“You were right, Brooke. You were right all along.”

I was. But people still died because of me. I will have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life.

Finally, Bree lets me go. I can see the other trucks pulling up behind us, and see Ben emerge from one. He looks as frail as he did when we first got to know each other back in the prisons of Arena 1. But he has transformed since then. He is leaner, more muscular, and the sensitivity I could always see in his eyes seems to have hardened. Like me, survival has taken its toll on him.

Bree slips her hand in mine, pulling me back to the moment. I turn away from the trucks. As much as I want to see each of our friends arrive safely, I know my dad is waiting for me. I can’t prolong this anymore. It’s time to face him.

The soldier who’d been riding with me gestures past some palm trees.

“He’s over there,” she says.

Bree and I squeeze one another’s hands as we take small steps along the paving slabs. The vegetation grows thicker and lusher as we go, forming a thick canopy above that plunges us into cooling shadows. Then all at once, I see a figure.

We stop dead. There is a man down the path. He’s wearing a military uniform. His hair is completely gray. He stands with his hands resting just lightly behind his back. I know the stance. “At ease.” It is my dad.

I can’t get the words out. I try to call to him but the only noise that comes from my throat is a croak.

It’s enough for him to hear. He spins to face us. There is no denying it; though time has aged him considerably, the man standing before me is my dad.

“Brooke,” he gasps, staring at me like he can’t believe what he is seeing. “Bree.”

And then we’re running, both of us, full speed, finding reserves of energy from deep within our weakened bodies. Dad spreads his arms wide and we run into them. He sweeps us tightly into him. He feels so solid, so real. This is not the man in my dreams; this is my real dad, alive and strong.

I don’t want to show my weakness in front of him, but Bree is sobbing uncontrollably, and I just cannot hold back anymore. My tears begin to fall.

We’re all shaking with emotion. I clutch onto Bree and nestle my head into the crook of my dad’s neck, letting my tears drop onto his uniform one by one. It is then that I realize, for the first time in my entire life, my dad is crying too.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

We stay like that for a long time, holding one another and weeping. It is like we never want to let go.