The Living

Shy wakes the next morning on the sailboat to find that Shoeshine has been up all night finishing a homemade sail to replace the boat’s tattered original sail. Marcus has managed to fix the radio, and Shy listens to a report describing the state of America: “The earthquakes had caused the disease to spread so rapidly among the western states that people were no longer allowed to travel east […]. The coasts of California and Oregon and Washington were essentially giant quarantine areas for now” (303). Shy knows that he needs to get the duffel bag of vaccines to “the right people” as soon as he can (304). He thinks about Addison, unsure whether he cares what happens to her. He finally decides that she can’t have known what her father did and puts the thought of her out of his head for now. He sits with Carmen and holds her hand, wanting “everything to go back to the way it was” (304). Shoeshine raises the new sail and finally begins steering them away from the burned island, setting course for California. Shy feels grateful to be alive and with his companions, and he looks out over