Chapter 31: Alexis

Chapter 31: Alexis

A surprise ringer candidate, who had only entered the mayoral campaign at the last leg of the mayoral campaign, had won. Her name was Maria Straub, and from what I could gather from her acceptance speech on the stage, she was the daughter of a wharfman. She had put herself through college by working two jobs, earning a scholarship, and taking care of her father’s business all at the same time. She had managed to do all that while staying in Fiddler’s Green.

Amidst the fireworks, the cheers of the crowd, and the music blaring from the stage, I had forgotten for a few seconds that I had potentially just stopped. The electricity running through the crowd induced me to become a part of it, if only for a few seconds. I knew the girl, Maria. She and I had been in college together. Maria was my senior back then and was one of the only few people in the college to ever be kind to me. Once, I asked her to tutor me in economics, and she obliged. I’d gotten a B on that exam. She was a good person, one of the few pure souls that this town had.

She was giving a speech on the stage now. I could listen to it for a few seconds. I’d just disabled the antenna. I deserved a reprieve for a while.

“I was a part of this town growing up, and I grew up in the shadow of poverty, crime, and depravity. What could have been a flourishing seaside metropolis was turned into a den of drugs, disease, and debauchery. I am part of the new generation, the generation that wishes that things would be different. Now, we’re going to enact the things that we always wanted to see!”

And with this, the crowd erupted into a tirade of loud cheers that rang in my ears. Apart from a penchant for alliteration, Maria was a good orator. I expected that without any further ado, she would do what she said instead of making false promises like Maurice.

But that was the extent of the window of attention I could give to her. I had surmised that the crowd loved her, that she was honest and passionate, and that she would be a good change for Fiddler’s Green.

Now I had to save Fiddler’s Green so there would be a town left for her to be mayor of.

Someone tapped me on my shoulder from behind. Thinking it was Vincent, I wheeled around only to find Maliha standing there. “I couldn’t just run, not while I knew you were in danger.”

“Good of you to come back, but I disabled the antenna,” I said, racing past the crowd as Maliha struggled to keep up with me. There was hardly any time.

“I’m sorry. You know I get afraid easily,” Maliha said.

“Right now is not about you, Maliha. I need to be able to escort the bombs away,” I said. “Somehow, we have to take the bombs and send them out into the sea. Better a few fish dead than thousands of people, right?”

“Can I do anything to help?” Maliha asked.

I stopped pacing and stood there, staring at her. It just so happened that I did have something for her to do.

“When I sail out into the sea, you can go back and turn the generator back on. Make sure the antenna comes back online. If not, there will be a new kind of riot where people will go into a frenzy if they can’t get their cell signals,” I said. Truth was, it was not something that needed to be done immediately; it was just busy work to make Maliha feel like she was contributing. I needed her away from me and the bomb I was carrying. This was for her safety.

“I got you,” she said, then turned around and headed to the generator. She looked back over her shoulder a bit morosely, then waved at me as if she thought that this was our final goodbye.

“Don’t be like this. We’ll see each other again,” I said, waving back at her.

When she finally turned around for good, I headed to the docks, where I could see the pack members assembled. From the looks on their faces, I could tell that they were still holding on to the bombs.

There were plenty of ships moored at the docks, most of them with motors and engines, but I couldn’t use any of them. They belonged to other people, and most importantly, I didn’t know how to operate them. The only ship that I knew how to operate was Will’s, and it was moored at the far end of the dock. I even knew where he hid the key.

“Follow me!” I waved at the pack members. I took out the bomb from my jacket and looked at the timer. The bomb was going to explode in fifteen minutes. The pack members ran after me as I headed down the docks, away from the crowd. At this time of night, there was no one at the docks apart from the pack.

“What’s the plan, Lexie?” Vince asked, running to keep up with me. He was holding three bombs in his hands, barely able to keep them balanced.

“Will’s ship. We’re getting all the bombs on it, and then we’ll turn it on and send it out to sail in the sea. Hopefully, after fifteen minutes, the bombs will be far away into the sea, and they won’t be able to hurt anyone.”

“Lexie, I don’t know if you know this, but that’s not how things work. That stuff only happens in the movies,” Vince said.

“I don’t have a lot of stuff to draw from, do I? This is a fucked up situation,” I said, hopping into Will’s ship.

One by one, the pack members began throwing the bricks of bombs onto the ship’s deck. They stepped away and ran as far back as they could to the other end of the docks as if they were expecting the bombs to blow up any second. I looked at the timer on the bomb I had in my hand—still, thirteen minutes to go.

I took the key out of the tiny potted plant he’d hung by the wheel. I put it in the ignition and turned it. The ship’s engine roared to life. Will had shown me how to operate the ship time and time again, and I hoped that I remembered what he had taught me.

I looked at the settings on the big board by the wheel. None of them had any autopilot stickers next to them.

I went back outside and looked at Vince. He could already read from my facial expressions what I was about to say.

“There’s no autopilot option,” I said.

“I know,” Vince nodded gravely.

“We can’t just blow up the ship in the docks.” Both of us knew what had to be done. It was just very difficult for me to put it into words.

“You should get out of the boat. If anyone has to take it out of the harbor, it has to be me. Face it, what do I have to live for? My dad’s dead. My grandfather’s an evil cunt. I don’t have any other relatives left. If I can be a hero at this moment, let me be one. For the pack.”

I shook my head. “No. You’re wrong. You have so much to live for. You are young. You have Will. The entire pack is your family. I cannot ask you to sacrifice yourself.”

“Come down from there. We’ll push the boat, and it will sail into the sea by itself,” Vince said. I could see that he was invested in this idea. It was just that I knew better; this wouldn’t work.

“Okay, I’m coming down,” I said, faking and moving away from the ship. When Vince turned away to go back to the ship, I went back behind the wheel before he could jump onboard, turned the engine on, and wheeled the ship around. I accelerated it to move away from the docks.

Behind me, I could hear the pack yelling, especially Vince, saying, “Lexie don’t! Come back, please!”

There was no coming back from this. Even if I put some weight on the accelerator and tied the wheel to aim for the sea, the ship wouldn’t just go there by itself. The wheel would come free, and the ship would rear towards town. I couldn’t afford that risk. Someone needed to be behind the wheel at all times.

It wasn’t some sacrifice that I had pre-planned. It came to me while I was standing on the ship. Saving the pack and the town would ensure a new start, the turning of a new leaf, for everyone.

I didn’t want Will to know about this. He would do everything in his power to stop me. Even if he were to jump from the cliff and swim toward me, there wouldn’t be any time. The bombs were about to blow in ten minutes. Hundreds of bricks of C4 strapped together sat on the deck behind me, all of them blipping and bleeping. I wondered how extreme the explosion would be, then realized it wouldn’t matter.

I’d be dead the minute the first bomb went off. There wouldn’t be much pain—only a little bit of remorse. I wanted to spend my life with my mate. But at least when I’d go to the afterlife, I’d have my parents and grandparents with me. I would wait for Will there patiently.

I looked back and saw that the docks were a safe distance behind. Below, the sea was deep, and the waves were still. It was a good night, as far as nights went. All the hundreds of stars in the quiet sky reflected on the surface of the ocean. Fireworks above the town in celebration of the new mayor. Distant music blaring from the town square.

A promise of a new life for the townsfolk. Tomorrow, a new day would dawn, and things would be better. I just won’t be there to see it.

As I accelerated the boat and headed deeper into the sea, I wondered what would happen to Will. Would he live despite the pain of losing his mate? Did he deserve such a fate? I felt terrible for all the times in the recent past that I had rejected him and shunned him, and all for what? Because he had said Ariana’s name. If I could go back in time, I would accept him the moment he came to me in Bangor. It would give us some more moments of love and joy, if not an entire lifetime.

As the bombs’ timer reached five minutes, my body froze, and the memories from my past started playing again.

This time, however, the most prominent memory that stood out from the rest was when Will and I were driving in his new Jeep back from Vermont. We had been holding hands the entire way home. He kissed me deeply every chance he could get. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel those kisses on my lips.

We talked a lot on the way back. Mostly about what we’d do when we finally got married.

“I could take you on a worldwide honeymoon,” Will had said.

“Why does it have to be worldwide?” I’d asked.

“Well, I reckon you’d want to visit the more exotic places like India, Turkey, and Persia. You always said that you wanted to visit the East,” Will said.

We were on the last leg of our journey by then, with Fiddler’s Green just a few miles away. The weather, for once, was clear, cool, and calm—no stormy skies. Just the blue canopy of the world dotted with tiny clouds.

“Do you always remember everything that I say?” I’d asked.

“Always,” Will responded. “I know how you once said you’d love to ride an elephant in India. Of all the animals in the world, you mentioned elephants. Did you know that I had a chronic fear of elephants?”

“How could you fear such cute creatures? Look at their tiny little tusks and their squiggly ears!” I’d protested.

“Do you know they can crush a human’s skull just by stepping on it?” Will had asked. He had looked so genuinely concerned for his safety in the vicinity of elephants that I’d burst out laughing.

“Okay, you can look from afar as I ride one,” I had said once I’d stopped laughing.

It was such a clear and spontaneous memory that sprung from the reserves of my mind. I smiled as I recalled it, no longer scared for my life at all. It would all be all right. Somehow, things would find a way to be A-Okay.

Now, the timer on the bombs said two minutes. In two minutes, a massive explosion would rock the surface of the sea, and the entire town would know that their lives had been saved. I would die a hero.

I pulled my foot away from the accelerator and killed the engine, stepping away from the controls and onto the deck. Even if I started throwing all the bombs overboard, I’d never make it in time.

“Mother, father, I’m coming to you,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and waited for it all to be over soon.

Alexis? Will called out.

I wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let go. If he were here, I’d plant a thousand kisses on his face and hold onto him forever. But since he wasn’t here and since he was dealing with Fred, it was better that I didn’t respond to him. If he didn’t know, he’d be spared the pain.

I took out my phone and looked at Will’s picture on my wallpaper, staring at his kind eyes and his handsome face, feeling lulled into a sense of comfort by his image staring back at me.

The timer on the bombs said one minute.

In less than sixty seconds, I would cease to exist, and the town would be safer for it.

This was how it had to be.

I love you, Will. Now and forever, I called out.

In that final moment, my bond with Will tugged at me with such brute force that I nearly toppled off the boat. It beckoned me to survive while there were still a few seconds to reconsider.