Jersey City

A few days of walking had led them to Jersey City. In that time, although it was thankfully mostly uneventful, they had come to realize just what sort of undertaking travelling for miles on foot was, especially in these dangerous times. Paramus seemed hopelessly far, let alone Adam and Kurt’s eventual destination of Lima, Ohio.

Still, they were alive and making progress. And Sebastian and Elliot had proved to be great company. It was a shame they’d eventually have to part ways.

“Jersey City, “ Elliott said, “Y’know, we might’ve gone from the frying pan and into the fire here.”

“What do you mean?” Adam asked.

“Well, people got shot a lot here when it wasn’t the end of the world,” Elliott explained, “I’d hate to see how they are now that basically nothing really matters.”

“Maybe they’re all dead already,” Sebastian suggested.

“Yeah, well, dead isn’t always the same thing as gone anymore,” Kurt said.

As if on cue, they heard a zombie run up behind them. Turning quickly, Kurt threw a knife at it, which hit it in the head and left a nasty gash before ultimately landing on the ground. He tried again, and the second knife stuck in the zombie’s shoulder. The creature continued advancing on them, not slowed down by Kurt’s attacks.

Elliot lunged at it and bashed its head with the length of pipe he carried. When the zombie went down, he continued his assault until it stirred no more. Kurt pulled the knife from its shoulder and went to retrieve the other one a few feet away.

Kurt sighed and shook his head. “We really need better weapons.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sebastian responded, looking at the fire extinguisher he had picked up after losing the knife he’d originally carried. “Do you think maybe we could upgrade before we leave the city?”

“Yeah, we definitely should,” Elliott said, “If we had a city map, we could figure out where we need to go to do that.”

“Maybe we can pick one up at a convenience store,” Kurt said, “There’s bound to be one somewhere nearby.”

After a while of scouring the area and another run in with some zombies, the group finally happened upon a convenience store. It was abandoned like every other store they had encountered on their journey so far. It also appeared to have been fairly thoroughly ransacked. Still, they were able to find the city map they sought as well as procure some more water.

“Alright,” Kurt said, trying to read their new map, “Now onto the armory.”

According to the map, there was a gun store on the other side of town, and if Jersey City was even half the size of New York City that meant a lot of walking and a long day still ahead of them. Adam hoped it would be relatively uneventful.

--

“So, did you ever come here before? Like before the apocalypse?” Sebastian asked Elliott.

“I used to have family here when I was a kid,” Elliott answered, “But once they moved away, we never really drove out here anymore. It’s been… a long time since I was last here. And it’s still kinda weird seeing it like this.”

“I imagine it is,” Adam commented.

“It makes me kinda nervous about what Paramus is gonna look like to be honest,” Elliott continued, “I mean, I know it’s probably gonna be messed up because that’s pretty much everywhere, but I just…” He didn’t know how to phrase exactly how he was feeling. He had been trying his best to remain optimistic, hopeful, and not to think too much about what he might find when he returned to his hometown. It was easier to function that way. And yet, at times such as this moment, he couldn’t deny he was afraid. Afraid and...he wasn’t even sure what the word was for the rest of it. “Sad” didn’t seem strong enough; “upset” seemed to vague. But the idea of the city he used to live in for so many years being essentially destroyed was distressing to him if he allowed himself to dwell on the thought.

“It’s different when it’s your home or somewhere you’ve been, I suppose,” Adam said, breaking through his thoughts, probably trying to help him put them into words somehow, “Hopefully it won’t be too bad though.”

“I hope not,” Elliott said, “I guess I really should prepare myself in case it is though, huh?” He wasn’t sure how he could do that, but he knew the closer they got to the city, the more he needed to try.

“I’ve heard it’s not as bad the more towards the middle of the country you go,” Sebastian said, “Or if you go way up North where hardly anyone lived in the first place.”

“I wonder what Lima’s like now,” Kurt said, “Since I lost contact with Dad and Carole, I don’t know anything that’s going on there. The last I heard from them, things were...well, they were bad, but I don’t think they were as bad as what we all left behind in New York.”

“New York was one of the hardest hit places, I think,” Sebastian added, “Although, I heard they got it really bad on the West Coast, too.”

“Do you ever wonder about what’s going on in the rest of the world?” Elliott asked. “Like, do you think there are places where this isn’t even happening?” It was wild to think about, really; the idea that there might be people living their lives normally or almost normally at that exact moment. Elliott wished he had kept better track of international news before things like television and internet went down.He remembered hearing a bit about Europe dealing with zombies, especially in the UK.

He looked at Adam, and suddenly felt intense empathy for his new friend. Here he was worrying about going back to Paramus and finding it in ruins, when Adam’s family was practically a world away. Sure enough, Adam responded, “I wish I knew, to be honest. I lost contact with my family pretty early on, so I have no idea what’s going on there.” He paused. “Only that...well, obviously things weren’t any better there than they were in New York.” Kurt took his hand and squeezed it.

“I’m sorry, “Elliott said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, that sucks,” Sebastian echoed the sentiment.

Adam shrugged. “It… yeah, it does, but I’m not going to assume the worst. That won’t do anyone any good. They were safe as of our last contact, and I hope they still are.”

--

Suddenly, they heard the familiar sounds of a group of zombies approaching. Adam tensed up and tightened his grip on the baseball bat. Kurt got out his knives and sized up their foes.

“That’s a lot of ‘em,” Elliott said nervously, “Any chance we can just outrun them?”

“Yeah, I’m not exactly loving the odds for us here,” Sebastian said, “I can only do so much with this fucking fire extinguisher.”

Their undead opponents kept coming in droves. They all backed up and considered their options. Suddenly, there was the sound of a gunshot, followed by several more, and soon they saw zombies going down.

“What the—?” Sebastian started to question.

Some of the zombies scattered in different directions, while others continued to approach the four of them. Finally, Kurt threw his first knife, landing a blow in the neck of one of their enemies.

Before any of them could finish it off, a shot to the head took it out. Elliott killed another with his length of pipe, although judging by his mad swearing it had been a close call for him. Sebastian struggled against another, but it soon fell from a gunshot as well.

It was then, amidst the fray, that their apparent allies could finally be seen. It was a group of four men, like theirs, but the similarities probably ended there. These men looked tough; they looked a bit mean. They had clearly been on the road or living in the streets for longer than Adam, Kurt, Elliott, or Sebastian.

Swinging his bat with all his might, Adam killed a zombie that had almost gotten him while he was distracted. He saw Kurt struggling against another and rushed to aid him. His third kill was the easiest one yet, although the whole affair still made him a bit sick to his stomach.

Soon the hoard of zombies had been eliminated, and they faced the men who had saved them. Adam was the first to speak, “Thank you so much. You really helped us out of a nasty situation there.” Then, as he finished speaking he realized that the men weren’t lowering their weapons. “Um,” he continued uneasily, “it’s alright. We’re just passing through. We don’t mean any harm.”

One of the men laughed, and still none of them lowered their weapons. And suddenly this whole situation was starting to feel all too familiar to Adam. Damn it. He was such an idiot.

“Um,” Kurt began, but he was immediately cut off.

“Drop your weapons, empty your pockets and bags,” the man in the front of the group demanded, “We don’t wanna hurt you, but we damn sure aren’t afraid to if we gotta.”

“Oh, not again,” Adam muttered. He set the baseball bat on the ground, and then, he removed his backpack from his back and emptied it carefully.

“What was that?” The man stepped forward and pointed his gun squarely at Adam’s head.

At the rate he was going Adam was definitely going to get shot some time during this whole apocalypse situation. “Nothing,” he responded as calmly as he could, though a tremble in his voice betrayed him, “it’s just, um, I was actually already mugged recently, so I’m afraid I don’t have much.” A nervous laugh escaped him, and really, if he ignored the very real threat to his life and Kurt’s life and the lives of their new friends, it was almost funny, the cruel irony of his own situation, that he might survive one mugging just to be murdered during another only a week or so later. Funny if it weren’t so terrifying.

The man crouched down to go through the contents of Adam’s bag. To Adam, he commanded, “Hands where we can see ‘em, Mary Poppins.” Adam might have scoffed at the name, but if there was one thing he had learned at this point it was that when people had guns he needed to button it and comply. He wondered how the rules would change once he and his friends had guns… not that he had the slightest idea of how to use a gun, but they could cross that bridge if and when they got to it.

Whenever he dared to tear his eyes away from the man in front of him, he watched Kurt. He was certain he’d break his rule of compliance if any harm were to come to Kurt. But it seemed that Kurt was safe for now; he too was complying, although Adam could tell from his face and his body language that he hated every second of doing so.

From behind him, he could hear one of the men asking Sebastian (although declining didn’t seem to be an option) for his watch. Sebastian apparently handed it over without a word of protest. Apparently, having a gun pointed at him was an effective way to silence Sebastian’s normally sharp tongue. It was actually very sad to know that.

Having taken what they wanted, the men left them standing where they were, and for a moment, none of them dared to move. Finally, when the gang of robbers were far away, they were able to release a collective sigh of relief and regroup. They had survived.

Kurt rushed over to Adam and hugged him tightly, a gesture Adam reciprocated with equal intensity. No matter what was taken from him as long as it wasn’t Kurt or his own life, he would be fine.

“I love you,” Kurt said.

“I love you, too,” Adam returned.

“But you have the worst luck,” Kurt added, “Twice now. In, what? One week?”

“I know,” Adam replied, “And, I’m sorry if that bad luck rubs off on you, but the way I see it, my luck still isn’t the worst. Nobody’s taken what’s most important to me.”

“Alright, can you guys maybe have your sappy Hallmark moment some other time?” Sebastian interjected, “We just got fucking mugged and almost killed.”

“Bite me, Sebastian, we just almost died,” Kurt snapped. All the same, he broke away from Adam, but not before giving him a kiss.

“Well, they took our bread and the water I was carrying,” Elliott announced, “And my debit card, although they’re in for a shock if they’re expecting me to have any money in there.”

“Yeah, they took my bag, my phone, my cash, my debit card, my fucking watch, and the water I was carrying,” Sebastian said, “Seriously fuck those guys.”

Kurt and Adam both took quick inventory of their remaining possessions. “Yeah, my water bottles are gone, too,” Kurt said, “As well as the two knives I got from Adam, my debit card, and my cash.”

“They took the bottled water from me, but left me my Thermos,” Adam assessed, “I guess I didn’t have anything left worth taking other than that. Not exactly surprising, but it’s still a relief.”

Kurt sighed. “I guess that means we need to look for a store to restock on water before we do anything else.”

With that, they continued onward, more cautiously than ever. It was now glaringly apparent that they needed better weapons to protect themselves with, and they could only hope that nothing else terribly dangerous happened to them before they could make it to the gun store to properly supply themselves.