Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Escape from Manhattan

Escape from Manhattan
Copyright 2023 Derek Stoelting


Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons


Daddy brings us to the parade every year. We ride the subway in from Brooklyn and wait in front of the Warwick. It was our spot. This year was no different. There we were, a family amongst thousands of other families and millions of people. . . all to welcome Santa to town.

We didn’t so much hear, as we did feel, the explosion. The ground rumbled beneath our feet. It was slight, enough to notice, but not enough to worry about it. It wasn’t until everyone noticed the smoke in the sky far to the south that people started to worry. Within an hour, people were trying to get out of Manhattan as quick as they could.

Not us. Daddy took us to a diner and set us down for lunch. He said he wanted to let all of the crazy people do their running about and that we would leave later. The food was okay. We all had cheeseburgers and fries. Regina had a strawberry shake and I had a chocolate shake. By the time we finished eating, everyone else had left the diner. We waited for the streets to start clearing out, before we left.

The rest of that day and week were a blur. We couldn’t get off the island. The police and the National Guard shut them down and were shooting at people who tried to cross them! We found an apartment building where we could hide. Some nice people let us in. They didn’t have very good food. When the power to the apartment went out, we all left. We ended up in a place called Yorkville. Daddy says we will be safe here.

We have been in Yorkville for a month, now. Daddy leaves every other day with other people. He said that the boxes falling from the sky have supplies in them and whomever gets to them first gets to keep what’s in them. Last week, he started taking a gun with him. Everyone that goes with him also has a gun. I’ve heard them talking about zombies, but I know they aren’t real.

Last night, I snuck out and listened in on a meeting. Daddy met with Kaipo. They were discussing some lady named Lola Loca. Apparently, she and her teen friends are causing problems outside of Yorkville. However, they quickly changed the topic to discussing the zombies, again. I don’t understand why they are talking about zombies. I think they knew I was there and listening in, so they were trying to scare me off.

The next day, Daddy took us to a building at the back of the neighborhood and taught us how to shoot Uzis.

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