“Paige, it’s a theory,” Trey says. “No, worse. It’s a preliminary hypothesis which needs further observation and study before we know it’s true.”

“Then I guess we better start experimenting,” I tell him.

We all argue for a bit, but they come around. None of us wants to give up. We’re still going to take down that tower somehow, which means we still need that barge.

If any of the others have figured out that I’m also the only one who can drive the barge into the tower undetected, they haven’t mentioned it yet.

I swear this is the coldest, cloudiest April ever

TREY DOESN’T KISS ME GOOD-BYE BEFORE I HOP INTO THE TARDIS for my quick trip to the barge. But his fingers brush my hair from my face and linger on my cheek for a bit. He says, “I have something to be scared of all over again. Something to lose.”

I nod, understanding exactly. I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to him on the way back to the bunker. “Caring is scaring,” I quip, but I can’t even crack a smile.

Neither does he. Instead, Trey yanks me toward him and wraps his arms tight around me, his cheek resting on the top of my head. “Please be careful,” he says.

He lets me go so abruptly that I stumble. He turns and strides away toward the El Camino without looking back once.

Within moments, Wyatt, Manny, and I are speeding toward the barge in the Tardis. My ears hurt from the chill, and my face feels chapped. But I’m warmer today because I traded the hoodie sweatshirt soaked in Wyatt’s blood for a long wool overcoat I found in a closet at the beach house. It’s something I never would have worn before the apocalypse. I feel like a giant, brown box.

The barge looks odd as we approach, crooked.

“Those troughs are lying too low in the water,” Manny shouts over the sounds of engine and spray. “Storm nearly swamped them.”

He’s right. One in particular is barely above the water line.

We jump aboard the towboat. Manny orders me to turn the ignition to power everything up and then lock myself into the bridge cabin while he and Wyatt disappear into the deep belly of the ship. “We’ve got to find the barge pump,” he says. “This will take a few minutes, so hang tight.”