He rubbed his eyes and looked all around. It was like nothing had ever happened. The water was calm. The sand was still. The endless desert was eerily quiet.
Shy grabbed the duffel bag, hurried back over to the truck and climbed back inside the cab, glancing at Carmen, who was still asleep. He pushed the key inside the ignition and turned it, but the truck didn’t start.
He tried again.
Nothing.
“You gotta be shittin’ me,” he said, looking back toward the river. He half expected to see some kind of Loch Ness Monster climbing out of the water, charging the pickup. But there was nothing there.
Had he imagined everything?
Shy hopped out and grabbed the extra gas canister from the bed of the truck and poured it into the gas tank, then re-capped it and climbed back into the cab and tried the key again.
Still nothing.
Carmen woke up and rubbed her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Fuckin’ thing won’t start,” Shy said, pumping the gas pedal. He tried again, but the engine was no longer even turning over.
Shy climbed out of the truck again and slammed the door and kicked the front left tire and pounded the heel of his hand against the hood.
Carmen came around the front of the truck. “I don’t know if I can walk all that way, Shy. My legs are done.”
Shy let his head fall against the driver’s-side window. His legs were done, too. And if it turned out LasoTech’s vaccine really worked, what was the point anyway?
He pictured the words in Shoeshine’s journal again. It made him feel light-headed. Why would he write about Shy? It didn’t make any sense.
It was Carmen’s turn to slam a hand against the hood of their broken-down truck. “What are we gonna do?” she said.
Shy shook his head. It was the most defeated he’d felt since their sailboat hit land.
“We never should’ve come out here!” Carmen shouted. “Fuck Arizona. And fuck this fucking duffel bag.” Carmen lunged forward and kicked the bag right out of Shy’s hands.
He hurried over and picked it up. He didn’t even know why.
It went quiet between them for a few seconds. Then Carmen let out a heartbreaking sigh and repeated her question: “What are we supposed to do, Shy?”
He turned and met her gaze, but he couldn’t even muster up enough energy to respond.
Day 52
57
First Come, First Served
Shy led Carmen up a long, relentless hill, the early-morning sun just starting to peek its head out in the distance. His legs were numb and heavy. His feet were blistered. He was hungry and thirsty, and he couldn’t stop thinking about those couple of lines he’d read in Shoeshine’s journal. Lines about him. It didn’t make any sense.
Carmen was in bad shape, too. She’d slowed down dramatically. And she hadn’t spoken a word to Shy in hours.
Things would only be getting worse as the temperature rose with the sun. Shy had already shed his shirt and wrapped it around his head. He carried the rifle bag on his left shoulder. On his right shoulder he had the duffel bag. He’d considered ditching the duffel back by the truck, but it had been with him for so long. Since back when he and Addie found it in the middle of the ocean. How could he turn his back on it now when they’d come this far?
The freeway began leveling out, and Shy was finally able to see ahead of them. He spotted two large buses first. They were parked along the side of the freeway, near several large, colorful tents. A large group of people was gathered around the tent closest to the shoulder of the freeway. Far beyond the tents were hundreds of motor homes parked randomly on either side of the freeway.
A sign said QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA.
“Please tell me we can stop here,” Carmen said. She kneeled down on the freeway and rested her hands on the concrete.
“I think I heard about this on the radio,” Shy said, feeling a glimmer of hope. “They’re crusaders who bus people east. I had no idea we were this close.”
“You really think they could take us the rest of the way?” Carmen was looking up at Shy with pure desperation. They needed a lucky break in the worst way.
“I hope so.” Shy held his hand out to her. “Come on.”
As they moved closer, though, Shy noticed something else. Two helicopters sat on a flat stretch of land behind the tents. He stopped and pointed to them, more than a little concerned. “I know those could just be regular government choppers,” he said. “But they could also be…” He looked at Carmen, waiting for her response.
She just stared in the distance with a face of disappointment.
Shy scanned the entire scene in front of them again. The buses and tents and helicopters. The people milling around. And then he noticed a small group of people sitting at a picnic table about a hundred feet to the right of the tents. They had an umbrella set up to protect them from the sun. And there was a Jeep parked next to them.
“Maybe we can go get a feel for things from those guys,” Shy said, pointing them out.
Carmen shrugged and started walking.
Shy pulled his shirt off his head, slipped it over his shoulders and followed her.
Turned out it was a group of four old men. They were sitting around a rusted picnic table, playing cards, their faces half hidden under baseball caps. “Excuse me,” Carmen called out to them as she and Shy approached. “We don’t mean to bother you, but can you tell us what’s going on with those buses?”
The men looked up from their cards. “I suggest you get yourselves down there pronto,” a man in a Yankees cap said. “They’re vaccinating people and taking them east, to Avondale.”
“But it’s first come, first served,” a guy in a Cubs hat added. “So I’d get a move on.”
“They have the vaccine already?” Shy asked. “I thought it was gonna take a while to circulate it.” When Carmen shot him a confused look, Shy realized she didn’t know about the vaccine yet. She’d been sleeping when he heard it on the radio.
“They brought the very first batch here to Quartzsite,” the Yankees guy said, pushing up his shirtsleeve to show Shy and Carmen a Band-Aid.
“The people running the bus line are connected to the drug company everyone’s talking about,” another man said. He had a bushy gray beard and a generic blue cap. “That’s why we were lucky enough to get it first.”
LasoTech, Shy mouthed to Carmen.
“Where’d you all just come from?” the Yankees guy asked.
“Over by Blythe,” Shy told him.
“You walked?” The Cubs fan shot a frown at all his buddies before turning back to Shy. “I’d get on over there now. They’re giving out food and water, too. They’ll take care of you.”
Shy and Carmen thanked the old men, then cautiously moved closer to the buses to get a better look. They ducked behind an abandoned tractor-trailer, and Shy crouched next to Carmen, with no idea what to do next. He assumed anyone affiliated with LasoTech would know what he and Carmen looked like. But then again, maybe the lower-level employees wouldn’t. And it’s not like they could go dig up disguises. How were they going to get on that air-conditioned bus without getting caught?
Shy focused on one girl who was carrying a cooler toward the second bus. Blond ponytail swinging back and forth. Long, tan legs shooting out of a pair of jean cutoffs.
She was far enough away that it could’ve been anyone, but Shy turned to Carmen, his stomach filling with butterflies.
“Is that who I think it is?” Carmen asked.
He swallowed hard. “I don’t see how.”
Carmen’s eyes filled with rage. She climbed to her feet without another word and started walking toward the bus.
Shy grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. “Hang on,” he said. “We need to figure things out first.”
“Lemme go, Shy. It’s that fucking Addie chick and you know it.”
“There’s no way.” Shy studied the girl for a few seconds. It really did look like her, though. An
d then he realized something that made him feel incredibly guilty. He wanted it to be her. He wanted to look in her eyes again. And talk to her again. Because maybe she had absolutely nothing to do with her dad’s company.
“Let go, Shy,” Carmen said again.
“Just…” He studied the girl for a few more seconds, then turned back to Carmen. “Just hang on. We have to be smart.”
58
Once This Is Over
It was a good thing they waited.
A few minutes later, Shy spotted a group of three men dressed in black leaving one of the tents. LasoTech security. He was sure of it. They climbed into one of the helicopters and closed the door behind them. Soon the blades began spinning, blowing dirt everywhere, and the chopper slowly lifted into the air.
Shy and Carmen rolled underneath the tractor and watched the helicopter dip its nose slightly and fly right over their heads, heading west. Maybe the security guards’ mission was to find them. Shy shifted so he could watch the helicopter grow smaller and smaller in the sky.
“That’s three of ’em we no longer have to worry about,” Carmen said. “For real, Shy. I’m not hiding under a stupid tractor all day. Bust out those rifles.”
“What do you wanna do?” Shy said. “Roll in there like damn Zorro?” He glanced at the second bus, the one the blonde had boarded. “We’re trying to get to Avondale, Carm, not start a shoot-out.”
“Why?” Carmen fired back. “You heard those old dudes. LasoTech made a vaccine. Who cares if we get to Avondale anymore? All that matters now is getting revenge.”
“We got the letter, though,” Shy argued. “They’ll all go to jail. We can make sure that shit happens.” He realized he was trying to convince himself, too.
Carmen pursed her lips and glared at him.
Truth was, Shy wanted to check out the bus, too. There were so many things he needed to ask Addie—if it was really her. And after hearing her on the radio, he was convinced she was looking out for him. She’d warned him that LasoTech was coming after him. And she claimed she had the last page of the comb-over man’s letter, which had the missing portion of the vaccine formula. Maybe this no longer mattered to scientists in Avondale, but it mattered to him.
He turned to Carmen. “The second we spot another security guy, we’re out, all right? I’m serious.”
“Fine,” Carmen snapped. “Now gimme one of them damn rifles.”
“Wait till we get there,” Shy said.
They climbed out from under the tractor and hurried over to an RV parked less than twenty feet from the closest bus, both the rifle bag and duffel slung over Shy’s right shoulder. He didn’t see any more LasoTech security. At least not by the tent closest to the buses. It was just regular people waiting in line to get vaccinated by two Asian women wearing doctor smocks.
While they were standing there, the first bus started up and slowly pulled out onto the freeway. Shy watched it maneuver around a stalled car and move cautiously down the fast lane. The blond girl had boarded the second one, Shy told himself. She was still here. The butterfly feeling grew stronger.
What would he do if it really was Addie? He honestly didn’t know.
Carmen suddenly bolted from behind the RV. Shy grabbed for her wrist but missed. “Carm,” he called to her in a loud whisper.
He followed her across a short stretch of desert, straight up to the remaining bus and climbed on after her. They pushed their way past a handful of people looking for seats. Shy watched in disbelief as Carmen marched right up to the blonde and shoved her onto the laps of two women already sitting down. “Did you know they were gonna shoot everybody?” Carmen shouted.
Shy watched the blonde scramble to her feet in shock. And when he could finally see her face, his stomach dropped. It really was Addie. He was suddenly so dizzy he backed up without looking and dropped right into an empty seat by the door, the gun bag and duffel falling into his lap.
“What?” Addie said. “Who are you?”
Carmen cracked her in the jaw, and Addie went down again. This time a few people got between them as Addie looked up, holding a hand to her mouth. Shy saw a look of recognition wash over her face. Addie remembered Carmen, and her eyes immediately started darting around the bus, looking for him.
“On the island!” Carmen shouted. “Did you know they were gonna kill everybody?”
Everyone was staring at Carmen. One man tried to calm her down, but that only made Carmen flip out even more. She pushed him down and kicked him in the legs, shouting: “Mind your business, asshole!”
He scrambled away from her in a hurry.
When Addie spotted Shy rising up from his seat, her eyes grew wide and she shouted his name.
He gave a subtle nod but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, hell nah, puta!” Carmen shouted. “Pretty boy’s not here to help you! Now answer my damn question. Did you know?”
Addie covered her face with her hands, then dropped them and looked at Shy again. “My dad told me everything,” she said. “They accidentally spread the disease in Mexico. It was the biggest mistake of his life. But instead of getting help, he tried to make it right himself. Which led to all this.”
Accidentally spread the disease? Shy couldn’t believe his ears. Addie was still buying her old man’s lies.
“He’s promised to turn himself in,” Addie went on. “As soon as all this is over. But first he has to try and save as many people as he can.”
“He’s trying to save people?” Shy shouted. “Are you shittin’ me, Addie?”
“I swear to God,” she said. “He’s setting up clinics like this all over the West Coast. He’s giving medicine to sick people. And once the vaccine’s approved, he’ll make sure no one else ever gets the disease. He’s paying for everything out of his own pocket.”
“Fuck your dad’s clinics!” Carmen shouted. “Where’s that asshole now?”
“Not here,” Addie said.
Shy couldn’t stand it. Addie was too smart to be brainwashed like this. “Why’d you go on the radio, then?” he shouted. “Why’d you warn me he was coming after us?”
“My dad told me to do that!” Addie cried. “He doesn’t want anyone else getting hurt. The men coming after you were hired by LasoTech investors. He has nothing to do with them.”
Shy was so frustrated he felt like smashing his fist through the closest window. Addie was blindly following anything her old man told her. But what pissed Shy off even more was the tiny kernel of doubt that had crept into his mind. What if Mr. Miller really had told Addie to warn him? What if he really wasn’t responsible for everyone shooting at them?
The people on the bus were now shouting over one another, sticking up for Addie. “Leave her alone!” they barked. “Get off the bus!”
One woman shouted: “She’s here to save our lives!”
“I asked you about the island!” Carmen yelled over all of them.
Addie shook her head, clearly scared. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“They were all shot down!” Carmen shouted. “Every single person on the island! And you knew about it! You had to know!”
Addie was crying now. “No! I swear!”
When he saw tears streaming down her face, Shy felt bad for Addie. And he felt bad for feeling bad. “Do you really have the last page of the letter?” he asked, coldly.
“Yes!” Addie cried. “I’ve been carrying it with me this whole time.”
“Does your dad know about it?” Shy asked.
Addie shook her head and turned to Carmen. “Just let me get it from my tent.”
“We need to follow her,” Shy called out to Carmen. “It’s important we have this.”
Carmen glared as Addie moved past her, back through the narrow aisle.
59
The Manila Envelope
Shy stepped off the bus ahead of Addie, trying to get shit straight in his head. If Addie hadn’t showed her dad the last page of the comb-over man’s letter, maybe she w
asn’t following him as blindly as Shy thought. Unless she was leading them into some kind of trap.
Shy pulled the two rifles out of the bag and tossed one to Carmen. He slung the duffel over his shoulder and studied their surroundings as he and Carmen followed Addie into the cluster of tents. There was still a line of people waiting to get shots. But the crowd had thinned now that the first bus was gone. The scattered motor homes to the east seemed farther away now. The dry air was hotter, too, and Shy kept wiping sweat from his forehead.
Addie stopped at one of the smaller tents in back. She unzipped it and ducked inside.
Shy held the flap open, watching Addie dig through a small suitcase. After a few seconds she pulled out a manila envelope and held it out to Shy. “I knew you’d come looking for this. It’s important, right?”
Shy had to crouch down to step into the tent, and he stayed hunched as he moved across the tent toward Addie. “It was. I don’t know who needs the vaccine formula now.” When Shy went to grab the envelope out of Addie’s hand, though, she held on tight. There was a desperation in her eyes he’d never seen before, not even when they were stranded.
“You have to leave here right away,” she said in a quiet voice.
“What?” he said, startled. “Why?”
“Just trust me.” She let go of the envelope. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
Shy nodded and slipped the envelope into the duffel bag, his heart suddenly pounding. Just as he was spinning around to leave, though, a man’s voice came from right outside the tent. “Addie?”
Shy froze, staring at the man he’d been obsessed with since the moment he’d left the torched island on Shoeshine’s tattered sailboat.
Addie’s dad.
Mr. Miller.
Behind him was a second man, who was holding a gun to Carmen’s head.
Cold fear shot through Shy’s veins as he watched Carmen slowly drop her rifle and hold up her hands.
60
Two Wrongs
The Hunted Page 22