The Fallout (26 page)

Suddenly, Tony was there. He told Dad, “The jet is ready to go.” He looked at me. “You ready?”

Dad had lied to me. He hadn’t changed his mind. At least, not the way he told me he had.

“No!” Dad shouted. “None of them are leaving! My wife can bring the rest of my family here if she ever wants to see them again.” He lunged for me.

I stumbled, trying hard to hold on to the gene gun, that as I fell, I accidentally squeezed the button on the black remote.

Immediately, a deafening high-pitched electronic beeping began.

Dad was on top of me, grabbing for the gene gun. I shoved it out toward him, my finger pulling the trigger with the hope it would shock him or something. As it connected with his stomach, my finger got stuck, keeping the trigger on for several seconds. I heard several mechanical punching sounds.

Dad rolled off me to the floor. His eyes widened and he tried to get up, but fell back. His limbs began to shake and he started convulsing.

I jumped to my feet and backed away.

As Tony and I watched, my father’s hair turned darker and thicker and curlier, growing longer before our eyes. Immediately his limbs began to shrivel and shrink; then his fingers folded in on his hands and his feet curled up.

“What’s happening?” I yelled.

Tony yelled back, “He’s de-aging!”

My father’s limbs continued to shrivel, but they stopped getting smaller. They were deflating, like a balloon that had lost its air. And then he was suddenly still. His flesh hung there, saggy, just like the creatures in the cribs.

Tony said, “My, God, it didn’t work on him.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE

My father, the creature that had been Rex Yanakakis, reached up for me and mewled, “Son.”

I stood there, looking down at him, unable to move.

“Kid!” Tony grabbed me. “This place is gonna blow.”

I yelled, “He told me it was a drill!”

The expression on Tony’s face was serious when he shook his head. He didn’t need to say a word.

I said, “But we have to help him!”

Tony pointed at the open door to the room with the cribs. “Like he helps them? Leaving them in there like that?” He shook his head. “They need to be put out of their misery.” He pointed at my father. “So does he.” Tony grabbed me. “Do you want to live?”

I nodded.

“This place will be a chain reaction. As soon as I hear the first explosion, I’m going,” he said. “With or without you. You’ve got about nine minutes, kid.” And he disappeared through the plastic curtain.

I turned back to my dad, who still lay on the floor, curled up and mewling. I knelt beside him, wanting to throw up, wanting to run away. I set my hand on his arm. It was soft and mushy, and I yanked my hand back.

Dad tried to say something, but I couldn’t understand what it was. I didn’t want to understand. I stood up. “I’m sorry.”

Only thirty seconds behind Tony, I ran through the plastic curtain and down the hallway. Outside, the sun hit me. And I realized Eddy and Lexie weren’t going to be at the jet.

Maybe, when Dad hadn’t shown up at the house, they decided to go to the jet, ignoring my orders?

But if I went to the jet and they weren’t there … I’d have no time to get them. I couldn’t risk it.

If I wanted to save them, there was only one option.

The electronic beeping was everywhere, increasing in speed and volume. As fast as I could, I ran through the plaza toward the house, dodging people who seemed to be unconcerned about the alarm. Apparently, they’d been told, and believed, that it was just a drill.

I hurried through the fence and onto the path and into the house, screaming, “Eddy! Lexie! Where are you?” I ran into the living room and saw no one. I screamed their names a few more times, then made a decision. They had to be at the jet. They hadn’t listened to me.

I ran down the hallway and out the back. I leaped down the steps of the marble veranda, hit the path, and went through the door in the wall.

I heard a roar. The jet.

“No!” I yelled. I tried to run on the boardwalk through the jungle, but it was slow going and I was forced to shorten my steps, pounding my way toward the runway. Finally, I reached the trees and caught a glimpse of the runway. I sprinted the rest of the way, triumphantly emerging out of breath where the jet had been the day before.

But the jet was gone.

CHAPTER
FORTY

About a quarter mile away to my right, the taxiing jet was just about to reach the end of the runway, where it would turn around and accelerate down the length of the runway and take off.

“No! Wait!” I screamed. “I’m coming!”

And I pushed for the aircraft, my legs and lungs already burning. My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest, and I pumped my arms like my life depended on it, which I was pretty sure it did.

The jet reached the end and circled around until the left side faced me, but it was still far from me. It paused there, not moving.

Was Tony waiting for me? Were Eddy and Lexie on board?

I slowed to a fast jog, relieved.

I would get there, make sure my brother and sister were on it, and then we could go. Tony said he’d wait for the first explosion. And that hadn’t—

BOOM!

The ground shuddered beneath my feet and I stumbled and tripped, falling onto the hot tarmac. I got to my feet, my knees skinned and bloody.

The jet had started to roll.

As fast as I could run, I headed straight for it, wincing at the pain in my knees. I aimed for the front of it, trying to cut off some distance. The smell of jet fuel made me want to gag, and the roar of the jet deafened me.

Just as I got closer, the jet passed me.

Tony was leaving without me.

I slowed to a jog, not wanting to give up. But there was nothing left to do.

It was over. Done.

Then, suddenly, the door opened and Eddy’s head popped out. “Run!” He screamed something else, along with Tony’s name, and the jet slowed slightly. The speed was not yet so fast that I didn’t have a chance to catch it, so I mustered up every ounce of energy I had and gave chase.

My lungs threatened to burst as I pumped my arms, running faster than I ever thought possible. Eddy was lying on his belly and reached out to me with both his arms. “Grab hold!”

I had to sprint even faster to get ahead of the wing, and then I lunged, reaching with my right hand. Eddy grabbed my hand, then clutched my arm with his other hand, so he had me with both. My left hand still held the gene gun, which I heaved over Eddy’s head before grabbing onto the side of the door.

“Hold on!” Eddy yelled as the jet increased in speed.

“Don’t let go!” I screamed. My legs could no longer keep up so I curled them up using my abs, pulling myself off the runway, but putting more strain on my grip on the door.

And Eddy’s hold on me.

His face inches from mine. I was all sweaty, and my hand and arm began slipping from his grip. “Don’t let me go!” I screamed. “Eddy!”

And then we were speeding down the runway, heading to take off as I still hung halfway out.

Over the roar of the jet, I heard another explosion and felt the jet tremble, then another.

From the cockpit, Tony yelled, “We’re not gonna make it!”

Eddy grimaced, his face red with exertion as he struggled to hold on to me. But I felt my own grip on the door failing, my legs were too heavy to keep holding up like that, and Eddy’s hands began to slip.

I grunted, trying to hold on. But I couldn’t any longer and I started falling—

Then Lexie was there, kneeling, half on top of Eddy, yanking on my other arm with a strength I never knew she had. I was almost in, on top of her and Eddy, part of my legs still dangling outside the door.

But none of us had leverage inside the jet, and with Lexie’s added weight, I felt us start to edge our way out the door. My upper half was barely inside the door, and the metal legs of the front seat were just out of my reach. I strained for them with my fingertips, as my brother and sister did everything they could to hang on to me and keep us all from sliding out the door.

My fingers reached out.
Come on!

Just as Lexie screamed, “I can’t hold on!” the front of the jet began to lift, sliding us back far enough so I could grab the metal leg. I pulled with everything I had left, dragging myself all the way in, where I fell on my side on the floor. Lexie and Eddy scrambled backward to safety, then Eddy reached out and shoved the lever for the door, which closed as the jet left the ground.

Eddy and Lexie collapsed beside me, and the three of us lay there, chests heaving. We heard a series of booms, all rocking the jet, causing enough turbulence that we had to grab on to the legs of the seats.

Tony yelled, “You all in?”

“Yeah,” yelled Eddy.

The jet shuddered.

“Better buckle up!” Tony yelled.

I crawled up into the seat by the window, Lexie beside me, and Eddy across the aisle. I doubled over, trying to catch my breath as I strapped myself in. Tony slowly circled back around to head east. I looked out the window.

The entire island was ablaze, explosions still bursting. Even if the scientists had tried to leave, it was obvious that none had made it.

Lexie put her hand on my leg and I turned to face her. Tears streaked down her red face. “When Dad didn’t come home, it was my idea to meet you at the jet. I thought we were leaving you. Why weren’t you with Tony?”

I managed a bit of a smile. “I wanted to make sure you and Eddy weren’t at the house.”

“You were worried about leaving us?”

I nodded.

She leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed. “Neither one of us are.”

“Are what?” I asked.

“Monsters,” she said. “Neither one of us are monsters.”

Eddy reached across the aisle with his hand. I grabbed it and held on. He was crying, too.

Lexie sandwiched our hands between both of hers. She said, “It’s over.”

Yeah. Finally, it was.

Leaving my hand where it was, holding on to my twin’s, both snug in our older sister’s embrace, I turned once more to the window. My knees stung, my legs and arms felt like I’d run a marathon, and I was still panting. My own eyes filled with tears as I watched the island, in flames, recede from my view, until there was nothing below but blue, blue water. Lexie’s head was still on my shoulder, so I leaned my head on hers, closed my eyes, and let Tony fly us home.

EPILOGUE

Now that we’re back home, I am trying to come to terms with it all. What my father did to those people. Maybe they all knew what they were getting into. Maybe not.

I told my mom only what she needed to know: Dad’s plans to bring us all there and keep us prisoner, again. I told her enough about the research to make Dad appear insane, as he was.

But that room with the cribs? I keep
that
to myself. I didn’t even tell Eddy or Lexie. No good will ever come from anyone knowing that.

I told Mom that Dad died in the explosion. Not a lie.

Eddy, Lexie, and I don’t agree about Tony. We left that part out when we told Mom everything. We fudged the truth a bit, making up a story about a rogue pilot who saved us in the end.

Obviously, Phil’s days at YK are done. Even if we were to somehow explain how Phil Whitaker, CEO, was now a teenager, Mom would throw him out.

So, for now, we keep Tony as a family friend. Sort of like that saying: Keep your friends close, your enemies closer. He knows we control him. But then, he was always controlled by my dad, so it’s not that much of a change for him. He has enough money to see him through this second life he has acquired.

And honestly, Tony is the only person besides me who knows about that crib room.… Maybe I need someone around that I can talk to about it. Plus, we would still be on that island if he hadn’t flown us home.

Somehow, deep down, I feel like that redeems him, at least a little bit. But I know very little about redemption, so who am I to judge?

Today, I finish it.

Lee is driving me in the SUV to the Progeria Institute. My backpack sits in my lap, my hands resting on the outline of the object inside. We drive through the gate and Lee parks next to the first red building.

I walk inside and head right to Dr. Barkley’s office. He’s expecting me, and greets me at the door. I take a seat across the desk from him, still holding my backpack in my lap.

I tell him, “There’s something you need to know that I’ve been keeping from you. My name is Eli Yanakakis. I am Rex’s son.” Saying it aloud wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated.

He started to say something, but I kept going. “I have something that may help your research. But you cannot ask where I got it.”

He nods. “No questions. I understand.”

I open the backpack and pull out the gene gun. I set it on his desk.

His eyes widen as he carefully picks it up.

I say, “I think … I hope there may be genetic material in there that can help your research.” I don’t tell him that I had his original research on the flash drive for weeks, and that it was recently destroyed in an explosion. I hope the contents of the gene gun will make up for that.

He looks at me. “But where—”

I set a finger on my lips and shake my head.

He smiles. “No questions.”

We shake hands and he walks me outside.

On my way back to the SUV, I notice the large building with the pool. I go inside and hear the sounds of laughter and splashing water. I watch the kids in the pool and sit on the bench Verity shared with me that first day.

Will I ever stop being conflicted, wondering whether blowing up the island has hurt any chances there ever were of curing progeria? My only hope is that Dr. Barkley can do something with the gene gun.

I sit here, hoping no one will ask what I’m doing. Because I’m sitting here, waiting, for only one reason: I am hoping Verity might show up.

After forty-five minutes pass, I realize she’s not going to be here. I glance at my watch, wondering whether I should stay a few more moments. Or give up.