But even this is not enough for me to celebrate. Nor is the moment when Charlie and Bree’s friendship blossoms into first love, nor when Zeke and Stephan are rescued from Memphis, nor the moment when I am finally able to look Ben in the eye and tell him that I love him, that I finally can be with him in the way he wants me to be.

The point when I am finally able to smile for the first time comes a whole year later.

*

It is a week before the newly formed American army begins mobilizing into the deserts, and a month after the first full, reestablished communication device between the different compounds becomes fully operable. I’m sitting in my bedroom in my dad’s house. Ben’s asleep in my bed, his hair mussed up. Sunlight streams through the curtains, illuminating his pale torso, making him look more beautiful than ever. There’s a faint knock at my door.

“Come in,” I say.

Bree tips her head around the door. When she sees Ben asleep in my bed, she turns bright red.

“Yes?” I ask her, amused by her embarrassment.

“Dad wants to see you,” she says.

Ben stirs and, realizing he is revealing a little more than he’d like, quickly pulls the cover up to his armpits.

“Hey,” he says to Bree.

She just turns around and darts out the door.

I go over to Ben and bring my arms around his neck. Then I lean down and plant a slow, lingering kiss on his lips.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” I say. “Did you sleep well?”

“Perfectly,” he replies. “What did Bree want?”

“She said Dad wanted to see me,” I say, getting up from the bed. “Coming? I’ll make you breakfast.”

Ben grins and slips on his clothes.

We go through the corridor of the bungalow and find Dad in the kitchen. Bree is sitting at the table with him. He smiles when he sees the both of us.

“What is it?” I say. “Bree said you wanted to see me.”

“I do,” he replies. “I’ve got some news for you. Sit.”

I exchange a glance with Ben, then we both take a seat.

“I received a call from a compound in California today,” Dad begins. “They told us that the arena there has fallen. The city has been reclaimed.”

I gasp.

“That was the last one?” I say, feeling my heart begin to thud.

Dad nods. “It was the last one.”

I can hardly believe it. It’s real. America has finally been rid of its arenas. No more fighting will ever take place in them again.

Dad steps forward and gives me a long hug. In that hug, I can feel all the years of grief, of agony, begin to melt. I can feel a new beginning forming.