I wrap my arms around myself, preparing for a long wait. What if Wyatt and Manny don’t come? It would mean something happened to them along the way.

But no, there they are, already sweeping toward me, the wake behind them making a perfect white V.

They’re all smiles as they help me aboard the Tardis. We did it. We got the barge loaded with propane and back to Sandusky. It seemed like such an impossible task when we first conceived it.

As we speed toward the marina, I allow myself to fill with hope. With warmth. Trey will be waiting for us at the bunker, along with Tanq and Emmaline. Weird how the bunker is already feeling a little like home.

Sure enough, they’re all outside the entrance to the tunnel. When the little dog sees me, she lets out a yip and plunges forward, practically wraps herself around my ankles.

“Up-up,” I command, and she leaps into my arms and laps my face, quivering with excitement.

“You made it,” Tanq breathes softly. “Every single one of you.”

“Missed me, did you?” Wyatt says.

She turns away. “Whatever.”

“Let’s get inside,” Manny says. “Not long until that tower comes back up.”

Minutes later we’re sitting on the bunks near the doorway to the kitchen, Trey and me on one, Tanq and Wyatt on the other. Manny stands between us, leaning against a bedpost. Emmaline sits at his feet, licking one of her paws. We’ve given Tanq the basic rundown of everything that happened during our barge-fetching mission. Talking about it makes me tired. I could fall over and take a nap this second.

“You’re really going to do this,” Tanq says, staring at the ground. “You’re going to drive right up to that tower and crash into it on purpose.”

“After pouring lighter fluid all over the coal and setting it on fire,” I remind her.

“If the weather holds, we’ll do it tomorrow,” Manny says. “Rain means the plan is off.”

“And you think you can drive up undetected,” she says.

“Not all of us,” I say.

“Just Paige,” says Trey. “She didn’t get the vaccine.” He stares at me. “She has to do this alone.”

“Yeah, I saw some notes about the hive mind thing in The Book of Manny,” Tanq says, with a chin nod toward the giant binder on top of Manny’s desk.

“You read that?” Manny asks. He seems both bothered and pleased.

“Some of it. That scrapbook of yours is . . . a lot. But I had plenty of time on my hands yesterday.”