Matt de la Peña - The Living

Shy stared at the man, horrified.

“They knew it would eventually make its way across the border, into America. And they knew the fear it caused would drive up demand for treatment. When reports first started surfacing, they sat on it for a while, knowing it wouldn’t look right if they had a treatment too soon. A few weeks ago their medicine that treats the disease was approved by the FDA. Their plan was to submit their vaccine by the end of the year. But the earthquakes changed all that, of course. We’ve received word that the disease is ravaging the entire West Coast now. It was determined that the best course of action was for the company to distance themselves from the situation completely.”

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.

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.