man from Trident, Samuel Westchester, he’s one of them! He thought he could fool us with his words, but we know the truth. We know who the guilty ones are, and we will make them pay!”
“What?” Samuel looked at Austin, horrified.
“Oh, don’t listen to it, Sam,” Austin said, reaching over and turning the radio off. “That man is a lunatic. No one will be taking him seriously. He’s crazy.”
“But he named me.”
“Yeah but you’re not wearing a nametag, are you? He can’t get your face out to people on the radio and the people that do know you will know you’re not to blame for all of this. Don’t worry about it. That’s just one idiot’s opinion, you shouldn’t let it bother you.”
Pursing his lips and leaning back in his seat again, Samuel tried to find comfort in what Austin was saying, but he was still horrified by what he had heard. He was still being victimized for the news report that had been aired just before Trident was set on fire, the very news report where he had tried to warn the world about what was happening, where he
