Jake Morrison's Arc

Chapter 28 of 54

The doctor set both vials on the table and looked at Jake. "I can't do this here," she said. "To grow the antibody I need to spin the blood, keep it cold, work clean. I have none of that. If I try with what I've got, I ruin the sample. Then we have nothing." She held up the second vial. "This is all of you I can spare. Draw more and you'll be too weak to stand a fever." Jake stared at the small glass tube. His blood might save a city, and it could die on this table. He thought of the mainland shelter that already knew the island existed. He made his choice. "Then we don't waste it here," he said. "Pack it in ice. Keep it cold and safe. We send a group to the mainland for the real gear. A doctor there has what you don't." The doctor nodded and lowered the vial into a tin of shaved ice. Marisol's grip tightened on his hand. "Stay," she said. Her dark eyes did not blink. "You already went out once and came back with a bite. I'm carrying your kid. Stay with me." "I have to lead them," Jake said. "It's my blood." Marcus stepped between them, wrench swinging on his belt. He put a hand flat on Jake's chest. "No, man. Marisol needs you here. I'll lead the group." He grinned, but his voice was steady. "Stay with your girl. I know boats. I know engines. Let me do this one." Jake looked at Marisol, then at the ice tin, then back at Marcus. The scab on his arm pulled as he flexed his hand. He let out a slow breath. "Okay," he said. "You lead. Bring back everything the doctor writes down. Medical gear. And whatever else we're short on." Marcus laughed. "Medical supplies," he said. "And tequila. A man builds a whole island, he earns a drink." Sofia was already outside, kneeling in her garden. The rows had gone green and full. She pressed a young apple tree into a fresh hole, one brought on the last supply run, and packed the dirt firm around its roots. "Something that stays," she said when Jake passed. She wiped her hands on her overalls and smiled at him. By afternoon Jake had a hammer in his hand instead of a rifle. He and two others raised the wall of a new cabin near the docks, cutting boards for the survivors still without roofs. Marisol sat on a stump nearby, watching him work, one hand resting on her belly. Marcus loaded the skiff at dusk. The doctor gave him a folded list and the ice tin stayed behind, cold and guarded. Jake gripped his friend's shoulder. "Come back," he said. Marcus pushed off into the dark water alone with three men, carrying the one thing that could save them all.