Wipeout: Wipeout Book 1 Read online

  Everyone seemed to have forgotten how much danger they were all in. They had been forced to shut down the building for a reason: they were on lock down because of how much of a threat the general public had become. People had been running around with crowbars, breaking into secure parts of the building searching for their missing money. It was ridiculous, almost like they expected to find billions of dollars locked behind a door or stuffed inside a mattress. Thankfully with the power to the building not yet affected, Austin had been able to work with a handful of others to rush people out of the building and flood them out of the area. But that was only temporary. The sun was rising and he knew that with it would come the seas of people searching for the truth.

  Sure enough, just as he was about to dial up the head of their private security firm – this one recommended from the very top – he heard the faint sound of something hitting the windows in the distance. Looking up, the receiver in his hand, Austin paused and cocked his head to one side, almost like how an animal would listen for something. No one else seemed to have noticed it, but his partner had always told him he had superhuman hearing compared to everyone else. Curious, he put his phone back down for the first time in several hours and walked towards where he could hear the noise.

  It was staggering how high up they were in the Trident skyscraper, something that was very easy to forget until you were looking down. Thankfully Austin didn’t have any troubles with heights and so he walked right up to the window, peering down into the twilight gloom and trying to make out what was happening below. It took his eyes a couple of seconds to adjust, but when he did he saw the sight below clear as day. Just as he had predicted: people were gathering again and they were peppering the windows with whatever they could find, trying to break their way in.

  It was just like what had happened straight after the news had broken. Austin had almost given up hope trying to find anyone to help defend the Trident Banking Corporation until aid came from the very top itself. Trident had reached out to the government for support, hoping naturally that they would be able to bail the company out with use of the Federal Reserve. Of course, that was impossible. Even if they had tried to print enough money to replace what had been lost, it wouldn’t be effective. All that would accomplish was raising the price of a loaf of bread to over a thousand dollars. It just wasn’t feasible. It wasn’t even possible.

  But they had been able to help out to some extent with protecting the Trident HQ and those people trapped inside. A private security firm had been dispatched – the type used only when very, very important people visited the city on business. Austin had watched them sweep the building and dispose of anyone not on the nineteenth floor with the efficiency of an elite team, acting more like trained soldiers than anything else. Rudimentary barricades were installed on the lower levels and within the space of two hours, the building had gone from under siege to abandoned.

  It was then that they had discovered Claire Manning, dead in her office upstairs. Upon that discovery, things had become a lot more sombre on the nineteenth floor. A large chunk of the people who had taken solace there after the initial reveal chose to leave, their routes home finally clear. Compared to how it had been; only about a third of people remained behind – those truly committed to making a difference and seeing out the disaster first-hand, or alternatively, those who had nowhere else to go.

  Austin had been in touch with his husband on more than one occasion, encouraging him to take their little boy and flee the city. Dante was an incredibly resilient man and Austin didn’t have any worries or fears over him keeping their boy safe. They had both agreed that it was too dangerous for Austin to try and get out and join them, and that Dante would take their son to his mother’s house up in Poughkeepsie. They’d spoken several times since, with Austin planning to join them as soon as he could, but the urgency just wasn’t there while he knew that Dante and their son were safe.

  In the meantime, Austin was going to play his part in getting to the bottom of this disaster and helping where he could. That was the only reason why when he looked down and saw people gathering outside Trident again, he felt a fleeting sense of regret. Should he have left? It was a question he would never know the answer to, but all he could do now was act in a way that suggested he had made the right choice. Walking back to his desk in a calm and collected manner, he picked up the receiver and dialed the head of the elite East Coast security team.

  “Williams.”

  Brandon Williams was as straight-talking as they came, everything that you could expect from a man in his position. He made Austin feel patriotic and inspired at the same time, like he was doing his duty for his country.

  “Taylor from Trident here,” Austin responded. “We’ve got some trouble starting up again outside. How’s it looking down there?”

  “We’ve expanded our coverage in the city,” Williams replied. “Working with what remains of law enforcement. Our reports match up – things have been quieter overnight, but we’ve got a fair few troublemakers of our own to deal with now.”

  “Is there anyone you can send back here?”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line, Brandon Williams clearly considering the request. “I’ll send who I can. What number are you at on the disaster scale?”

  Austin shuffled some papers around on his desk and found the Disaster Scale that Williams had informed him of. Apparently, it was something that was used by the Special Forces to determine how severe a situation was. Austin had found a copy online and printed it off. Analyzing it now he read the descriptions hurriedly, calculated how many lives were at risk in the building and to what extent, then chose a number on the scale. “Two.”

  “Roger that. I’ll send who I can. Report back if you reach a five.”

  “Will do,” Austin confirmed. “Thank you.”

  Putting down the phone, Austin returned to the window and glanced down at the people outside. More of those who remained in the office were taking note now. Jasper, one of the more senior remaining employees who was working on trying to track down the hackers, even exited the room he’d been locked in for the last several hours to inquire about what was happening. Austin watched the exchange he shared with someone else, the two of them shaking their heads, glancing out of the window and gesturing unhappily. There were so many things happening on the nineteenth floor now, that it was difficult to keep track of what was most important. Seated at his desk, Austin picked up his phone again and dialed another number, a familiar one, with a comforting voice at the other end of the line.

  “Hey angel, how’s it going?”

  Just hearing his husband’s voice changed everything for Austin. His posture became more relaxed in his chair and his breathing slowed down, his body reacting subconsciously to Dante’s voice. Austin tried to remain strong but hearing him speak now made him wish he’d taken the chance to leave New York when he’d had it. Dante and their son were safely in Poughkeepsie and it could be many more hours – or even days – until Austin was back with them. He’d never forgive himself if something happened, but in the meantime, he trusted Dante and was happy just to be able to speak to him: on the hour, every hour, just like they’d agreed. It was five in the morning and New York was well and truly waking up, before he had to deal with another day of madness, Austin just wanted a few moments of peace with his husband.

  ***

  In a meeting room across the nineteenth floor, four other people were also astutely aware of the time. Someone was due to go in front of the camera in exactly one hour and they were still no closer to coming up with a way for them to break the news to the country without it sounding like they were all doomed. Every avenue they went down only seemed to uncover more potential problems and upcoming troubles that would soon befall the city.

  Sitting with his head in his hands, Samuel Westchester wondered for the first time whether there was even any point in trying. There didn’t seem to be any hope for humanity and with every minute that passed closer to the
hour of the broadcast, the sense of failure washed over him like a cold shower. There was a large part of him that just couldn’t be bothered anymore. Pretty soon the companies that powered the electricity running through every building in the city would stop functioning. The people that purified the drinking water and imported food would stop working, taking what they could for themselves and leaving everyone else to do the same. Public transport would stop running, hospitals would stop taking people in and if each individual didn’t have the means to survive themselves on the most basic resources, they would suffer the consequences.

  Samuel wondered whether he himself was prepared for such an event. It was no secret that he came from a privileged background. He’d never had to work to put himself through school, never missed a meal and never fallen badly ill because he couldn’t afford healthcare. They were all things that wouldn’t have been possible to him if it weren’t for money, so now without it, the playing field was about to become much more even. He knew it wasn’t going to be those with nothing that suffered, but those who had always had just what they wanted. The class system was about to become increasingly obvious in New York and he was aware he sat much higher up that ladder than most.

  “What do you reckon? Will this pass?”

  Samuel lifted his head and saw Caitlin was asking him a question, holding her laptop screen out in his direction with the tenth or eleventh draft of the statement they’d written. Sighing, he narrowed his eyes and tried to identify the parts of the speech they had changed this time around, the many different colored fonts they’d used to identify changes all blurring together in front of his eyes.

  “We’ve got less emphasis on the repercussions now,” Caitlin explained as he read. “And more focus on the hack itself, identifying how it was impossible to defend against and how fighting back could only result in something even worse. We then go on to state what resources will be affected, including a plea to other multi-national conglomerates to help out, rather than shy away in our time of need.”

  “Okay,” Samuel sighed heavily. “What time is it?”

  “Twenty past five.”

  “Any more updates through from the cyber team? Anything else we need to include?”

  Caitlin and the others shook their heads, the back and forth requests with Graham and everyone else that occasionally interrupted with new information or merely a matter of opinion finally coming to an end. Samuel wasn’t very happy with the finished statement, but he didn’t know what more they could add to it. Despite his enthusiasm for this task when it was first handed to him, it hadn’t taken more than ten minutes for him to conclude he was fighting a losing battle. No matter how he tried to put a positive spin on the situation, the outcome was always the same. The country was broke and there was no coming back from it. Life would now be an uphill battle, with many casualties expected along the way. The lucky ones would make it to the end, but there would be no external factors helping to get them there. No one could buy their way through any longer. It was every man for themselves. Succeed, or die.

  Chapter 16

  “Is this it? Is this the final version?”

  Before he even answered Graham’s question, Samuel could tell that the man wasn’t impressed. He sat in front of the laptop peering at the screen, the full piece having taken him no longer than two minutes to read in its entirety. All in all, there wasn’t much. Samuel wasn’t proud of what they had accomplished but he also knew they had done everything they could with the limited resources and constricting details they were aware of. There were only so many ways of telling people they were all doomed and so no matter how you read it, things didn’t sound positive.

  “What do you think? Will it work?”

  “It’ll have to,” Graham sighed eventually. “We’re just about out of time. It’s nearly six o’clock.”

  Everyone in the room looked up at the clock on the wall simultaneously, the moment of reckoning almost upon them. Samuel hoped that what they had come up with was good enough, but sadly he doubted his efforts. Time would tell. The statement was due to be delivered within the next ten minutes; pretty soon the public would have their answers. And apparently, they couldn’t come soon enough.

  Outside of the meeting room, things were starting to heat up again. The sun had risen over the city and with it, waves of people had left their homes and seemed filled with a new desire for answers. The reality of what was happening had sunk in with the darkness and slowly people were starting to come to terms with how horrific this could be not just for them and the city, but for the country as a whole. Trident was more than just a local bank on the corner, it was the biggest banking conglomerate in the world and without it, disaster was about to strike.

  “They’re starting to surround the building again!” Austin called from his post at the window, watching carefully as more and more people massed outside Trident. “We’ve got a fire burning, people!”

  “What?”

  On the nineteenth floor, those that remained all dashed over to the windows, looking at the scene that was unfolding below. Samuel hung back, cautious about his vertigo kicking in but as everyone gasped at the sight he couldn’t resist. Looking down he saw crowds of New Yorkers starting to rally once again around the Trident building, several of them carrying blazing torches which they held aloft, brandishing them dangerously toward the building.

  If looking down didn’t make Samuel feel sick enough as it was, the thought of what these people were going to do chilled him to the very bone. With how high up they were inside the skyscraper, they stood little chance of escape if something happened to the building further down. Something needed to happen fast, they had to try and protect themselves.

  “We need to get out of here!” A woman cried, dashing toward the stairwell door in an attempt to escape. “Let go of me!” She screamed as someone grabbed her, stopping her from leaving just in time.

  “Where is the security team? What happened to them?”

  “They’re spread too thinly across the city,” Austin replied, narrowing his eyes and trying to determine whether there was anyone trying to stop the madness outside. “They can’t cover everything.”

  “But they’re going to break into the building again. We need to do something.”

  “Hang on,” Austin dashed back over to his desk and picked up his phone, dialling the number he had for Brandon Williams. “Come on,” he muttered as the line rang, “pick up.”

  “Williams.”

  “Where are you?” Austin asked desperately, thankful to finally get the man on the phone. “Things are really heating up here. We need help to get out of the building for good now I think.”

  “Sorry son,” Williams replied, the sound of what Austin could only believe to be gunshots echoing down the line. “No can do. You’re gonna have to deal with this one on your own.”

  “We can’t,” Austin pleaded, a crash outside making him shudder as he wondered what had caused it. “I think they’re trying to set the building on fire.”

  “Use the elevator shafts if you need to,” Williams replied bluntly. “They’re fireproof. I’ll head your way if I can, but I can’t make any promises.”

  Williams ended the call before Austin could argue any further, a number of people including Graham and Samuel both watching the conversation, waiting to discover the outcome. “They’re not coming,” Austin shook his head. “What do we do?”

  Everyone on the nineteenth floor seemed to pause for a moment, the open plan room becoming almost silent. Samuel looked around, waiting for someone to come up with an explanation or an answer, but every face he looked at was doing the same, deferring to those around them. Outside things seemed to be heating up at an alarming rate, cries echoing through the air and carrying up to them through the open windows. Confusion had turned into anger and while those at Trident had believed the night would grant them a few quiet hours of respite, all it had really done was fueled the fire of discontent below and given the public time to prepare for the
ir final attack on the building.

  “We need to give the statement,” Graham declared. “We’ve got to tell them what’s happened. Let them know the truth.”

  “I don’t think the truth is going to make any difference now,” another voice called back, disagreeing with Graham. “There’s nothing we can do. We should’ve given up hours ago.”

  The disgruntled man headed for the door, shoving away an associate angrily as they tried to stop him. The woman from earlier struggled free of her friend who held her as well, huffing and following the first man to the stairwell.

  “Wait!” Graham called after them, “It’s too dangerous out there. You can’t go!”

  “Sorry boss,” the man turned around just as he reached the door, holding it open for the woman and several others who had peeled off from the crowd to join them. “But screw this.”

  Samuel watched on in horror, fear creeping into his psyche as another cry came from over by the window again.

  “They’re inside! They’ve made it into the building!”

  “You’ve got to do the statement,” Samuel urged Graham. “We need to give it now.” Looking at the man who Samuel deemed to be the head of the Trident Banking Corporation now, he couldn’t help but notice the pale complexion that Graham wore. The man seemed to be sweating slightly, his eyes darting around the room as everyone shouted questions at him, the situation on the nineteenth floor reaching a boiling point and very nearly bubbling over. “Graham?” Samuel asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked at his colleague. “We can’t wait any longer.”

  “How were we planning to deliver it?” Austin asked curiously, looking outside again at the amounting chaos. “There are at least three news crews down there.”

  “Graham?” Samuel struggled to get a response from his friend, the man pale and swaying slightly from side to side. He didn’t understand what had happened. All throughout the disaster so far, Graham had seemed grounded and in control. He had never once spoken with panic or fear in his voice and always come across relaxed, like he knew how to handle every challenge that was thrown at him.