“Lucas died doing a brave thing,” Ethan says. “I firmly believe that if he hadn’t done what he did, we would all be dead in that crummy little town.”

“Maybe so. I just… I don’t know. I thought things were going to be different. I thought we would survive this. I thought he and I were untouchable. He…he promised.”

“What did he promise?”

“I don’t know,” I say. I feel dumb for letting the words come out.

“You can tell me,” he says. “I’m not Gilbert.”

“How is he liking it?” I ask.

Ethan shrugs. “I haven’t really talked to him since we got here. I’m sure he’s glad to have his own place. That’s where he is all the time.” He clears his throat. “You uh…you were going to say…”

“Lucas promised me that we would survive this thing together. It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Ethan says.

“Those raiders made a liar out of him.”

“No they didn’t. He didn’t lie to you. In a way, he still survives…with you. You still love him. Use that love to help you carry on. Just because he passed, doesn’t mean you have to forget him. But most of all don’t be angry with him. And don’t let him die in vain by thinking of him as a liar or that he broke promises. He died to protect you. That is the highest honor he could give you.”

I don’t know what it is - his words, his look of sincerity - but for a brief second I see Ethan in a different light. More than a friend. I like the picture, but I’m having trouble believing it could be real. He is much like Lucas in the way that he seems to care for me without even knowing me that well, but he is a different person entirely.

“Thank you,” I say.

He shakes his head. “We’re a team. I don’t really know if Gilbert is on it, but with the town of Crestwood, our team just got a bit bigger.”

“I think Gilbert is on team Gilbert,” I say.

“He hasn’t left his apartment since he got here,” Ethan says. “I think you really spooked him the other day with your little vision thing.”

I was afraid the conversation would come to that.

“I know you probably don’t want to tell me about it,” he says. “I can respect that. But you have to admit, it seemed a little crazy.”

“What I saw was crazy.”

Ethan looks at me, his face still and his voice, quiet.

“I saw him die,” I say. “I had only expected to see a few minutes into the future, but I saw days apparently.”

“Were you and I there?”

“We were,” I say. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”