by Susan Hatler
Owen fingered his chin. “Even if my dad did know of an available body that wouldn’t be missed, the person’s organs would be toast after death. You’d need a body that’s viable. Maybe someone who’s brain dead?”
Jonathan shook his head adamantly. “That person would have a family, relationships. . . I couldn’t overtake someone’s identity on a permanent basis. That wouldn’t be ethical. We need another option.”
I felt a deep pull in my gut. Even in his desperate situation, Jonathan was thinking of others before himself. I needed to rally, and find a good solution for him. “Let’s not give up on using a John Doe’s body just yet. With all of the technology today, there must be some way to repair the body to make it function again. A doctor could perform plastic surgery or something, right?”
“Hmm.” Owen’s eyes narrowed as if in thought. “I’m no doctor, but it sounds logical that the skin could be repaired through skin grafting. But the rest of the organs might be trickier. I’ve heard of inserting an artificial valve, but not an entire artificial heart.”
The word artificial bounced around my brain for some reason. Artificial. Huh, weird that the word piqued something in my mind.
“Not to mention you’d need an artificial liver, artificial kidneys—”
Jonathan brought his fingers to his lips. “Couldn’t I get on an organ donor list or something? I mean, in case they aren’t making the artificial ones yet.”
Artificial. Artificial. Why was that word ringing a bell?
Owen bobbed his head back and forth. “My dad’s a doctor, so I know that organ donor lists are long, but given in order of priority so that’s one advantage you have to being dead.”
Jonathan sighed. “If only my parents hadn’t cremated my body.”
Body. Artificial. That was it.
“Artificial body!” I exclaimed, pounding my fist on the table, accidentally startling both Jonathan and Owen. I bounced in my seat as they both turned to me. It felt like a thousand bolts of electricity were flowing through me as I realized the solution. I smiled at Jonathan. “You need an artificial body.”
He raised his brows, and nodded. “Isn’t that what we’ve been talking about?”
“An artificial body,” Owen said, numbly, apparently catching my meaning. He seemed stunned at first but then his mouth broke into grin. “I’m disconcerted that I didn’t think of that myself.” He rubbed his fingers against his temple. “I hope I’m not suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome after having my body zombied.”
Bubbling with excitement, I squealed as I reached across the table with both hands, and grabbed Owen’s forearms. “Was the speech you gave in U.S. Government about artificial bodies true?”
“All of my speeches are factual,” Owen said, squeezing my arms back. To say he looked elated would be putting it mildly. “My source is solid on this one. It would blow your mind to know what goes on at Treasure Island.”
Jonathan waved his hand at us, obviously thoroughly confused by our excitement. “Look, I’m glad you two are pumped. But what am I missing?”
“Owen gave a speech in our U.S. Government class last month,” I exclaimed, my words coming out of my mouth so quickly that I was feeling short of breath. Or maybe that was because we might finally have a real and permanent solution for Jonathan’s spirit. “After suffering through, I mean listening to all of Owen’s speeches about UFOs, parallel universes, time travel, and artificial bodies . . . the information is finally going to pay off.”
“Okay,” Jonathan said, nodding. Then he splayed his hands against the table, switching his gaze back and forth between Owen and me. “How?”
“Let’s walk and talk so we don’t waste time,” Owen said, sliding out of the booth, and bouncing on his heels until Jonathan and I joined him. He strode toward the exit, heading for his truck. “As we speak, the government is producing artificial bodies at Treasure Island, which is a closed naval base. Their plan is to turn on these bodies during wartime in order to bulk up the U.S. military.” He paused by his truck bed and held up his hands. “Let me make this extremely clear. These artificial bodies are exact replicas of young men. Don’t ask me how they’ve recreated humans, but the artificial bodies can walk, talk, pull a trigger. You name it.”
My heart galloped in my chest. I was so ready to squeal with glee as I slipped my hand through Jonathan’s gray polyester-clad arm as we approached the driver’s side door. “Do you understand what this means for you?”
He struggled to put the key in the lock because his hand shook so badly. “I think so . . .”
“I’ll drive now,” Owen said, clearly noticing as I did how frazzled Jonathan was by this new revelation. “You take it easy.”
Jonathan hesitated for a moment, then handed over the keys and went around to the passenger’s side. “So how I understand this is—”
“I’ll spell it out.” Owen hopped in the driver’s seat, and started the engine. “It means that there are perfectly good, unoccupied artificial bodies forty-five minutes from here, just waiting for you to go all zombie on them.”
Jonathan pulled his door shut, then looked over his shoulder at me. “Is this for real?”
“He’s got to be right.” I clicked my seatbelt into place, then reached for his shoulder. “We’re talking about Owen. The guy is the brain king. You’re going to be alive again and in a body of your own before we know it.” My eyes welled, then my mouth curved up into a smile. “Which will be a major improvement because I just don’t see you as a minister.” I glanced upward just in case. “No offense, Reverend Gabriel.”
Jonathan squeezed my hand which was still on his shoulder, then stared at me with hope evident in his eyes. “Do you really think it’ll work?”
“It has to,” I said, feeling dizzy with the intensity of his gaze. Even with Reverend Gabriel’s brown eyes, something of Jonathan shone through and I imagined those emerald green eyes were gazing at me right now. My tummy did that little flip, sending a rush of warmth that reminded me of the hot bath feeling I’d gotten while floating with him.
Owen pulled out of the parking lot, and onto the street. “Based on the knowledge we’ve accumulated about zombying bodies, the odds that this plan would work seems high. But first we need an artificial body in our possession. The difficulty is going to be obtaining one.”
“Right,” Jonathan said, then turned back to me with a skeptical look. “Let me see if I have this straight. Our plan is to drive to a closed military base, break in undetected, then discover where they’re hiding the secret artificial bodies—assuming they are actually there. Then if we find the bodies, we need to confiscate one and sneak it out, because I’m guessing they’re not going to give one away as a free sample.”
Owen tilted his head, wearing a dubious expression. “True. I find the chances of the military giving away a top secret, million-dollar body highly unlikely.”
“At least we finally have a plan,” I said, clapping my hands, trying to get them to see we’d made progress. Man, why did they both have to be such Debbie Downers?
Jonathan ran a hand through the minister’s sandy-blond hair. “If only we knew someone who worked on the military base, then maybe we could get them to slip us a key or something.”
Owen shook his head. “Unfortunately, my source is a civilian.”
I wrinkled my nose, trying to brainstorm. One of my “sources” probably wasn’t speaking to me right now since she’d found out her crush had kissed me. And my other “source” was currently grounded for triple-piercing her ear. Nicole probably wouldn’t be off restriction any time soon either because her dad was an Army Reserve, super strict, and. . . .
My eyes bulged so hard I thought they might pop out of my head. “My best friend’s dad is in the military!” I exclaimed.
Jonathan peered over his shoulder, his eyes lighting up. “Do you think he’ll help?”
“He has to,” I said, unzipping my purse, and pulling out my cell phone.
I closed
my eyes and inhaled deeply. Nicole’s dad, Mr. Higgins, was the toughest man I knew. The guy could give Rambo a run for his money, except Mr. Higgins also managed to hold down a steady job as an auto mechanic. His wife—Nicole’s mom—had died during an emergency cesarean section when Nicole was born. All that mattered to him was his little girl, who he didn’t understand wasn’t so little anymore at sixteen years old.
The dude defined the word “over-protective” and Nicole had just defied him and triple-pierced her ear. Now was definitely not a good time to call and ask him for a favor. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any other choice.
Chapter Ten
Sitting in the backseat of Owen’s truck, I tried to reassure myself that our odds were better than they seemed. Yeah, it did appear that Jonathan’s only means of physical survival would be to steal one of the military’s artificial bodies. And if we were able to accomplish that feat, we’d have to cross our fingers that we didn’t get caught and that nobody would notice one artificial military dude was missing.
But why did things have to hinge on Nicole? I loved my best friend dearly, but she wasn’t always so sensitive to other people’s needs. The fact that she’d brought a Ouija board over to my house to play when I’d asked her to help me get ready for a date was just typical behavior for her. I’d also have to finally tell her about Jonathan. Instead of worrying about what she thought of me like I had before, I just hoped she didn’t freak and jump to the demon conclusion like Owen had. Sigh.
Like I didn’t have enough hurdles to overcome right now.
In order to expedite things, I gave Owen directions to Nicole’s house and we were already halfway there. Then I autodialed her number, explained the Jonathan situation, and held my breath hoping my BFF would come through for me.
“Have you been taking any hallucinogens I should be aware of?” she finally asked.
I tightened my grip on my phone. So much for Nicole’s support. “You know what? I don’t even need you to believe me, even though we’ve been best friends since second grade and are supposed to do anything for each other. All I need you to do is ask your dad if he can get us access to the secret military operation on Treasure Island.”
“No problem. Then I’ll ask Captain Kirk if we can borrow the Enterprise.” Nicole’s tone was deadpan, which made her sarcasm twice as annoying. “And it’s not wise of you to throw the best friend card down right now. Brynne called me earlier and told me that you’ve been sucking face with Owen Jenner when you know very well that she has had that die-hard crush on him since elementary school. What were you thinking?”
It made my blood pump that she’d even consider that I’d hone in on my friend’s crush. “You should know I’d never do that to her. He only kissed me because he thought I liked him, which was totally off base.”
Owen’s gaze met mine in the rearview mirror. “Never do what to who? Are you talking about me?”
“Shh,” I said, waving him off.
“You’ve lost your mind, Amy,” Nicole said, simply. “That’s all there is to it. You could have Alex Decker and you’re choosing Owen Jenner, which is breaking Brynne’s sweet little heart. Tell me you’ll come to your senses.”
I mashed my lips together. “I’m not dating Owen.”
Jonathan turned around in his seat. “Why does everyone keep saying you’re dating Owen?” he asked in a hushed voice.
Owen bumped his fist against Jonathan’s arm. “Total misunderstanding.”
I gaped at Owen, glad we were finally on the same page. Gee, that hadn’t taken long to reconcile. Right. I ducked my head, and pressed the phone to my ear. “Do you believe me or not?”
“But Brynne said you left for lunch with him today,” Nicole said, her tone sounding less accusatory and more like she didn’t understand what was going on. “Plus, Lindsay Sloan said she passed the two of you driving in his truck yesterday.”
There went Lindsay sabotaging me yet again. She’s had it in for me ever since she went away for the summer before freshman year. So frustrating.
“Owen and I aren’t hanging out,” I said, then curled my chin down to avoid the confused looks the guys were shooting me. “Well, not in that way. We’re spending time together, because he’s helping Jonathan and me. Just like you should be. Come on, Nicole.” I pleaded with her. “Your dad’s in the Army Reserves. Just ask him that one simple question for me. That’s all.”
“Sweetie, I’m grounded. I’m not his favorite person right now.” A loud whirring noise blasted through her end of the line that sounded like a blow dryer. “Plus, I don’t want you to think I’m not supportive to alternative ways of thinking, but this dead guy you’ve been talking to? It’s all in your head, babe!” she shouted, barely audible over the blow dryer’s whiny motor.
“That’s not true!” I said, yelling over the loud noise. “You can meet Jonathan for yourself in about ten minutes, because we’re on our way to your house now.”
Nicole giggled. “You plan to introduce me to your ghost? I think Owen’s rubbing off on you, babe. I remember when you first told me about his theory that the government was creating artificial men to boost the Army or whatever. You practically laughed your head off.”
Guilt washed through me. “Well, I misjudged him, okay? And Jonathan’s life is on the line here, Nicole. Do you think it’s fair for him to live in the zombie zone forever because you wouldn’t do me this one favor?”
“I’m not even going to ask what the ‘zombie zone’ is supposed to be,” she said.
The whine of a blow dryer disappeared, then I heard water running as if she’d turned on a faucet. I frowned. “What’s all that racket? I thought you were grounded.”
“Not that you’ve asked about me this entire conversation, but if you had you’d know that Todd Wilson asked me out today. Can you believe it? I thought I’d be old and gray before he got up the guts. Todd’s taking me to a party at Alex’s tonight and nothing in the world is going to stop me from going. Not even being grounded. I’d invite you, but you probably already have plans with Owen Jenner and his ghost friend.”
Two days ago, I would’ve been racing to put on my make-up at the chance of meeting up with Alex. Tonight, I was riding in a truck with a UFO geek and a pseudo-minister, begging my friend to get me an artificial body. Times had seriously changed. And I was desperate.
“Jonathan’s not a ghost, but his spirit did get separated from his body,” I said firmly, hoping there was some way to convince Nicole. “I know you and I have made fun of the whole UFO thing in the past, and I’m not saying I believe in them necessarily, but I am more open to the idea. Because things happen in life that we can’t explain.” My throat tightened, thinking of how my life had changed since meeting Jonathan. “Like your hot date with Todd. It came out of nowhere, right?”
“Nicole’s going on a date with Todd?” Owen asked, seeming surprised.
I shot Owen a ‘stop listening to my phone call’ glare. “I mean, what if Todd needed your help? Wouldn’t you be there for him even if it did sound crazy?”
Nicole made a humming sound. “I suppose . . .”
“Well, Jonathan is real, and he’s in trouble. I need you to help me,” I said, tears burning my eyes. I mean, really, was wanting her to ask her dad one little question about a secret operation that much to ask?
“I can’t believe it.” Nicole gasped, and the sound of running water stopped. “You had that flirtatious crush on Alex forever, but that was so surface level. I never thought I’d see the day that you actually fell in love. Wow. If only you hadn’t fallen for a zombie you’re imagining . . .”
My face burned as my friend’s words rolled through my brain. Love? Sure the feelings I’ve been having for Jonathan were stronger than anything I’d felt before, but it was hard to determine what exactly I felt when everything was happening so fast.
I pressed my hand against the bundle of nerves in my belly, and took a deep breath. “I know you don’t believe me, and I get it. I probably wou
ld’ve reacted the same way a week ago if you’d said all of this to me.” My voice was quiet, and it was hard to talk through the boulder that had materialized in my throat at the thought of Jonathan being stuck in that astral-whatever existence indefinitely. “But I’m asking you as my best friend to help me. Believe in me. Please.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Then Nicole sighed. “If it really means that much to you, then come over. I’ll ask my dad about that secret base, but I can’t promise he’ll listen to me.”
“Thank you so much. We’ll be there shortly,” I said, heaving a huge sigh of relief. I pressed the OFF button on my cell, dropped it into my purse, then leaned back against the headrest.
Jonathan caught my gaze in the rear-view mirror. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” I nodded, every muscle in my body tense from the stress. “Nicole’s dad’s is in the Army Reserves. If he doesn’t know about the secret operation at Treasure Island, he’s got to know someone who does.”
“Highly probable,” Owen said as he pulled to a stop at the curb in front of Nicole’s two-story stucco home.
Jonathan twisted in his seat and met my gaze. “You shouldn’t have created a problem with your friend for me. We can find another way.”
“Nicole and I are fine.” I said, thinking that Brynne and I were another story. I wanted to explain the whole Owen-kiss thing to her but there hadn’t been time. “Besides, we’re here.”
“Then let’s do this,” Jonathan said, stepping out of the truck simultaneously with Owen and me.
The three of us strode up the walkway toward Nicole’s front door, and Jonathan slipped his hand around mine. Even though he was in the minister’s body, tingles danced up my arm, and my belly fluttered. Which reminded me of what Nicole had said about me being in love with Jonathan. How could she even suggest that? Please.
I had feelings for him, sure. But it not possible to fall for someone you’ve never seen in real life. There’s just no way.
