The Fallout (6 page)

I kind of laughed, and then realized I needed to lie again. “I have an older sister, too.” Which was actually the truth, except that I happened to leave out a few siblings.

“Sometimes I wish I had more brothers or sisters.” Verity pointed at Jamie. “I don’t know what I’d do without him.” She met my eyes and shrugged a little. “I mean, I know the day will come.” She sighed. “Life expectancy is, like, thirteen.”

“That’s what Dr. Barkley told me. It must be hard, knowing he has a … shelf life.” I winced. “I’m so sorry. That came out wrong.”

“It’s okay.” She lifted and lowered a shoulder. “It’s kind of true.” She watched Jamie for a bit before going on. “It’s hard on my parents. I just try to do everything I can with him. I take an independent study at school first hour of the day, so I can bring him here three days a week.” She glanced at her watch.

She wasn’t old enough to drive. “How do you get here?” I asked.

Her brown eyes turned my way again. “The bus. Our schools are right next to each other, so I run him there and then get back in time for class.”

“Sounds like a pain,” I said.

She nodded. “It’ll be way better when I can drive.”

Jamie called out, “Verity! Come watch me!”

She stood up and looked down at me. “I’m surprised he didn’t yell before now. Coming?”

I nodded. “In a sec.”

I watched Verity walk away.

For some reason, I wanted to call her back, tell her everything: my real name, the truth about my family. I swallowed. How stupid would that be? I’d known her for less than five minutes. And there was the fact that I would never run into her again.

Just before reaching the pool, Verity spun around on her heel and jogged back to me. “Before I go…” She knelt down and grabbed my phone; then before I could say anything, her thumbs were a blur. “There. I mean, in case you have any questions about this place. Or anything.” She handed me the phone and headed over to the pool.

Dr. Barkley joined me again. He said, “I have to go to a meeting, but I’ll have someone show you out. Please tell Ms. Greene…” He trailed off.

I stood up. “I’m sure you can expect to hear about the funding sometime soon.” I realized my mistake. “I mean, of course I don’t have much to do with it, but…” I picked up the journal. “She’ll get a great report from me about it all.”

He smiled. “There’s no rush.” He held out his hand.

I shook it. “Thank you very much for the tour.” I wanted to tell him that, in my mind, it was done. He would get whatever funding he needed. I would see to it. But I’d have to let the people at YK deliver that news.

I smiled. “I hope you get the funding. And I hope you find a cure.”

He nodded. “We’ll do our best.”

“I can find my way out,” I said. And he left.

I picked up my phone and figured out how to get to my contact list.

1. Mom

2. Lee

3. Eddy

4. Verity Blum.

Verity Blum.

After fumbling with it a bit more, I got a message to pop up:
Erase this contact?

Getting close to anyone was unwise, not while we were trying to lie low. And then I almost laughed. Close to anyone? When had I been close to anyone, ever, that wasn’t related to me? I even had trouble with family most of the time.

Plus, who said she even wanted to get to know me?

I glanced back down at her name in my contacts.

That had to mean something, right?

She put her number in my contacts. Which meant she wanted some sort of … contact.

My gaze went over to Verity, who crouched near the side of the pool as Jamie tried to splash her. Verity laughed. Her laugh alone made me want to know her better.

But it would never work. Could never.

I looked again at the message:
Erase this contact?

There was only one realistic and rational answer.

My thumb hovered over the
Yes
button.

But then I pressed
No
instead.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

I can remember going to Costco only once as a kid, way before we entered the Compound. Maybe because I had no reason to wonder where the groceries came from. Honestly, I never really saw food in packaged form. Even the Baby Bels were unwrapped and on a white china plate with a line of Triscuits by the time I got them, so it wasn’t until we were in the Compound that I saw the red wax circles of cheese and yellow boxes of crackers. Well, for as long as the cheese and crackers lasted, which wasn’t long.

Eddy swung open my door. “You ready?” He was dressed in jeans and blue polar fleece.

“Almost.” I buttoned my jeans and pulled a long-sleeved red Under Armour shirt over my head. Even though it was August, the day was damp and chilly, much like the day before. I hoped we weren’t done with sunny days just yet; I wasn’t quite ready for the northwest gloom to descend before autumn had even begun.

As I tied my Converse, Eddy said, “The little kids must be excited—they’re already sitting in the car.”

“Lee should love that.” I turned back to him. “What about Lexie and Reese?”

“Actually, they’re in the car, too.” He grinned.

I grabbed my black soft-shell jacket off the hook on the back of the door and followed him downstairs. Mom was there with Gram, Finn, and Quinn. She looked up at us. “Quinn has a cough and Finn is fussy.”

I asked, “You going to stay home then?”

Mom nodded.

I’d just been out the day before. And she hadn’t been out since … since we’d last gone to YK. Which had not exactly been an enjoyable outing. “Mom, why don’t you go? I can stay and help with them.”

She smiled. “Oh, that’s sweet, but you go have fun.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t mind.” Truth was, I liked staying home. I found it much less stressful than going out in public.

“Positive.” She stood and went over to the window seat, to her black bag. She reached in and pulled out her wallet. She handed me seven twenties. “One for each of you to buy something. And a twenty for Lee to have a snack.” She frowned. “He always looks like he’s hungry.”

I put the money in my jacket pocket and zipped.

Eddy leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks.” I did the same and added, “Don’t worry.”

As we walked out the door, she called after us, “And please be safe.”

I climbed into the back of the SUV with Reese and Lexie, who’d already strapped Lucas and Cara into the third row, where they were busy with green juice boxes. Lexie, apparently having decided a trip to Costco was worth her while after all, rolled her eyes. “About time.” She was playing with the cell phone Mom had given her after dinner the night before.

Reese had pitched a fit she didn’t get one, and from the way she was glaring at Lexie’s, she was obviously still not over it.

Eddy started to get into the backseat beside Reese, but Lucas kicked the seat. “No! I want Eli to sit there.”

Eddy got back out. “Maybe I should just stay home.”

“No, you have to go.” I set a hand on his shoulder. “He’s just cranky.”

“Whatever.” Eddy got into the passenger seat in front.

I glanced at Lee. He did look hungry.

As we stopped by the front gate and waited for it to open, the two security guards came out of the white concrete booth. Both were in their twenties: Joe had a dark beard, while Sam shaved his head and had ice-blue eyes. Both grinned and waved as we pulled out of the front gate.

When we hit the street, my heart started to pound.

Was I this excited about Costco? Or was it just that I was getting to go out, out into the real world where everyone else lived normal lives?

The trips to YK and then the progeria lab the day before hadn’t been normal teenager outings. Maybe my heart was pounding at the possibility that I could actually be normal again. Costco could do that, maybe. Hand normalcy back to me.

The windows of the SUV were tinted, so I took advantage and stared all I wanted at people walking and jogging and driving beside us, knowing that they couldn’t see me. I wondered, if you mentioned the name
Rex Yanakakis
to them, what would they think?

Would it be like mentioning
Steve Jobs
? Someone who was gone, who they’d only seen on television and the Internet, yet was a visionary who had influenced components of their everyday life? Is that what they thought of my dad?

Or was it not that positive? Did his name call to mind a paranoid genius billionaire who stuffed his family away underground for years?

I wiped away the condensation on the window.

And what of me? What if someone said
Eli Yanakakis
to them?

What if I had said that to Verity Blum?

I’m not EJ, I’m Eli
.

What would she have thought?

Filthy-rich heir to a technology fortune? Will never have to work for anything in his life? The freak who spent years underground.

I looked over at my sisters and my little brother. If people thought that about me, they must think the same about the rest of my family. And I couldn’t handle that.

Eddy glanced down at his cell phone and the GPS feature he’d called up. He pointed to the left. “I think we can get there faster that way.”

He was so relaxed, finding directions on his cell phone, showing Lee the way, while most of the time I still looked around at the outside world through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time.

My brother seemed to be a part of this world; he seemed to be normal.

I felt a twinge of envy.

Who was I kidding? Eddy
was
a part of the world. Eddy
was
normal. Something I could never be. My dad made sure of that.

“Is that it?” Lucas kicked the back of my seat. “Are we there?”

“Lucas, stop that.” I looked out past Lexie and Reese at the red-and-blue sign, my heart still pounding.

Maybe I really was simply excited about going to Costco.

Lee parked. We got the little kids out of their car seats. Rain was starting to come down, so Lexie carried Cara and I took Lucas and we all ran to the entrance, Eddy and Lee right on our tails. Lexie put Cara in a cart; I did the same with Lucas, and we went inside. Lee showed his Costco card to the attendant.

Apparently he was already a member.

The first section we encountered was a bank of televisions and computers. The latest animated Disney movie was playing, and Lexie pushed Cara closer so she could see the princess. She said, “You guys go on. I’ll stay with her for a bit.”

Lee frowned.

Did he want us to stay together? Was he that worried about the whole thing?

I said, “We’re fine in here. I’ll take Lucas and see what else we can see.” Then I remembered. “Wait.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out the money. “Everyone gets a twenty to buy something.” I gave Lexie twenties for both her and Cara, doled one each to Reese and Eddy, and held one out to Lee. “In case you need a snack.”

“Won’t.” He rubbed his belly and smiled. “They have samples.” He pointed at the money. “But I have the membership card so we have to pay together.”

I zipped the three twenties back into my jacket pocket. “Who wants to come with me and Lucas?”

Eddy and Lee stayed with Lexie and Cara, agreeing to meet me and Lucas and Reese up front when we were done. I pushed the cart past the televisions and into the clothing section. Reese immediately went to a stack of pink hoodies and started holding them up to herself.

I still had not gotten used to seeing all of us out of our stupid Compound uniforms, all those years of the girls in their matching velour tracksuits, me in my sweatpants and T-shirts. Ditching those had been liberating.

I told Reese, “That’s a nice color.”

Reese scrunched up her nose and put it back. “Maybe. I want to look some more.” As we passed a display of velour tracksuits, she glared, looking for a second as if she were about to spit on them, then moved on to a stack of jeans with sequins on the pockets.

The books and movies were adjacent to the displays of clothing, so I said, “Reese, I’m gonna take Lucas over there. Stay where I can see you.”

Reese didn’t look up. “Oh-
kay
, Eli. I’m not stupid.”

“Reese?” She was making me feel parental. “Can you please look where I’m pointing?”

She huffed, and then looked up at me through narrowed eyelids.

I pointed over at the books. She said, “Fine,” and went back to the jeans.

I rolled my eyes and pushed the cart toward the books.

Lucas said, “She’s salty today.”

I laughed. “She’s what?”

He repeated, “Salty.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

He said, “Els.”

“Figures. You’re right. Reese
is
salty today. Good word.” I held up my fist and he bumped it with his own. I stopped in front of a huge display of kids’ books. “Anything look good?”

He reached for a colorful book about trains, but couldn’t stretch far enough. I grabbed the book and handed it to him. There were novels at the other end of the row, so I said, “Hold on,” and pushed him farther down. There was a thick, new Stephen King I hadn’t read yet, and I picked it up to read the back cover. I read about two sentences and turned the book over to see the price. The suggested retail price was hidden by the Costco sticker that read $16.98. I had a brand-new e-reader at home, but I couldn’t get used to reading a book that way. Maybe things would change, but for the moment, I preferred the feel of a real book in my hands. And this one happened to be right within my budget for the day. I set it in the cart.

Lucas was still paging through the train book, so I just stood there, gazing at all the people and merchandise. A table was set up behind me with little white paper cups. A short woman with a clear plastic cap covering her dark hair noticed me looking and held one up. “Sample today! Dark-chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds in a three-pound bag.”