The Living

by Matt De La Peña

  Shy’s eyes were still closed, his thoughts switching back to the sensation of the cold ocean water creeping up his legs, into his lap, when he felt Addie’s breath against his ear. “Just so you know,” she whispered, “I think I was going to love you, Shy.” He tried to turn his head to look at her, but she stopped him with her hands. “Please don’t say anything back.”

  He didn’t, but his heart quietly swelled inside his chest. Because of her words. And the feel of her fingers linked in his. And because he now understood how lucky he was to have experienced a life in this world. He could never use a bullet on himself. Or Addie. The world would have to take them the old-fashioned way if that was what it wanted. And as his mind continued drifting away from his body, he had one final realization. The world itself was alive, too. It swirled around you and sped past your eyes and ears, so fast you could never see it, but slow at the same time, like a tree growing taller in a park. And all the sounds you heard—the wind whipping past your ears and the ocean’s whispering and the trickle of whitecaps against your boat—that was the earth’s blood pumping through imperceptible veins, and some of those veins were nothing more than people like Shy or Carmen or Addie.

  And when the end came it smelled like morning dew and brine and everything around you morphed into a man, and that man shined a flashlight in your eyes and kneeled down beside you to pet your hair, and he said: You’re gonna be okay, young fella. Now come on.

  And he lifted you into his arms and carried you like a child into a hidden cave, where you would grow back into the earth’s rich soil from which you came and where you would forever belong.

  Day 7

  41

  Jones Island

  Shy cracked open his eyes.

  He found Shoeshine hovering over him, moving a syringe toward his right shoulder.

  He flipped himself over and tried to push away, but Shoeshine was surprisingly strong. “Easy now,” the man told Shy, pulling the needle away. “Just a few vitamins you’re gonna need on the island. Trust me.”

  “What vitamins?” Shy’s eyes darted around, taking everything in. It didn’t make any sense. He’d come to the end. Yet here he was looking around a familiar-looking boat cabin. Alive. The oilman’s ring still safe inside his pocket. Over Shoeshine’s shoulder, Shy saw Addie standing against the wall, rubbing her arm.

  “You gonna stop fighting?” Shoeshine asked.

  “It’s okay, Shy,” Addie said. “He saved us.”

  Shy locked eyes with the man. Crazy gray hair and braided chin beard. Leathery face. No way Shy was gonna let some shoeshine guy stick him with a needle. But his mind was so clouded he couldn’t think straight.

  Shoeshine slowly lowered the syringe toward Shy’s shoulder, the short needle piercing his skin, cool liquid pushing inside him. Instead of fighting, Shy looked around the cabin again. Identical to the one where he’d found the dead doctors. But there were no doctors on the floor now. And no bloodstain. The only thing he recognized was the duffel bag he’d found, which was wide open. One of the packs unwrapped and two of the syringes missing. The shot he was getting had come from the bag he’d found.

  Soon as Shoeshine stepped away, Shy pushed off the thin mattress and hurried to a trash can to throw up. His eyeballs bulging from the pressure, lips cracking and bleeding. He was shocked by how much came out of him.

  Addie put her hand on Shy’s back. “He saw the flares,” she told him, her eyes filling with tears. “And he found us. We’ve been rescued, Shy.”

  The look on her face told him it was true.

  They’d survived.

  When they got to the top of the stairs, Shy saw the island and it took his breath away.

  And he saw a ship. Big enough to carry them home.

  He was so overcome by emotion he dropped to his knees, fighting back tears of his own.

  Addie kneeled down next to him and held out a banana. “Can you believe it?” she asked.

  “I told you we’d be okay,” he said weakly as he peeled his piece of fruit. “Didn’t I tell you?”

  “You told me,” she said, wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her hand.

  They both made quick work of their bananas, and Shy tossed his peel in the trash and looked around. This boat wasn’t shot up. And “320” was written on the side instead of “220.”

  “Where’d you get this boat?” he asked Shoeshine, who was busy steering them toward the shore.

  “Docked inside a cave on the other side of the island,” Shoeshine answered. He kicked the cooler next to his feet. “There’s more food in here. You all must be starving.”

  Shy pushed himself up to his feet again. “We found one exactly like this,” he said. “Only burned up. It was just floating out there.”

  Shoeshine nodded.

  “It’s where I found the duffel bag.” Shy looked for a reaction from Shoeshine, about the gun and the bodies, but there was nothing. “I also found two dead people.”

  Now Shoeshine turned to him. Shy could see in the man’s eyes he wasn’t surprised. And for a second he wondered if Shoeshine had something to do with the murders. But wouldn’t he have taken the duffel, then?

  “How’d you know what was in the bag?” Addie asked, rubbing her arm again.

  “Because it was taken from the island,” Shoeshine said, still looking at Shy. “There was a minor dispute about what to do with it.”

  “What’s happening there?” Addie asked. “Is everything okay?”

  Shoeshine turned to her. “Safer than being stranded at sea, I suppose.”

  “That’s the truth.”

  “Who else is there?” Shy said, thinking of Carmen, Rodney and Kevin. And everyone else. But especially Carmen. “Other people made it, right?”

  “There’s about eighty of us,” Shoeshine said. “They’re staying at that hotel you see on the hill.”

  “Is my dad there?” Addie asked. “He’s tall with gray hair.”

  “I hope so,” Shoeshine said. “More than a few who fit that description.”

  Shy looked toward shore again. The island had beautiful green cliffs. The large building at the top, overlooking the ocean, was obviously the hotel. “How’d you even find us?” he asked, turning back to Shoeshine.

  “Like the young woman said. Saw a flare go up near sunset. I’ve been out looking for folks the past three days. But you’re the only two I’ve come back with.”

  “Why don’t I remember?” Shy said.

  “You were half dead.” Shoeshine let up on the gas and allowed the boat to coast. “But I had a feeling about you, young fella. Somehow I knew we hadn’t seen the last of you.”

  Shy got a weird feeling looking at Shoeshine. Like the guy was genuinely looking out for him. Even back on the ship he’d felt that way. But why?

  He turned back to the hotel on the cliff. It was blue and white and lined by densely packed palm trees—easily the biggest building visible on the small island. The whole island itself seemed no bigger than a few football stadiums wide. Lush cliffs wrapped all the way around, the ocean running right up into them except for a long grassy section, which was where they were headed. Shy spotted four Paradise lifeboats lined up on the shore. To the side of them was a large sailboat on its side in the rocks with a torn sail flapping in the wind. He saw that the ship was carrying a helicopter.

  “Whose ship is that?” he asked.

  “Showed up here two days ago,” Shoeshine said. “Introduced themselves as a team of researchers. There were about a dozen of them or so.”

  Addie went right up to the railing. “But they’re going to take us home, right?”

  Shy watched Shoeshine stare at the ship for a long time before he answered. “That’s what they’ve promised.”

  “What about the phones in the hotel?” Shy asked. “Can we call home?”

  “No electricity. And all the satellite phones we’ve found are dead. We’ve been looking for backup generators.”

  “What about radios?” Shy said. �
��Does anyone even know we’re out here?”

  “The researchers say they’ve alerted the authorities about us.”

  Shy glanced down at the duffel bag near Shoeshine. “So, who were those doctors I found on the boat?” he asked. “And why’d you give us vitamins from the bag? Why would we need a shot?”

  Shoeshine put a hand up, interrupting Shy. “Plenty of time for questions, young fella. But what do you say we get you two back on land right now.” He powered down the motor and lowered the anchor.

  They were directly in front of the long manicured patch of grass that looked like part of a golf course.

  “Gotta keep the boat offshore a ways because the pier’s underwater,” Shoeshine said. “Same as the runway they used for small planes.”

  Addie tapped Shy on the arm and pointed at the island. “He thinks that’s only a quarter of what it was before the tsunamis.”

  “As the water goes down,” Shoeshine said, “we find out more and more about this place. Now, you all feel strong enough to swim a ways?”

  Shy and Addie both nodded.

  Shoeshine ducked back down the stairs, into the cabin. He came out with his notebook wrapped in plastic and shoved it into the duffel bag with the medicine and slung it over his shoulder. “Okay if I carry this for now?” Shoeshine asked Shy.

  “You can have it,” Shy said, meaning the gun, too.

  Shoeshine nodded. As the three of them moved to the side of the motorboat, he said: “Before you all set foot on that island, there’s one more thing you need to know.”

  Shy peered down into the water. It was so clear he could see all the way down to the bottom. No sharks. But instead of sand or reef, he saw what looked like a thin paved road. A shed. Part of the island really was underwater.

  “Some of the folks who made it back…” Shoeshine paused. “Well, there’s something wrong with them.”

  “What do you mean?” Addie asked.

  Shy could tell by Shoeshine’s face it was something bad.

  Shoeshine shook his head. “Nobody’s exactly sure yet. They’ve been separated from everyone else for now. The doctor can tell you more.”

  Shy could also tell Shoeshine was holding something back. About the syringes in the duffel bag maybe. Or the gun. Or the people who had something wrong with them.

  The man turned and looked Shy dead in the eyes, like he sensed all his questions. “Main thing is this. I didn’t give you no vitamins out here, you understand?”

  “Why not?” Shy said.

  “And you all never saw this bag I’m holding.” He patted the duffel hanging from his shoulder. “It’s important this part stays between us three, you hear?”

  Shy and Addie looked at each other. Before Shy could say anything else, though, Shoeshine told them: “I know all this seems confusing right now. But trust me, the less you know, the better. Now come on.” He turned back toward the water and jumped in.

  42

  Dry Land

  Addie jumped in feetfirst with her life jacket on, her blond hair fanning out in clumps on the water’s surface. Shy took off his life jacket and flung it back into the boat. He was weak, but he didn’t care. The shore was close. And he felt free as he leaped off the boat, a cool rush of ocean water quickly enveloping his body, bringing him back to life. For a few surreal seconds his head was underwater, feet dangling a few feet above the grassy bottom, then he dog-paddled his way up and his face broke through the surface.

  He and Addie looked at each other, smiling, and Shy recalled the last thing she’d said to him on the lifeboat, about how she was going to love him. He wondered if it was something she had said because she thought she was going to die, or if she really felt it. And what did he think about that?

  Shy reached down into the water and squeezed Addie’s knee through her jeans. It was the closest he could come to acknowledging what she’d said. Addie grinned and turned onto her stomach, started swimming for shore.

  Before Shy swam after her, he glanced back at the motorboat that had just saved their lives. And then he looked beyond the boat, at the massive sparkling ocean. Hours before they’d been lost in it. Left for dead. But here they were now, less than twenty yards from land.

  He could feel his entire body coming back to life as he turned and set off after Addie.

  Shy stepped onto shore last.

  He walked up the closely cut grass on shaky legs and allowed himself to collapse near Addie, where they both looked around in silence.

  They were on what was once a golf course—most of it was now underwater. The research ship with the helicopter was a couple hundred feet offshore, and Shy spotted a couple people moving around on the top deck. He turned around and looked at the island. Old-looking stone stairs zigzagged up the face of the cliff. A thick cable came up out of the water, ran all the way up to the hotel where a fancy aerial tram sat. The cliffs themselves were intensely green with densely packed trees and bushes. A group of squawking seagulls chased after each other low in the sky.

  It was like they’d landed in paradise. Shy put both his palms on the ground beside him, amazed that he was actually back on solid ground. He studied the broken-down sailboat on his left. He saw now that there were gashes in the side and the bar that held the torn sail was badly bent. No way this thing would ever sail again. It was a major reminder of what damage the waves had caused.

  “That was the easy part,” Shoeshine called to them. “Still got four hundred sixty-five steps to go. I’ve counted.”

  “It’s so strange,” Addie said to Shy. “In a few minutes I’ll know if he’s still alive.”

  He nodded.

  “Even if he’s done bad things,” she said, “he’s still my dad, you know?”

  “I get it,” Shy said as he struggled to his feet. But he didn’t want to think about Addie’s dad right now. Or the shady things he may have been doing. Like the picture of Shy Addie had found in his room. His legs were incredibly wobbly. He could barely walk. All Shy wanted to think about right now was the fact that he was alive. And he was on dry land.

  Addie looked up at Shy, said: “I don’t even know if I can make it up these stairs. I’m so weak.”

  “I bet there’s food and water up there,” Shy told her. “And a bed.” He helped Addie up, thinking about how close he now felt to her. They’d survived together. No one could ever take that away. But he also knew the butterflies flooding his stomach were about something else. Something that made him feel like a bad guy.

  As Shy and Addie followed Shoeshine up the stairs, side by side, he remembered Carmen’s dark brown hair and brown eyes. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn’t. He remembered how she’d stepped into the hall outside her cabin with wine when he couldn’t sleep. All the early-morning talks they’d had on the Lido Deck, when she stopped by with her coffee.

  Come on, Carm, he thought as he closed his eyes and touched the ring in his pocket.

  You gotta be up there.

  Please be up there.

  Shoeshine stopped as they neared the top of the stairs. He glanced up at the hotel, then looked out at the men on the research ship. He pulled his notebook from the duffel bag, hid the bag with the gun and syringes inside the thick bushes growing right up against the stairs and continued on.

  “What was that all about?” Shy asked, glancing at the beat-up leather notebook in Shoeshine’s hand.

  “We know the world has changed,” Shoeshine answered, “we just don’t know which way.”

  Shy and Addie looked at each other, confused. “I don’t get it,” Shy said.

  Shoeshine shook his head and pointed toward the hotel. “Plenty of empty rooms. Doors are all open, keys on the desks inside. Once you claim your room you can lock it. Food and water in the restaurant out back. Extra clothes in the lobby.”

  “Aren’t you coming?” Shy said.

  “I need to check something on the other side,” Shoeshine said. “Ask for Christian, the doctor I told you about. He’ll tell you whatever else you
need to know.”

  After they watched Shoeshine disappear around the hotel, Addie turned to Shy. “So you know him?”

  “Shoeshine? Sort of.” Shy turned toward the hotel. “I know Christian a little, too. We started out on the same life raft.” Shy remembered being right next to Christian as the giant wave roared toward them. He shook the memory out of his head and wondered if he’d find Kevin and Marcus inside. And Paolo.

  “I don’t understand why everything’s so secretive,” Addie said. She squatted down and put her hand on the ground.

  “Same here.” Shy looked up at the hotel, which was about a dozen stories high, with big windows and balconies. He turned to Addie, who was now rubbing her temples. “You all right?”

  She nodded. “Just a little dizzy. Getting up here took all my strength. I think I need to lie down or something.”

  “Can you make it inside? I’m sure we’ll find you a better spot.”

  Addie nodded, and Shy helped her to her feet.

  They cut across the puddled lawn together, pushed through the hotel doors and stepped into the lobby.

  “Damn, look at this place,” Shy said. It reminded him of the ship’s atrium, only ten times the size. High domed ceilings and massive chandeliers. Giant framed paintings on every wall. Thick carved pillars. Antique-looking couches. Marble floors and a marble staircase that wrapped in a circle up to the second level. Shy wondered if those stairs would lead him to a room where he’d find Carmen.

  “I knew they had a hotel here,” Addie said, “but I never pictured it like this.”

  “So, this is where people from your old man’s company stay?” Shy asked.

  “And the doctors they fly out for vacation. My mom said it’s one of the ways they get people to invest in their products.”

  They both turned when they heard people walking across the marble floor. It was Christian and two men Shy didn’t recognize.