Heading Out

Posted on Sun May 11th, 2025 @ 5:20pm by Survivor Roxy Santiago & Leader Connor McLean
Edited on on Mon May 12th, 2025 @ 9:23am

2,305 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Escape from the Concrete Grave
Location: New York City, Connor's Building
Timeline: 7 September, 1406 hours

The pair had worked hard, packing and hauling supplies down to the garage. Loading what they could into the armored truck, they filled every space cubic inch they could find, even lashing some things to the outside of the vehicle. Finally, when there was absolutely no more room to be found, they stored everything else that they would have to leave in the back of the garage. They pushed a few abandoned cars in front of the cache, to keep it hidden from immediate discovery.

Standing back from their work, Connor took a large gulp of water from the bottle he was holding, then handed it to Toxy. "That's the best we can do. If we can get back here, we know where the stuff is. If not, maybe it'll help someone else if it's found." He paused a few beats, then turned back to head to the truck's open driver's door. "Time to go." They had discussed that, as he knew where the boat storage was, he would drive, while Roxy would open the garage door, then jump into the truck and be ready with her shotgun.

Roxy held her gun and headed for the gate. She kept her movements slow and ducked low. She glanced out between the gaps in the gate and jerked back. Beyond were the undead. She knew the instant he started the truck they would be drawn to the gate. She needed to make sure she could run faster than them. She looked back at the Truck. And waited for his signal.

Once Conner saw that Roxy was ready, he took a breath, to settle his sudden nerves. He then turned the key and the powerful desiel engine roared to life, the sound deafening in the concrete garage. He put the truck in gear and started rolling towards the gate, as he watched Roxy start to open it. Once he was through, he hit the breaks and waited for Roxy to close the gate again. He say a group of the undead, ten in total, start to shuffle towards the driver side of the truck. He pulled his pistol and waited for Roxy. If she got hung up, he would start shooting. He would not leave her.

As the gate closed Roxy lunged for the passenger side door and flung it open and dove in. "Go!" She called out as she grabbed her shotgun.

Once she was in and the door was slammed shut, Connor hit the accelerator, and the heavy truck lurched forward. He ended up mowing down nearly a dozen of the undead dead, two regrettably, were children, a little girl with her right arm chewed apart and a boy, that was missing most of his face. After they got passed the danger, he shook his head, his voice uncharacteristically shaken, "It never even occurred to me that babies could become those things..."

Roxy nodded slowly as she kept an eye out. "No one is immune I guess."

They kept driving trough the ruined city, moving around car, truck and bus wrecks. They passed several more groups of the undead, even a handful of survivors, who were running from one place to another. Connor glanced around as he continued to drive. "New York was one of the best, if not the best city in the world. And now? It just feels like a house on fire and all the rats are scurring to safety."

"Leaving the rest to burn and decay" Roxy said "The military will try again to bomb the city i am sure"

He nodded as he turned onto a side street that led down to one of the many wharfs the rung the City. "Not sure. I guess that all depends on whether there is any form of government left to issue those orders." He saw the warehouse he was looking for and said, "We're here." He pulled up next to the nondescript, one story warehouse. The paint looked faded and also that several different layers had been applied over the years. "Now we just see if my boat is still inside." He backed the truck up to the roll door and shut off the engine. Silence descended around them. "Wait here, I'll go check things out. Get in the driver's seat, in case we need to haul ass outta here." He then grabbed his rifle and got out of the truck, heading back, to the door leading into the warehouse.

Roxy slid into the drivers seat. As she sat there she let her mind wander. She knew her name was part of her identity, but she wondered how long she could maintain the façade.

A few moments later, an industrial roll up door began opening on the side of the building directly behind the armored truck. Once it was high enough, Connor stepped out, his rifle at the ready, and he waved Roxy to back the truck into the warehouse.

Nodding at him, Roxy backed the truck in. She kept an eye out as she did so, but so far no walkers were near by.

Once the truck cleared the door, Connor used the chain to lower it back down. Afterwards, he locked the chain in place. Moving back to the rear of the truck, he opened the rear door as he called out. "We're lucky, she's still here!" He started to unload the truck, making a pile on the concrete next to the drydock.

The boat in question, was a 70 foot, 2005 Sunseeker Predator 68. She was a luxury speedboat/yacht, painted a burnt copper color, with dark-polished teakwood decking on the open aft section. Even sitting there, out of the water, the boat looked fast and very comfortable.

"Nice Boat," Roxy said as she slid from the truck and began to help unloading. "How far can it go?"

"First off, you don't refer to boats as it, but as she," Connor chuckled softly as he started carrying bags over to the boat. "However, how far depends on how fast. At the maximum speed of 31 knots, she will burn through her fuel cells damn fast, but, if she's kept at a gentle 10 knots, she can get nearly 1800 nautical miles." He paused and glanced at Roxy. "To give you a mental image, a traditional transatlantic cruise is around 3150 nautical miles. So, we can get to just about anywhere on the eastern seaboard with the fuel we have."

"Okay, " Roxy said. "So enough to get to your estate." She followed him with bags. "There was nothing on the streets outside, it was strange."

Connor nodded. "Oh yeah, plenty to get home. I've got another covered boathouse large enough for the Gambler's Choice here." He tilted his head toward the boat. "As for the quiet outside, i dunno, but I'll take any quiet moment we can get."

It took them nearly twenty more minutes to finish transferring the gear to the boat. Connor then moved to the bridge and started to bring the electronics online. As the generators started to warm up, he pressed a remote, and water started to fill the bay under the keel of the boat. "We'll be out out here in about ten more minutes," he told Roxy, as he moved around the exterior of the boat, ensuring everything looked right. He then moved down into the engine bay and started to preheat the glow plugs in the starters. Once everything was showing green, he headed back up to the bridge.

Roxy stood at the back of the boat, her gaze watching the closed doors. She was not trusting the silence. She held her shotgun and waited.

By the time Connor had come back topside, the boat was floating in pumped-in water from the Hudson River. "Okay, let's get things going." He pressed the engine start control and both MAN D2842 marine diesels rumbled to life, the built-in whisper plates making the sound of the exhaust seem like a gently growling pair of lions. "Okay, we have good pressure." He reached over to the remote for the dock pumps and pressed another button, and the door leading out into the river split apart quietly, on well oiled tracks.

Once there was room, Connor pushed the twin throttles forward a few notches, and the powerful boat responded instantly, moving out of the enclosed dock and out into the river. Once outside, the rumble of the engines grew even quieter, with very little to bounce the sound off of. Next stop, home," he said to Roxy as he glanced over his shoulder at her. He then adjusted their heading, to take them northeast, upriver, until the started to enter the western reaches of the Long Island Sound.

"So long as we aren't stopped, we should get to my family's pier in about three hours. We could do it in thirty minutes, but that's with the engines going full out. And that's not a good idea, if we want to be as invisible as possible."

Roxy nodded and moved to stand beside him. "Look behind us" She said softly. There was a slow moving boat, large and very much US Military at the very tip of Manhattan.

Connor glanced back at the Ticonderoga Class Cruiser, I deed moving up the river.

"Well, shit," he cursed softly. "We are already well within his gun range, so we can't outrun him. Best vet, we just keep going like we are, and hope he doesn't get curious." He looked Roxy in the eyes. "Any kind of negative contact with that ship, will only put us in the bottom of the river." He paused, then added, "if asked, we are just a couple trying to survive. We haven't been bitten or sick in any way."

"Do you think they will listen?" She asked. She looked ahead of them. "There is some debris up ahead we could use as shelter?"

He turned to look at where she was indicating. "We might, but, if he already has his radar locked on us, he will see us anyway. Although...." he looked around the waterway. If we kept going on this heading, he'd have to stop and turn back. The water is too shallow for him to fit. Of course, we will still be well within his weapons' ranges. That gun on the bow is effective to a few miles out. Then there's his cruise missiles. Those can go several hundred miles." He glanced back at the cruiser, which was seeming to be slowing. "See? He's already getting too close to the wreckage on the bottom of the river."

"Roosevelt Island?" she suggested. "How far? Would it block them for a bit?"

He gave her a funny look. "I thought you were from here? Everyone knows where Roosevelt Island is." He pointed upriver. "It's just a few minutes that way. And as for blocking him, the destroyed bridges will already do that."

"I am it ...I have not been on boats much and ... it looks different. " Roxy admitted. That and she looked a bit green around the gills.

Connor looked over and saw how Roxy looked. "Whoa now," he said gently, so as not to startle her. "Pick a point on the horizon and focus on it. It will help with the sea sickness." As he spoke, he piloted the yacht into less choppy water, in an effort to help Roxy feel better.

"I can make it." She sat down beside him. "I wont throw up." She vowed.

He smiled warmly as he looked over at her. He reached out and gently rubbed her back. Both were at odds with his appearance. The scruffy, short beard, the weathered features, the black eyepatch over his left eye. The only part that showed the softness, was his right eye, when he looked at her.

"Thanks. I am sure we will be fine." she took a chance and looked back. "Do you think we will be able to out run them if they launch smaller boats?"

He frowned as he thought about it. "Probably not. And if we tried, I have no doubt that cruiser would fire on us. So, for now, we just have to keep moving away slowly, nonthreateningly." He shook his head as he added. "Believe me, it doesn't make me happy. But, we are way outclassed here. Two criminals against the crew of a powerful US Navy ship of the line."

Roxy nodded "Ok lets just pray they do not see us as anything big or bad."

For the next twenty minutes, Connor and Roxy continued to put distance between themselves and the cruiser. Finally, they entered the western reaches of the Long Island Sound, unmolested and without pursuit.

Connor finally breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his family's private pier come into view. His father's 100 foot megayacht was not tied up in its slip, so he wondered if his father had survived the end of the world.

"Here we are," he said softly as he piloted them into the adjoining slip. "Go tie off the bow line first, then the aft," ge told Roxy. "Don't forget to put out the bumpers along the side first."

Roxy nodded and set about doing as he said to. She moved carefully and was soon finishing the tie offs.

Once the boat was secured, Connor shut off the engines and took the keys. "Grab a pack of supplies and your rifle. Once we know the house is secure. We will bring up the rest." He went below and grabbed a pack and one of the carbines. He then returned topside and stepped out onto the dock, while he waited for Roxy.

Roxy came up to him a short time later she was carrying as much as she could with her rifle in her hands. "Lead on"

~TBC~

 

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