by Scott Cramer
“I understand you have a few questions.”
Abby opened her eyes, and immediately felt at ease seeing Sandy’s warm smile. “I’d like to see Touk.”
“Tomorrow,” Sandy said.
“Why not now?” Abby blurted.
Sandy sighed. “The Generation M kids have been through a lot, and their lives are about to change dramatically. We’ll be deciding how to run the colonies from now on, and it will be different. We’re speaking to them as a group today. It’s best if they have their friends around them for support.”
“Toucan is my sister,” Abby pleaded. “She’ll be happy to see me. Is my brother here?”
“Yes, Jordan is here.” Sandy’s brow furrowed. “Please, this is best for everyone. You and Jordan can see Lisette tomorrow.”
Abby shuddered. Knowing Toucan was safe, she decided she could wait to see her, but she had to see her brother. She could not wait for that.
“Where’s Jordan?”
Sandy took a seat on the bed. “Let me tell you what’s happening. That may help answer many of your questions.”
“Where’s Toby?” Abby asked.
“He’s recovering.”
Abby drew in a sharp breath. “From the Pig?”
“He was shot.”
Abby hugged herself and cried, “No!”
Sandy reached out and took her hand. “Toby is fine. The bullet grazed his arm. We’ve started the manufacturing process. The first batch of pills will be ready in five days, but we found a stockpile of fifty thousand pills. That is nowhere near enough, but it will allow us to start saving lives. Mark and Jonzy went to Mystic last night.”
Abby sat forward. “How did they get there?”
“They flew to Colony East in one of the reconnaissance planes. The pilot left them at the airport. I haven’t heard from them since they landed.” Sandy nervously rubbed a corner of the blanket between her fingers. “Mark told me his daughter is very sick. He said he couldn’t wait.”
“Cee Cee has the Pig, too,” Abby said. “That’s Wenlan’s sister. Wenlan runs the clinic.”
Sandy stared blankly at the wall. After a long pause, Sandy nodded. “I’ll feel better after I hear from Mark.”
Sandy’s radio crackled to life with a man’s voice. “Doctor Hedrick.”
Sandy spoke into the radio. “Go ahead.”
“We need you in the medical bay ASAP.”
“Be right there.”
Sandy stood and headed for the door. “I’ll have someone let Jordan know he can see you. Try to eat something.”
Abby took a nibble of a protein bar, putting it firmly in the category of gourmet sawdust. Although she didn’t want any more, she couldn’t bear to waste even the tiniest grain. She carefully wrapped up the bar and returned it to the box.
She used the toilet, and then splashed cold water on her face, which relieved some of her dizziness. She opened the door and peered down the corridor, but thought it best to remain inside her windowless cell; the minute she left, Jordan would probably show up. She read about emergency protocols and studied the scenic poster in detail, counting the petals of the wildflowers.
Her heart fluttered when someone knocked on the door. Jordan poked his head inside, and that’s when Abby’s heart stopped. She rushed at him as he rushed to her. They crashed and threw their arms around each other, barely managing to stay on their feet after the impact. Just by hugging him, she could tell he had grown taller and stronger since she had last seen him six months ago.
He finally leaned back, tears dribbling down his cheeks. This told her he had changed in other ways. Jordan never used to cry in front of other people.
He stared at her with a big grin and gave her another hug.
For the next two hours, they chattered nearly non-stop, telling stories of what they had seen and done. They interrupted each other, gasping, asking questions, and crying. When Jordan described how pirates had attacked Lucky Me, a long period of silence descended. Abby pictured every member of the news gypsy crew in her mind. Another shock came when Jordan told her that he had seen Kenny in Portland and had spoken to him about Mandy, and that Kenny had been sorry for what had happened to Mandy’s little brother. In barely a whisper, Abby told Jordan what she had witnessed in the streets of Atlanta. In a voice choked with sadness, he described evidence of identical behavior in Portland. They quickly moved on to a new topic.
“I can’t wait to see Touk,” Abby said.
Jordan nodded. “Sandy told me that Toucan is healthy, but we have to wait to see her.”
“Think we’ll recognize her?” she asked. “I bet she’s grown a lot.”
“I hope she recognizes us,” he said. “We’ve changed. Nothing personal, Abby, but you look terrible.”
“I’ve never felt better,” she said, and actually meant it.
“I’m sure one thing about Touk hasn’t changed,” Jordan said. “She’s stubborn.”
Abby winked. “Not as stubborn as you.”
“Look who’s talking!”
Abby felt her strength returning just by being with Jordan, joking around with him, and acting like brother and sister.
The topic of Eddie, however, put a swift end to the joking.
“He has the Pig,” Jordan said. “He was in bad shape when we left him at Wenlan’s. Cee Cee has the Pig, too. I almost asked Mark if I could go with him last night, but I wanted to see you and Touk first.”
“If you hear anything about them, let me know right away,” Abby said.
“I will. And if you hear anything, tell me.”
“Wenlan seems nice,” Abby said slyly.
Jordan blushed. “You, me, Touk, and Toby can live at the clinic. Wenlan could use your help.”
Abby had her mind set on going to the cabin in Maine, but she would be willing to tend to routine injuries for a few months in Mystic. Compared to tending to kids dying of a lethal epidemic, she bet that setting a broken leg would be fun.
“Do you remember where Mandy and Timmy were going before…?” Her voice trailed off.
Clearly reliving the moment when Mandy had fought to her death against Brad and his gang, Jordan nodded sadly. “Yeah. Some lake where her grandparents lived.”
Abby leaned forward. “I know how to get there. Wenlan and Cee Cee can come with us. Eddie, too. Toby’s going, for sure. We’ll invite our friends. It will be like Castine Island right after the night of the purple moon. We all worked together. We’ll live that way again.”
Abby studied her brother’s face, waiting for his eyes to widen and brighten and expecting a big grin to develop. Instead, he looked confused.
“How are we going to help anyone?” he asked. “The epidemic is tearing everything apart. Kids will need food and shelter. Some have lost all their friends. Many of them will be orphaned just like after the night of the purple moon.”
“Jordan, haven’t we helped enough people already? We need to help ourselves. I want to go far away and be around my family and friends.”
He looked over her shoulder, staring at the wall. “I can’t believe these colonies.”
Abby sighed. Jordan must be in a mild state of shock, and she had given him too much information to process, so he had changed the subject.
“I need to get back to the staging area,” he said.
“We’re putting pills in packages, and members of the Grits gang are taking them to survivors. It’s amazing what we’re doing. Adults and kids are working together to figure out the fastest way to distribute pills. Want to join me?”
Abby smiled. “Jordan, I’m so proud of you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be weird.”
“I’m too tired to work,” she said, “but I have a favor to ask. The girl who flew us here, her name is Maggie. She’s about my height, and she has blond pigtails. We got separated in the night. Kids entered the alley where we were hiding, and Maggie made sure they chased her. She did that so I could contact Sandy. Can you ask the kids on motorcycles to look
for her? They should give her a pill.”
Jordan nodded grimly. “Maggie with blonde pig tails.”
“Ask them to bring her to the bunker,” Abby added. “She saved my life, maybe everyone’s life.”
Jordan gave her a hug. “If you change your mind and you want to help, ask anyone how to get to the staging area.”
Then he left and closed the door.
A moment later, the door opened, and he stuck his head in. “Abby, thank you.”
“For what?”
“What you said about being proud of me. That means a lot.” Then he was gone again.
Abby sighed happily, realizing it was incredible that the family was almost together again; all they needed was Touk.
She forced herself to finish off the awful protein bar and then set off in search of Toby. On a hunch, she headed for the medical bay where Ensign Rossi had treated her the night before.
She passed through the self-serve cafeteria where several adults ate, all appearing exhausted, with their heads slumped over their bowls. One scientist snored loudly, cheek pressed against the tabletop.
Abby saw a sign with an arrow for the medical bay, and she headed down that hallway. Halfway to the next intersection, Toby rounded the corner, his arm in a sling.
Abby broke into a run, arms wide open, and Toby raced toward her. She tried to brake, but they crashed into each other. Toby yelped in pain and pulled her closer to him with his good arm. She squeezed him tightly, careful to avoid pulling on his bandaged arm. Words stuck in her throat as she held the boy who had sacrificed so much for her.
They visited the cafeteria, where they sat at a table and Abby learned how lucky Toby was to be alive. She reached out and took his hand as tears filled her eyes. She took a deep breath and told him about Jordan and Toucan. He already knew about Mark and Jonzy.
“I’ll go with you to Mystic,” Toby said. “I’ll go with you to the cabin in Maine, too. Heck, I’ll even go with you to Castine Island if you want.”
She squeezed his hand, and while looking him in the eye, she smiled and slowly nodded. “Thank you.”
Toby told her he would help in the staging area, using his good arm.
“Jordan’s there,” he said. “You want to come with me?”
Abby shook her head. “All I can think about is Touk.”
“Let’s go see her,” he said, jumping to his feet. “C’mon, she’s your sister. We’ll get her together.”
Toby was ready to charge into the Generation M living quarters and snatch Toucan, all because he thought it would make her happy. Time after time, his actions showed how much he cared for her.
“No, I told Sandy I’d wait,” she said after a long pause. “I’m going to my room to rest,” she added, knowing that if she stayed with Toby any longer, she would accept his offer to rescue Toucan.
DAY 7
CDC BUNKER
In the morning, Abby, who had slept for fifteen hours, was already dressed and waiting for Sandy to arrive.
Sandy entered the room, looking exhausted, but her eyes, while bloodshot, were bright and sparkling. “We heard from Mark last night. He reached Mystic just in time. Sarah is getting better. The other two kids who have AHA-B, Cee Cee and Eddie, will also improve over time.”
Abby’s eyes blurred with tears of joy. The part of her that had been numbed slowly came back to life. Feeling again was both a blessing and a curse. As the fog lifted from her mind, she recalled the events from inside the pill factory. She couldn’t shake the image of Doctor Droznin placing the C4 on the floor and covering it with her body. The happiness from Sandy’s news mingled with the shadows of her darker memories.
Sandy explained that Mark and Jonzy planned to remain in Mystic and use Wenlan’s clinic as one of the major distribution centers for the antibiotic. “The submarine base in Groton is nearby. That can serve as a base of operations.”
“Where’s Jordan?” Abby asked. “We want to see Toucan.”
Sandy’s expression turned somber. “I need to talk to you and your brother first.”
Abby’s blood turned cold. “What’s wrong?” she blurted.
Sandy took a deep breath. “Both of you need to hear what I have to say.”
As they walked to the cafeteria to meet Jordan, Abby held off asking any more questions because Sandy seemed entrenched in thought.
They faced off in a quiet corner of the cafeteria. Abby and Jordan were on one side of the table, Sandy on the other. Abby gripped Jordan’s hand.
“When your sister arrived,” Sandy began, “she was very sick. She participated in an experimental drug trial and was one of the first children to recover from AHA-B. After that, they integrated her into the colony.”
“Integrated?” Jordan asked.
“She moved into a unit and started attending classes,” Sandy said. “There are some things you need to understand about Atlanta Colony. In some ways, it was similar to Colony East. But Doctor Perkins wanted Atlanta Colony to stand out. He wanted only the most brilliant children to reside here. He wanted to create an ideal environment for learning. Your sister was somewhat different.”
Jordan objected. “Toucan is really smart.”
Sandy raised her eyebrows. “Yes, that’s true. She is smart, and has many incredible talents, but every child originally selected for Atlanta Colony is a genius. Doctor Perkins conducted periodic evaluations to make sure the children were performing at the highest academic level. If they weren’t, he expelled them.”
Abby released Jordan’s hand and dragged her palm across her leg to dry off the sweat. “Touk is here, right? Doctor Perkins didn’t kick her out?”
Sandy pursed her lips and nodded. “Your sister is here.”
Jordan fidgeted. “So let us see her.”
“Doctor Perkins believed that happiness promoted learning. Twice a day, the children participated in a spirit drill. They repeated phrases designed to keep them happy or identify things that were making them sad. They clipped sensors to their fingers that measured their varying emotional states.”
“This place is weird,” Jordan said.
Sandy nodded in agreement. “On the morning of her evaluation, Lisette refused to repeat the phrase that everyone in her family had died in the first epidemic.”
Abby shot forward. “Why would they make her say that?”
Sandy grimaced, and Abby understood why. It wasn’t Sandy’s idea to run the colony this way, but she had played a role in it.
“Everyone’s parents had died, and many of the children had lost older siblings and relatives. Doctor Perkins wanted every member of Generation M to focus on the future. He wanted them to bury their pasts.”
Abby shrugged. “Jordan and I are here. Touk will see that we’re alive.”
It was hard to believe they were having this conversation. They should have seen Touk already.
Sandy looked away for a long moment.
When she turned back, Abby drew in a sharp breath. Sandy’s narrowed eyes were glistening, seeming to burn with rage and smolder with despair. Abby’s heart stopped. What awful thing had happened to Toucan that would elicit such anger and sadness?
“Your sister won’t know you,” Sandy said in a quiet voice. “They performed a medical procedure on her brain that essentially erased all her memories of her family. If they hadn’t done that, Doctor Perkins would have expelled her. You, your parents, your home, your sister’s former friends, those memories only exist deep in her subconscious.”
A moment passed before Sandy’s words fully sunk in. Then Abby chuckled in disbelief. “Toucan will know us. We’ve lived with her all her life.”
Jordan made a face and nodded. “Trust me, she’ll know us.”
Sandy sighed. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up. Many of Lisette’s memories were erased. You have to prepare yourself. I’m going to have you speak with Doctor Ramanathan. She’s been taking care of your sister since they released her from Medical Clinic 3.”
Sandy led th
em to an area of the underground bunker that housed the kids of Generation M and then into an office that Doctor Ramanathan shared with other scientists. Sandy wanted to stay with them, but her radio squawked out another medical emergency, and she rushed off.
Waiting for Doctor Ramanathan, Abby and Jordan were alone in the office with nothing but their thoughts.
“We’re buried in her subconscious,” Jordan scoffed. “I wonder if she dreams about us.”
“She’ll remember us,” Abby said. “Maybe not right away, but after a few minutes, she will.”
“How could she forget Timmy and Danny?” Jordan asked. “They were friends for life.”
“We’re taking her with us no matter what she remembers,” Abby said.
“Definitely,” Jordan replied.
She and Jordan made a pact with their eyes to go along with their strong, verbal agreement.
Doctor Ramanathan entered the room and introduced herself. “Please, call me Chandra.”
Appearing as tired as the rest of the adults, the scientist wore a white coat and was tiny. The top of her head only came up to Abby’s nose. She had black hair that was tied up in a bun.
Abby decided she would call her Doctor Ramanathan. How could she be on friendly terms with anyone who had done that to Touk?
“I can see the resemblance,” Doctor Ramanathan said. “Lisette will be right out. I asked her to wash her face and hands. I’m responsible for the girls in Unit 2A. When Lisette left Medical Clinic 3, she moved straight into my unit.”
“Doctor Ramanathan,” Abby said. “We’re leaving in a few days, and we’re taking our sister with us.”
“You can’t stop us,” Jordan added.
The scientist smiled, but her eyes looked sad. “We all understand that you are her family, and we will support whatever decision you make.”
A moment later, the door opened and Toucan stepped out. Abby’s insides froze, melted, refroze, and then turned to steam, all within half a second. Touk was beautiful, stunning in fact. Abby had expected to see a wild mop of red curls falling to her sister’s shoulders and hiding half her face, but the stubble of red hair revealed the brightness of Touk’s eyes. The last time Abby had seen her sister, she was weak and feverish, on a couch in a dusty building just outside Colony East. Now she was taller and stronger, and when she grinned, Abby saw she was missing a tooth.
