Night time escape

Posted on Sat May 3rd, 2025 @ 10:33pm by New York Survivor Amythyst & New York Survivor Briar Maddox & New York Survivor John ("Dodger") Smith & New York Survivor George Brooks

2,981 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Winter's hope
Location: Hudson River
Timeline: September 13th 2010

As night fell, Amythyst made sure the younger children were fed and then she put them to bed. She made sure she blacked out the windows so no light was seen from the outside, then she moved up to the cockpit to find George and Dodger.

George had just returned from looking around again, and had just reentered the cockpit when Amythyst entered from below. "Looks like the patrols gave moved deeper into the harbor. I think, if we are quiet and careful, we should be able to sneak upriver now." He looked at both of the the other two senior members of the group, not wanting to just make the decision alone. They were a team.

"I have blacked out all the windows in the below cabins and the chickens are asleep." Amy said softly. "How far will we get before dawn?"

George glanced down at the chart board and did some mental calculations. "If we stay at just fast enough to go against the current, we should get to the north side of Mahatten Island before dawn. If there aren't any patrols upriver, then I'll increase the speed as possible."

Dodger looked at the other two. " That sounds like the best option we have. How soon do we wait before we make our move?"

Amy looked at George. "Your call," she said softly.

Dodger was quiet as his gaze shifted to George as he waited to hear his decision. Once he heard it, he could get busy on implementing it.

George stole another look out at the open river ahead ov them, then made his decision. "Cast off the lines, pull in the bumpers. We'll go now." He then fired up the main engines and put them into idle, while he waited for Amythyst and Dodger to untie them from the barge.

Dodger didn't need to be told twice. he jumped to his feet and raced to untie the bowlines and pull in the bumpers. it took him a minute maybe two but he was soon done. he looked to see how Amy was doing. "How you doing Amy?" He whispered to her.

She nodded "Am going ok." She said as she finished her last one. "If we had oars we could be able to move the boat away a lot more silently than now but.." she turned. "Its getting colder." She commented as she pulled her jacket closer.

"I thought we packed oars when we were loading the ship earlier." Dodger replied. He nodded at her statement of it getting colder.

"Grab them and tell George. He can use the rudder to direct us but if we use the oars it will mean no wake and the barges will not move, thus we will be able to get a distance away before we are seen." Amy suggested as she zipped her jacket up.

"Right!" Dodger replied and dashed off to get the oars. "George." He said as he passed the bridge. "Amy and I are going to use the oars we packed earlier to move us. You can direct us and use the rudder. That way we can get some distance without being seen or heard."
Then he was gone to get the oars and returned to Amy a few minutes later. "An oar for you and one for me. Might as well get started."

Amy took it and moved to the back and began to slowly brace the oar against the nearest barge and then pushed their yacht away from it.

Acting quickly and moving to the rear of their boat, Dodger added his oar to Amy's in helping her push their yacht away from the barge to make their escape.

Slowly, it seemed to be endless, but soon they were pushing as hard as they could against the current as they moved northward. As they passed the city of the dead to their right, they could see fires on rooftops, and in the streets, they could not hear the moans of the dead that lurched in the shadows and for that they were grateful.

After a few hours, George finally started the motor and they put the oars down. The three were running on their own fumes, having not slept for over 48 hours. Amy sat behind George in the cockpit and tried not to close her eyes.

Dodger sat quietly in the dark and looked out the window at the city they were leaving. A city that was dying by bits and pieces a block at a time. He didn't know what the future held but he allowed himself to hope. That it had to be better than what they were leaving behind.

George was running on pure adrenaline right now. Once they were at a safe location, he would allow himself to sleep. "If we follow around the north side of Manhattan Island, we will come out into the Long Island Sound. I think there's a bunch of small islands out there that might have some homes on them. Hopefully they will be abandoned and we can take a breath, before getting busy doing what needs to be done to stay alive."

Amy nodded as she stretched. "Even if we can find a place where we can get some sleep... " she broke off and pointed ahead. "George, slow us down. There is something there."

That something was a small fishing boat. It was not moving, just rocking in the current just near one of the pylons of the destroyed George Washington Bridge. Someone was moving on it, and it was not the lurching of the undead.

Dodger was instantly alert and sat straighter as Amy noticed a small fishing boat and someone on it. "It's, its." Dodger paused as he tried to pick up more detail of the figure, "It's a girl!" He finally got out as their boat slowed and came alongside the smaller fishing boat.

The girl, slender with dark hair and eyes stood holding a makeshift spear aiming at them. "We have nothing you want" she called out.

Amy looked over at her and saw beyond her, a small crouching figure. The only light was moonlight but it was big enough despite being waxing. "Are you ok?" she called out.

The girl repeated. "We have nothing. We are no threat."

"Geez, a hard case." Dodger whispered as he looked at the girl. "Relax, trying to help you and the question remains, are you okay?"

"Is anyone?" the reply came back. "We are just trying to get to the mainland."

"Good point." Dodger replied. "You don't want to get to the mainland. We just left there; we're heading for one of the islands." He said then looked to Amy and George, "Do we invite them to come with us?"

Amy considered "I am ok with it." she said softly.

George looked over their smaller boat, then nodded. "Another boat could help us in the long run." He slowly piloted their larger boat closer to the girl's, turning around, so their bows were facing the same way. "Put out the port bumpers and tie us together. Then, we can move as one. Not as fast or as agile as we were alone, but perhaps a bit more stable." He held their position while Dodger, Amythyst and the new girl secured the two boats together. "I'm George, this is Amythyst and Dodger. What's your name?"

The girl studied them. "Briar. And this is Rowan. Are you all... no adults?" she was slightly stunned.

George nodded. "That's right. No adults are allowed in our group. We three are the oldest. The rest of our group is below. Adults can't be trusted. Not any more."

Briar gave a slight nod. "Our boat does not have fuel for a long trip though." She said as her brother shifted up to beside her.

Dodger looked at her, "You won't need fuel. You and your brother can come on to our boat. Get what you want to take with you and we'll get you onboard." Dodger looked to George, "Should we tow their boat behind us? I know it isn't as big as ours, but it could serve us to use on exploring or getting into smaller areas. What do you think? You and Amy?"

George considered it and nodded in agreement. "It would make it easier to navigate if we towed your boat rather than had you tied up along side." He looked at Amythyst. "Is there room for them below?"

Amy nodded "yes more than enough room." She held out a hand to Briar. "Start passing things over, let's get you both on board and settled. Have you eaten recently?"

Briar shook her head. "N-no I tried to catch fish but...we all know the likelihood of fish in this river.."

Amythyst nodded. "True. We have plenty." She was considering that it would be nice to have another older girl around.

It didn't take long before Briar and her brother Rowan had joined them on their craft and their boat was placed in tow.

Amy took them below as they moved slowly through the rubble of the once great bridge.

Briar followed Amy down into the lower deck holding Rowan's hand.

As they walked Amy gave a brief run down on the situation. "Dodger and George are the eldest here, they were along with the others here under the protection of an older boy named Dante but he vanished two days ago when the group was staying with me while moving from place to place. They called the group the Infernals. All the rest are under the age of 11. We made the call, the three of us to get off the island like you. No families except other Infernals." She led them to a cabin she had not assigned to anyone.

She waved them inside. "The showers do work. We have blacked out the windows because the military are patrolling the river so we need to be stealthy as possible. I will get you food and be right back."

Briar watched as the girl with faded purple dye in her hair vanished back out of the cabin.

Rowan looked at his sister and said "safe?"

Briar nodded. "I think so."

A few minutes later Amy returned with a tray of food. "Sorry it's cold but we couldn't risk the smell." It was a salad and cold chicken and two bottles of water.

Briar stared. "Oh..its more than we have had in days."

Amy nodded. "Eat up and get some rest. The boys and I will be up on the upper deck until we get to wherever we can find a.place to rest."

So saying Amy went out and made her way back up to where Doger and George were.

Joining them she said "Dodger, get some sleep. You can then spell George for a bit."

Dodger nodded, he was tired. They all were. "Okay" He agreed and started to find a place to lie down. He stopped and looked back to Amy, "You know since it's a fishing boat; we can use it fish as well. We'll need to check the nets." He yawned, " Wake me in a couple of hours. You need to sleep as well." He pointed out, then moved to the back of the bridge and literally fell onto a small bench and was soon fast asleep.

Amy had nodded and moved to stand beside George. "Do we risk a torch on the bow?" The moonlight of a waxing moon was not enough really and they were moving slowly to avoid debris.

George considered it, then, before he could answer, they heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire, coming from the city, off to the right. There was also the soft groaning of what could only be hundreds, maybe even thousands of those undead creatures, along with screams of the living as they lost their final fight with the inevitable. It was a chilling atmosphere that they were moving through.

Shaking his head, he replied. "The noise of our engines is one thing. In the dark, we are wrapped in some level of protection from the shore. We turn on any of our lights, that protection would be gone." He turned and looked into her eyes. There was an unspoken emotion for her in his eyes. "I won't do anything to put us...put you...in any more danger than absolutely necessary." He turned his eyes back to the water ahead of them. "Besides, if I keep moving my eyes over the water, and away from any stray lights, I can see well enough right now. If you could help ne with the chart, we might be able to navigate our way around the city in the next few hours."

The gunfire combined with the groans and moans of the undead woke Dodger up with a start. "Wha....?" He started and then looked to the city off to the right. He then looked back at George and Amy and saw George's eyes. He made no comment instead he asked, " How are we doing?"

George glanced back at his friend. "Same as it was a dew minutes ago. Go back to sleep, Dodge. It's gonna be a long night."

Dodger shook his head and raised an eyebrow at the nickname George had bestowed upon him., "No, can't sleep now. I um, I think I'll check on the others."

Amy who had been watching the water nodded "Most are asleep. I think Briar was eating with Rowan" she said over her shoulder.

Dodger nodded his head, "Okay, thanks Amy. I'll think I'll still check on them as well as Briar and her brother."

Amy nodded and pulled out an oar to push a piece of drifting metal away from the bow of the yacht. "Good luck."

Dodger nodded by way of reply and headed below deck. He did as he said and checked on the other Infernals who were all asleep before moving on. Stopping outside a cabin, he knew none of the Inferals were in, he knocked and awaited a reply.

The door opened slowly and Briar stood here, she was dressed as best one could in such circumstances and now in the dim light, it was clear that she had been on the road with her sibling for a long while. Her jeans were torn at the knees, and frayed at the hem. Her shirt was oversized and yet, torn as well, and the jacket she had over her shirt was army surplus, kind of like the type Amythyst wore but this one had obviously seen battle. "Yes?" she asked nervously.

Dodger was suddenly nervous as he stood there. "Hi, I um just wanted to come by and see how you both were doing. We've got your boat in tow. You probably already know that."

Briar nodded. "Yes. We are settling in ok." She said. As she shifted, he could see the smaller figure of her brother sleeping on the bunk behind her.

Dodger returned the nod, "Okay, good. If you need anything, just let me or the others know. If you like, we can probably find another set clothes for you to wear." He saw her brother sleeping, "Do you need some more blankets?"

Briar glanced back. "No we are warm enough. We have some spare clothes." She added as she turned back to Dodger. "Do you need help up on deck?"

Dodger shook his head, "No, not right now, we're moving slow as to not attract any attention. Maybe in the morning we will. I will let you know. Thanks for the offer though. Would you like to come up on deck and look around?"

Briar considered it and then she picked up her spear. "Sure"

Dodger nodded, "Great." He replied as he stepped aside for Briar to come out. "Um, you won't need the spear." He continued easily.

"Are you sure the dead cannot swim?" she asked as she followed him out and up to the main deck.

"We haven't seen them swim, but you make a good point. Bring your spear." Dodger replied as they came back to the main deck. "George, Amy. I brought Briar up with me so she can see what is going on."

Amy was using a pole to push away more debris. She looked back. "Cool. Someone talk to George so he stays awake." she hinted.

Dodger walked over to George, "How you doing man? Tell me what do to and go catch yourself a few zzzzzzzzzs." He suggested.

George looked over at Dodger and grinned slightly. "Tired, but I'm good." He turned his eyes back to the water ahead of them, shaking his head. "I'll get us to sunrise, then you can take over. Boating at night is a way different animal than during the day." He glanced back at his friend briefly, before continuing. "Sorry, nothing personal. My dad didn't let me pilot our boat at night, solo, until I had my boating license. And then only after he went out with me a few times to ensure I knew what I was doing. The way things are now, it'll take me some time to train anyone who wants to learn, and then it would take them time to show me that they are confident and know what they're doing to keep us all safe."

"I didn't take it as personal; However, I want to learn so in case of an emergency the boat can still be piloted. Then when you teach me, Amy and Briar can learn if they want to, for we all have the same goal, keep everyone safe."

Briar listened with half an ear and moved to grab and oar. She began to help Amy move debris.

As the night passed the 4 older teenagers worked together to navigate the Hudson River and its destroyed bridges and tunnels.

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