Storm

FOUR

"Tucker,” came a girl’s voice from my dream. “C’mon, open your eyes.”

It was a good dream. It was Olivia’s voice. You can do anything in a dream and not get in trouble for it, so I chose to enjoy the moment.

“I think I’ll keep them closed for a while,” I said dreamily. “Why don’t you sing a song or something? That would be nice.”

I suddenly felt a sharp poke in the arm.

“You’re kidding, right?” came the girl’s voice, suddenly harsh.

I cracked open an eye to see that she wasn’t a dream and she wasn’t Olivia.

All I could see was the mass of long black curls that surrounded her face. It was Tori.

I was suddenly very much awake.

“What? Oh? Sorry. I was dreaming.”

“You got that right. Get up, I want to show you something.”

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. The emergency room was slightly less dark than the night before. Daylight must have been creeping in from other parts of the hospital. It was enough to navigate by, but just barely.

“I made breakfast!” Luna called cheerily.

I hopped off the bed and went to the nurses’ station hoping to see a stack of pancakes next to a pile of bacon and scrambled eggs. What I saw instead was a tray of sliced fruit and a bowl of bagels. That was okay too.

“Sorry the bagels aren’t toasted,” Luna said. “But at least there’s some butter. We should eat it before it spoils.”

I was the last to arrive. Kent, Olivia, and Jon were already eating. Tori seemed more interested in some papers she was reading. With everyone wearing scrubs, it looked like a doctor convention.

“You look a lot better,” I said to Tori as I grabbed a bowl of sliced melon.

“I feel better, thanks to Luna.”

“But you aren’t healed,” Luna cautioned. “You have to take it easy.”

“Yeah, sure,” Tori said unconvincingly. She had no intention of taking it easy; she was just getting back up to speed. “I figured it out,” she said, holding up the papers. “It took four tries, but I think I got most of it.”

“Most of what?” Kent asked with a mouthful of bagel.

“The message. From the radio. I listened to it four times, and with the notes that Jon took, I—”

“Whoa, wait!” Jon exclaimed. “You were messing with my radio?”

“Yes,” was Tori’s straightforward reply.

Jon was livid. “That’s… that’s not right. We’ve got to conserve the batteries. And… and… do you even know how to use it?”

“Yes.”

Tori wasn’t one for justifying anything she did. Or explaining herself.

“But… but it’s not yours! Nobody authorized you to use it.”

“The Air Force gave me the authorization to do whatever I damn well please when it killed everyone in Portland.”

Tori was definitely back.

Jon looked ready to lose it but couldn’t find the words to argue.

“It’s all right, Jon,” Luna said calmly. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”

Jon plopped back down in his chair with a huff.

“You listened four times?” I asked. “That means you were up all night.”

“I caught sleep in between. Who cares? You have to hear this.”

She looked through several sheets of papers that were loaded with scribbles.

“I’m guessing at some of it,” she explained. “But between the notes that Jon took and then using a little logic, I think I pretty much know what it’s about.”

We all stopped eating and gave her our full attention.

Tori took a deep breath as if to calm down. She was actually nervous.

“It starts out with some kind of introduction that I didn’t get,” she began. “Something about making an appeal, or appealing to all. I can’t tell exactly. But she goes on to say this: We are the survivors. We have been bloodied, but not beaten. To all of those who have been attacked: Know that we will fight back. Join us. We will take you in and keep you safe. Then she gives what I think are coordinates, but I doubt if I got them exactly. North thirty-six degrees. Twenty-six minutes, twenty seconds. West one hundred fourteen degrees. Thirtyone minutes, fifty-seven seconds.”

“Might as well be in Greek,” Olivia said, scoffing.

“Where is that?” Kent asked.

“No idea, but it would be easy enough to look up,” Tori said.

“How?” Kent pressed obnoxiously. “No Internet, remember?”

“We could go to a library,” I offered.

“Yeah, but…” Kent wanted to shoot me down but realized how stupid he sounded. “Is that it?” he asked Tori.

“No. It finishes with: We will fight for our home. We will repel the invaders. We will have strength in numbers. The survivors will stand together. Do not hesitate. She then says the coordinates again, and the message repeats.”

Tori lowered the pages and said, “What do you think?”

“I think those are probably the coordinates for the gates of hell,” Kent replied.

“Not funny,” Olivia chastised.

“Sounds like a call for help from other survivors,” I suggested.

“Or a call to arms,” Tori shot back. “These could be people like us who got caught in the crossfire and want to fight back.”

“Fight back?” Kent scoffed. “Against what? The United States Navy or the United States Air Force? Take your pick. One has their own tactical force that isn’t afraid to kill anybody who gets in their way, and the other has weapons of mass destruction like nobody’s ever seen before. You think a couple of people using a ham radio can fight that?”

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.

“Obviously the rookie is going to vote with his girlfriend, so let’s just call it now.”

“All right,” Tori said. “I guess that means we split up.”

“Wait,” I called out.

All eyes went to me.

I chose my words carefully because what I was about to say would set us on a course that would determine our futures and our friendships, for better or worse.

“I don’t want to believe that the United States is in ruins,” I began. “What we’ve seen here is bad enough. But the whole point of escaping from Pemberwick was to learn the truth and tell the world about what happened at home. That hasn’t changed. We’ve come a long way, and we’re still alive because we stuck together. Like it or not, we’re all we’ve got.”

Nobody took their eyes from me. Not even Kent.

“The worst thing we could do is split up.”

“I agree,” Tori interrupted. “Kent, it would be stupid for you and Olivia not to come with us and—”

“I think we should go to Boston,” I declared.

“What?” Tori shouted, snapping a stunned look my way. “You’re giving in to him just to keep us together?”

“No, because I think it would be a mistake to go to Nevada. At least right now. The longer we’re on the road, out in the open, the better chance there is of being seen by one of those planes. I want to go to Boston because it’s closer and I think we’ll find out what we need to know there.”

“What about fighting back?” Tori asked.

“If Boston is normal, we won’t have to go to Nevada. If Boston looks like Portland, we’ll rethink. It’s not like it’s that far out of the way. Let’s hope we won’t have to rethink.”

Tori was angry. She had expected me to side with her.

“So what do you say, lobster girl?” Kent said smugly. “You still going west with Chadwick?”

I took a threatening step toward Kent and said, “Her name is Tori. His name is Jon andmy name is Tucker. Not Rook. Tucker.”

Tori grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around to face her.

“Don’t fight my battles,” she snapped, livid. She turned on Kent and said, “This isn’t a contest. You didn’t win anything, so stop acting like it.”

Kent held up his hands, pretending to show fear.

“Yes, ma’am. Wouldn’t want to show you up.”

He chuckled and took Olivia’s arm to lead her away.

Olivia gave me an embarrassed smile and a shrug as if to say, “I know, he’s a jerk.”

Tori stuck a finger in my chest.

“This is on you,” she said, barely able to control her anger. “If the people broadcasting that message are the only people left who can help us and we don’t connect with them because we wasted time in the wrong city, Quinn died for nothing. He’s gone, Tucker. So is my father, and I’ll do anything to find out why they’re dead. Can you say the same thing?”

She stormed off without waiting for an answer, leaving me standing there, rocked. Of all the hurtful things she could have said, that was the most devastating. Quinn’s death was never far from my thoughts. I relived the moment again and again. It killed me that Tori would think I had forgotten about him. Though I truly believed it was critical that we stayed together, my decision meant that I was both part of a group… and very alone for I had lost my closest ally.

What I didn’t share with Tori, or anybody else, was that something else was driving me. Yes, I wanted to learn the truth about the war and tell the world about Pemberwick. I desperately held on to the hope that life would eventually return to normal so we could go home. But there was something else I needed. Something even more powerful.

I wanted revenge. Revenge for the destruction of my life, for Quinn’s death, and for my family being torn apart. I wanted someone to suffer. But who? Who was to blame? Granger? He was dead. The enemy no longer had a face, but that didn’t stop me from craving retribution against SYLO and everyone Granger had commanded.

I wanted to tell Tori that she was wrong and that I desperately wanted to know why we had lost our friends and family. I didn’t, though, because I knew that wouldn’t be enough. I needed someone to pay for what had happened. That was a dangerous road to travel, but it was a road I needed to be on. What I didn’t want was for my vendetta to put anybody else at risk, which meant that at some point I would be on my own.

Until that time came, I would stay with the group, and I would do what I could to keep us together and safe, but I also had my own agenda.

I was going to get revenge.

Alone.