There she was. Beyond the goalpost, Lucy stood on top of the farm wall. An extended aluminum construction ladder leaned against the top edge of the trailer wall, right by her feet. He didn’t know why, but his heartbeat was beginning to hurry. He trotted over and stopped at the bottom of the ladder.
“What are you doing up there?” David said.
“Come up.”
“What’s up there?”
“Just come.”
David did as she asked. When he stepped up onto the top of the trailer wall, Lucy pointed to the town side. He saw a station wagon parked just next to the wall, in the tall grass outside the farm. The back was stuffed with clothes, water, and supplies. She jingled a set of keys in her hand.
“Come with me,” she said.
“Where?” he blurted, caught off guard.
“Anywhere else.”
“I don’t know,” he said, but she ignored him and tugged on his arm.
“Let’s leave. Just the two of us. This is all on the parents now. Let’s get out of here. I trust you, David, I don’t trust anyone else. We can be happy. I’ve got two full scuba tanks in that car. That oughta get us far enough until we can find something else for you. We can take care of each other, and that can be enough. Just come. I know it’s not the brave thing to do. But I have to get away from here. I never want to see this place again. Please, just come with me. Let’s find some peace somewhere.”
He wanted to. It sounded great to leave it all behind, but he felt guilt creeping up.
“Didn’t I put them in this situation though?” he said.
“No. The virus did! Adults did. It’s not your responsibility. Stop being such a good person for once, you dick. Let it be me and you. It can just be me and you.…”
She was in tears by the time she finished. He wiped her tears. She wanted to sit down, so they sat, and she wanted him to hold her, so he did. Before long they were lying on their backs, watching lazy clouds mosey across the sky. Time blurred. Reality became nothing but his arm around her, his hand clutched in hers, and the warmth that radiated from her body. He wasn’t sure how long they lay there. He didn’t know what to do, what to tell her, and he wasn’t talking. Neither was she. It was as if neither of them wanted to speak for fear that the conversation could lead to them losing each other, and this feeling along with it. He wanted to get in the car with her and disappear. He did. But … Will.
“I just need to check for Will one more time. He might’ve come back,” David said, breaking the extended silence.
“And then we’ll go?”
David brushed her hair out of her face, but he didn’t respond. He wanted to tell her yes, but his mouth wouldn’t move.
“I’ll wait for thirty minutes,” Lucy said, “then I’m going.”
The directness of her stare was serious. She would go. He believed her. It scared him, but it made him respect her more.
“See you soon,” he said, and he touched the softness of her cheek.
“I hope so.”
He hugged her. He tried to keep his demeanor light and positive, because Lucy wasn’t smiling at all. He descended the ladder quickly, eager to be able to face the school and not see her sad eyes anymore.
David trudged back toward the school, knowing that if Will didn’t return in the next thirty minutes, he would have a hard time choosing to leave. He might lose Lucy if he stayed. He might lose them both if he stayed. If he left with her, Will would never forgive him, but Will might not forgive him if he returned either. When had Will ever forgiven him for anything?
He heard the noise of all the students as he rounded the side of the school. They were cheering. David sped up to see what the celebration was about.
All of the McKinley kids were lined up in a tight formation, like they were about to do group calisthenics. There was a massive white vehicle unlike any he’d ever seen, with a red cross on it, and a group of adults in white haz-mat suits lined up in front of it, holding long white hoses that came off its roof. The hoses ended in spray guns. Standing beside the adults in the white haz-mat suits was Will in tattered clothes and wearing a gas mask. David was puzzled. Will stood on crutches, and he wore some sort of neck brace, but his shoulders were back, and he held his chin high. He was so far away that it was hard to tell, but he appeared to be smiling.
Pride puffed Will’s chest. He looked over at the parents, practically bursting at the seams in anticipation. He saw mothers crying. He gazed at the faces of the kids waiting to be cured. A lot of them still munched the provisions the government people had handed out. He looked at Bobby’s blacked-out head, and Bobby grinned back at him. None of the conflict between them mattered anymore. Will had made it all better. Will wondered what kind of life Bobby would have after this, with what he’d done to himself. But the same question applied to all of them. Bobby’s change was skin-deep, but Will knew that everyone had been changed on the inside by their time in McKinley. How permanent were those changes? he wondered. Was everyone stronger because of them, or were they damaged goods? Could any of them ever get back to who they were before the school blew up?
Probably not.
Once his mother had passed away, Will had realized, you can never go back in life. You can only reminisce.
Still, the mood in the air was buoyant. He saw P-Nut hopping in place, unable to contain his excitement. He saw Zachary dancing gracefully with a smile on his face. He saw Ritchie, and Mort, and Colin, standing together in the back, instead of with their gangs, Loners once more. He hadn’t spotted Lucy yet, but the crowd was tremendous. It was nearly everyone. He’d see her soon enough.
One of the hose holders signaled back to the truck, and Will heard a low buzz. Pressurized, white fog sprayed out from the hoses in great plumes, and the men holding the spray guns angled them so that the fog shot over the heads of the entire crowd, then slowly settled onto them.
Will continued to search for Lucy in the crowd as McKinley kids danced in the descending fog, and held their hands up toward the sky. Where was she? He wanted her to know he wasn’t all bad. He wanted to see her joy as he took all of her problems away.
Something caught his eye in the distance. David stood by the side of the school. He raised his hand in the air, like he was reaching out to Will over all that distance, and Will raised his back. He wished he could communicate everything he felt through the way he raised his hand. He wanted his brother to know that he was sorry. That he didn’t mean it. He loved him and he always would, no matter what kind of fight they got into.