Silence of the Land by Christopher Michael Benoit

Author:Christopher Michael Benoit [Benoit, Christopher Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-02-25T06:19:24+00:00

The famous crossing had been hit with something that took out several of the main piers. The bridge had a dip in the middle with most of the old road now part of the East River. You could see from our vantage point that Brooklyn had been leveled with very little to see.

By the end of the day, we found ourselves on Fifth Avenue at the Empire State Building. Jersey Jerry asked us if we knew this building.

Adam said, “Yeah, it’s the Empire State Building, the one with the Kong monkey.”

Jerry just kind of smirked at Adam’s comment and simply said, “Idiot. How would you like to spend the night in one of the most famous buildings in the before times?”

The question caught the two of us off guard.

“What do you mean, spend the night?”

“Just what I said. It’s getting dark, and honestly, I am not ready to make the trek back home. I live all over this city, including this building at 350 Fifth Avenue. My apartment is on the twenty-fifth floor. If the two of you would rather stay outside, be my guest.”

The prospect of spending the night outside on Fifth Avenue did not sound appealing. JJ led us into the famous building through a side door and to a staircase. We soon started our trek up the stairs to JJ’s dwelling in the sky.

The climb up the stairs was tough. We stopped about halfway up to drink some water and eat some deer jerky that was stored in the stairwell. We finally made it to JJ’s residence just before darkness set in. The scene in the apartment was surreal, something right out of the before times. There was a computer sitting dark on a desk, a large flat-screen television; my dad called them high-definition TVs. My grandfather used to watch the Boston Red Sox on those screens. It truly felt as if we had gone back in time to 1999. We had seen a lot of these items in books and even some on the Cape. The apartment was clean and orderly; it had the appearance of people living there.

In fact, I remember thinking someone was going to come out of one of the rooms down the hallway. I could almost hear voices coming out of the various bedrooms. It was eerie and ghostly but also somewhat comforting to think about. As we began to settle in, the sights and sounds of the day began to sink in. We felt at ease with JJ, but our guide was still very guarded with us. I began to work in some questions as our general conversation evolved.

“JJ, I hope you do not think I am out of line, but I am curious. Do you have any children?”

The freckled giant just kind of stared at me. “Man, Jack…that is your name right, Jack?”

The question felt odd since we had been with JJ for nearly two days. I just responded, “Yes, my name is Jack, and this is my friend, Adam.”

“I know that… I am just messing with you.

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.