Light (Gone 6)

Diana’s letter was much shorter. Just four lines.

Diana:

I’m sorry for hurting you. I know I did.

I’m most likely dead now, and I guess if there’s any kind of fairness in the afterlife I’m probably in hell getting roasted. But if that’s where I am, I want you to know, I still love you. Always did.

Love,

Caine

She read the letter over and over again. Each time crying. Each time laughing.

The news networks and the local TV stations all led with the same footage. An obviously moved, very pretty young woman with blond hair and alert blue eyes looking up. Eyes widening. Stumbling a little as she pushed back her chair and went around the table.

Shaky cameras turning too fast, following her as she ran to a boy at the back of the room who pushed through the press of people to reach her.

The embrace.

The kiss that went on for a very long time.

AFTERMATH 3

THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FAYZ

FIRST THERE WAS Caine’s patently false “confession.” Then there was the fact that the FAYZ Legal Defense Fund racked up three million dollars in its first two weeks. Then there was a judicial panel that took statements from eminent scientists and concluded that the FAYZ was in fact a separate universe and thus not covered under California law.

Finally, there was a shift in public opinion following the involvement of the two popular movie stars, the McDonald’s documentary starring Albert Hillsborough, the likelihood of a major Hollywood feature film, and the kiss seen round the world. Polls now showed 68 percent of Californians wanted no criminal charges brought against the FAYZ survivors.

The kiss alone would have wrecked the career of any prosecutor or politician who had anything bad to say about Astrid Ellison or Sam Temple.

The survivors by and large went on with their lives.

Three of them committed suicide.

An unknown number found their way to alcohol and drugs.

None were unscathed.

But most found a way to survive, as they had for so long alone. They rediscovered their families; they attended school and church; they attended counseling sessions. They walked through shopping malls in wonder. They were occasionally seen to break down crying in the middle of a grocery store.

The phrase “It’s a just a phase” fell out of use.

Lana went to Las Vegas to live with her parents. They refused to let her carry a gun. She eventually got used to it. Her powers were gone. When she cut her hand while peeling carrots, she couldn’t do anything about it. This caused her to laugh for a solid five minutes, during which her parents thought she’d lost her mind.

Dekka Talent’s family took her in, still not happy about her “lifestyle,” as they called it, but unable to summon the nerve to berate her. Dekka could no longer control gravity, except by virtue of being the most impressive person in any room she entered. Dekka made contact with Brianna’s grief-stricken parents and told them about their daughter. They gave her a photo of Brianna, which Dekka framed and hung beside her bed.

Edilio Escobar was reunited with Roger. It was months before Roger recovered, but Edilio waited. During a routine traffic stop for a broken taillight a highway-patrol officer checked the IDs of Edilio’s parents and announced that he would have to report them as suspected undocumented aliens. Then he recognized Edilio and insisted on putting out a call to fellow officers. Four other patrol cars pulled up, and it was made clear that as far as the CHP was concerned, they’d be damned if they would take any action against Edilio or his family. Edilio ended up signing autographs.

It took a while to organize a public memorial for the kids of the FAYZ. By the time it was held in Pismo Beach, California, many of the kids had scattered. But Sam, Astrid, Diana, Quinn, Edilio, and Dekka, as well as dozens of others, various celebrities, politicians, and locals, were there. Lana was not. She sent word that Patrick had an important deworming scheduled. Albert said he was busy taking meetings.

Sam was asked to speak and adamantly refused. He was mortally sick of being referred to as the hero of the FAYZ. Astrid had become the unofficial spokesperson for all of them, so she gave a short speech. In it she talked about Orc, Dahra, Duck Zhang, Howard, E.Z., Jack, Brianna, and Little Pete. Others too numerous to mention.

“There

were heroes in the FAYZ. My little brother was one of them, although he didn’t even understand the word ‘hero.’ And there were villains. Most of us were a bit of both.”

Orc’s parents did not attend.