Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Five: Leaving New York

August 20th 2025

Anna was standing at the apartment balcony that Bridge often stood at, finding an odd moment of piece in this broken world. Anna looked across the street at her former home and knew that she couldn't bare to even consider going inside of the place where her loving father had perished. Bridge and Phinehas were inside getting things ready for the long journey to San Francisco, they had scavenged old convenience stores and had come back with weeks worth of food and water. They had bought seeds that they could use to farm their own food and they were hopeful that they could establish a steady food supply. Anna liked Bridge, he was a nice guy and he cared deeply for her. Mainly because he was concerned for her since she had just lost her father. Michelle could sympathise with Anna, mainly because she had lost her parents and older sister Mikayla to the Virus and was now seven months pregnant. As Azrael laid on her pregnant baby bump, she felt the baby kicking the walls of the womb and said "Looks like someone has just found a good friend". Anna overheard Michelle and thought to herself "I think I would love to be a mother as well".

That was when she heard footsteps and turned her head around to see Bridge. Bridge had just returned from another supply run and had put a bag of food next to the couch. Bridge stood next to Anna and asked "You feeling any better?" Anna sighed and said "No". Bridge leaned on the railing and said "I often come here for some nice peace and quiet, something people appreciate a lot more now that the Rikers are tearing this city apart". Anna looked out upon the desolate streets and said "Those maniacs have to stop. There's enough violence in this world already". That was when they heard the all too familiar sound of an ice cream van's sirens and quickly went inside as Bridge said "Rikers coming this way". Phineas stopped stocking up canned meat in a cardboard box and rushed to close up the curtains. Bridge and Anna slammed the balcony door shut and Michelle shook with fear as the sirens got louder and louder. As the sirens got close enough to clearly hear, Bridge peeked through the curtains and saw the gang of Rikers racing around in a vandalised ice cream van. The Rikers were wearing aprons that had huge holes cut in the chest area to show their massive skull tattoos and were covered in fresh blood. The van had a skull spray painted on both sides and actual skulls were sticking out on top of spikes that had been attached to the roof of the van. That, along with the words "Humans eat meat, humans are meat, HUMANS EAT HUMANS!!!!!" Spray painted on the roof were evidence enough that they were cannibals. Bridge had only heard rumours of cannibals and had only read about them in books, but was mortified upon learning that due to lack of farming knowledge, some people had actually turned to cannibalism! As the van drove right past them with three dead bodies being pulled by rope attached to the back door, Bridge turned around to his people and coldly said "We're leaving today".

Two hours later, the apartment had been almost completely cleaned out of everything they needed for the journey. The sharpest cutlery was to be used as weapons, the chickens were in small cages to give them the eggs they needed and all of the food and water they had stockpiled was stocked up in boxes. The small family were gathered in the apartment block's underground car park that housed dozens of abandoned cars, including the R.V that had belonged to Phinehas's family and had just finished loading up the supplies in the back of the R.V. As Phinehas came out after putting the last box of supplies in the back of the R.V, Bridge said "Alright, everyone inside". The four of them all sat down in the four chairs at the front of the trailer. The R.V was divided between two different sections, the back section contained the kitchen area and the couch that could be converted into a bed for a single person, as well as the door that led outside. There were also two bunk beds and a queen sized bed for two people. Along with that there was a single toilet and shower and two tables, each with two long chairs on each side. The front section was where one could find the drivers seat and three passenger seats. Bridge was in the drivers seat with Phinehas next to him and Anna and Michelle were sitting in the two seats behind them. Bridge checked the fuel metre and said "We have a full load of fuel". Phineas was glad and asked while putting his seatbelt on "Did we really have to load up on ten cans of fuel from the old gas station?" Bridge put the key in and said "Better to be safe than sorry, there's no telling when this could run out". Bridge then said "God I hope this old rust bucket still works" and turned the key. There were some noises coming out of the R.V, but then the engine burst to life and Bridge said with relief "Next stop: San Francisco".

He then started driving the R.V out of the parking area and they quickly drove up the road that lead outside. Upon exiting the now abandoned parking area, they quickly bore witness to the desolate and empty streets of New York. There were dozens of cars all across the streets, with broken windows and graffiti all over them. The windows of the buildings were covered in dust and one could barely see what was through them. The street lights were not emitting any light and the road was as empty as a cloudless sky on a sunny day. As they drove through the abandoned streets, Bridge said timidly "Goodbye New York, may we meet again". As they drove through lower east side, they came across the road that led down into Lincoln tunnel, which went under the lake and lead to a state where the Rikers were causing just as much trouble as they were in New York, a state where chaos imposed overlord-ship and their was hardly any room for safety and freedom: New Jersey.

As they stopped at the tunnel, Bridge turned on the headlights and they could see clearly through it. There were hardly any cars inside and there were some skeletons littering the road. No doubt people who perished from the St Peters Virus. Bridge took a deep breath in and said "Here goes nothing" and started driving into the tunnel. As they drove through, the darkness of the tunnel was replaced with the bright glow of the trailer's headlights and the group could see the abandoned cars with broken windows and skeletons in them. It was like something out of one of those old horror movies Bridge and Phinehas used to watch on Saturday nights after dinner when they were kids.

That was when they heard something that made their bones shiver, it was a strange creaking sound just ahead of them. Bridge slowed down the trailer a bit and as they got closer to the sound, the headlights illuminated the right sided wall of the tunnel. The wall was badly cracked and there was some water dripping out of the cracks. The creaking sound got even louder and then came to a stop. But suddenly, the wall burst open and a huge amount of water started flooding the tunnel! Bridge immediately drove forwards as the walls around them broke open as well and the tunnel began to fill with water. It wasn't long before a massive wave was behind them and closing in fast. The water was inches away from consuming them, but Bridge put the trailer into gear six and it started going faster, but not fast enough. The wave was still closing in on them and would soon confide them to a watery grave! Thinking quick, Phinehas unbuckled his belt and knelt down onto the shaking floor. He lifted up a small hatch no bigger than his hand and inside was a small red button surrounded by wires that said "Emergency overdrive" on it. Bridge quickly looked down at the button and asked "What the heck is that thing!?" Phinehas answered with confidence "Shell was working on a kind of super fuel before the Fall, one that makes cars go three times as fast! I installed it in case of emergencies." Anna nearly screamed as the walls around them continued to collapse and shouted "THEN HIT THE BUTTON!!!!!!!!" Phinehas obliged and slammed the button, causing the overdrive to activate. Immediately, the trailer's small exhaust pipe at the back started spewing out blue fire as the R.V went at 150 miles per hour! In a few short moments the waves were far behind them and they could see daylight up ahead! Phineas then slammed the button again and the overdrive stopped. The R.V started to slow down a bit and they exited the tunnel. Some water came out of the tunnel as well and proceeded to completely wet the abandoned cars around the exit. The R.V skidded to a stop as Phinehas held on to the seats legs for dear life.

After they stopped, they all looked through the window to see that the tunnel had now completely collapsed and that there was now water everywhere. Bridge breathed a sigh of relief and said "Next time we go on a cross country road trip to save the world, remind me to not take an abandoned tunnel that has not had any maintenance in over a year". Anna nodded and said "I will". Phinehas then stood up and said "By the way Bridge, now that we're out of that tunnel, are we going to find John?" Bridge looked over at Phineas and said "Yes, I just hope he's alive". Anna looked at Bridge and asked "Who is John?" Phinehas looked at Anna and said "My Uncle".