He’d seemed a bit anxious to her, but she didn’t have time to stop and question him. She’d have to catch up with him later.
Crash waved her over toward the desk where he’d set up a few chairs and opened up a large paper map of roads in the area.
“Okay, so now that you’re both here, are you guys going to tell me just what crazy shit you’re thinking of doing?” Tank asked. “Because in my mind, if you’re wanting to do anything but stay here and put your feet up for a while, you’re stupid.”
“I guess we’re stupid, then,” Parrish said with a smile as she took a seat in the chair opposite Tank. “What did Crash tell you so far?”
“Nothing, except that he wanted to know if I had a map of Philly and surrounding areas,” he said. “What’s this all about?”
“I’m just going to put this bluntly,” she said, already anticipating this guy’s reaction. “We need to get into New York City as fast as possible. What do you know about the state of the roads between here and there? And what about the bridges leading onto the island of Manhattan? Is any of it passable? Are the bridges still standing? Has anyone come this way who fled from that area that we could talk to?”
Tank sat back slowly in his chair, his jaw hanging slightly open. At first, he didn’t say anything at all. He just looked at Parrish like she had just completely lost her mind.
Whatever he’d imagined they were up to, it apparently had not even touched the crazy that was NYC.
“I don’t think I heard you right,” he said finally. “Because it sounded like you said Manhattan.”
“I did. We have to get up there as soon as possible,” she said. “What do you know about it?”
Tank’s eyes widened.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked, voiced raised.
He stood up and paced the floor behind his desk.
“It’s a death trap. You think that hospital was bad? Whatever you guys faced there is going to be nothing—and I mean child’s play—compared to what you’ll find in Manhattan, if you could even hope to step foot on that island in the first place. The government quarantined that area, shut off all the bridges and access roads early on. No one in or out, which means a hell of a lot of people dead in a very small area. Any survivors might have been able to hold out for a few days or even weeks with enough supplies and a strong barricade, but there’s no hope for anyone stuck on that island, because there’s no way for them to get out. That whole area is lost for good.”
“There are survivors,” Parrish said, having to almost force a lump out of her throat to say it. She’d pretty much given up on ever seeing her sister again, but Lily had given her hope.
The vision they’d had early this morning had made it real. Zoe was alive and hiding out somewhere on or near the island of Manhattan.
“Not anyone you’re going to be able to help,” Tank said, glancing over at Crash, as if he expected his friend to talk some sense into her. “Maybe if you could get hold of a helicopter or something, you could have a chance of landing on one of the buildings up there and rescuing someone, but trying to make your way through the city by foot? It’s impossible. We’re talking about thousands of undead. Maybe even millions. You’ll never survive it.”
Parrish swallowed back her fear, a wave of nausea coming over her. She wanted to steady her voice before she responded. Luckily, Crash stepped in before she had to.
“Then, where can we get a helicopter?” Crash asked, as if it was no big deal to find one and learn how to fly it.
Parrish smiled.
At least he was all in on going with her to rescue Zoe, but at this point, I think they all realized there was more to NYC than just Zoe. If she really had somehow hooked up with the fifth, everyone’s fate depended on them reuniting as soon as possible.
Destiny had been leading them with a heavy hand since the very beginning. They were in this now, one way or the other, no matter the danger.
“Look, I know how crazy this sounds, but we’re going to New York City,” Parrish said, scooting her chair forward so she could get a better look at the large map spread across the table. “My sister is there, and we know she’s alive. We know the risks, but we have to at least try to get to her. She’s only ten years old, and she’s managed to survive this long. I know we can get her out of there if we’re smart about it, but we need to figure out the best and fastest way into Manhattan. If you have any ideas, we’d love to hear them, but we don’t have time for you to try to talk us out of it.”
“And we’re going to need to take some of your firepower with us, if we can,” Crash said. “Or get your help on where we can pick up some more of our own on the way up there. We have a decent amount of supplies, but we’re going to need more.”
Tank studied them each in turn, as if trying to tell, once and for all, whether they were playing some kind of joke on him.
“I can’t believe you’re really thinking of doing this, but if you insist on trying, I’ll do what I can to help,” he said, finally, sitting back down in his chair. “It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for us. I hate now that I asked you to do something so dangerous for us right after you got here, and now you’re going to leave again, but you have to understand that we didn’t have anyone else who could go
