The AC Expressway ends in the city and that’s a much bigger bridge. Maybe it’s still working.”
“Ok,” Bill agreed. “Let’s try the city after lunch. But what if that doesn’t work?”
“Not sure.” They had reached the park and Theo sat down on a bench. “I thought maybe we could take a boat?”
Over lunch Theo tried to keep the conversation light, as if none of the craziness around them was actually happening. He asked questions to keep the talk moving. He was surprised to find out that Michelle actually had a fairly good sense of humor. She was one of those people who responded well to direct questions but was hesitant to jump into a conversation without an invitation.
Theo continued to be fascinated by Kylee’s determined calm. He could see that in another situation he would be excited to be her boyfriend. Right now though he needed to focus on making sure they got to safety, preferably before nighttime. If they got out of this, he would think about such normal things as dating.
Ryan was the first to turn the conversation back to the predicament at hand. “So, I hate to be a downer but has anyone figured out how we can get the hell out of here?”
Theo shared his plan of escaping through Atlantic City. As he spoke, he noticed Ryan wrinkling his face. “Something wrong Ry?”
“I don’t know, it’s just… well, your argument about the bridges makes sense. I mean, yeah, the AC bridge is a lot bigger and sturdier construction. But, the thing is, we can’t see the land on the other side! If something sank the coast, I don’t know, like a bomb or something, then no bridge is going to get us to something that isn’t there. I don’t care how strong the bridge is.”
They sat silently and considered Ryan’s point. “I think we should still head down there.” Bill said. “It’s a whole city, there must be some people there who have an answer.”
Theo seconded the plan. After finishing their meal, they cut down to the boardwalk and started east toward Atlantic City. Several minutes later, the casinos emerged from the distant fog. Without any lights, the enormous buildings loomed ominously over the beach like sleeping giants.
It wasn’t long before they came to a part of the boardwalk that was filled with debris. The beach was too wet for travelling so they walked back out to the street. As they passed the sign welcoming them to Atlantic City, a voice called out. “Kids! Hey kids, wait where you are!” As accustomed as they had become to silence, the teens were shocked by this new voice.
A police officer was walking over to them. He introduced himself as Officer Menendez of the AC police department. Officer Menendez’s voice was calm and mildly authoritative but something in his eyes told Theo that the policeman was just as frightened as everyone else.
“Where are you all headed?” Menendez asked. Theo explained the plan to check out the bridge.
“I’ll save you the trouble. There’s no bridge.”
Kylee asked if anyone had tried a boat yet.
“We’ve had the idea,” said Menendez, “but we don’t have any boats. Anything on the bay side got washed away somewhere and anything on the ocean side was destroyed by the wave that hit last night.”
Bill spoke up. There was a hint of panic and more than a hint of anger in his voice. “Well, then what exactly are you doing? We have friends who are trapped in one of the collapsed motels and we’re all stuck on this damned island and you’re the first policeman we’ve even seen. What are you doing to help us?”
Menendez raised his hands, palms out in a defensive gesture. “Whoa, buddy. Let’s not get all aggressive here, okay? I’ll level with you. We have a bunch of people who are hurt, and some who are trapped. Most of the departments from the smaller towns have nobody showing up for work. Even in AC we’re very shorthanded. We’ve got several reports of mischief breaking out and have sent officers to those locations. Others are trying to get in contact with someone on the mainland. So trust me, kid, we’re doing the best we can to keep order and to investigate what’s happening.”
The officer’s radio crackled. A muffled voice spoke through the speaker. “All ACPD required to report to headquarters immediately!”
Menendez gave a weak smile. “You see? Somebody high up has figured something out. Hang in there, kids.”
Theo thought that Officer Menendez was trying to convince himself as much as the rest of them. The teens watched the policeman walk off in silence. Kylee looked at Theo. “So, no bridge and no boats. What next?”
Theo looked at Bill. His friend was lost in thought again and his eyes stared at the ground. “Well,” Theo said, “I thought we might go by the motel.”
The ground around what was once the Sea Sons motel had turned into mud: a combination of flooding from the tidal wave and debris from the fallen structure. Ryan and the girls stayed on the boardwalk as Theo and Bill carefully approached the building.
The wave had knocked the motel backwards and the far side of the building had pancaked as the supports gave out. To Theo’s amazement, the rooms closer to the ocean had avoided total collapse, though they were all very damaged and turned almost on their sides.
Bill led the way, climbing the twisted railings like they were an insane jungle gym. Theo followed, his heart pounding with worry. It took some time to maneuver over to what had been their room. Bill jumped from the railing to the angled doorframe. The door was ajar and gravity held it wide open. Bill disappeared through the opening.
Theo made the leap to the doorway and looked inside. It was like peering into a funhouse mirror. From his position sitting on the side of the doorframe, Theo looked down to see Bill squatting on the couch, which was now resting on the wall. The whole room was turned on its side and the furniture had slid down with some force into the wall below.
“I called for Mark and Jamie but nobody’s answering,” said Bill.
“They could be hurt,” Theo said. “We’ve got to check the back room.”
Bill looked up with dismay. Theo saw the problem: With the room almost ninety degrees on its side, the door to the back bedroom was up near the ceiling. Bill was way too low, and Theo, though at the right height, was way too far away.
“I don’t think I can make it,” said Bill.
Theo studied the room. “There’s one shot. If you lift me up I think I can grab onto the wall unit and from there I can reach the door.”
“Okay, I’m willing to try anything.”
Theo carefully lowered himself down onto the chair below him and hopped to the couch. Bill was already walking along the wall, which creaked and groaned. Theo watched as Bill avoided the remnants of the old television and made sure to do the same. Bill positioned himself and Theo climbed up off him as Kylee had done the day before. He reached out and caught on to the end of the wall unit. Pulling himself up was much more difficult than Kylee had made it look.
Theo worked his way up to the doorway and looked down into the bathroom and the bedroom beyond. There was nobody in either room. Theo turned back to Bill. “They aren’t here. This is a really good thing, man, they could be totally fine…somewhere.”
Bill nodded solemnly. “Okay Theo, come on back down and let’s get out of here.”
Theo sat on the doorframe, and dropped to the wall unit. His feet hit the wood and with a loud crack the side panel of the wall unit broke lose. Theo tumbled forward and fell to the angled floor, falling from there to the wall. The drywall crumbled and tore where his body hit, but Theo came to a stop.
Bill, his eyes wide with shock, helped Theo to his feet. “This place is a deathtrap. We need to leave now!”
Together, they stumbled back across the jumble of broken and misplaced furniture and luggage, and using the big red chair they were able to climb out of the room. Shaken as he was, Theo took extra time and care with each step as he and Bill worked their way down to the ground.
Ryan, Kylee and Michelle met them on the boardwalk. They wore identical expressions of concern as they took in Theo’s battered, dust covered body. Kylee ran to him. “Are you ok
ay? What happened?”
“Just a nasty fall. I’m fine other than some scrapes and bumps. Mark and Jamie are not in there. There’s no sign that they were there when all this craziness went down.”
Theo was surprised when Michelle spoke. “That’s awesome, but where could they be?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “We have to assume they are out there and doing what they can. At this point we need to worry about ourselves. It’s getting dark again.”
The five teens left the motel behind them and returned to their penthouse. After eating some leftovers from lunch, they retired to their rooms. Ryan had kept his phone off all day to conserve battery power, but after the previous night he only had enough juice to run the LED flashlight for an hour. Before long, the teens were plunged into the darkness of night.
4
The next morning Theo and his friends left the condo and found that order had begun to reassert itself in the most disturbing of ways. A trash truck was parked in the center of the intersection and people wearing surgical masks and gloves were hauling bodies off the street and tossing them into the truck.
Theo turned away from the sight and the others did the same. He looked at Kylee and saw tears running down her face. With the same composure and resolve she had exhibited since this chaos began, she sniffled once, wiped a hand across her face and walked over to him.
“So,” said Bill, breaking the