The Living

by Matt De La Peña

  Shy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They hadn’t committed insurance fraud, they’d made up a disease that killed people. His grandma. Carmen’s dad. Rodney. Shy felt so light-headed he had to squat down and put his hand on the ground for balance.

  “It’s beyond comprehension,” Bill said. “I know. According to the letter, Mr. Williamson claimed he never really thought about what might happen once the disease was introduced to the public. He’d been focused on the science of the thing. Only Mr. Miller understood how much of a profit it would bring them.”

  Shy was so pissed his whole body started shaking. Addie’s dad was responsible for everything. How could Addie not know herself? Shy lost his shit and stood back up. He marched right up to Bill and shoved him off the boulder, shouting: “You killed people, man!” He stood over the guy, breathing hard and trying to think. “You killed my family!”

  Bill got back up slowly and brushed himself off. “I didn’t do anything, Shy,” he said calmly. “I didn’t even know about this until a few days ago.”

  “You were part of it,” Shy said. “Why else would you be following me all over the ship? Why’d you ask me what that guy said before he jumped?”

  Bill sat back on the boulder. “Those were Mr. Miller’s instructions. He wanted to know what Mr. Williamson said to everyone he spoke to that night. He was worried his partner had leaked top-secret information. But I had no idea what he was looking for, I swear to you.”

  Shy was so confused. He thought about being stranded on the broken lifeboat with Addie. Back then he’d had no clue he was stuck with the daughter of the guy who killed his grandma. It made him sick. She made him sick.

  “I agree, Shy, it’s horrible.” Bill unzipped his backpack, still looking at Shy. “But judgment isn’t my profession. Protection is.”

  Shy watched as Bill pulled a gun out of the bag and pointed it at him.

  Shy froze in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

  “And Mr. Miller pays me a lot of money for protection,” Bill continued. “As long as he’s alive, I will always protect his interests. The company may be ruined, but he’s assured me my services are more valuable to him now than ever before. No one on the mainland knows about his vaccine, and I intend to keep it that way.”

  “He’s dead, though,” Shy said.

  “Oh no,” Bill said, standing up. “Jim Miller is very much alive. He’s on his way back home as we speak.”

  The helicopter, Shy thought.

  “Oh, and as far as the two men you found on the ocean,” the man went on, “one of them was a doctor who intended to get the vaccine to California. To protect those who are still healthy and to expose us. The other man was one of mine. His instructions were to make sure this man never arrived. I’m sorry to hear I lost a good man, but at least his mission was a success.”

  The man motioned with the gun for Shy to sit on the ground. He did, staring directly into the barrel. His whole body shaking uncontrollably now. Out of a blinding fear. What if this guy didn’t let him go? What if he wasn’t able to get on the ship with Carmen and Marcus? And he never made it back home to look for his family?

  “I’m going to teach you something,” Bill said. “And I’m only doing this because you helped me on the ship. Otherwise you’d already be in the ground.”

  “I got you on a lifeboat,” Shy said weakly.

  The man took a deep breath and stared at Shy. “We all have roles to play in this life,” he continued. “It’s simple really. Mr. Williamson had a gift for science. Ego led him to create the perfect disease. Mr. Miller had the business sense to make money off that creation. My role is to protect Mr. Miller. And do you know what your role is, Shy?”

  Shy stared as the man continued pointing the gun at him. “It’s not right, though,” he barely managed to say.

  Bill shook his head. “I learned a long time ago to never get caught up in right or wrong. The problem here, Shy, is that you know too much. Maybe you’ve known too much since the night Mr. Williamson decided to end his life. Or maybe you only know too much because of what I just told you. Either way, your role comes to an end today.”

  Bill cocked the gun and moved forward a little, so that the barrel was only a few inches away from Shy’s forehead.

  Shy looked down at the ground in front of him and then closed his eyes, waiting to hear the explosion that would end it all. His mind furiously flashed through hundreds of images: boarding the ship and his grandma lying in her hospital bed and Rodney’s red eyes and his nephew sleeping and his mom climbing the steps to their apartment and Addie tearing the fish in half and meeting Carmen for the first time on the ship.

  And then he heard it.

  The shot.

  And he let his head fall toward the ground, assuming he was dead.

  But he was still sitting there. Smelling the dirt. Breathing. Thinking.

  He slowly opened his eyes and looked up.

  Bill was lying facedown two feet in front of him, blood already pooling in the dirt around his body.

  At first Shy thought he’d shot himself, but then he sensed someone to his right and turned.

  Shoeshine was standing there.

  The gun in his right hand still pointed at the man.

  The brown and blue duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

  48

  Kicking Down the Door

  Shy stumbled to his feet, watching Shoeshine check Bill for a pulse. “Is he dead?” he asked.

  “He’s dead.” Shoeshine peeled the gun out of Bill’s right hand and shoved it into the back of his waistband. He picked up the green backpack and then looked out over the ocean.

  Shy knew he was in shock, because he couldn’t process what had just happened. But seeing Bill with a bullet wound in his back made him kneel down like he was about to be sick. He’d almost gotten shot in the head. After hearing that Addie’s dad’s company planted the disease to sell their drugs. He spit and looked up at Shoeshine, told him: “You saved my life. Twice now. Who are you?”

  The guy shook his head, still looking over the water. “Just a guy who shines shoes, young fella.”

  “No way, you have to be something else, too.” Shy wanted to do something for the guy, to show how grateful he was. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring, thrust it forward in his palm. “Here, you should have this,” he said.

  Shoeshine looked down at the ring and shook his head. “No thanks. Never been big into jewelry.”

  “But you could sell it or something. When we get back to California.”

  “Not interested,” Shoeshine said, unzipping Bill’s green backpack and sifting through it.

  Shy shoved the ring back into his pocket, watching. He thought of all the things Bill had just told him about the disease and Addie’s dad and everyone’s role. It disgusted him that anyone could make people sick on purpose. How would he explain it to Carmen? And what about Addie?

  He turned toward the flooded lab, where it had all started. “How’d you even know we were here?” he asked Shoeshine.

  “Been watching that man watch you since back on the ship,” Shoeshine said. “I could sense something wasn’t right.” He turned to face Shy for the first time. “Felt the same way about this whole island, soon as we landed here. It ain’t done with yet, young fella.”

  Shy nodded. He wasn’t sure what Shoeshine was talking about, but he knew he agreed. The man hadn’t been wrong yet. Shy stood up and moved closer to Bill’s limp body, studied the bloody bullet wound in his back.

  Shoeshine pulled a clear spray bottle out of the green backpack and held it up to the sun, which was much lower in the sky. The bottle was filled with a yellow liquid. Shoeshine sprayed a little onto the back of his hand and smelled it. Then he tasted it and spit.

  “What is it?” Shy asked.

  Shoeshine shook his head and looked back toward the island.

  “What is it, Shoe?”

  Shoeshine turned suddenly and tossed Shy the duffel bag. “Make s
ure everything in there stays safe,” he said. “It’s very important, you hear? There’s something else I gotta see about.” He started hurrying down the hill.

  “Where you going?” Shy called after him.

  Shoeshine didn’t answer.

  “Everyone in the penthouse is sick!” Shy shouted. “They have the disease, too!”

  “Stay off that ship!” the man shouted over his shoulder. “Long as you can! You hear me?” Then he ducked around a corner, out of sight.

  Shy started down the hill a few minutes later, obsessively running through everything he’d just learned from Bill and replaying the sound of the shot he thought had ended his life. When he heard two people talking in the distance he stopped cold and ducked out of sight. It was two of the researchers coming down from the other path, toward the Y.

  Once they passed, he looked around, trying to figure out what to do with the duffel bag. He didn’t want to take any chances, since it was the one job Shoeshine had trusted him with. To be safe, he climbed partway up a tree and stashed the bag in the elbow of a high branch that was covered by a dense layer of leaves. He’d come back for it, he decided, just before he lined up to get on the ship.

  Shy hurried down the rest of the path, past the gazebo and into the hotel lobby. A few passengers were leaving just as he got there. “Where you going?” Shy asked.

  “A bunch of us are heading down early,” one of the women said. “We’re just so excited.”

  “Come down when you can,” the guy next to her said. He held up a deck of cards. “Might play a little poker to pass the time.”

  “I’ll be down there soon,” Shy told them, trying to maintain his smile. He didn’t understand why Shoeshine wanted him to stall getting on the ship. Everyone else was going early. And it wasn’t like Shy was gonna let the thing leave without Shoeshine. He owed the guy his life.

  Shy watched the group leave, then started down the hall toward Addie’s room. He needed to ask her some serious questions about her dad, who was still alive.

  He knocked and waited.

  No answer.

  “Addie!” he shouted. “Open the door, I need to talk to you!”

  When there was no response again, he looked up and down the halls to make sure no one was around. Then he kicked at the door, hard as he could. It barely budged. He backed up and kicked again, right next to the doorknob. On the third try the door swung open and he went inside.

  The room was empty.

  The bed was made up perfectly, like nobody had ever been in it. Where was she? Down on the beach already? Shy sat on the couch in the corner to try and think. He was mad as hell. And he was scared. Addie’s family had killed his own. It made him hate her. But he’d looked into her eyes on the lifeboat. She wasn’t like her dad. Or maybe he’d read her wrong the whole time.

  And then he remembered the helicopter leaving the island. He punched the wall. What if Addie had been on it with her dad? But that didn’t make sense either. She didn’t even know he was still alive.

  Shy left Addie’s room and hurried down the hall. Another group of passengers was cutting through the lobby toward the exit. “We figured we might as well go line up now,” the woman in the Raiders jersey said.

  One of the men looked at his watch. “Only about twenty-five minutes before we’re supposed to be down there. We’ll see you soon, I hope.”

  Shy promised he’d hurry.

  49

  Spotty Reception

  Carmen wasn’t in her room either, so Shy started looking for Marcus’s room. Since he didn’t know the room number, or even the floor, he wandered through every level, calling out their names.

  “Carmen!”

  “Marcus!”

  Shy was almost at the end of the fourth floor when he heard a door open behind him. He turned around and saw Carmen standing there. She didn’t say anything, just waved him over.

  He followed her inside the room, where he saw Marcus sitting at the end of the bed, working on the radio. Occasionally, there would be a burst of static, but nothing more.

  Marcus looked up. “Shy,” he said, setting down the radio and hopping to his feet. They slapped each other’s hands and gave a quick dude hug. “I’m so happy you made it.”

  “You too.”

  “Tell Shy what you heard,” Carmen said, looking upset.

  Marcus sat back down with his radio. “I got it coming in pretty clear for a couple minutes,” he said. “Just before Carm showed up.” Marcus glanced at Carmen and turned back to Shy. “I’m not positive, man, but it sounded like some British dude talking about America being in a state of emergency.”

  Shy looked down at the radio. “What’s that even mean?”

  Marcus shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  “Tell him the rest,” Carmen said.

  “According to the man, they got people crowded in stadiums all over the West Coast. And because they were all so close together…” He paused and looked at Carmen again. “That disease spread through everyone.”

  “Romero,” Carmen said, gripping Shy’s arm. “They all got it now, Shy. Everyone in there. And they’re not letting ’em leave the stadiums.”

  “Jesus,” Shy said. It lined up exactly with what Bill had told him. What were they going back to?

  Carmen reached out and banged the side of the radio. “Why won’t it come in clearer?”

  “Don’t hit the thing,” Marcus said, holding the radio away from her. “You’re making it worse.”

  She sat down on the edge of the bed, seething.

  “At the meeting they tried to say things were okay,” Shy said. “I knew it didn’t sound right.”

  “We were just talking about that,” Carmen said. “I guess they didn’t want us to worry about back home until after we got rescued.”

  Marcus started playing with the tuner again. “Like I said, I’m not completely positive. It was sort of hard to make out.”

  “You find the bag of medicine?” Carmen asked Shy. “I told Marcus all about the penthouse.”

  “Sorry to hear about Rodney, man,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “He was a really good dude.”

  Shy nodded. “Shoeshine gave me the duffel bag,” he said, looking back and forth between them. “But something else happened while I was out there.”

  “What?” Carmen said.

  “Come with me to get the bag,” Shy said. “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  Carmen stood up. “But then we gotta hurry and get down to the beach. We can talk about all this shit deeper once we’re on that damn ship going home.”

  Carmen covered her mouth after Shy finished telling her and Marcus everything Bill said about Romero Disease. “Do you believe this asshole?” she asked.

  Shy shrugged. “Why would he make it up?”

  “How can they even do that?” Marcus said. “Just invent a disease?”

  “I guess if they’re scientists,” Shy said, switching the duffel from one shoulder to the other. He’d pulled it out of the tree on their way to see the body they were now standing over. He kept looking down at the man, Bill, remembering him pointing the barrel right in his face. It made Shy feel like a ghost. Like he shouldn’t actually be standing here, breathing.

  “He had the gun right against my head,” Shy said, trying to make sense of what had happened. “I thought it was over.”

  “And that’s when Shoeshine blasted him?” Carmen said.

  “He saved my life,” Shy told her. “Twice in one day.”

  “This is really freaking me out,” Carmen said. “We have no idea what we’re going back to.”

  All three of them stood there, looking at each other and at the body. “So no one knows a vaccine even exists?” Marcus asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Shy said. “He made it sound like they wanted to back away from the whole thing.”

  “You know what they basically did, right?” Carmen kicked the dead body right in the ribs. “They sacrificed poor people to scare money out of rich peopl
e. They sacrificed my fucking dad.”

  “Beyond shady,” Marcus said. “That’s, like, some kind of genocide or something.”

  “Soon as we get back,” Carmen said, “we’re telling everyone. Cops, FBI, CIA, whoever we can find.”

  Shy just kept staring at the man’s head. He was so angry he was shaking and his teeth were chattering. And then a thought occurred to him. The envelope in the duffle. He unzipped the bag and reached past the pack of syringes and opened the beat-up envelope enough to see inside. His jaw dropped. It was the letter written by the comb-over man. David Williamson. They had their proof right here.

  “We better get down there,” Marcus said.

  “Shoe’s still out there somewhere,” Shy said. “He wants us to stall a little.”

  “How ’bout we stall on the damn ship,” Marcus answered, picking up the radio.

  Shy shrugged and zipped up the duffle and led the three of them back down the narrow trail that would eventually take them to the stairs. When they passed the hotel, though, he started thinking about Addie again. And the helicopter. He wondered if he should go try her hotel room one more time, just in case. And then something else occurred to him.

  “Wait,” he said as they neared the top of the stairs.

  Carmen and Marcus turned to look at him.

  Shy glanced out at the ship, which was facing the island. He saw where the helicopter once was. If Addie’s dad was really still alive, he had to have been on that helicopter. And the helicopter had been on the researchers’ ship. Why would they let some random guy take their helicopter unless…