D. MacHale - SYLO

“And what if it isn’t the Ruby?”

Tori frowned and looked at the ground.

“Then I don’t know. If they’re killing people to keep them from escaping, then whatever it is that’s on this island has got to be a lot scarier than anything Granger can do to us.”

We stood there for a long moment, not sure of what else to say. Tori and I had traveled in different orbits for years, but the events of the last few hours had thrown us together with a shared secret that meant we had no choice but to trust each other.

“Strange days,” I said.

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m not sure if I can keep this from my parents.”

“I can’t tell you what to do,” she said. “But I’m not telling my dad. Not until I have a better idea of what this is all about. We’re on Granger’s radar now. I don’t want my dad there too.”

I nodded. “I hear you. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

Tori didn’t respond to that. She turned, climbed on her scooter, and took off, leaving me alone on the far end of Main Street.

It was getting late in the day. I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was get home, grab something quick to eat, and go to bed. The less of my parents I saw in the process, the better. I didn’t want to be tempted into spilling my guts.

The walk home brought me past the Blackbird Inn. It was a quiet evening, but it was suddenly broken by a harsh, wrenching sound that was coming from behind the property. I’d spent a lot of time on the grounds working for my dad and couldn’t imagine what it could be. In spite of my being exhausted, curiosity won out and I went to investigate. I walked up the driveway of crushed seashells and around to the small parking lot out back.

The loud squeaking continued, followed by what sounded like something being thrown to the ground. Again and again. It was coming from beyond a row of tall hedges. The only thing back there was a dilapidated old tool shed that the Berringers wanted torn down, but Dad and I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I walked across the lot and along the path that led through the bushes and up to the old structure. When I stepped through, I saw something that was disturbingly wrong.

It was Kent. He was dismantling the shed. It was strange enough to see him doing any kind of work because Kent never lifted a finger to do anything useful, but what went beyond strange and straight to unsettling was how he was doing it. Kent was tearing the place apart with his bare hands. The squeaking sound came from boards being ripped off the frame and tossed onto a pile as he worked at a fever pitch to dismantle the structure. He yanked on the boards, pulling out four nails at a time, as if the slats were made of Styrofoam. The guy was sweating and breathing hard, his total focus on the act of disassembling the shed.

Or destroying the shed.

He was still on the Ruby.

“Kent!” I called.

He shot me a surprised look. His eyes were wild, just like they were in the game.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Kent dropped the board he had been holding and suddenly charged at me. I was so surprised that I didn’t even think to move. He came at me like he did the running backs from Memagog…with mayhem on his mind.

“Whoa, dude,” I said, taking a step back.

Kent picked me up by the front of my hoodie and threw me with such force that I must have traveled five feet in the air before my feet hit the ground. I stumbled back, trying to keep my balance, but the force was too much and I landed on my butt, hard. Kent was after me again, just like in practice, only now we didn’t have pads on and Kent was Ruby-fueled. He leaped at me and put his knee on my chest.

“It’s you she talks about,” he said, breathing hard, spitting in my face. “I win the game and all she talks about is you. Maybe she won’t like you so much if I mess up your face.”

He reared back, ready to punch me.

My arms were pinned by his knees so I couldn’t defend myself.

“Kent!” came the voice of my savior.

Kent froze and looked up to see Olivia standing at the opening in the hedge.

“What are you doing?” she screamed.

Kent was torn. He wanted to beat the crap out of me but not in front of Olivia. Still, he had to fight the urge to crush my face. With an anguished cry, he threw himself off me and knelt with his hands on the ground, breathing hard.

“Are you all right?” Olivia called to me, nearly in tears.

I was fine. The guy who was in real trouble was Kent.

“You took it again,” I called to him. “Didn’t you?”

Kent turned to look up at me. His eyes were still wild but the anger was gone. What I saw instead was confusion and fear…just like with Marty.

I added, “How much more did you take?”

“I didn’t,” he said, gasping for breath. “It never wore off. I have to keep moving…keep the blood pumping…work it off. I…I need to control it.”

Olivia ran up to us and cried, “What is wrong with him? He’s…he’s acting crazy.”

“I’ll take you to a doctor,” I said to Kent.

Kent jumped to his feet and backed away toward the half-demolished shed.

“No!” he screamed. “Nobody can know.”

“Know what?” Olivia shouted.

I ignored her and focused on Kent. “You’re in trouble, man. If you don’t get it out of your system, you could die.”

Kent went back to pulling boards out of the structure.

“I can work it out. Gotta keep the blood moving. Gotta keep breathing.”

I took a chance, went up behind him, and put my hands on his shoulders. I felt incredible tension, as if every muscle in his body was flexed.

“That’s the worst thing you can do,” I said, trying to sound calm. “Keep this up and you’ll flame out. Your body can’t handle this. You have to relax.”

He made a move to start pulling off more boards but I held him tight. He didn’t fight me. I had gotten through to him. Whether or not he could control himself was something else altogether.

“Listen to him, Kent,” Olivia pleaded, in tears. “Calm down.”

Kent looked at her, and I actually saw his eyes soften. He really did care about Olivia. It wasn’t me who got through to him, it was her. I felt the tension leave his shoulders. It was slight, but it happened.

“Okay,” he said. “Let me sit down.”

We both backed away from the shed until we hit a patch of grass. It took incredible self-control, but Kent sat down. I kept my hands on his shoulders in case he lost it again. Olivia joined us and held his hands.

“It’s okay,” she said to him soothingly. “Relax. Just breathe and relax.”

Olivia starting humming a song, like a mother might hum to a baby who can’t get to sleep. I didn’t know what the song was, but it worked. I felt the tension leave Kent’s body. Olivia was doing it.

She shot me a questioning look and asked, “Is it…the virus?”

“I don’t know. It might be. But he can fight it. He just has to relax. If he can do that, he’ll be okay. I think.”

“People were taken out of the inn,” Olivia said, her own panic rising. “These ambulances came up and the soldiers took them away. I think there are more people infected than they’re telling us.”

“I think so too,” I said. “But they’re going to figure it out soon.”

“How do you know that?”

I didn’t want to get into it with her. Granger was right about one thing: It wasn’t good to start rumors. If Kent wanted to tell her about the Ruby, that was his choice. I wasn’t going to rat him out.

I thought fast and said, “Because now they’ve got people who are still alive. That’ll make figuring it out much easier.”

I had no idea if that was true or not, but it sounded good. I was just happy that she didn’t ask me what the Ruby was.