@LeaAsh Managed to make it into New York City. Please, please, get in contact with the army or whoever, New York is under attack, there’s no one left.
@LeaAsh There’s 3 of us in a Manhattan apartment. I am not giving our location away, but we need help.
@LeaAsh Is there anybody out there who isn’t trying to kill me? #GA
“Send her one of those direct messages, Jack, quickly.”
“I can’t. She has to be following me to be able to do that. The tweet will be public, so what shall I write?”
I thought for a few seconds.
“Tell her that three of us are coming to Manhattan tomorrow, we’re currently in an outer suburb and arrived on a flight into JFK yesterday afternoon.”
“Are we going to Manhattan tomorrow?” Jack said, raising his eyebrows.
“If we get a reply, then yes. Don’t you agree?”
“Not sure, we have a secure base here, so why risk travelling in the open? I’ll ask her to follow me so we can get more information.”
Jack @Swankey1974 to @LeaAsh Also a group of three but arrived on a JFK flight. We are in an outer suburb at the moment.
Jack @Swankey1974 to @LeaAsh Please follow me so we can direct message. What have you got to lose? What have any of us?
We watched for the next 10 minutes, naively expecting an immediate response. It was more in hope than expectation; Lea Ash was unlikely to be checking Twitter constantly. The best we could really wish for was a response before tomorrow morning.
“The food’s ready. You’d better get me a glass for a vodka as well,” Bernie called from the kitchen.
“No problem at all. You’re allowed to drink your own spirits, but I’ll only get you a glass if you fetch those Marlboro you’ve hidden in a drawer somewhere,” Jack smiled.
“I’ve never allowed smoking in my apartment, but what difference does it make now? As long as you let me eat first.”
Jack and I sat down on the same couch and Bernie handed us each a bowl of baked beans.
“Bernie, you really know how to roll out the red carpet,” Jack said.
“You don’t have to eat it, you ungrateful prick.”
“I’m sorry, Bernie. I didn’t mean…” Jack stammered and trailed off.
After our baked bean dinner, Jack pulled three cigarettes out of the packet. It turned out that the three of us had smoked at some point in the past. Jack and I had smoked in the army, while Bernie said he sometimes had an occasional sneaky one — but not for a year because Linda hated it. There was no sign of guilt from any of us as we coughed our way through the first cigarette. It was oddly calming to sit smoking in companionable silence, all apparently lost in our own thoughts.
Jack had found a bean can to use as an ashtray, then poured us all a large vodka as we sat back and discussed what to do next. Bernie was comfortable at the apartment and wasn’t keen on going into Manhattan, even if we received a response on Twitter.
“We’re safe here. Why put ourselves at more risk by trying to find three people who may even be dead by tomorrow?”
“If we can find three more people and get everyone armed, then we’ll have a strong group,” I said. “Maybe then we can secure a building with plenty of supplies. As we are, the three of us would have trouble holding anywhere with more than one door.”
“We can get supplies and bring them back here. It seems pretty quiet in the area and there are a couple of big stores a few blocks away. Imagine what kind of state Manhattan is in? It will be full of danger, corpses, and killers.”
“If we get a response on Twitter, then let’s at least consider it? If we get no reply, then we’ll stay here for a while.”
“Come on, Bernie,” Jack said, “we don’t even have to hang around in Manhattan if it’s too dangerous. I can’t decide if many killers would actually be there anyway. Remember, their mission is not to get killed by somebody else. If we make it in, Harry and I can have a quick check for Andy and Dave as well. Don’t worry, we won’t be messing around.”
“I’d go where I thought I had the best chance of success,” Bernie said. “There are lots of places to hide in Manhattan and over a million people would have been there yesterday. Think about how many killers we could be exposing ourselves to? There are thousands of windows in the city that look onto the streets. All anyone would need was a gun and a bit of patience.”
“This debate might be pointless anyway,” I said. “We might not even get a response. We can make our minds up tomorrow morning after checking online.”
The mixture of vodka and lack of sleep was starting to loosen me up, and I started speculating on the motivation behind whatever was going on.
“Maybe all of this is the result of a secretly developed weapon. If you wanted to destroy your enemies, would there be a better way to do it? Divide and conquer, you get to keep your hands clean while they wipe themselves out. An invasion afterwards, would simply be a case of rounding up stragglers.”
“Why not just get people to kill themselves? Why bother making them kill somebody else first?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe to ensure those who weren’t affected would face terrible odds? Or to take care of anyone who was incapable of finding a way to complete their own mission?”
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed as a chillingly, effective idea to spread.
“How would the terrorists keep themselves immune from the effect?” Bernie said.
“Maybe they all got into planes. If it was airborne, they could have put on respirators. Or perhaps there’s an antidote, or they just didn’t expose their own geographic area.”
“I hadn’t thought about an invasion before. Who would do something like that?” Jack replied, shifting uneasily in his seat.
We chatted for another half an hour, going around in circles. The only thing that made sense was that it couldn’t have been an accident. Who did it, how they did it, and what they planned to do next, was a mystery. Jack suggested that we all get some sleep, Bernie and I agreed. I stretched out on one of the couches and closed my eyes.
Jack nudged me awake.
“Harry, get up. We’ve got a reply!”
I was disorientated for a few seconds, but quickly recognised Bernie’s apartment and heard Jack behind me tapping on a keyboard. I must have managed a few good hours of sleep, as it was now light outside.
“What does it say?”
“Come and look.”
Bernie appeared from the bedroom in a white vest and briefs; he plodded over to peer at the monitor.
Direct messages from @Lea Ash
Where did you fly from? How can we trust you? There are only 2 of us now.
“How do we know we can trust her? She could be anyone,” Bernie grunted.
“We don’t know,” I said. “At the moment, this is our most realistic chance of making contact with someone who isn’t a killer. Maybe whoever it is, will know where the other passengers from Newark are heading. An organised group would have a far better chance of fighting off the killers’ attacks, once a base has been established.”
“A larger group provides a bigger target as well.”
“True, but let’s try one more message and see what we get back.” I sat at the computer and hit the reply button. “Bernie, where can we see each other from a reasonably safe distance?”
“The Queensboro Bridge I suppose, it’s close to here and leads over into Manhattan. We could stand at either end. If they don’t show, then we come back here. Deal?”
Jack and I both nodded.
Direct messages to @LeaAsh
We left Manchester in England, you will have to trust us as much as we will you. Come to the Queensboro Bridge at 11, we’ll be on the other side.