Nobody Is Present

It took me some time to adapt, but driving a Humvee is just like driving any regular cars. The only problem for me is the steering wheel. It's kinda huge from my perspective, so it takes more effort to turn it. We survived again, thankfully, but we're still not safe from bandits or ambushers.

"Anyway, what did you write in your book?" I asked Daniel while still driving. Daniel quickly hides his book inside his bag, pretending it has nothing. I chuckle a bit.

"Hey, even if it's your diary or your communication aid, I won't laugh at it. But that's okay if you don't want to."

With a rearview mirror, I see him kinda troubled with my conversation, and he leans back. I think I talked too much…

I remember visited Brooklyn when I was 18, just before the war. It's crowded, as usual, the thugs are there, and I like it. I stayed at one of my friend's apartment for some business. As I drive the Humvee around, I see his apartment not far away from my position. Hmm, maybe he's still live there, or not. We just need his place for the night that almost come.

After some turns and rounds, we arrived at the apartment. Looks like the apartment has been breached and raided. I park my Humvee at the nearest alleyway, grab my things, and go inside the apartment with Daniel. We're ready for any surprises inside with the help of my AK and Daniel's M1911.

The door is busted up, not a good sign. We draw our guns up as we inside and go upstairs. It's a 4-story apartment, so this will be easy to secure. My friend's room is on the 3rd floor. Inside the apartment is horrible. There's a lot of dirt, dust, and blood mark on the wall, the stinks are welcoming us again, and a corpse is present on the 2nd floor, leaning against the wall. I kinda recognize his face, so I take a look closer. Well, it's my friend with a decaying face. Poor bastard…

I and Daniel continue onto the 3rd floor. It's more horrible than the 2nd floor. We ignore the sight and reach my friend's apartment. It's not locked, and as we enter it…

Well, to our surprise, it's tidy! Nobody has been raided this room, although the dust has piled up for 3 years. The dust is not a big problem for us, but we must wear a mask before we sleep because we don't wanna be choked by it. So, I give one of my balaclavas to Daniel and told him to wear it before sleep. It's a plain black balaclava, just like mine and Daniel quickly snatches and wears it in seconds. Whoa, I think he likes my balaclava. And maybe this will cover up his disability.

Well, I think it's time to clean up some parts of this room…

****

Night has come after we cleaned the bed, kitchen, and the living room. We didn't check out the toilet room because of the stinks. We decided to keep our balaclava on for some time. After that, we continue to check the 4th floor and the rooftop. With our guns ready again, we go upstairs.

It's dead quiet right now, like in the horror movies. On the 4th floor, all doors are busted up but no corpses in sight. We check every room and found nothing. Good thing the electricity is still active. We move on to the rooftop, expecting some snipers in action. The sound of creaking metal echoes as we go upstairs. It's not a long way up, 3 turnaround stairs and we arrived at the door. We open the door and we can see Manhattan from here. Nobody has been here recently, so that's a good thing.

Now it's 7 PM, the fight died down a bit, changed with the sound of the wind. We're sitting on the edge of the rooftop, relaxing a bit while still aware of any ambushes.

"I can't believe we made it! It felt really great after 3 years trapped in Manhattan. You feel the same too, right?"

Daniel nods.

"Anyway, I didn't ask this from the first time we met. How old are you?"

He gives numbers 1 and 2 with his fingers. 12 years old, so he's been survived from age 9. No wonder he looks tougher than I imagine.

"Okay, so you're 12. Maybe I should call you by name rather than just 'kid'. Don't punch me, I'm just saying it!"

Instead, he grabs something from his bag and gives it to me. It's his book!

"Wait, are you serious? I can read this?!"

He nods, but I don't know if he's smiling or not because of the mask.

"Okay… So I'll read this right now."

I open the first page of the book. His name and some introduction are written there with decent handwriting. I open the other page, looking for his possible backstory.

****

13 March 2023

Those guys will never find me here. After all, it's their fault for harassing me. They made me angry, and they deserved it. My pistol has proven his reliability again.

While some of them are hunting me down, they won't find me easily. Now, I need to rest. My legs are killing me…

13 July 2023

I killed another one of them again. This time with a sniper rifle I looted from the compound. Strange, they only sent one person for patrolling. Also, the army has moved again to Times Square.

Another potential looting location for me. I don't know anything about this rifle, but it really kicks a lot.

8 August 2023

My tongue hurts. I think the cut is still healing. Gotta take another tasteless painkiller. Right now, counting the loots.

I can't imagine how pissed off the army after they found the caches are empty. Lots of bullets, magazines, MREs, and a handful of guns. I still keep my dad's pistol, even though he looks bad now…

20 October 2023

I met this person… I thought he's one of them, but he's just the same as I am. A nomad, trapped in Manhattan, living through this. And he offered me some safety and food. Well, I give it a shot.

So far, I like him. He made a promise to protect me, he tried to repair my dad's pistol (he's still trying…), and helped me to leave Manhattan. Maybe I was rude before, but now to think about it, he really is a kind man or friend. Maybe later we'll find a better place than this.

****

"Huh… So this is like a diary. What about the other page?" I asked him after I read the book. He shook his head, which means there's nothing more after the next page.

"And what do you mean about 'them'? The insurg- I mean, the terrorists?"

He nods, as expected. I return the book to him.

"You better keep it. Maybe it'll be useful later if you need something to write on."

He accepts the book and put it back to his bag. Now I thought about something that may be useful for his disability.

"Hey, do you have a phone?" I asked him, which replied by him shook his head. I grab my backpack and reach for something inside.

"Wait… Ah, here. I give you this, there's a text-to-speech app installed inside that'll be helpful for you. Give it a try." I give him a regular smartphone that I found a long time ago.

Daniel seems confused by the looks of it, but he tries it. It should be easy because the app is on the homepage. He's typing something and the sound of the Google speech can be heard from it.

"Like this? I don't know how it works, but this is the basic, right?"

"Yeah. Just type whatever you want to talk, and then press the speaker icon. It'll speech the text you have entered. So I can understand more."

"Okay!"

And he just fiddling with the phone, maybe looking for other apps. I didn't check the phone for a long time, so I hope he won't find any inappropriate things on the phone.

We spent a lot of time on the rooftop talking and having some fun with the phone before we go back inside. The lamp is flickering a bit. I wonder how long until the electricity shut down all over the city. Damn, the stinks are annoying. After we reached our room, we have dinner with canned food and military-grade MREs. Salty and dried food as usual, but we have good sodas and water to drink.

Feels like home, even in this situation. I turn off the living room lamp and go to sleep, it's already 10 PM. I let Daniel sleep in the bedroom, while I sleep on the sofa. After all, we deserve it.

****

He's sleeping on the sofa now…

Alright, time to write again.

I still don't know his name, but he showed a good attitude to me. I'm happy that someone has the same attitude to me after my dad. But he's like 20 years old or older. Now, I have a tool for my disability. My mouth still wants to open, even though it has no tongue.

I'm starting to like him more. He gives me a balaclava, a phone, and our biggest prize, a vehicle. But still, I'm a wanted person from them. I might lead him to be killed by them, but he promised to protect me from anything.

Dad, I know you're at the sky right now. But please, protect us from them with anything you got. I know you can, Dad!

Yes, this is enough for now. Time to sleep…