JONATHAN

Evelyn's sister separated from their group almost immediately after their samples came back from the lab. According to Jaycee, Liz was busy throwing herself into deciphering the newest volume of her father's journal that Evelyn had brought. Apparently, Liz always had a knack for languages and had taken up learning Cantonese since Evelyn had last seen her. No matter how many times Jaycee emphasized how brilliant Liz was or how close they believed they were to finding a cure, Jonathan could tell that Liz's absence bothered Evelyn even if she didn't say it.

Evelyn's sister had declined to share why she'd started going by "Liz" instead of "Beth", but they managed to get a partial answer out of Elliot when he gave them the grand tour of the colony.

"It's what Dayna called her," was all he said as they descended the staircase passing a group of other survivors carrying piles of freshly washed clothes, "I guess you could say it just caught on."

Evelyn had shrugged at him, "Who's Dayna?"

"Her girlfriend."

"Wasn't she dating—? I didn't know she had—"

"She doesn't anymore." Elliot had said quietly, "Dayna got infected a while back and... she didn't make it. Don't bring it up. Liz doesn't like to talk about it."

The rest of Elliot's tour revealed that each level of the colony's labyrinthian layout was dedicated to a specific function like sleeping, dining, or farming. The entire colony seemed to be devoted to research efforts for a cure. It seemed that most of the families had been relocated to Vancouver Island for safety while a few select individuals stayed on the mainland.

Adding on to the cascade of shocking news they'd gotten since arriving, Kevin and his mother had just received word that they would be leaving for the island by the end of the week.

"Liz has been working really hard to get your family on the list," Jaycee had explained to Evelyn, "The way it works around here is if you continue doing your due diligence, complete your tasks and make positive contributions to the society, your name moves up the list to get on a boat to the island."

After learning that Kevin would be leaving, Evelyn seemed to commit as much of her time as possible to hanging out with Kevin and Elliot to make up for the time that was lost. Even so, Jonathan could tell that there was something in her smile that didn't truly reach her eyes. Evelyn's grief over the death of her parents and grandmother hung over her like a dark, grey cloud. He knew she wasn't fine no matter what face she projected for the sake of her family but the strangeness between them had only grown since they'd arrived at her sister's colony, and he found himself spending more and more time getting to know their new surroundings to keep himself distracted from the fact that she could barely seem to look at him. Whenever anyone asked, she asserted that she was okay and that nothing was wrong, so Jonathan thought it best to give her space after all, he didn't know how he would have made her feel better and besides Kevin and Elliot seemed to be her designated cheer squad. There were moments where a joke Elliot told, or a comment her cousin made about someone's apocalypse fashion sense seemed to provide her with a glimpse of sunshine but then her expression would shift, and the sadness would consume her again.

He learned that Tobias and Tony, though twins, were complete opposites. Tony reminded him a bit of Cameron Kells back in River District not only that he was a few years older but Tony had that same boundless golden retriever energy and could always be found trying to sweet talk his way out of his responsibilities. Tobias on the other hand, took the "stoic soldier" stereotype to a whole other level with his stern expression and the fact that he seemed to enjoy communicating in a series of caveman-esque grunts that could only be deciphered by his brother.

Jaycee's calm and collected but down to earth demeanor marked her as the clear choice for leader of the colony. She looked to be in her late 40s and seemed to be something of a mother to all those in the colony, always reminding Tony to get back on task with a gentle amused smile or chastising Elliot for leaning or climbing on equipment that ought not be messed with.

They'd only been in the colony two days, when the Li siblings were summoned to Jaycee's office to say their goodbyes to Kevin and their aunt who would be joining a crew heading to the island.

When the three of them shuffled back into the dining hall for breakfast after the tearful goodbye, he was surprised when they came to sit down at the long dining hall table next to him.

"I'm going to miss Kevin's commentary," Elliot said sadly, finishing the heap of mashed potatoes on his plate in one overstuffed mouthful.

"It's for the best," Liz reminded him gently, "it's safer there. We will see them again because we will be going too soon enough."

Elliot nodded, "I know, I know. I just wonder what I'm going to do now that Kevin's not here to tell me if vests are in or out this season..."

Elliot spent some time chasing a pea around his bowl before pushing his chair back and announcing, "you think Doris'll take pity on me now that Kevin's gone and give me an extra portion of potatoes?"

A small smile spread across Evelyn's face, "I doubt it, Eli, you're not nearly as cute as you were when you were little, but you could always give it a try."

Elliot stuck out his tongue at his sisters, "I'm still cute, in fact I think I'm just adorable."

With that he marched off to go sweet talk Doris at the buffet line.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Liz glanced up at Evelyn and Jonathan, "You know it was supposed to be Elliot and Kevin, this time around but you saw the way Aunt Leena is now without Uncle Jack... Jaycee was saying that if she couldn't pull her weight here, the colony could vote us out. It's lucky she was able to get them on the list."

"Is it selfish that I'm glad he didn't go," Evelyn said after a moment, watching as Elliot made big puppy dog eyes at Doris' unimpressed face, "It's just I haven't seen you or Elliot in so long, I missed you both. I just want that time back. Liz, I haven't seen you since we got here and I—"

Jonathan found himself staring uncomfortably at the peas in his spoon and praying that his presence wasn't too much of an intrusion on the intimate moment.

Liz shook her head, "Evie, we will get that time, I promise. Ba's journal, it confirms something I was looking into. I... may have a theory about a cure. We are going to get off the mainland soon, I just need to—"

"Jonathan." Jaycee interrupted as she strode by their table, "can I have a word with you?"

Jonathan nodded, trying not to look too relieved at being saved from the conversation at his table. Quickly, he offered Evelyn and Liz an apologetic shrug and then got to his feet to follow Jaycee who was already heading back out towards the hall.

"Do you know what's going on with Evelyn?" Jaycee asked once the two of them were secluded in the hallway.

Her line of questioning surprised Jonathan and he shook his head, "I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

Jaycee raised an eyebrow at him, "because you know her best. She must have told you something..."

"She hasn't really spoken to me much since we got here."

"But knowing her, what do you think?"

"Why don't you ask Elliot or Liz?"

"They don't know her anymore... not like you do... What do you think?"

Jonathan heaved a sigh and met Jaycee's eyes, they were a striking shade of ice blue, that stood in contrast to her dark hair making them seem to glow like sapphires. Perhaps they would have looked cold on anyone else, but Jaycee managed to fill them with warmth and compassion.

"I don't want to assume anything," he responded, "but I guess she's just dealing with a lot right now. She just learned that her parents and grandmother are dead, she's trying to reconnect with her family that she hasn't seen in years and they're different than she remembers. Her aunt and cousin are gone now too when she barely got to see them. Her sister's been pretty busy..."

"That doesn't sound like you know nothing." Jaycee countered and Jonathan shrugged.

"I don't know, I can't say. We went through a lot to get here; I don't know if she's even fully processed all that yet." I know I haven't. Jonathan thought though he didn't say it aloud.

Jaycee nodded, a smile was playing on her lips. "I think she needs to go for a drive."

"What?" Jonathan asked, confusion etched on his face.

"A drive." Jaycee clarified, "It's something my dad and I used to do back in the day. When things got too heavy, he'd take me for a drive to help me clear my head."

Jonathan nodded slowly, beginning to catch her drift.

"You just let me know what you need from me and we can make it happen."

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"What's going on?" Evelyn asked, as the guards locked the gate behind her and she joined Jonathan in the old IKEA parking lot, "Jaycee said you needed to see me about something."

She was dressed in combat boots, a green utility jacket and a battered pair of jeans. She hadn't bothered tying her hair back and as her head tilted in curiosity, a few stray strands tumbled into her face. He'd always thought she was pretty, but he wasn't sure when she'd started to become seriously beautiful. It was... distracting to say the least.

He cleared his throat and held up the keys to the jeep, "We're going for a drive."

"Where? Why?" She demanded, her hands going to her hips suspiciously, "How did you even get those?"

"Special permission, just trust me, okay?"

"I don't know if I have to remind you but I kind of don't have my glasses anymore so my visions not really the best. I mean I can see but it's a bit blurry..."

"Relax," He said, "I'm driving."

She rolled her eyes but humoured him by climbing into the passenger seat. Once they had buckled their seatbelts, he produced his Walkman from his pocket and offered her an earbud which she accepted, still with the same look of suspicion on her face.

"Seriously, what's going on here, Johnson?"

"You've been under a lot of stress lately and I think it's time for some good old fashion, stress relief."

"You're not serious."

Jonathan nodded, turning the key in the ignition and easing the jeep out of the parking garage. "Oh, you know I never joke about R & R."

"But it's a waste of gas and it's risky and—"

"Hey Evie," He interrupted.

"Yeah."

"Just shut up and enjoy the ride."

They drove in relative silence for some time, just listening to the sounds of the music warbling through their ear buds.

It had been a while since Jonathan had been to their destination, but he had always had a keen sense of direction and soon he had pulled up in front. To his relief, the place had miraculously not been destroyed but he'd had a hunch that like, Sunrise Records, a place like this would similarly be left alone.

"Where are we?" Evelyn asked, "I didn't bring a mask—"

"It's okay," Jonathan said, holding open her door so she could climb out, "Trust yourself. We're just going to secure this place and we'll be fine. No big emotions."

As they stepped over the threshold of the little store, he heard Evelyn draw a tiny breath in surprise, "Jonathan... is this a bookstore?"

He had to suppress a smile as he watched her drag her fingers along the dust covered spines of the books that lined the shelves.

"I thought," he whispered, "I've showed you my collection, maybe you'd like to show me yours."

Though the emotions weren't on her face, he could see her eyes sparkling and suddenly he understood what Van Morrison had been on about in his song, Brown Eyed Girl.

It didn't take long for them to secure the store. Thankfully there were no Soulless on the premises and both the front and back exit featured a gate that could be easily secured with the zip ties that Jonathan had packed. The front window was easy covered by the Afghan that had been draped across one of the sofas in the back of the store and soon Jonathan found himself trailing Evelyn through the stacks as she pointed out her favourites. He wasn't much of a reader, but she seemed thrilled even when he mentioned that he'd seen some of the movie adaptations.

It was truly something to see Evelyn in her element and as she bounded down each aisle gesturing to some dusty book jacket with fiery passion her eyes, he wondered if this was how he looked when he talked about music. He hoped so.