Jackson Ford - Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air

“You literally just said informing Tanner is priority number one,” I say.

“Right, right. But priority number one is actually discussing what we do when we find the boy.”

“How do you mean?”

“What’s our strategy?” Paul looks out over the packed stadium. “How are we going to make contact?”

“Babe, we don’t even know where he is,” Annie tells him.

“But we do need to find him. And that means we need a strategy for when we do. My instinct is to approach, and carefully – he might not understand his powers yet. Perhaps he even triggered the quakes by accident.”

My eyes are gritty, and I have to blink a few times to clear them. “Didn’t look like an accident.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But he seems young on the video. If we can talk to him, then perhaps we can neutralise this situation.”

“Babe…”

“No, listen. Out of everyone here, who has kids? I’ll tell you. Me. I’m the only one with a son.”

Africa makes an mmm sound, as if this hadn’t occurred to him.

“There are things you learn as a parent,” Paul says. “Certain truths about how children act. This young man’s probably scared. He probably doesn’t understand what he’s done, and even if he does, he might not know how to control it. And by the way, do I have to remind everybody that he’s a child? We can’t go in hard and fast here.”

He’s obviously expecting us to nod in agreement. But what the follows the speech is an uncomfortable silence. Africa and I share a glance, both of us clearly thinking the same thing.

“He’s not Cole, man,” Annie says gently.

God, I’m so glad she said his son’s name before I had to. I really didn’t feel like calling Paul on this. He’s not just my annoying coworker right now – he’s a dad, and he must be worried out of his mind. His little boy and his ex-wife might be in Arizona, but not being able to contact them has to be the worst kind of torture.

Paul closes his eyes. “I’m not saying he is.”

“Really?” Annie folds her arms, but the look she gives him isn’t unkind.

“Of course not. I’m just saying that I’m the only one here who actually knows what it’s like to raise a boy. OK?”

“Then you know what kids can do sometimes,” Annie says. “You’re acting like he just… shit, man, isn’t it just possible he did this on purpose? That he threw a tantrum or something?”

“Of course it’s possible, but—”

“I mean, Jesus, I don’t have a kid yet, but I seen plenty of ’em lose their damn minds over the smallest things. Moms not buying them ice cream. Their favourite show getting taken off Netflix.”

“Right,” I say. “Maybe he just lost his temper? Or his mom doesn’t spank him enough? Or something?”

Annie side-eyes me. “Spank him?”

“You know what I mean. Paul, dude—”

“No.” He shakes his head, firmly, like that puts it to bed. “That is not what’s happening here. What he have is a little boy. You can’t just assume things. And by the way, just because I have a son does not mean I’m getting confused here. It gives me more insight, not less. I’m actually a little insulted that—”

“We’re getting sidetracked,” Reggie says. “We shouldn’t make judgements until we find the boy ourselves.”

“But where is he?” Africa rumbles. “We do not even know—”

“What about the epicentre?” Annie says.

Paul takes a deep breath, as if drawing a line under the awkward conversation we just had. “Makes sense. Problem is how we get there. From what I hear, it’s all the way up north, in the Angeles forest.”

Which is only reachable on miles and miles of broken freeways and shredded roads. That’s one hell of a bike ride. Plus, the streets are almost certainly bristling with people like the ones who tried to shake us down en route to the Boutique. Or, we could try stealing an Army helicopter – we’d have about the same chance of success, and it would be a more life-affirming experience. Well, up until we all got shot.

Paul points out into the cavernous stadium. “We can’t discount the possibility that he might be here.”

Africa’s eyebrows shoot up. “ Here? ”

“Why not? FEMA are using this as a central camp. They’re already flying people in. We should check here first – with five of us, we could—”

Right then, Reggie dissolves in a fit of wheezing, hacking coughs. Her diaphragm is weak on a good day, and today is a long distance from that. Annie immediately steps over to her, helps shift her position on the seat.

Paul’s face creases in a frown. “Reggie, are you—?”

“Fine.” She can hardly get the word out.

“Fine, my ass,” says Annie. “You need a doctor.”

“Like hell I do.”

“Actually, I’m with Annie on this one.” I say. I don’t exactly love the idea of going back into the rain, but I still want someone with an actual medical degree to give her a once-over. “You had a building fall on your head. That’ll fuck up anyone’s day.”

Paul gets to his feet. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. Priority one—”

I look over my shoulder. “Dude, you really need a new system.”

“Priority one is getting us food and water, and Reggie a sit-down with a doctor. We can’t do anything if we’re out of juice. And there are five of us, so we can cover a little more ground. Teagan – can you go find us some water? I saw them giving out bottles over there.” He points towards where home plate would be. “Food too, if you can get it. Africa, you get Reggie to the medical tent. Annie – go with him. You can talk to the medics.”

“ I can talk to them myself,” Reggie says.

Paul shakes his head, a not-unkind look on his face. “You’re in bad shape. I want Annie there – she’s used to working with you on a daily basis. She can step in if needed.”

“What are you gonna do?” Annie asks.

“I’m going to see if I can open up a line of communication to Washington. Or at least find out where they keep the satellite phones.”

He looks around at all of us. “Well, come on. Time’s a-wasting. Unless anybody’s got anything else to say?”

Nobody does. But as we make our way back down to ground level, the strangest thought comes into my head. The whole time Paul was talking, Reggie hardly said a word. Even before she started coughing. She just let him take the lead.

I think Moira’s going to fire me.

She wants the right people in the right positions .

And I know exactly who she’d put there.

You want to know the craziest thing? Paul would be a really great choice. Even I will admit that. He might annoy the shit out of me, but he knows every part of our operation inside and out – every moment of every op, every disguise and tool and vehicle, every nook and cranny of the Boutique. Reggie’s always been our boss… but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that Paul would be just as good. Maybe better.

He’s not perfect. He’s projecting his feelings for his son onto our little earthquake boy, for one thing, which is super-double-plus unhelpful. But the uncomfortable truth is: however much I like Reggie, however much I want her to stay, Paul Marino may be a better leader.

I take those thoughts and push them to the back of my mind. Priority one: save the world. Then we can worry about saving China Shop.

It takes me a while to make my way to home plate. It’s still raining, naturally, so I have to walk through ankle-deep, sucking mud – if the Dodger Stadium grounds crew are here, they must be losing their shit right now. All their hard work trampled under a million feet. And it does feel like a million; there’s almost no space between the tents, as if the entirety of LA has been crammed into the stadium. For all I know, that’s exactly what’s happened.