Free Atlantic Island by Fredric Shernoff

to survive.

Chapter 7

    The next few weeks went by quickly. Routine visits to Mark's hospital room had replaced much of the teens' aimless wandering. Mark's health remained the same, which Theo reckoned was better than getting worse. He was determined to cling to that notion, and he held it especially close when sitting in Mark's room listening to the regular noises of the life-support equipment.  
    Bill's moods had improved since discovering that Mark and Jamie were alive. Theo noticed that this was a combination of a confidence that Mark would get better, which Theo worried was bordering on delusion, and a profound connection that was developing between Bill and Jamie as their shared care and concern for Mark drew them to each other. Theo doubted Bill even realized it was happening, but that blossoming of feelings in the gloom of the ICU was very apparent, and very positive to Theo and Kylee.  
    There was no shortage of love in the air as July turned to August. Ryan and Michelle went off on quiet walks every day and sat on the beach every night, wrapped around each other in the moonlight. Theo and Kylee had begun spending evenings on the roof of the condominium. They had taken chairs and a small table from one of the lower balconies (Kylee called it "liberating" the furniture) and set them on the roof where they ate dinner every night that it wasn't raining.  
    The rains, which fell at least twice a week, often more, were violent and pounding, with driving winds that howled for hours. These torrents usually arrived without warning, and Theo and his friends had been caught in them many times and forced to run for shelter. Theo, though not a fan of being caught in one of these downpours, found that huddling in the penthouse or under a pavilion off the boardwalk was refreshingly peaceful. He especially enjoyed spending those periods of forced shelter with Kylee.
    He remained wary of his emotions toward Kylee, still refusing to commit with one hundred percent confidence to the idea that his feelings were natural and not tied to the extreme circumstances of the past few months. Even so, he had no doubt that he wanted her- her body, her hair, and all her mannerisms, even the toss of her hair had grown on him. Theo joked that given enough time his bangs would be long like hers and he promised to imitate her habit of tossing them back. This usually earned him a playful punch in the arm.  
    He knew, too, that he cherished his time with her. Kylee was funny, smart, and a curious mix of serious concern and a devil-may-care attitude. Their conversations went on for hours and he could trust that she could brighten his mood and set him to fits of hysterical laughter when he least expected it. He couldn't figure out what she possibly saw in him, and the doubting voice in the back of his mind assured him that their relationship could only exist in this situation where there weren't many other options.  
    There were other teenagers around Atlantic Island, but the monotony of post-Event life had served to shrink the groups (as evidenced by how much time Theo's group spent as couples) rather than combine them. They met others their own age occasionally, but had yet to spend any significant time with any of them.
    There was one cluster of teenagers that Theo had noticed several times. Three boys and a girl all covered in tattoos. Every time he saw them from a distance, they seemed to be doing something obnoxious. Sometimes they pushed past others in line, sometimes one would distract a stranger while his buddy would steal some of the stranger's rations. Theo marked these incidents in the back of his mind. He knew trouble when he saw it and the same part of him that felt compelled to assume responsibility for the well being of his friends continued to bark "warning!" at him every time he saw the thuggish teens even from a distance.  
    Flyers distributed at ration stations explained the various jobs available for signup. Theo and his