Page 55 of If They Knew

“So, how do you and Sara know each other?” asks Julie, breaking the silence. Thankfully, Sara answers.

“I met Kelly—actually, at the time I met ‘Sophie’,” Sara says. I shift my attention back to the table to listen. “At the facility. My mother was also a patient there. My mom also had a personality disorder, and her alternate personality was extremely depressed and kept trying to commit suicide. Anyway, while I was visiting my mom one day, I met Sophie. She was playing a board game with other patients, and she was the only other person in the room who looked to be around my age. I asked the nurses if I could play with her, and they said it was okay.

“The first thing ‘Sophie’ told me was that she was there for killing her best friend's husband after he had murdered her. She then told me that her husband would be back at any moment to pick her up and take her home. Sophie fascinated me and the doctors all thought it was a good idea that having someone my age, the same age as Kelly, could potentially help… how do I say this, umm… bring Kelly back to her own self.” Sara looks over to me, making sure I'm doing okay. I nod, and she continues.

“Eventually, something worked, and Kelly came back. At that point, I almost had to start over again, because ‘Sophie’ knew me, but Kelly didn’t. Anyway, we’ve been friends ever since. After Kelly was released from the facility, she moved in with her aunt, who didn't live too far from where I lived. To this day, Kelly is my closest friend. She was there for me when my mom passed, and I’ve always been there when she needed me, and that will never change.” Sara walks over to me and gives me a tight hug, and it takes everything in me not to start crying again.

“Thank you, Kelly, for trusting us with something so personal, and thank you, Sara, for being there for her,” says Mary, pulling me from my thoughts.

After they all ask me a few more questions, we all exit Paradise Cove and then head back toward the medical center. It was absolutely terrifying to tell everyone my truth, but I'm glad I did. Now all that’s left to do is figure out how the hell to get off this damn ship.

31

TYLER

That was a lot to process. I never would have, even in my wildest dreams, imagined Kelly sharing all of that with me. I don't ask her any questions as we walk back to the medical center; I can only imagine how overwhelmed she must feel after revealing her past. I give her space, and when the time is right, we can talk more about everything when we're alone.

Once we arrive at the medical center, Sara and I make a plan. The day is halfway over, and with only so much daylight left, we ask Julie and Mary to stay with Theo and ask Chris to gather all the passengers so we can figure out our next steps for survival.

Once everyone is in the medical center, I do a headcount, and only thirty-six people are here, a shocking number compared to just months ago. I look around the room at all the faces. Only one person worries me: Brent. I don't trust him at all. The scowl on his face as he stares at me hints at what might be going through his mind. Not letting Brent intimidate me, I turn away and focus my attention on Sara, who is standing in front of everyone.

“Everyone, listen up,” she shouts, loud enough to make everyone stop and face her. “We need to get this ship cleaned so we can make the space livable while we wait for rescue.”

“When the hell is rescue coming? If we haven't been rescued by now, we’re never getting rescued,” says a man from the back. I look to see who said that, and when I realize it’s Brent, I roll my eyes. I knew he was going to be an issue.

“Then go jump off the fucking ship and see who gets rescued first. If you are going to complain and cause issues, leave. We don't have enough supplies or energy to waste on convincing you to stay.” Sara stares Brent in the eye while speaking directly to him. Brent, wisely, doesn't argue with her and remains silent. I smirk; impressed. She said what I wanted to and seems to be a natural-born leader. My father would have loved her guts.

Now that she has everyone's attention again, she gives direct orders: clean the medical center. Dump the bodies. Bring all the food and water on the ship to the medical center to keep everything in one place. Once she’s finished, we all spring into action, each of us going our separate ways.

It doesn’t take us long to get the place clean. The first thing we do is remove the dead bodies. I help carry the bodies to the 4th floor at the broken railing. When I step outside onto the deck, the crisp, cool air is refreshing as it blows across my skin. As each day passes, the temperature drops a few degrees, hinting that winter is quickly approaching. A few passengers who helped with disposing of the bodies months ago volunteer again to toss them over. One by one, we toss each body into the water. Before all the bodies are tossed, I head back inside to the medical center and see if anyone else needs help.

“This is all the food that we could find,” says Chris, setting down a very small amount of canned food.

“We will have to make it work,” I say, unsure of what else to say. Chris just stands there, looking at me as if he expects me to give him an order. I glance around the medical center at everyone doing what they can to clean up the mess, and look back at Chris. “Do you mind keeping an eye on Theo, and telling Julie and Mary to meet me out here?”

“Sure thing.”

Chris walks over to Theo, and I wave down Sara and Kelly. Sara, Kelly, Mary, Julie, and I check out the remaining food. We quickly realize our biggest problem is how to ration the small amount of canned food left, since it definitely won't last long. There are only so many ways to split up the food.

While we’re trying to figure out a fair way for everyone to eat, Chris rushes over. “Theo is awake!”

Oh, thank god. I look at Julie, expecting her to share my excitement, but I'm surprised to see that she’s crying. She lifts her eyes and her gaze meets mine.

“I'm sorry,” she says, wiping away the tears. “They’re happy tears.” I’m not sure what to say. Instead of saying anything, I turn on my heel and head to Theo’s room.

Theo looks much better than I expected. He still has a large bandage covering the wound. I can’t help but think that it could have been me in that bed instead of him. It’s not hard to imagine when I’m staring at him, it’s like looking in a mirror. While I’m standing there, staring, he looks up at me and tells me to come over. I stand there unmoving for a moment, then Kelly walks up behind me and gently nudges me.

“Go to him,” she whispers in my ear. We both walk over and sit down. Julie and Mary follow shortly after. We chat for a while; I joke and tell Theo he's been in a coma for weeks. He almost has a heart attack before I tell him the truth– that it’s only been hours.

While we’re talking, one of the guys helping toss the bodies comes running in, screaming about fish. He explains that while they were throwing the bodies overboard, someone spotted a large fish. My first thought is it had to be a shark, since they were throwing bloody bodies into the water. Then he starts talking about catching fish for food. We’ve tried catching fish before, but we’ve never used bait before before—maybe that’s the missing piece?

“We were just talking about the food supply,” I say.

“What about food?” asks Sara, walking in. Before I can answer, Theo speaks up.

“I think it's a great idea, Jordan,” he says to the guy. Jordan, that's his name. See, that's why Theo is a good leader. He remembers the important things, like names. “But, how are we going to catch any fish without fishing rods or hooks?” He makes a good point.

“Let’s ask what everyone thinks. Maybe someone can help come up with an idea,” I say.