Gods Of New York by ST Branton & CM Raymond & LE Barbant

Author:ST Branton & CM Raymond & LE Barbant [Branton, ST & Raymond, CM & Barbant, LE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2018-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

I moved toward the front of the room, aiming to position myself as close to the TV as possible. Deacon stepped in to help clear a path. Every second, I felt the unrest in the room grow deeper. Raised voices emanated from somewhere in the back. A woman started to cry, and then so did a baby.

“Hold on!” I called out as soon as I turned to face the group. “Stay calm. We’re not going to get anywhere if we fall apart now.”

“Who’re you?” someone asked. The group pushed a little closer to me.

“My name is Vic. If we move, I’ll be leading us. For now, I want to know what you guys think. I don’t expect you to just blindly follow me into potential danger.” They looked at each other and back at me. The snippets of conversation fell away. “Come on. I’m serious. Let me hear it.”

“There’s not that much room in there,” someone said. “Eight million people in New York, and the government wants to put us in an arena that’s only got twenty thousand seats, tops. Typical.” His remarks were met with a few murmurs of agreement. “How do we know it’s not already full up? That jerk coulda gotten on camera just to save face. I bet they turn us away when we get there.”

“You’d rather stay here, then?” someone shot back. “Hiding in a two-bedroom deathtrap with no outside light and no security? At least we’ll be protected there.”

“Twenty thousand is a skewed number anyway,” said a third voice. “That’s just the number of tickets they sell, and it’s just to fill the outer rim. They’re gonna be packing the middle, and if they do that, maybe they can fit way more. Fifty thousand? Sixty? Who knows? Seems like it’s worth a shot to me.”

I did my best to match faces to voices during this back-and-forth. All the inhabitants of the safehouse were battered and bedraggled, but the debate sparked fire in at least some of their eyes. That was heartening to see.

“Don’t shoot the messenger, but even fifty thousand is a fraction of the numbers who could still be here.” Frank’s gruff, slightly hoarse voice stuck out like a sore thumb. “Three million is my estimate, and that’s bein’ conservative. A lotta bodies are going to be shut out of the MSG no matter what. No two ways around it.”

“All the more reason we should leave right now!” This woman wavered on the edge of hysteria. “I have two babies. I’ll do anything to keep them safe!” She promptly burst into tears, but she kept talking. “If they have a better chance somewhere else, that’s where we’re going. I just want them to live through this.”

Her kids clung to their mother as she spoke. They looked like twins, moon faced, with huge dark eyes. I saw Maya cover her mouth, her shoulders slumping. Jules put an arm around her.

“What happens when we bring our kids back on the street?” someone asked. “We were lucky to get out of the other place.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.