Wipeout | Book 3 | Empty Vault Read online

  “The law yes,” Captain Banes nodded, adding housing and rules/regulations to his list. “Sadly, I think that’ll be one of the later things to return, but we can certainly try. What else?”

  Walter grinned, happy that with the leadership of Captain Banes, things were starting to come together properly. The group of them debated for some time what were the most important factors which warranted being pushed to the top of the list, everyone having differing opinions but some things unable to be denied their necessary importance. In just under an hour they had a top ten, including everything from gang activity down to media communications and maintenance.

  “I think that’s it then,” Walter announced, happy with the order they had finally agreed on. “We’ve got our top three and I think that’s what we focus our efforts on. There isn’t much further down the list that can be accomplished before those are resolved.”

  “I still think the restoration of the hospitals and ensuring everyone has access to medical care should be higher up,” one woman grumbled, but she didn’t voice her opinion strongly enough to start another discussion.

  Walter simply looked at her and smiled, aware of its importance but standing by the items they had chosen together: food, work and public safety. They had a plan and by working toward those three key criteria, he was certain they would be successful.

  Chapter 16

  “Maybe media and communications should’ve been higher up the list,” Walter laughed sarcastically, holding his head in his hands as he, Captain Banes and Samantha Rice continued to work in the early hours of the morning. They were the only ones left after the others had left. They would return in the morning but had better places to spend the night. Walter and the captain had long since moved into the precinct and Samantha was more than willing to burn the extra hours for the good of the city. She was a very impressive woman and someone that Walter had very quickly taken a liking to.

  “Don’t tell Stephanie that,” Samantha grinned, “she’ll bite your ear off.”

  Walter laughed again. “I just don’t know how we’re going to get this message out to everyone. I stand by it and think we’ve made the right decision, but I didn’t quite think we’d need to pass out the information through leaflets or word of mouth.”

  “Word of mouth spreads a lot quicker than you’re giving it credit for,” Captain Banes interjected. “If we hit a few food banks and rescue centers in the next couple of days, within a week everyone will be aware of what we’re doing. Especially in times like these, people talk – trust me.”

  Walter didn’t have any choice but to. Their plan was simple: introduce rationing across the city along with a strict curfew so that they could carry out the necessary repairs to the streets and clean up the debris and destruction which covered almost every inch of New York. They would be avoiding the areas controlled by the gangs for now and focusing their efforts elsewhere, but their plan was to clean up the city as best they could so that things could start returning to normal. That was the public safety element and through it, they also offered jobs to those who were willing to help. They needed manpower to clear the streets and it wouldn’t be easy. Walter and the others were banking on people’s good nature and generosity to get this done. They were hopeful that enough people would step into line and then gradually, everyone else would follow.

  They had discussed the issue of people demanding to be paid for their work and while finance and welfare had made it onto their top ten list, everyone agreed that something else would have to substitute for money for the foreseeable future. Instead of offering to pay the workers, they would be given additional privileges and other advantages. It hadn’t been properly thought out yet, but it was something they needed to carefully consider before speaking to the public about it.

  “We’ll go to as many as we can tomorrow,” Samantha nodded, yawning as she spoke. “There are a lot of areas around the city where people have been gathering, whether they’re official centers or not. You’ve got a large team here that we can utilize, we’ll get it done.”

  “Have faith, Walter,” Captain Banes added, “it’ll be easier than you think. Coffee?”

  “Please.” Walter smiled at his friend as Captain Banes picked up the empty pot and left the room, heading to the break area to refill and keep the three of them going a while longer. There was still a lot to discuss, including how they were going to manage the rationing itself. But that was where Samantha came in, her knowledge of the city reserves surprising everyone when she’d made her announcement.

  “I still can’t believe the city has all that stuff just stored away,” Walter shared. “How long has it been there for?”

  “Years some of it,” Samantha replied, flicking her blond hair back out of her face as she spoke. She was a very attractive woman as well as being skilled and intelligent, Walter was yet to find fault in her appearance and that wasn’t for lack of looking. He’d hardly taken his eyes off her in the last couple of hours, finding himself yearning to be close to her and thrilled when she declared she was going to stick around to continue planning. He hadn’t felt this way about a woman in a long time, though he couldn’t help finding the timing rather ironic and inconvenient.

  “We’ve tried to prepare for most things over the years,” Samantha continued, informing Walter of the various contingency plans New York had in place. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of bomb proofing equipment we have stored in some of our basements. You remember Daniel Pewter, the last advisor to the mayor? Wow, that man was paranoid. He was convinced that a disaster was going to strike any minute. I bet he’s dealing with all of this pretty well right about now. Finally got his day.”

  Walter laughed again. He’d never heard of Daniel Pewter before but he could imagine the type of person Samantha was referring to. There seemed to be more and more of them these days: preppers. The more extreme among them living in their basements or underground in their bunkers, preparing for a doomsday scenario that might never happen. Only now it had.

  “I don’t think he ever thought it would take this form though,” Samantha continued. “The whole country going bankrupt really is something new. As a kid you’d just be like, well let’s print more money and solve the problem, but I guess we’re living proof it doesn’t really work like that. Right?”

  “Damn right,” Walter nodded. “It drives me insane that we still don’t know what or who caused this. I could hazard a pretty decent guess, but it’s still crazy that they managed to pull it off. It’s been more devastating that anyone could’ve ever imagined I’m sure.”

  “We’ll sort it out,” Samantha smiled, fighting off another yawn. “Won’t we?”

  “Yeah,” Walter returned the smile. “We will.”

  “Sorry that took so long,” Captain Banes announced his return as he walked back through the door with the pot of coffee. “But I’ve had an idea. Now, who wants a refill?”

  “Thanks,” Samantha replied politely, “but I think I’m actually going to have to call it a night. I need to get back to my apartment and I’ve probably already left it a bit late to be out wandering the streets.”

  Walter was intrigued by what Captain Banes had just announced, but as he developed more and more of a liking for Samantha she rose to the top of his priorities list, not agreeing with what she was proposing. They’d all spent a long time discussing the dangers of the streets, her wandering around in the dark certainly wasn’t the best idea. “You can stay here,” he offered, taking both Samantha and Captain Banes by surprise.

  “I’ve got a neat little room set up in the back where I’ve been staying,” Walter explained. “You can sleep there if you want, I’ll hunker down in the break room.”

  “Oh no, it’s fine,” Samantha shook her head. “It’s not far back to my apartment, I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

  “Come on,” Walter looked at her, tilting his head to one side. “It’s no bother and you know it’s the right choice. We’re trying to keep bodies off the streets remember,
not add to them.”

  Samantha smiled. “Alright then,” she agreed. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

  “Let me show you where it is,” Walter stood up and opened the door for her. “Then you can tell me all about your brilliant idea, Captain.”

  “Goodnight,” Samantha smiled at Captain Banes as she walked through the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Walking to the small room which he’d made his own, Walter worried for a second about the state he’d left it in earlier that day. Were his dirty clothes still all over the floor? Had he bothered to make up his little camp bed? As the two of them walked side by side, Walter couldn’t help but feel his cheeks starting to flush. There was no mistaking it, he had a crush on this woman and it was causing him to act like a schoolboy all over again. He’d hardly dated since his divorce, even though it had been almost eight years. His job had been his main focus and yet at the time he needed to be most committed to it, a beautiful distraction in the shape the Director of City Planning had walked into his life. It was typical, but no matter how inconvenient it might be, it filled Walter with a comforting feeling that he wasn’t going to fight off in a hurry. After getting Samantha set up in his room and grabbing a couple of his things, he said goodnight and tried to turn his mind back to the task at hand. He was excited to discover what Captain Banes had thought of and keen to get to work on their plan.

  ***

  “Sleep well?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Samantha smiled as Walter handed her a fresh mug of coffee and a protein bar. “Did you manage to get any rest?”

  “Some,” Walter replied with a little chuckle. “Though we were up for a couple of hours ironing out the details of the Captain’s plan. I think it’s got some legs to it, so long as everyone else agrees.”

  “Willing to give me a little teaser? Or do I have to wait to find out with everyone else?”

  Walter looked at Samantha and smiled, finding comfort and pleasure in her playfulness and the relationship that was forming between the two of them. Even dressed in the same clothes and washed in the officers’ bathroom she had a glow about her, radiating positivity and filling Walter with the belief that they could make a change in the city.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” he grinned, holding a door open to her as they walked through the halls of the police precinct and dragging out the suspense. “Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, would I?”

  Continuing the walk to the briefing room, Walter struggled to wipe the smile off of his face resulting in him turning up grinning like a maniac. Coupled with only three or four hours sleep at best he was sure he didn’t look in the best state, but he felt positive and was enthusiastic to get on with the day ahead. Captain Banes led the briefing once again, Walter happy to sit back and let him explain his plan.

  The idea was to reward the citizens who chose to help out and clean up the city with additional luxuries once they were up and running. The main one being electricity: once the streets of New York were cleared of the debris and dead bodies that littered almost every corner, one of their key tasks would be getting power restored to the community. It was a necessary addition to life nowadays, humanity no longer capable of surviving without it like they once had. They needed it to heat their water, cook their food and operate parts of their lives which had become essential.

  However, getting the grid up and running again wouldn’t be easy and once it was functioning, it would be a very careful balancing act deciding where to send the power. Hospitals needed to be a priority, but there were other things too which once operating properly again, would increase the ease and functionality of society tenfold. These items would be the priority, which would likely mean little power would remain for the smaller luxuries in life and the average household wouldn’t be brought back to light for some time.

  As a result, Captain Banes had had the idea to ration electricity to people’s homes as a form of payment for the work and aid they carried out across the city. It would be made a privilege that could be earned through good behavior and honest work, operating as the new currency throughout the city while that avenue remained untouched and unresolved.

  It would serve another purpose too by reducing the gang activity. Walter had raised a couple of issues around this the night before to Captain Banes, who touched upon them now, reminding everyone around the table of the threat the gangs could pose if they wanted to hijack the electricity for themselves like everything else. This was the biggest stumbling block they had encountered with the plan, but the pros seemed to weigh out the cons significantly and eventually everyone in the meeting agreed it was worth the risk. If they could restore power and dictate where this power was directed, then it would be another weapon they had in their arsenal for stopping the gang activity across the city. Each element of their agenda worked in many ways and electricity and power seemed to be deep-rooted at the middle of most.

  “So long as we can defend it properly ourselves,” Philip McManaman commented as they neared the end of the discussion. “Then I think it’s a great idea. I’m happy to be stationed there and run the security measures, there’s got to be a few good men and women left in the city we can recruit to help too. It’s a good idea. You can count me in, Captain.”

  “I think it’s safe to say we’re all on board,” Kalum Price added, a property owner and developer who had been listening quietly for most of the debates during the two meetings. He spoke up now though, empowered and inspired by the plan that lay ahead of them. “What we need to do now is get out into the city and spread the word. We need engineers for this and a lot of them. We need to track down people who can help and get them on board, we’ve done enough of the talking, now is the time to act.”

  “Exactly,” Walter agreed loudly. “There are hubs all over the city where people have been gathering: rescue centers, food banks, hotels, community centers. We need to hit as many of them as possible today and tell the public about our plan so we can find people to help. We have the meeting points agreed for where the volunteers can gather and we have the instructions we need to hand out. Let’s get out there and do this. Let’s get our city back!”

  A cheer erupted around the room and everyone got to their feet, clapping their hands together and celebrating their plan. As he looked around, Walter knew this was only the beginning but hoped that there would be a great deal more to celebrate in the days to come. He was pumped and ready for it now; ready to hit the streets with his team from the precinct and spread the word that there was hope for New York yet. They were a city of fighters, a city of hard-workers and determined individuals. They would not let this disaster ruin them; they would stand up and push back, working day and night until order and normality was restored.

  Chapter 17

  “Gunfire? Where?”

  Walter dropped what he was doing, listening intently to the rest of the report that one of their new recruits was delivering. Things had been going well for the most part since the group of them settled on their plan to restore the city and went out into New York to spread the word. People had been reluctant at first, only about sixty or so people signing up on the first day, but as details about the new initiative started to spread more and more people signed up. Just as Walter had hoped, people were more than happy to help out if it meant they could start to return their lives to normal.

  Just as they had expected however, the gangs across the city were causing some problems. A group of scavengers – what Walter had named the teams which swept through streets looking for salvageable food or other resources – had come under fire when they accidentally stepped into gang territory the day before. The scavengers operated in teams of ten and only three managed to get out of the encounter with their lives.

  Philip McManaman – the former army sergeant who was leading the security force across the city – had wanted to strike back. Walter had agreed with him at first, angered by the loss of seven innocent lives all because they apparently walked into the wrong area o
f the city. New York shouldn’t be owned and divided up like that; Walter wanted to restore the whole city to its former glory, not be limited by the threats and pressures of a few small groups of people.

  Thankfully Captain Banes had intervened. Walter was running low on sleep and energy when the report first came to him and as the Captain pointed out, starting a war with the gangs would only end badly. They needed to stick to their original aversion tactic and try to carry out their restoration of the city without getting involved. It meant turning a blind eye to the deaths which was extremely difficult for Walter to come to terms with, and even harder for some of the civilian volunteers to accept.

  To hear the word gunfire used again in such a short period of time later worried Walter. Warnings had been issued to all the volunteers but he wondered whether perhaps they hadn’t been clear enough. He couldn’t deal with more innocent deaths, there was only so much violence he could stand by and let happen before he wouldn’t be able to stop himself getting involved.

  “The electrical station’s just off of 39th street, by Sunnyside Gardens,” the young man replied, answering Walter’s question quickly before turning back to Huxley who was in charge of his team. “The engineers are all trapped inside.”

  “We need to get over there, quick,” Huxley said.

  “I’m coming with you,” Walter informed Huxley. “How many have you got with you?”

  Huxley looked at the man in front of him and briefly around the room. “Just Olly and Wayne outside.”

  “Do any of the squad cars still have gas in them?”

  “I don’t think so,” Huxley shook his head, “but there are a handful of bikes around back.”

  “They’ll do,” Walter nodded. “Meet me back there. Bring your two, and I’ll try and get some more to meet us over there.”