Generation Z [Book ]

by Peter Meredith

  “Maybe you should go decompress,” Neil suggested, gently. “Or take another pill.”

  She shook her head. “My liver function tests haven’t been good. It wouldn’t be safe. And you know I can’t take any of the other pills when I have a patient.” She turned to Jenn again. “They make me all jittery. Your friend might still need me if there are complications.”

  “Do you think there will be?” Jenn asked, nervously. “The signs say he’s going to be okay, but sometimes I read them wrong.”

  “The signs,” Jillybean scoffed out of the side of her mouth. “What an idiot.” Jill’s eyes went wide before she turned away and started whispering angrily to herself.

  Perhaps as a distraction, Neil gestured to a large building surrounded by narrow strips of rolling farmland. It had been the clubhouse to a swanky golf course. Now it was the City Hall. With Jillybean trailing, still in a heated conversation with herself, they went inside where they were shown into a room where the walls were of polished wood and the carpets were soft and deep.

  Three women were in the room. Neil introduced them, but Jenn was so overwhelmed she didn’t catch any of their names. Although older, the women looked like they belonged in one of her magazines. They were all tall and pretty and their clothes seemed to have been tailored to their bodies.

  And yet they were nothing compared to the governor.

  Jenn had expected it to be a man, but it was a woman with long blonde hair. She was even prettier than the other three. She almost looked like an angel. “Hi there. My name is Deanna Grey. How can the people of Bainbridge help you?”

  In her silly dress and even sillier flip flops, Jenn wanted to hide. She even took a step behind Mike, who seemed nearly as tongue-tied as Jenn. He started to stutter when Jillybean spoke for them. “They’re here for me. They want me to go with them.”

  Chapter 26

  Jenn Lockhart

  Although there was a large polished desk with a comfortable leather-bound chair behind it taking up a good chunk of the room, Deanna didn’t retreat behind it. She leaned against the front of the desk, her long legs canted out in front of her as she nodded her head, considering Jillybean’s words.

  “They want you to go with them? Did they tell you this?”

  “They didn’t need to. The signs all pointed at it.” Jillybean gave Jenn a wink as she said this. Jenn didn’t know if this was a joke at her expense or an attempt to be friendly. She gave the girl a weak smile just in case it was the latter.

  The smile Deanna gave to Jillybean was much more practiced. It was a confident, reassuring smile. “The signs? Since when do you look for signs? I thought you were all about observation and deductive reasoning.”

  “That hasn’t changed. I only reference ‘signs’ because of our new friend. She’s undoubtedly from San Francisco where the occult holds sway over monotheism, science and common sense.”

  Deanna turned to Mike and Jenn. “Is this true? Are you from San Francisco?” They both hesitated, their ingrained instinct to protect their group was too strong. Deanna didn’t get upset. She said to Jillybean, “I’m sure you won’t mind laying out your conclusions for us.” This caused one of the women to smirk.

  Jillybean’s blue eyes flashed at the smirk, but only for a second. She swallowed loudly as if gulping down Eve, the strange creature inside of her. “I don’t know what you’re smiling about, Joslyn. Hasn’t your tongue taught us that observations are always preferable to a verbal statement?”

  Joslyn looked as though she wanted to say something, but kept her lips pressed together, a touch of fear shading her eyes.

  Satisfied, Jillybean said, “That they’re from San Francisco is obvious. Aside from their pagan beliefs, this one’s rope belt,” she gestured at Mike, “was tied with what looked like an Alpine Butterfly Bend rather than a granny knot or a simple bow suggesting he’s a practiced mariner. Yet he lacks the facial tattoos of a Corsair and the religious paraphernalia of the Guardians, the two dominant seafaring people along the west coast. They could be from further south, but judging by my patient’s facial hair and the accumulation of sea salt on his body I would say they’ve been traveling for approximately five days. That puts their starting point within the vicinity of San Fran.”

  She glanced at Jenn who nodded slowly. “She’s right. We’re from San Francisco. But we didn’t lie.”

  Jillybean laughed suddenly and pushed Jenn’s shoulder, playfully. “I don’t think you could lie if you tried, Jenn Lockhart. You’re an open book, which is very delightful, but no I can’t go with you.”

  “We haven’t asked you to,” Mike said, warily, eyeing her as though she were a street performer who might take his wallet if he blinked.

  “You didn’t need to. I saw your reaction when Eve mentioned ‘signs.’ You both looked petrified. Kind of like you do right now. You’re afraid that I can look into your soul, and maybe I can. Someone is hurt. And I don’t mean your friend, either. He was shot yesterday, but something drove you from your home days ago. You looked for signs to guide you, but why? What happened? No one gazes up at the stars one day and decides to cross a pirate-filled ocean in a rinky-dink little boat. There was a reason you needed guidance.”

  She stepped closer to Jenn, their eyes locking. Jenn couldn’t seem to break away as Jillybean went on, “Was it a diplomatic mission? No, you’re all too young. Was it to trade? No, your boat is too small to carry much of anything. Was it because someone got hurt?” This time she didn’t answer her own question right away. Time seemed to draw out further and further as her huge blue eyes drilled into Jenn.

  Finally, Jillybean said, “Yes, someone got hurt. It was an accident, wasn’t it? It wasn’t your fault.”

  Jenn began to nod, her eyes still locked on Jillybean’s. Next to Jenn, Mike’s fists were clenched. “How is she doing this?” he demanded.

  “That’s enough, Jillybean,” Neil said. As though she were waking from a dream, Jillybean blinked and smiled. Now that she was released from the girl’s stare, Jenn took a wobbly step back.

  “Sorry about that,” Deanna said. “I hope you understand. In times like these, if you have a human lie detector it’s best to use her. Now, why don’t you tell us your story?” With Jillybean right there, her large eyes taking in every facial tic and her ears catching every stuttered word, Jenn didn’t even think about lying. Not that she had anything to lie about. She was brutally honest and included in her narrative the humiliating fiasco surrounding her and Mike’s engagement as well as her deep-seated fear that she was “marked” something the Hill People and the Islanders took very seriously.

  She finished the story of their journey and the reason for it, begging, “Can you help us?”

  As she spoke, Jillybean became less and less of a “human lie detector” and more and more like a real girl with actual feelings. She even had tears welling in her eyes. That’s why it was a bit of a shock when she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to save your friends. If they’re still alive, their infections will have become systemic by now. Do you understand what that means?”

  Mike guessed, “It’ll be in their whole body?”

  “Exactly. The longer an infection goes untreated or in this case partially treated, the greater the chance that the bacterium causing the infection will begin to flow throughout the body, where it will multiply unchecked until the patient becomes septic at which point his or her organs will begin to shut down. Death follows quickly after.”

  “What about Aaron?” Mike asked. “What if we amputated his arm? Would that stop…” Jillybean shook her head. Mike glared at her. Raising his voice, he asked, “Okay, what about William? He didn’t even have an infection. Can you help him?”

  Getting angry at Jillybean was a mistake. Her eyes grew cold and she stared at Mike through drooping lids; contempt radiating out of her. “I know your true motivation. You’re drowning in guilt. That’s why you want me to drag my ass five hundred miles away to fix your mista
ke. Oh, yeah. This one’s on you, Mikey. You got your friend shot. You…”

  “Jillybean,” Neil warned.

  “Don’t ‘Jillybean’ me,” she snapped. “He did this. He got his friend killed. If he hadn’t been so chicken, he would have fired his crossbow while the slaver’s gun was pointed at himself. But he hesitated just long enough to get his friend killed.”

  Mike’s face froze in a grimace, his eyes blurred, losing their focus. He was looking into the past. Jillybean smiled and Jenn could swear it was the same cold, deathless smile of a bleached skull.

  “Jillybean,” Neil said again. “Look at me.” The smile dimmed as the girl turned to look at Neil’s craggy face. “Have you finished machining the molds for the 9mm casings?”

  She jumped and the smile vanished altogether. “Oh, right. Sorry about that. Um, speaking of the mold, can I show them the plating process I invented?” She turned to Jenn. “It’s standard zinc plating but with an aluminum oxide twist. Would you like to see?”

  Neil patted her on the arm. “Not just yet. There are some things we have to discuss with our new friends. Perhaps you can see them before dinner.”

  He started to shoo her out of the room when Mike asked, “What about antibiotics? Do you have any? There’s something wrong with our pills. They don’t work anymore. Or they work hit and miss. Do you know what I mean?”

  She turned and stared into his eyes. The stare lingered, and Jenn was shocked to feel the poison of jealousy begin to work its way into her bones. It spiked when Jillybean put her hand on his chest and said, “Of course I know what you mean. My doctoral thesis in chemical engineering was entitled: The Anatomic, Physical and Mechanical Properties of Naturally Occurring Reverse Chemical Synthesis. I’m still waiting for it to be peer-reviewed.”

  She finally took her eyes from Mike and shifted them toward Neil who threw up his hands. “I said I would get to it and I will. You know I’ve been busy. Either way, the subject at hand is antibiotics. I think the entire idea of trying to run them back to San Francisco is a little dicey. I can only imagine that you were extremely lucky to get here when there were three of you. I can’t imagine you making it back when it’s just the two of you. Unless you think your patient will be able to travel in the next day or two?”

  Jillybean only laughed in answer. Mike stiffened at the sound. “I’ll go by myself if I have to.”

  “I’ll go, too,” Jenn said. “We’ll pay any price you ask.”

  “I know what I want,” Jillybean purred, stroking Mike’s chest.

  Neil rolled his eyes as he took her by the elbow and escorted her to the door. “Stop it, Eve. Have Jillybean get the pills ready and tell her I expect to see those molds by dinner. Now, off you go.” He shut the door and waited, listening to the sound of her retreating steps. When she was out of earshot, he nodded to Deanna.

  The governor had her fingers steepled beneath her chin in contemplation. “I agree with Neil. A trip back south is foolhardy. Very brave, yes, but foolhardy nonetheless. Still, I can’t stop you or at least I can’t stop all of you. As payment for the antibiotics, I require that one of you stay behind. Not as a guest and not as a slave, but as an active and equal member of our community. Your friend Stu seems to be the ideal candidate.”

  Stu was being taken from them. Jenn was thunderstruck, while Mike could only open and close his mouth like a fish lying on a dock. Deanna gave them a curt nod and a sympathetic smile. “I have a meeting I can’t miss. Neil, if you’ll explain things.”

  Neil nodded and then bustled them out the door. “Stu is going to be your prisoner, isn’t he?” Jenn blurted the moment they stepped outside.

  “First off, no. There’s only one prisoner on this island. Everyone else is free to come and go as they please. Your friend included. By the way, the offer to stay permanently extends to you two as well. From what I see in you and from Jillybean’s reaction, I think you would make ideal additions to our island.”

  Mike looked pained as he mentioned, “We have a home, but thank you.”

  “Really?” Neil asked. Without waiting for an answer, he walked down to the road they had taken to get there. “Even if you make it back with antibiotics, how many of your friends do you think you’ll save? You’d be lucky if one lives. And his life will be offset by the loss of your friend Stu, who, by your own admission, was the biggest, the bravest and the strongest. Do you really think your people will take you back?”

  Mike turned his eyes down to his worn and salt-stained boots, leaving Jenn to answer, “Probably not, but we have to try. And if they kick us out maybe we’ll come back here.”

  “Five hundred miles on foot? With winter approaching? No. One way or the other if you two leave this island, you’ll die. I don’t want that to happen.”

  He was right, chances were they would die— it made her angry. She lashed out, “You don’t even know us. Why would you care?”

  Neil absorbed the anger, his scarred face remaining infuriatingly calm. “About six or seven years ago, Jillybean wrote a thesis paper entitled Minimum Viable Population in a Post-Apocalyptic World.” At Jenn’s blank look he laughed. “That’s what I thought when she gave it to me. Like all the rest of her papers, I put it aside and made excuses. But she insisted that I read it. She was so adamant that I relented and waded through mathematical population models, R versus K selection theories and more. Thankfully, she had summed up her thesis at the end of the paper, which was basically the idea that humans aren’t going to survive much longer as a species.”

  “I don’t understand,” Jenn said. “Are you saying we’re going to die? All of us?”

  “It’s Jillybean’s theory that the zombie apocalypse is an extinction-level event. You know what dinosaurs were, right?”

  At the question, Jenn’s chest constricted. She had no idea what Neil was talking about and was afraid to look stupid. Mike answered for her. “Yes, they were the big monster lizards that all died out.” He turned to Jenn. “Extinction is when a whole group of animals gets, like wiped out.”

  Neil nodded. “And that’s going to be our fate. Every year there are fewer and fewer of us. We’re spread out, we’re weak, and we’re dying off. This island is our only hope. We can be safe here. We can grow as a species. That’s what I care about, and that’s why I care about you.”

  That helped Jenn a little. “But you don’t really know us. We could be slavers or bandits or something.”

  This brought a soft laugh from Neil. “It’s obvious that you’re neither. I’m a pretty good judge of character. Now, if you’re nervous about us, give us a trial run. See what you think. We need people who know boats. You can captain the Calypso for us. There’s great fishing on the Sound.”

  The offer sounded wonderful. The little Jenn had seen of the island had been fantastic compared to the relatively primitive standards of the hilltop and she could see humanity flourishing here.

  “But my family is back there,” she said in a whisper. “Well, not my real family. They’re all dead, but the people who adopted me and took me in when I was just a kid are back there and they need me. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Mike shook his head as well.

  Neil snapped his fingers at his bad luck. “I guess I can’t get them all. Hey, you two look dead on your feet. I have a couple of extra beds if you want to sleep.”

  Mike had blue rings under his eyes and Jenn felt suddenly lethargic. “Sure,” she said, biting back a yawn. They walked north for a few minutes, Jenn growing more and more sleepy. To keep from falling asleep as she walked, she asked a question that was bothering her. “Your prisoner, is it Jillybean?”

  He chuckled. “Noooo. The last thing anyone would want to do is try to put her behind bars. No, I’m the prisoner. I can’t leave because of Jillybean. She needs me. She…she’s special.”

  “Yes,” Jenn admitted, softly. “I guess I don’t understand her very much. And I don’t know what you mean by thesis papers and all the rest. I don’t mean to be stupid but I never went to
school.”

  Despite his face, which was hard to look at, Neil had a fatherly way about him as if he was always on the verge of telling a bad dad joke or suggesting a game of catch. “Just because you don’t know something doesn’t make you stupid. Jillybean is a genius. Maybe even more than a genius, whatever that designation may be. At the same time, like I said before, she has a fractured mind. My main job on the island is to keep her safe and keep her busy. Those research papers are one way to keep her busy. Tinkering is another.”

  He pointed at a cloud on the other side of the island. It was so low that Jenn had thought it was from a fire, and yet it was the purest white. “Our electricity used to be solar-powered, but gradually the panels lost their oomph while at same time more people came to the island. Jillybean drew up plans for a coal-powered generator. She had to teach herself the basics of architecture, engineering, plumbing and general construction. That took her a few weeks.”

  When neither Mike or Jenn reacted beyond a simple nodding of their heads, Neil laughed. “You don’t get it. What she taught herself would have taken a normal person years to learn.”

  Jenn was impressed to the point of feeling small, while Mike seemed a little lost in the conversation. He asked, “You said you had to keep her safe, but from what? Everyone is, uh nervous around her.”

  “Let’s just say she can be dangerous. There are dark parts to her past that haunt her. Things that happened when she was little. But that really shouldn’t worry you. Your friend Stu will be just fine and you two are leaving, right?” He smiled, but there was something beyond the smile that didn’t feel right to Jenn. She couldn’t put her finger on it, mainly because she couldn’t read Neil.

  “Here we are. This is my house. Jillybean lives here as well, but she’ll be busy going back and forth from the clinic to the school for most of the day.”

  “We don’t want to sleep too long,” Mike said, as they were led upstairs. “Just a few hours.”