That night Aaron returned with his daughter and as much stuff as the two could carry. While Theo was bouncing with excitement at the prospect of leaving, Aaron seemed just as reluctant as I was. I knew he'd once had a wife whom he'd lost before this shitshow, so perhaps he didn't want to leave the place where she'd once been so full of life
As much as I hated Aaron, we sadly had a lot in common
They set up temporary camp in the living room while Phillip and I slept in our own rooms, though I'm not sure how much sleep any of us actually got. When the morning came none of us spoke except the occasion "Don't forget that" and "Let's double check". It was a somber morning for everyone, and even little Theo who had been so chipper the day before knew to stay quiet
Aaron and I were both carrying 2 packs full of various supplies while our children each had a pack of clothing and their sleeping bags plus some personal items Aaron and I had allowed them to take. I had a feeling that he and I had also snuck in some mementos of our past lives. The two packs Aaron and I had were heavy as all hell, but we couldn't spare anything during the long trek ahead of us
After getting to the city proper I lead our little party through the back alleys of NYC, doing our best to avoid any groups of Lobsters that might be out around this time. After about an hour of walking I looked back to see our kids trailing behind further than normal so I paused in the safety of an alley and called for a break. At the call, Phillip and Theo both plopped down onto the ground and panted heavily "Papa it's so hot with all this stuff" Theo whined and Aaron opened the small canteen of water we allowed ourselves to have during the day
"I know baby-cakes, but we need all of this stuff if we want to get out of here" Aaron explained. "But why do we have to wear such thick clothes, and this mask is making my face sweaty" Theo whined "Would you rather be dead??" I asked and Theo shrunk into herself "Sorry-" she mumbled and Aaron glared at me which I took no notice to "It's just a fact" I said and shrugged before getting up
"Do we have to keep moving so much??" Phillip asked and I nodded "I want to try and be out of here and over into New Jersey within the next couple days. It'll take 11 days to get to Virginia without a car if we were to keep a steady pace without breaks, which of course wouldn't be plausible" I explained and Phillip looked at me blankly and I sighed "Let's just keep going" I said before a series of loud gun shots caused everyone to jump
I dropped my pack after salvaging my gun from it and motioning for everyone to stay while I went to go investigate, which you should never do by the way, but it was in the direction we needed to go so I had to see what it was all about. I slowly crept out of the alley, ducking behind a knocked over trash bin before a rush of red made me duck down even more
Lobsters...
I made sure my gun was loaded in case I was found out before peaking over the bin to find a mass of Lobsters running away, some half dressed, other's sporting wounds as more gunshots rang out nearby. I looked at the scene with adamant confusion, where were all these Lobsters coming from?? And who was attacking them??
I decided to go towards the direction the Lobsters were coming from as the crowd eventually dissipated and I was met with a bunch of angry cursing. The odd thing about it though, was that it wasn't in English, it was in French. And I only knew one person to speak French with such a perfect accent
"LAFAYETTE!!" I called before coming out of hiding with my hands raised, finger not on the trigger to show I was a friendly party. After a moment I heard Lafayette's voice call back before I turned a corner and say him standing in front of a familiar shop "ALEXANDRE?!" I heard him call back and I laughed happily before putting my gun into it's holster (Don't ask why I didn't have it there to begin with, I didn't want it accidentally going off and shooting myself in the leg while walking, you never know what might happen, even with the safety on)
Lafayette ran down from in front of the shop and enveloped me in a crushing hug "Mon dieu, je pensais que je ne te reverrais plus jamias!!" He ranted in French and I laughed before patting his back "It's good to see you too mon ami, how long have you been in New York?? I thought you went back to France years ago??" I asked as I pushed myself away to try and free myself from Lafayette's trapping embrace. "I snuck back in on a relief vessel, I could not just leave Hercules here alone. Speaking of, he would love to see you again, how long have you been here??" Lafayette asked as he dragged me into Hercules's old tailoring shop
"I've been here since I got here" I said and chuckled "I've just never been in this part of the city since the eruption" "Bien bien, this place has been crawling with Homards" Laf spat "They chased us out and took the shop over for their base, but we have finally taken it back!!" he added triumphantly and I laughed "It's good to hear that you and Herc are doing good, where is he??" I asked before hearing Hercules's voice calling from another room "Someone called?!"
I smiled brightly and called out for Hercules before trying to find where his voice had come from. I found him in a work room of sorts, and it looked like he was sitting behind and emptied chest before he looking up and smiled, his eyes lighting up once he saw me. I expected to be trampled by the big man as soon as he saw me but what he did next shocked me even more than just seeing him for the first time in years
Hercules maneuvered his way out from behind the chest and I could see that he was in fact sitting, but not in any sort of stationary chair. He was sitting in a wheelchair, with one leg on the ground and the other cut off at about his knee, wrapped on the end with a bandage. Hercules paused, probably as a result of seeing my shocked expression before he chuckled a bit "An eviction gift from the shits that've taken over the whole fucking East Coast" he said before turning to Lafayette who'd come in behind me
"Gil" Hercules said and Laf hummed, signalling that he was listening "The kid" Hercules added and Lafayette's eyes widened "MERDE!!" he cursed before dashing back towards the entrance, leaving Hercules shaking his head to himself and chuckling quietly before turning back to the mess the room had turned into, likely a result of the Lobsters trashing the place and looting it
"Whoa, hey, hi I still exists and I would like a little bit of an explanation like what the fuck actually happened and why do you got a kid to worry about??" I said and Hercules chuckled a bit more as he explained while slowly picking things up from around the room "Gil probably told you, but he snuck back into America with a kid he'd found abandoned over there. Name's Georges, and he's about your son's age. Anyways things were fine and dandy until about a year ago the Lobsters came and decided they wanted MY shop as a base"
"So they forced you out??" I asked while helping Hercules tidy up and he nodded. "Yep, Gil and I got a couple good shots in till my leg was blown off and they managed to get inside. We grabbed the kid and whatever else we could carry and bolted, or rather Gil carried me and Georges followed us. We've been jumping from place to place, even looted an abandoned hospital for this dandy thing" Hercules said before gesturing to the wheelchair he was sitting in
"And y'all just got the shop back today??" I asked and Hercules nodded "Bingo. Gil broke in and surprised the fools when they weren't on guard, spooked them all away and I snipped them from the back with my gun. We made Georges wait hidden in Central Park cause we didn't want him getting hurt which is where Gil went now" he finished and I sat down on the floor
"Is it safe to take my mask off??" I asked as Theo's whining from earlier suddenly made me anxious to get my mask off as well, and thankfully I was rewarded with that as Hercules did a quick check of the shops's ventilation "I'll give the Lobsters's credit in keeping the vents running" Hercules said as I peeled my mask of and discarded it to the side as he turned back to me
"Now your turn to fess up Hamilton. Why're you here alone??" Hercules ask, giving me a stare so intimidating it took all of my willpower to not get spooked "Easy, I'm getting outta this hell-hole, and if you're nice enough, there's a couple extra spots open in my party" I said and smirked while Hercules chuckled "Give us a bit of time to recuperate, but count us in"
YOU ARE READING
Ashen Heart
PertualanganEveryone knew it was coming, but when it came, no one was prepared. The Yellowstone Volcanic eruption took out much of the Unites States, except for parts of the Eastern Coast which luckily took a minimal blow. Years later though, things have change...
