D. MacHale - Storm

Jon jumped up and ran out of the room.

“Jonathan?” Luna called.

He didn’t stop.

“What’s up with that?” Olivia asked.

“He doesn’t want any part of this bull,” Kent said. “Neither do I.”

“What if it’s not bull?” Tori asked. “What if this is our chance to connect with other people on our side?”

“Whoa, slow down, lobster girl,” Kent said. “You’re jumping to a whole bunch of conclusions. As far as we know, the only place that got hit is little old Portland, Maine. You’re making it sound like the whole world has gone nuts.”

“Wake up, Kent,” Tori scolded. “The population of an entire city was nearly wiped out. There was a major ocean battle that was bigger than anything since, what? World War II? If this really is a civil war with two branches of the military throwing everything they’ve got at each other, how can you believe it’s only happening in our backyard?”

Kent jumped to his feet and shouted, “Because that’s what I want to believe!”

He was breathing hard, and his fists were clenched. His outburst was more about fear than anger. When he spoke I wasn’t sure if he was going to scream with rage or burst out crying.

“I can’t accept that the whole world just crumbled. For all we know that broadcast is being sent by somebody holed up right here in the Old Port who wants to rally the troops and board their lobster boats to strike back against Darth Vader. You want to join a revolution? That’s what your father did, and look where it got him.” Tori stiffened.

“Ow,” Olivia said, wincing.

“You didn’t need to say that,” I scolded.

“Or maybe I did,” Kent argued. “I’m not saying we roll over and hide like scared rabbits, but before I join up with some vigilantes, I need to know a little bit more about what’s going on.”

“I can help with that,” Jon announced.

He ran back into the ER carrying an oversized book.

“It’s an almanac from the hospital library,” he explained. “We can look up those coordinates.”

Olivia said, “Nice. Why are the smart guys always the most obnoxious?”

Jon ignored her and opened the book on the counter. Luna held the lantern for him to see, and Tori gave him her notes. Jon checked the coordinates and thumbed through the oversized almanac, flipping through page after page of maps.

Kent stepped away and took a drink of water while Olivia rubbed his back to calm him down. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek while whispering something in his ear.

Seeing that gave me a twinge of… what? Jealousy? Not really. It was more about confusion. Olivia was playing both sides. She could still rely on me, but I was definitely going to keep my distance… and lock the door whenever I took a shower.

“Got it,” Jon announced.

“So where did it come from, Chadwick?” Kent asked.

“There’s no way of knowing. But I can tell you the place the message was calling the survivors to.”

“Is it the Old Port?” Olivia asked hopefully.

“No, it’s the middle of nowhere. I can’t be exact because Tori wasn’t sure if the numbers were correct, but even if they were a little off, they would still put the spot somewhere near here.”

“Where’s here?” I asked.

“Nevada.”

“Nevada?” Olivia cried. “Like… way-out-west Nevada?”

Jon shrugged. “That’s what the coordinates say. Looks like it’s in the desert.”

I looked to Kent to see his reaction.

He was stunned.

I didn’t feel so hot either.

I said, “So there’s a call going out for survivors to join up… in the desert? In Nevada? Does that mean—”

“Yes,” Tori said, cutting me off. “What else could it mean? The attack wasn’t just on Portland.”

“No!” Kent blurted out. “No way. You’re going by a twominute recording that you could barely understand to decide… what? That the entire United States was hit? We have no idea who even made that recording. For all we know it was SYLO! I’m still not buying it.”

“I know,” Tori said calmly, trying to be less confrontational. “I don’t want to believe it either. I hope I’m wrong, obviously. There’s only one way to find out.”

“How?” I asked.

Tori looked at each one of us in turn and said, “We go to Nevada.”

Olivia and Kent erupted.

“What? No! Are you crazy?”

I tried to be a little more reasonable.

“Are you serious, Tori?” I asked.

“We’re looking for answers,” she replied. “The plan is to go to Boston, but why? Because it’s close? Who cares? We have a very real clue here. There are people reaching out. If we’re going to drive, what’s the difference if we drive for two hours or two days?”

“I’ll go,” Jon announced enthusiastically. “If the message is real, it could be our best chance of joining up with others like us.”

Olivia said, “And what if it isn’t real?”

Jon shrugged. “Then we see the country.”

Tori added, “And we’ll still do what we set out to do, which is to tell the world about what’s really happening on Pemberwick Island. What’s the difference if we do it in Boston or Cleveland or Nevada? The point is to get back to civilization.”

“Unless civilization no longer exists,” Jon cautioned.

“That’s just crazy,” Kent scoffed and stormed away from us.

“What do you think, Luna?” I asked. “Do you want to go to Boston or Nevada?”

“Neither,” she replied quickly. “My place is right here.”

“Portland is dead,” Tori said. “You can’t hide here.”

“I’m not hiding,” Luna said. “And Portland is not dead. You all are proof of that. There are other survivors. Eventually they’ll find their way here, and when they do, they may need a doctor. I’m needed right here.”

“What about your family?” Tori asked. “Do they live here?”

“In Portland I live alone. My family is in Japan and California. I have not heard from any of them since the attack, but that’s no surprise. There is no way to communicate. But when they do make contact, I want to be where I am expected. So for many reasons, I am expected to be here. So this is where I will stay. But, Jon, you should go with them.”

“To where?” he asked. “Boston or Nevada?”

Luna sighed. “What you’re looking for is life, but I can’t say which is the better choice. I have no idea. My only concern is that you are all so young. I hate to think of you out on the road. Any road.”

“You get no argument from me,” Kent said. “I’d rather stay close to home.”

“We’ll vote,” Tori declared. “Do we head west to Nevada? Or waste time by going south all the way to Boston? There are five of us, so there won’t be a tie.”

“How does he get a vote?” Kent said, pointing to Jon. “He hasn’t been through what we have.”

“This isn’t about the past,” Jon said with confidence. “It’s about what’s going to happen next.”

“This is absolutely about the past,” Kent snarled. “We’re trying to find out what really happened.”

“And we’ll learn that by going forward,” Jon argued, undaunted.

“Forget it,” Kent barked. “I’m going to Boston, with or without you guys.”

“Okay, that’s your vote,” Tori said. “What about you, Olivia?”

Olivia looked to Kent and then to me.

“I want to go to Boston,” she finally said. “If only because it gets me closer to New York. I want to believe that my mom is there.”

Kent put his arm around her and kissed her on top of the head as if he owned her.

“Good girl,” he said. “So I guess that means we split up.”

“How do you figure that?” Tori asked.