Andrew Klavan - The last thing I remember

Exhausted, I nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “I guess I did.”

“You rotten little…”

But suddenly his voice stopped. He stared at me with wide, frightened eyes. He looked down-we both looked down-and saw the bloody hole in the center of his shirt. He’d been shot.

“Oh…” He rolled his terrified eyes up to the sky. “Oh no.”

Then he collapsed onto the pavement, dead.

I stared at him, uncomprehending. The rumble of the blast was still echoing and fading along the walls of the canyon.

Then it was gone, and a new noise surrounded me: the deadly rattle and whine of gunfire.

I lifted my eyes from Orton’s body and looked back across the bridge. Secret Service agents and police had poured out of the cars of the motorcade. They were racing across the bridge toward where the bomb had blown a hole in it. Some had pistols in their hands. Some had rifles raised to their shoulders.

All of them were firing at me.

To Find the Truth The whistling breath of the bullets whizzed past my ear. The dirt and rocks began spitting up on every side of me. I understood at once. They thought I was a terrorist, too, that I was with Orton. They thought we had tried to kill Secretary Yarrow but had made a mistake and set the bomb off too soon. Their bullets had caught Orton and killed him. Now they were trying for me.

I dove for cover. I was off the pavement in a second, working my way up the incline into the trees. I ducked behind a tree trunk for protection.

The lawmen on the far side of the bridge continued firing at me. Some of them were shouting now too. I could hear their voices but couldn’t make out what they said. I didn’t have to. I could pretty much guess. They were telling me to give myself up.

I didn’t know what to do. I’d already been convicted of murder. Now they thought I was a terrorist too. How could I ever convince them that I’d blown up the bridge not to kill Yarrow but to save his life? How could I ever make them believe I wasn’t one of the Homelanders?

I crouched there another moment in my confusion and my fear. The truth was: I didn’t know what to believe myself. A court of law said I’d killed Alex Hauser. Orton said I was a Homelander just like him. I didn’t remember anything after my ordinary life ended a year ago. Maybe it was all true. Maybe I was as bad as they said I was.

The shooting from across the bridge had stopped now, but the shouting continued. I could hear them more clearly: the voices telling me to surrender.

Then another voice came to me, a voice I remembered. That voice that whispered in my ear:

You’re a better man than you know. Find Waterman.

Something deep inside me rose up to meet that voice. It wasn’t just a vague hope. It was more than that. It was a powerful conviction of truth. I know it looked like all the facts were against me. I know the courts said I was a killer, and Orton said I was a terrorist. But I knew it wasn’t so. I knew it to the bottom of my soul. I knew I’d never murder someone. I knew I’d never attack this country that I love. How could I turn myself in and let myself be put in prison before I had a chance to find out what had really happened?

I stayed there one last moment listening to the shouts from across the bridge. Then I stood up and began moving up the slope into the woods.

You’re a better man than you know.

I didn’t know what had happened to me this last year, but I knew my own heart. I knew who I was.

I still believe in you. I still love you.

And Beth too. I knew her. I trusted her. I knew she wouldn’t have fallen in love with me if I were a killer.

Find Waterman.

I knew I was not alone. I was never alone. I knew that no matter how confusing things get, how many voices are shouting lies, how many wrong turns you take, how many dead ends you run into, there is always, always the truth to find, always the truth somewhere, burning, shining.

Never give in. Never, never, never.

I knew I had to find that truth no matter what.

I said a quick prayer as I worked my way deeper into the forest. Then I started running.

1. Charlie keeps a quote from Churchill in his wallet that inspires him and helps him focus. Are there words like that you go back to anytime you need encouragement or an extra boost of confidence? Do Churchill’s words have the same effect on you that they do on Charlie? 2. After Charlie successfully finishes his demonstration at school, he stands on the stage and takes it all in. Do you have a moment like Charlie’s, one that you could call “one of the coolest moments of my life so far”? 3. One of the things that Charlie knows about himself is that he loves America and the freedoms we have here. Do you value those freedoms the way Charlie does? How does his patriotism make you feel? 4. Alex has had a difficult family life recently, but he also seems to be making some poor choices. Do you have any friends who have had changes in their lives and then started to seem like different people to you? Is there anything more that Charlie could have done to reach out to Alex? What have you done for your friends in those times? 5. Outside the jail, the person who releases Charlie’s handcuffs tells him “You’re a better man than you know.” If you were in Charlie’s shoes, what effect would those words have on you? 6. Even though Charlie doesn’t remember the last year, he knows he cannot have done the things he is accused of because they are contrary to who he is. What are some of the things that you believe that strongly about yourself? What would make you fight the way Charlie does? 7. Charlie faces in credible opposition in this novel. At which point were you the most afraid that he could not survive? Were there any places where you thought his adventures sounded like fun? 8. The last day that Charlie can remember was a really good day-his karate demonstration was a complete success and the number of the prettiest girl he knew was on his hand. If you had to pick a day in your life that would be the last one you could remember, which one would it be? What makes you want to hang on to that day? 9. The Last Thing I Remember closes with Charlie’s resolve to find the truth, no matter what. If you were Charlie, what steps would you take to stay alive and find the truth?

The man with the knife was a stranger. I never saw him before he tried to kill me.

I was in the Whitney Library when it happened, about seven miles from my hometown of Spring Hill. I’d been there for about forty-five minutes. I had come with a plan-a plan to clear my name, to get free, to get home to my family and out of danger. Now I had to leave. It wasn’t safe for me to stay in any one place for very long.

I was in the main research room on the library’s second floor. I went down the hall and pushed into the bathroom. I took off my black fleece and hung it on the door of one of the stalls. Then, wearing just my jeans and black t-shirt, I stood at the sink and splashed cold water on my face.

I was tired-way tired. I had been on the road-on the run-I don’t know-several weeks-a long time. I had to fight to stay alert. If I didn’t stay alert, I wouldn’t stay alive.

I dried myself off with a couple of paper towels. I looked at myself in the mirror. The guy looking back at me was six feet tall. Thin but with broad shoulders, good muscles, still in good shape. I had a lean, kind of solemn face with a mop of brown hair flopping over the forehead. Brown eyes- serious eyes-probably too serious for a guy who was only eighteen-but honest and straightforward. At least, I always thought they were…