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“He is still breathing,” he says.
“Fuck,” someone exhales.
My heart is still pounding. Kai rakes his hand through his hair, staring at the body too. “What do we do?” he asks.
I am shaking and wrap my arms around myself trying to stop it. Only one phrase lingers in my mind.
What happened to Olivia?
There is no sign of the other Savages. Just this one. Did they just leave him?
“We are bringing him with us,” Bo says.
“Seriously?” Zach shakes his head.
“Come on.” Bo nods and bends to lift the guy’s upper body.
Kai goes over and helps him.
A minute later, we are on our way down the path.
In silence.
The only voice is Ty’s whisper as he has his arm around Dani and murmurs—angel, and something else—on repeat.
I am in shock all the way to the village where the girls stand in a pack in the dining area.
“What is this?” Maddy gapes at the unconscious guy, whose arms are wrapped around Bo and Kai’s shoulders.
“Scum,” Bo says. “But he is still alive. We should see to it. Please, Maddy.”
She runs to the cabinet that holds the first-aid kit like she is saving one of her own.
That’s a lesson about humanity. It comes into play in every war. No matter what happens, some have compassion. Whether it’s to an enemy or any human being whose life is at stake—some will do anything to save another life.
And then you have peaceful times when seemingly normal human beings will harm anything at every opportunity they get.
In Ohio, where I came down with my aunt after the Change, looking for relatives, a small town was looted by the nearby residents. There was a white family, snobby, rich, with connections. They could talk their way into any deal any other time. Just not out of the ruthless ways of the monsters who one night raided their place, beat the father to a pulp, and kicked them out. As they stood, all four of them, with no place to go, on the side of the road, a Hispanic family that lived in the projects on the outskirts picked them up and gave them shelter. Law enforcement is helpless when masses rise and loot. After the Change, in small towns, anything went.
Moments like this teach you about humankind. There is a human in every one of us. And there is a beast. It’s a scale. Some have it tuned by a moral compass. Some let it go. When shit happens, when law enforcement is not in sight, when the power scale tips, the dark side inside humans can cause an eclipse in the middle of a bright day.
We all sit at the dining tables. Quiet. In shock. The entire village is here. No one is talking.
Half an hour later, Maddy comes out of the Common Lounge where they put the guy.
“Broken nose, cheekbone, brow. Bullet wound to his shoulder. He is not awake. I am not sure he will live,” she says as she wipes her hands again and again with a cloth like she can’t get rid of the blood that is not there anymore.
The ocean is peaceful. It’s dinner time. The smell of food lingers in the air.
And that’s humanity for you again. The banal needs—eating, surviving—mixed with the moral dilemma.
“Should’ve left him in the jungle,” someone says.
“Yeah.”
“Agreed.”
But Bo’s lips are pressed tightly together as he stares at the joint between his fingers, then, without looking, passes it to Kai, who sits quietly next to him.
