Post-Pandemic: A New World

Chapter Six: Uncle John's Apartment

The R.V was parked on front of an old abandoned apartment building in the northern half of Jersey City and Bridge and Phineas were looking out upon the abandoned building. Many of the windows were covered in dust and some had been broken open by projectiles of all types. It was clear that no one had been inside for a long time and there was not a noise coming from the old building. As Bridge looked up at the window that clearly belonged to John's apartment, he said "It's really sad to see it like this". Phinehas looked at the window with the huge hole in the centre and said "We used to come here every weekend and watch movies with Uncle John, it was one of my favourite things to do. Now look at it, it's a dump". Bridge got up from his seat and said "Let's head inside and find John, hopefully he'll have survived". Bridge and Phinehas then walked into the back section to see Michelle sitting down on the couch with Anna feeling the little kicks coming from her womb. Anna's face beamed with excitement as she said "I can feel her kick" and then looked down at Michelle's baby bump and said "Oh, I can't wait to meet you Leon". Bridge had a look of confusion on his face as he asked "Leon?" Anna looked at Bridge and said "Yes, that's what I think we should call them if it's a boy". Bridge stepped forward and said "Why not Tommy? ya know, a nice classic all American name". Phinehas nodded and said "Yes, but how about Albert? Ya know? After Einstein?" Michelle smirked and said "Well I guess there's only one solution to this debate: hope for a girl".

Bridge groaned a little bit and said "Well, they'll be what they'll be". Bridge then walked over to the supplies at the back of the trailer and picked up his bag. He put it on as Phinehas did the same with his and said to the girls "Right then, me and Phinehas are gonna head inside and look for John, you two stay in here and be as quiet as possible". Michelle nodded and said "Okay, I'll keep the pistol at the ready just in case". Anna nodded and said "Okay then and be careful out there. I just want you to come back alive Bridge". Phineas raised his eyebrow and asked "What about me?" Anna blushed as she said "Oh, right, you stay alive too Phinehas" and faked a smile. As Bridge and Phinehas exited the R.V, Phineas asked Bridge "Do you think she has a crush on you?" Bridge looked at Phinehas and said "I don't know, she just seems really nice".

Ten minutes later, Bridge and Phinehas were walking across the hallway that led to John's apartment. They had not been there for over two years, so they had gotten lost once or twice trying to get to it. As they walked past the skeleton of a man who had died of the Virus, Bridge said to Phinehas "I used to know this place so well, now I can barely recognise it". That was when the two of them saw the door to John's apartment, but froze in place upon seeing what had happened to it. There was a large hole on the right hand side of the door where the knob was and the hole stretched across the upper half of the door. It was shaped like a crack and it was clear that it had been made by an axe. Bridge and Phinehas raced over to the door and saw it still slightly opened. Bridge got his own axe from out of his bag and kicked the door open. Bridge and Phinehas headed inside as Bridge called out "John? John are you here?" They both froze in place upon seeing something extremely horrific, something that made their bones shake with terror: the body of a dead Riker.

Bridge slowly walked up to the body and saw a bullet hole in his head. This made it clear that he had been killed by someone with a gun. As Phineas gazed upon the flesh wound, he said in a panicked tone of disbelief "He can't of done that, could he?" Bridge looked at Phinehas's horror fuelled face and said "People do horrible things out of fear, he was just defending himself". Phinehas noticed the body now looked very pale and that the blood on the rug had mostly dried up. Phinehas's face filled with shock and said "He's been dead for days, weeks even!" Bridge struggled not to vomit as he said "Looks like the Rikers ransacked this place". This was evident, as some of the furniture was broken and the shelves were all empty. Phineas then looked over at the kitchen area and noticed something on the floor, a piece of paper that had rushed handwriting on it.

Michelle and Anna were waiting back in the R.V for Bridge and Phinehas to return, Azrael was purring as she laid on Michelle's baby bump as she had for the last few days. Michelle could feel that Azrael could somehow sense when someone was pregnant and sought to be closer to the baby. Anna was staring out through the window at the various signposts that said things like "Stay far apart from each other" and "Due to the risk of infection, physical contact of any kind when outdoors is ILLEGAL and punishable by QUARANTINE". Anna knew all too well that they would dump that person in one of the massive stadiums that had been turned into a quarantine zone for those infected. The infected citizens would be placed in cages no bigger than a portable toilet, the cages would be stacked up like Lego bricks and finally......the poor and innocent infected would be left to die by uncaring governments. Anna then heard the door to the apartment building swing open and looked across the street to see Bridge and Phinehas walking towards the R.V. Bridge opened the door as they arrived and the two of them walked in. Michelle quickly noticed that Phinehas's Uncle John wasn't with them and asked "Where's your Uncle John?" Phinehas had a distraught look on his face as he said "They've taken him". Michelle was immediately concerned, maybe it was her mother instincts kicking in, but who knows? With worry raging through her, Michelle asked "Who?" Bridge wiped the sweat off his forehead and said a single word that explained it all "Rikers".