“You cops were all impressed that he was helping, because he wrote that book and got all famous. But I don’t think he was really trying to help. He kept us away from things. Like that big ravine with the little river that ran underground. He said we didn’t have the right safety gear to check down there. But I guess we could see the bottom good enough. There wasn’t anything. It was something in his face, though. Lies. Can you take me back? I’ll show you the spot.”
Dr. Lumen’s bad leg tingled, the way it always did when Idle County made him fret. “We can’t go now, but I want you to know that I’m going to do everything I can to find out what happened.” And then, even though it might hit deaf ears, he added, “If I can get an interview with this boy Jonathan Flite, I might have some new answers for you.”
“You find her,” Andrew whispered, leaning into Dr. Lumen’s face just as the sun returned again. “You find my little girl.”
The psychiatrist turned to Kara, ready to give her a satisfied nod, but she was staring with furrowed eyebrows toward the main building of Sun Pines. Dr. Lumen turned to see what had caught her attention.
A middle-aged nurse was half-skipping, half-running toward them, her open mouth pulled back to reveal teeth gritting together like somebody bracing for pain. She reached them and leaned over, putting a hand on her knee.
“I’m sorry, I just had to interrupt. Somebody bombed Geneva. Switzerland. Nuclear. It’s all over the news. I had to tell you. All airlines grounded traffic, and . . . I thought you all needed to know right away.” She stood up, shifting her left hand to her heart. With a forlorn look at Kara, she continued. “Kim has a nephew working there. World Health Organization.”
Kara was already digging a phone out of her pocket. “Kim’s the nurse who usually takes care of dad.” Her fingers raced over the screen, and a few seconds later, she held it out for everyone—even her father—to see.
“Jesus Christ,” she whispered.
MASON WITZEL AWOKE TO THE SOUND of seagulls and boats. He was lying in bed at Crescent Rehabilitation Center, his second-floor room’s window cracked open as much as the electric controls would allow. He could see right away that it was a sunny morning. Calm. Peaceful. He could smell the sea.
His morning agenda was the usual: a shower, oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs in the cafeteria, and then a mug of tea (which he almost liked now) with Jonathan on the deck outside, as usual accompanied by the security guard Sounder, who always liked to visit with them. Sounder was huge; Sounder was wise. If any of the boys at Crescent stepped out of line, he would kick them back. Mason rarely had to worry now about people making fun of him for being slow, or being dumb, or being worthless. Whenever Sounder was there, it was like having a bodyguard.
He got as far as showering and walking down the stairs. When he came to their base, he glanced left and stopped. All of Crescent’s staff and most of its young male residents were standing in front of the main television wall, watching the news. Dr. Freede stood staring with his forefinger and thumb cupping his chin, wearing a perturbed expression Mason had never seen on his face. He looked like an actor in a movie. About ten feet to his right was Jonathan, whose usually tan face (he walked outside on the grounds a lot) looked pale and clammy.
The wall flashed with a frenetic amalgamation of satellite footage, news anchors looking wide-eyed and colorless, and reporters on the ground in what looked like European cities, gesturing wildly as they spoke.
“The city is gone,” a blond, female reporter said. Her face looked like glass about to break. “Just . . . gone.”
Mason needed nobody to tell him that all plans for the day had been canceled. The question didn’t even have time to rise in his brain, because what he saw on the television, rising instead, was a mushroom cloud, recorded from a distance, deceptively slow in its horrifying fury. It played from a hundred different angles, over and over. On the bottom of the screen was a headline scrolling almost too fast to read, “Nuclear Explosion Rocks Geneva, Martial Law Declared Across Europe.”
All Mason could think of were the mysterious Geneva memories Jonathan had told him about: the city trams, the restaurants, the bakeries, the fountain shooting water sky-high out in the harbor. He didn’t even register the fact that Jonathan had never been there. What he saw in his mind instead were images of the city’s residents as they had probably been earlier that day, chattering away in French before feeling—for what must have been a long, terrible second—a sudden shift in the atmosphere, a knowing that something was dreadfully, dreadfully wrong.
Mason glanced at Jonathan, whose eyes were vibrating as he took in everything on the television wall. Tears glossed their lower rims. When they escaped down his cheek, he turned toward the window to hide his face.
“Well, guys, the world just changed,” Dr. Freede said. He stared at the screen for another ten seconds, then pulled out his cell phone and left the common room.
Everyone who was hungry brought in plates of food (an activity that was usually forbidden) and ate in silence, watching this unfathomable bit of history unfold. Mason settled next to Jonathan, who acknowledged him with a lonely, devastated nod. Everything had stopped, even for those half a world away from Switzerland—the country of peace, science, and beauty. There was nothing yet to indicate who had set the bomb off, where it had come from, or why anybody would have done it.
All the boys could do was sit back and watch.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MATTHEW J. BEIER is a novelist, screenwriter, photographer, and graphic designer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His first novel, The Breeders, was published in 2012. He attended film school at Chapman University in 2003, where he studied screenwriting, film production, and English before spending a final semester abroad at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. When Matthew isn’t working, he enjoys tea, exercise, watching films, and spending time with his friends and family. He is currently hard at work on Book 2 of his Jonathan Flite Series, “The Release of Jonathan Flite.” He would love to hear from you at [email protected], on Facebook author page, or on Twitter @MatthewBeier.
Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
PART 1
CHAPTER 1 (HER)
CHAPTER 2 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 3 (HER)
CHAPTER 4 (HIM)
CHAPTER 5 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 6 (HIM)
CHAPTER 7 (HER)
CHAPTER 8 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 9 (HER)
CHAPTER 10 (HIM)
CHAPTER 11 (HER)
CHAPTER 12 (HIM)
CHAPTER 13 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 14 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 15 (HER)
CHAPTER 16 (HIM)
CHAPTER 17 (HER)
CHAPTER 18 (HIM)
CHAPTER 19 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 20 (HIM)
CHAPTER 21 (HER)
CHAPTER 22 (HIM)
CHAPTER 23 (HER)
CHAPTER 24 (HIM)
PART 2
CHAPTER 25 (HER)
CHAPTER 26 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 27 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 28 (HIM)
CHAPTER 29 (HER)
CHAPTER 30 (HIM)
CHAPTER 31 (HER)
CHAPTER 32 (HIM)
CHAPTER 33 (HER)
CHAPTER 34 (HIM)
CHAPTER 35 (HER)
CHAPTER 36 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 37 (HER)
CHAPTER 38 (HIM)
CHAPTER 39 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 40 (HIM)
CHAPTER 41 (HER)
CHAPTER 42 (HIM)
CHAPTER 43 (HER)
CHAPTER 44 (HIM)
PART 3
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 45 (HER)
CHAPTER 46 (HIM)
CHAPTER 47 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 48 (HIM)
CHAPTER 49 (HER)
CHAPTER 50 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 51 (HER)
CHAPTER 52 (HIM)
CHAPTER 53 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 54 (HIM)
CHAPTER 55 (HER)
CHAPTER 56 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 57 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 58 (HIM)
CHAPTER 59 (HER)
CHAPTER 60 (HIM)
CHAPTER 61 (HER)
CHAPTER 62 (HIM)
CHAPTER 63 (HER)
CHAPTER 64 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 65 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 66 (HIM)
AFTERWORD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREVIEW - THE CONFESSIONS OF JONATHAN FLITE
PART 1 - LINKS IN THE CHAIN
2010
2020
2033
2034
2010
2004
2010
2036
2004
2037
2037
2037
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
PART 1
CHAPTER 1 (HER)
CHAPTER 2 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 3 (HER)
CHAPTER 4 (HIM)
CHAPTER 5 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 6 (HIM)
CHAPTER 7 (HER)
CHAPTER 8 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 9 (HER)
CHAPTER 10 (HIM)
CHAPTER 11 (HER)
CHAPTER 12 (HIM)
CHAPTER 13 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 14 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 15 (HER)
CHAPTER 16 (HIM)
CHAPTER 17 (HER)
CHAPTER 18 (HIM)
CHAPTER 19 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 20 (HIM)
CHAPTER 21 (HER)
CHAPTER 22 (HIM)
CHAPTER 23 (HER)
CHAPTER 24 (HIM)
PART 2
CHAPTER 25 (HER)
CHAPTER 26 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 27 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 28 (HIM)
CHAPTER 29 (HER)
CHAPTER 30 (HIM)
CHAPTER 31 (HER)
CHAPTER 32 (HIM)
CHAPTER 33 (HER)
CHAPTER 34 (HIM)
CHAPTER 35 (HER)
CHAPTER 36 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 37 (HER)
CHAPTER 38 (HIM)
CHAPTER 39 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 40 (HIM)
CHAPTER 41 (HER)
CHAPTER 42 (HIM)
CHAPTER 43 (HER)
CHAPTER 44 (HIM)
PART 3
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 45 (HER)
CHAPTER 46 (HIM)
CHAPTER 47 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 48 (HIM)
CHAPTER 49 (HER)
CHAPTER 50 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 51 (HER)
CHAPTER 52 (HIM)
CHAPTER 53 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 54 (HIM)
CHAPTER 55 (HER)
CHAPTER 56 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 57 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 58 (HIM)
CHAPTER 59 (HER)
CHAPTER 60 (HIM)
CHAPTER 61 (HER)
CHAPTER 62 (HIM)
CHAPTER 63 (HER)
CHAPTER 64 (HIM)
A MEMORY (HER)
CHAPTER 65 (HER)
A MEMORY (HIM)
CHAPTER 66 (HIM)
AFTERWORD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREVIEW - THE CONFESSIONS OF JONATHAN FLITE
PART 1 - LINKS IN THE CHAIN
2010
2020
2033
2034
2010
2004
2010
2036
2004
2037
2037
2037
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Breeders Page 40