Being the last human on Earth means that there's nobody to help you when things go wrong.   Yesterday, Squint was nearly eaten by a pack of wolves in Post-Apocalyptic New York.  He ran into the nearest tall building he could find to try to hide and re-think things.

---

Did you miss the previous chapter? If so, then click here.

And if you'd like to start from the beginning of the story, then click here.

---

Chapter 19 – Escape From New York

    It was cold and dark inside, but my eyes quickly adjusted.  I followed the staircase up to a dusty hallway.  It smelled different in there, but it wasn't too bad.  I opened the first door on the right, it was a little jammed and hard to open, but it wasn't locked.  There were a lot of spider webs, and roaches scattering in all directions.  I stepped inside the room and closed the door behind me.  There was just enough light to see by from the windows, and I almost bumped into a strange box with springs in it, and then realized that it had been a couch about 100 years ago. 

    Looking around some more I found another knife in the kitchen.  I opened what looked like a cupboard and found that it was a refrigerator.  The food had long ago been turned to dust, but there were a few brown bottles of liquid in there and I realized how thirsty I was.  Wondering if it was potable I pulled one of the bottles out and tried to open it.  Getting the bottle open was hard, it wouldn't twist in either direction.  Eventually I gave up trying to open it the hard way and decided to look for a some tool I could use to get the lid off. 

    In one of the drawers there was a bottle opener, it took me a while to remember how to use one of those, but eventually I got the bottle open with it.  I smelled the liquid inside, it was surprisingly a little fizzy still, and smelled strongly of alcohol.  My heart began pounding as I realized what a treasure I had found. 

    I took a sip into my mouth without swallowing it yet, and just waited for my taste buds to determine if it was safe to drink.  It tasted like beer and vinegar so I swallowed the first sip.  Then I waited a little longer to make sure I didn't get sick before drinking more.  While I was waiting I looked out the hole in the wall that used to be a window and wanted to be outside again, but it wasn't as safe out there as I used to think, and I was afraid of the wolves. 

    I wandered around the apartment a little more and found the bedroom.  There was a pile of springs and bones in the corner.  It was the first skeleton I had seen since I got here.  I took another sip of beer, and wondered why I hadn't seen any other bones outside.  Then I went to the refrigerator claiming the rest of the beer, and took the bottle opener.  Then left the apartment for the hallway where it was a little bit brighter. 

    There I sat on the staircase, just drinking my beer.  I had never had beer in this lifetime before, it tasted strong, but left an after-taste that was kind of like sour milk.  But I was thirsty, and the idea of getting drunk after being attacked by those wolves sounded like a great idea.  I finished what was left of the first bottle of beer in a few big gulps and opened another one.  I was starting to feel a little dizzy already. 

    It was starting to get cold.  I was going to need a fire soon, but I didn't want to go back outside again, so I went back into the room where I found the beer and tried to start a small fire in the kitchen sink.  I had gotten pretty good at starting fires over the past few days, and this one started easily without any wind.  I thought I remembered seeing a metal frying pan somewhere around there that I could use later on for cooking, and I began looking for it. 

    It was getting warm and I was still looking for the pan when I finished the second bottle of beer, just in time to turn around and see my that my fire had gotten out of the sink onto the counter and cupboards.  I just stood there watching the flames climb up the wall as I was completely unable to think of what to do. 

    I took a step back, then turned and ran.  I snatched up my pack and left the rest of the loot behind, except for the last beer bottle.  Dashing down the stairs, I could still hear the fire crackling behind me.  At the bottom I looked up and saw flames jutting from the second story window.  I was afraid of how far this fire would spread, I was surrounded by a huge city made out of 100 year old tinder. 

    I ran west for a few long blocks, looking back often.  I could see smoke extending into the sky, there was a lot of it up there.  I kept going farther in a straight line away from the fire.  A few more blocks west I ran into a dead end, it was a huge river.  I looked back and could see a deep red glow at the base of the smoke which had gotten much wider and larger now. 

    Looking up and down the river I couldn't see any bridges.  I had never been to New York before and I was lost.  I tried thinking of the map my mom had sent with me, but I was almost certain I had seen the wolves rip it up, and I couldn't remember the layout anyway.  The fire was beginning to catch up with me, it was getting hotter, and I could see the flames coming towards me from the distance.  By now Union Square Park was ablaze.  I had gotten my revenge on the pack of wolves that tried to eat me and tore up all my books earlier, but at what a devastating cost. 

    I was afraid that all of Manhattan would soon catch fire.  There were no longer any firefighters to put out the inferno.  And the fire had nothing else to do but to spread.  I was starting to cough from all the smoke in the air and I needed to find a way out of there quick.  There was no way I could swim across that huge river.  Looking around some more I found a small rowboat.  And before I knew it I was untying it from the dock post and rowing it out onto the river. 

    The thing about rowboats is that while you row you have to sit and look back at where you've been.  As I rowed the boat away from New York I had to watch the fire consume it.  All I had managed to bring with me was my backpack, it was full of torn and crumpled pages stuck together by splotches of wolf blood.  I was just glad that I was able to save some of the pages.  It would take a much longer time to piece together the information held within them now, but I would have all the time in the world if I could survive the trip across this river without capsizing.

    Long after my arms began getting sore I just simply couldn't row anymore, and had to take a break.  Sitting there, watching New York burn down was too depressing to bare.  I looked behind me and saw that I still had a long way to go before I would reach the other shore.  I thought of those fishing hooks my mom had sent along with me.  But unfortunately the box they were in had been spilled open by the wolves.  And I hadn't bothered to take the time to gather up its contents while I was trying franticly to get the pages from the torn up books back into the pack before they all blew away in the wind.  I could have kicked myself then for salvaging the torn up pages instead of the emergency supplies in that box when I had the time. 

    Thinking of my thermal foil blanket reminded me of how cold I was.  I looked back again at the shore that wasn't on fire, it looked like the sun was going to set soon.  I needed to hurry up and get across the river.  I didn't want to be out there in the middle of the night with only my blazing hot mistake to guide me.  I took a deep breath and began rowing again. 

    Sometime after nightfall and nearly capsizing a couple of times I finally made it to the safety of the shore.  My arms felt so tired and sore, but I pulled the boat a bit farther onto the land and tied it onto a tree.  I had tried to navigate the boat toward what I thought was a town that I had seen from the water, but it was dark now and I thought I had ended up somewhere in the woods. 

    Walking up a small hill I discovered the town I had been trying to reach.  It was eerily illuminated by the fire across the river which had spread far and wide across New York City.  I didn't want to encounter any predators at night though so I went inside the first building I found.  It was too dark inside to see anything, and I didn't dare start another fire.  So I laid down on the floor, right there next to the door, and used my backpack for a pillow as I fell asleep from exhaustion.

---

 Did you enjoy reading today's chapter?  If so then stay tuned for more tomorrow. 

---