Generation M (35 page)

Toby gave her a long kiss that she interpreted as a resounding yes. The boy had stolen her heart. He was the one; she was certain of that.

They split up and spoke to convoy drivers, asking them their destinations and exactly when they planned to leave. Every driver Abby spoke to had room for more passengers. When Abby and Toby met up, Toby reported hearing the same thing. The need for extra drivers and help once a convoy reached its destination was a constant. They narrowed their choices to one of two convoys. Every destination needed help, but these two were leaving within minutes.

“St. Louis or Cleveland?” Abby asked. “You choose.”

Toby raised his eyebrows. “I’ve always wanted to see the Mississippi River.”

An hour later, she and Toby were passengers in a truck that brought up the rear of a convoy headed for St. Louis, a city in the middle of the country. They sat in the far back, facing the shrinking Atlanta skyline, and then the buildings finally faded from view as the truck rumbled northwest. Bounced and jostled by potholes, they held hands to maintain balance and support. The convoy sped up, and the ride got smoother.

Abby saw a tiny bulge in her front pocket and knew from the shape that it was the last butterscotch candy. Touk had only received four candies. In their final bargaining session, Abby had firmly held the line.

She reached into her pocket and took out the candy. Using one hand, she carefully unpeeled the plastic wrapper and bit the candy in half. The two pieces were close in size, but she offered the slightly bigger piece to Toby.

He was sound asleep.

She set her piece in her lap and wrapped his half in plastic, which she placed in her pocket, and then held up her piece.

They would arrive in a city that had yet to receive any pills and where many of the survivors had probably never heard of AHA-B bacteria. Even the existence of the colonies might be news to many of them. They would arrive tomorrow, still many hours away.

Today, this minute, this second, Touk and Jordan were safe, and Abby was alive and holding the hand of the boy she loved and who loved her.

She placed the candy on the center of her tongue. As the bumpy ride jostled her side to side and the tornado of life swirled all around her, sweetness spread out.

Lisette adjusted her headphones for the daily spirit drill. They were comfortable and fit so snugly that she hardly felt them on her head.

“
I will study hard
.”
The woman’s voice was soft and soothing.

“I will study hard,” Lisette repeated.

Filled with excitement, she twisted and twirled pieces of her hair, hoping it would soon be long enough for her to use a hairband. Today was special, and Lisette couldn’t wait for the spirit drill to end. The six and seven-year-old students were taking a field trip to the ocean. They were going to get to ride in a blue CDC bus.

It would be her first time seeing the ocean while awake. She dreamed about the ocean a lot. Ever since her biology teacher, Mr. Taber, had started the unit on marine life, she’d been having vivid dreams about the ocean. Sometimes, the water was purple, and when the big waves crashed on the rocks, a spray of purple droplets shot up.

Sometimes, she’d wake up in the middle of the night, smelling salty air. She wondered how the ocean really smelled.

“
I will share the knowledge that I learn.
”

Lisette sat up in bed and placed her feet on the floor. “I will share the knowledge that I learn.”

In the glow of the nightlight, she could see her roommate, Zoe, lying on her side in bed and pretending to write on the wall with her fingertip. The green dot of the Emotion Meter light made it easy for Lisette to make out the letters that Zoe was tracing: H-A-R.

She guessed immediately what Zoe was writing: CHARLIE. Charlie, who was six and half years old, lived one floor below them in Unit 4R. Over the past week, Charlie had lost three teeth. He had let Zoe wiggle all three. She was the only girl he let wiggle any of them. Lisette smiled fondly, wondering if Charlie ever traced the letters Z-O-E on his wall with his EM light.

“It is important to be kind.”

“It is important to be kind,” Lisette said as her impatience to leave Atlanta Colony on the bumpy bus grew.

“I believe in myself.”

“I believe in myself,” she said with a sigh, scuffing her feet back and forth, anxious to start the day. The friction warmed the soles of her feet.

The woman continued to say phrases, but Lisette ignored her, thinking about the ocean instead. Mr. Taber had said they might see all sorts of sea life on the beach.

“If we’re lucky, we’ll even find starfish,” he had said. “They crawl around the bottom of the ocean, and sometimes the strong currents push them on shore. If they’re alive, we’ll throw them back in. If they are dead, then they will make a nice meal for the seagulls.”

Lisette hoped they’d find starfish that were still alive.

Finished tracing CHARLIE on the wall, Zoe turned and removed her headphones. She signaled for Lisette to do the same.

“Will you sit next to me on the bus please?” Zoe asked.

A rush of warm tingles in her chest brought a smile. “Sure,” Lisette said.

Having made a bargain of friendship, both girls put their headphones back on.

“I am strong, and I believe in myself.” The woman raised her voice a bit, though she still sounded quite friendly.

“I am strong.” Lisette lifted her arm high and pretended the green EM light was a fish swimming toward her.

Mr. Taber had said that some fish live at the bottom of the ocean where it is dark all the time. “They have parts of them that glow. It’s like these fish are swimming around with their own little flashlights.”

“I believe in myself,” Lisette said, flopping back on the bed.

She stretched her arms and legs wide, imagining she was now a starfish, and she brought her finger within an inch of her nose. With a green spray of light in her eyes, she was face to face with a flashlight fish at the bottom of the ocean.

She jolted as sharp images of a girl and boy appeared in her mind. She recognized them immediately. The girl was Abby, the boy Jordan. The last time she saw and spoke to them seemed like a long time ago.

The scene she pictured felt so real. It was nighttime, and the air smelled salty. That meant the ocean must be nearby. Lisette held a glass jar in her hand. The three of them were outside in tall grass. The grass was dry and crunchy on her bare feet, and hundreds of blinking lights surrounded them. She caught one of the lights in a jar. It was a little bug. The light kept blinking on and off.

“Abby, look at this,” she cried out.

Abby ran over. “That’s cool, Touk, but you should let it go.”

“Touk,” Lisette said to herself, though she didn’t know why she said it or what it meant.

Just then, Jordan slid in the grass beside them and lay on his back, looking up at the stars.

“Let her keep it,” he said.

“The firefly wants to be free,” Abby whispered in her ear. “Let it go, and I’ll give you a piece of chocolate.”

“Two pieces,” she said defiantly.

The hair stood on the back of Lisette’s neck as she remembered that she, Abby, and Jordan had gone outside to catch fireflies. Her brother and sister had let her stay up way past her bedtime. Lisette’s heart raced, and she trembled all over. Abby was her sister. Jordan was her brother.

Lisette pulled off her headphones and drew her knees to her chest, afraid and excited at the exact same time.

The door to the unit opened, and Mother entered. Lisette noticed her EM light was flashing red.

Unhurried, Mother walked over to Lisette. She unclipped the Emotion Meter from Lisette’s finger and sat beside her on the bed. She put her arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. “What’s wrong?”

Lisette sank into the spill of long, soft hair as if it were a warm pillow, and pressed her cheek against Mother’s chest.

When Lisette breathed in, the smell of the ocean, raw and salty, swept away the sweet scent of Mother’s shampoo. Memories rose from the depths of her mind in a stream of bubbles. When they popped, she saw new faces and heard voices. They were her friends on Castine Island. She knew Timmy and Danny. That was her home. The tide was low, and the rich scent of seaweed and clams uncovered by the water began to rise up.

Lisette pressed her ear flat and tried to count the beats of Mother’s heart. The loud, rapid beats of her own heart made that impossible. Then she heard Abby’s voice. “Your family will always live in your heart.”

“I’m Touk,” she whispered. Then louder, with a proud smile, “I am Toucan.”