“Anyhow,” said Theo, “I think it’s not enough for the science team to do its research. Not that that stuff isn’t crazy important. I just think I should tell the mayor that we should be finding out more about what happened to this world.”
“What difference does it make?” asked Michelle. “Shouldn’t our concern be the people here on the island and how we can get home?”
Ryan looked pained at this. Theo wondered how many private conversations the two of them had had where Michelle inquired about getting home and Ryan had to keep his serious concerns about their predicament under wraps.
“I get what you’re saying, Michelle,” said Theo, “but people need something beyond ‘we’re working on it.’ They need answers and information, and we might be able to get them more to think about if we explore this world a little bit. Besides, it does have an effect on us. It’s almost the end of October and it’s still summer weather, plus those insane rainstorms… that’s nothing to do with the Event or our island. It’s whatever’s wrong with this world and it’s something we have to live with.
Michelle was surprisingly agitated. “Whatever, I just think that people don’t need to know anything unless it’s specifically necessary to help them. There’s a difference between government and citizens.”
Theo promised her he would think carefully before giving any advice to Mayor Lucas. He actually had no idea what he would say. He was scared to death of the upcoming committee meeting. Lucas had placed so much trust in him, and he couldn’t even unify his friends’ views. How was he ever going to have any influence among the most powerful people in the country?
Chapter 14
In the late hours of the night before Theo was scheduled to meet the mayor and the other advisors, Jamie arrived at Theo and Kylee’s place looking frightened. Kylee put her arm around Jamie’s shoulders and brought her in to the apartment. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s Bill. He hasn’t come home.”
“Jamie, he rarely comes home at a normal hour.”
“Still,” she said, “it’s late even for him.”
Theo was sitting on the couch mulling over his upcoming meeting with the mayor and his advisors. He noticed Jamie and moved over to make room for Kylee and her to sit down.
“Bill hasn’t come home,” said Kylee.
“Well,” said Theo, “that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I know Bill’s track record and all but what makes you so sure he’s in trouble?”
“What makes you sure he’s not?” asked Jamie. “I just cant… not after Mark… I want to check out the hospital but I’m so scared.”
“We’ll go with you, don’t worry,” said Kylee. “Let’s go as fast as we can. I’m sure Bill will be wondering where you are when he gets home.”
They left the apartment and walked as fast as they could to the hospital. Theo was convinced that nothing was wrong with his friend. There couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with Bill, could there? They raced along the dark streets and honed in on the bright lights of the hospital door.
The same large woman who had been working the night they found Mark was sitting behind the desk when they entered. She fussed over the keyboard for a minute and then leaned back triumphantly. “Here he is. Bill Mansfield. He’s in the ER. Down the hall to the left.”
They ran toward the entrance to the emergency room. A nurse working at the desk in the ER directed them toward the curtained bay where Bill was waiting. Nobody said a word. Theo knew they were all thinking the same thing. Even though Bill wasn’t in the ICU (not yet, his mind reminded him) they were all expecting a repeat of Mark’s long, painfully drawn out death. Another sacrifice to the island.
Theo stepped in front of his friends and pulled back the curtain. Bill was on the examination bed, wide awake and reading an old magazine. One of his eyes was swollen and red, his face was bruised everywhere and there were bandages on his nose. He smiled at his friends and winced at the pain.
“So good of you guys to come to my party!” Bill said, his voice slow and a little unsteady. Theo thought that might have something to do with the morphine being delivered to Bill’s arm.
Jamie raced forward and threw her arms around him. “I thought you were dead!”
Theo couldn’t help but smile. The distance between Bill and Jamie since Mark’s death seemed to have melted away.
“Nah, I’m not dead. Feel like crap though,” said Bill.
“What the hell happened to you?” asked Theo.
“Eh, you know, wrong place, wrong time.”
“Bill,” said Jamie, “tell us what happened! You’ve had us all so scared.”
Bill sighed. “Fine, fine. It’s not the greatest story. I’d rather tell you something that didn’t end with me looking like this… but okay.” He took a deep breath and winced again. He spoke slowly and carefully, struggling for lucidity against the drugs in his system.
“So you guys know how I’ve been putting in time doing repair work with the construction crew after school.”
“You mean what you do when you’re supposed to be doing homework,” said Jamie.
“Jeez babe, I’ve told you already: this construction gig is what matters. I’m outta school pretty soon and it’s not like I was Harvard-bound before the Event. Give a battered guy a break! Okay, so I was working on an apartment along the boardwalk, patching up some cracks in the concrete with the stuff we’ve been making from the sand, and I hear something going on outside, like someone begging. So I look outside—”
“Seriously?” asked Theo. “That was your first mistake, man, nothing good has ever come from you looking into any kind of commotion.”
Kylee jabbed him with her elbow. “Let him talk!”
Theo laughed. He was just so relieved that Bill was alive and more or less in one piece.
“To continue,” said Bill, “I look out and there on the boardwalk is that Bertier ass clown with the bald head, and that chick he hangs out with, with all the piercings. They’re giving a hard time to this old lady. Like, what a friggin stereotype, a couple bullies picking on an old woman. So, yeah, that happened.”
Jamie frowned. “And I’m guessing you didn’t leave well enough alone.”
Bill laughed, “Wow, you know me so well. Nah, the lady was really upset. So I went down there and as I got closer I heard her begging them to not take her food. Seems like they’ve been taking some of other people’s dinner rations. I guess Bertier’s gigantic head needs a lot of calories. Anyhow, I walked up to them and said ‘Is there a problem here?’”
Kylee shook her head with a smile. “You seriously opened with ‘Is there a problem here?’ God you are a walking cliché.”
“Hey, it works in the movies,” said Bill. “Anyhow, the big skank tells me to go away. Well, she said something like that but with really salty language. And Bertier gets this posture like he’s gonna try to kick my ass. I told them I’d really like to encourage them to leave the poor old lady alone, and Bertier says, and I quote, ‘Move along buddy, unless you want trouble.’” He turned to Kylee. “Now who’s the cliché? So I tell them that I’m not going anywhere until they leave the old lady alone. Bertier takes a swing at me. He’s built like a house but he’s pretty slow. So I duck his punch and I throw one of my own. Connect with the side of his face. Next thing I know I get hit so hard from behind that I see stars, and I fall to the ground. I see one of Bertier’s friends, the dude with a ponytail, standing over me. They all get in a couple more quick shots and run off. That’s how I ended up with all these bruises and whatever. But I’m fine, really. Douchebags had to hit me from behind to get the job done.”