My stomach begins to tie itself in knots. What could they possibly be so worried about that they want to tell the three of us before everyone else?
“The radio’s working again,” Amy says. “They haven’t been able to get in touch with Cuba yet, but there’s a couple settlements up the East Coast who have confirmed that the worst of the hurricane missed them. It looks like the storm went from here up the western coast to the panhandle and then inland. A settlement in Alabama said they got some bad wind and rain, but nothing like what we had.”
That doesn’t explain why we needed to be the first to know.
“We asked a few of the East Coast settlements for help,” Amy says.
That’s when I start to connect the dots. Dots that look like the bullet hole in my boyfriend’s side.
“You can’t!” I say. It’s the only thing I can even think to say. There’s no way they can ask Fort Caroline for help.
Amy continues as if she didn’t hear me. “The Committee has been in contact with them since before you both arrived. Initially the Committee agreed to never mention that you’re here. But now they’ve asked those other settlements for help, and all but one said they couldn’t.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“There’s plenty of reasons, Andrew. People are having trouble growing crops because of the pests. The supplies in stores have been spoiled by wild animals and rodents. Or maybe they just don’twantto help us. Fort Caroline is the only one that’s offered.”
“They’re lying,” Cara says. “They would never help someone else.”
She’s right. Fort Caroline doesn’t do aid. They once let a kid die because they didn’t want to waste medical supplies on him.
“It’s some kind of trap,” I say. “They’re coming here to take from you.”
“There won’t be anything for them to take,” Amy says. “The Committee has been lying to everyone about how many supplies we have. Even with rationing, we’ll be out of food just after the new year. Without fuel, we can’t get out of the Keys to search for more supplies. We need help and they’re the only ones offering.”
“Find someone else!” I say.
“When will they be here?” Jamie asks.
Amy looks down at Henri-Two. “Probably a couple weeks. They’re driving supplies down but will be stopping along the way to pick up more and find fuel as they go.”
Cara gets up and leaves. I want to follow her, but I’m not sure if my legs will hold me up. My body is tense and my heart’s racing.
“We’ll be gone before they get here,” Jamie says.
“No,” I say.
He looks at me with pitying eyes. “We can’t be here. If someone recognizes us—”
“They won’t! We can just hide somewhere—the southern Keys, maybe. Wait for them to leave.”
There are supplies down there. The bridges have been wiped out, so we haven’t been able to go and get whatever hasn’t been destroyed by the storm. And there could be more survivors there. Maybe they just don’t have someone like Rocky Horror to fix their radio.
There’s a solution here that doesn’t involve us leaving.
There has to be.
“Andrew,” Amy says. Her voice sounds broken. “They’re coming herefor Jamie. Fort Caroline has been sending out broadcasts warningthe settlements about him for months now. The Committee gave in and told them he’s here and that they’ll turn him over in exchange for help and supplies.”
My body reacts physically to the thought, like I’m a tire someone slashed a hole in and I’m slowly deflating. Jamie was right. He was scared they’d show up here and that the Keys would turn him over to them and he was right.
“We need to get your things together and you need to get out of here,” she says. “Tonight.”
“Okay.” Jamie stands, but I still can’t move. “Andrew. We have to—”
“What do you think is going to happen when they show up and Jamie isn’t here?”
Amy nods as though she’s thought of this already. She covers herself with her shirt and begins to burp Henri-Two. “I honestly don’t know. But I don’t think we should be here to find out.”
