“Being dead is not the worst. Being a traitor is.”

“Rose, they didn’t want to go without you,” Bullet interjected. “It killed them not to be able to wait. They almost didn’t go, but they had to, for the sake of the baby. They made the nurses leave instructions, directions. Even though it’s against network rules.”

“Instructions.” She sneered. “So I can try to find them again on my own?”

“Miig said if anyone could do it, it would be you,” Bullet offered. She looked to Nam, beseeching, as if Nam could help here. They just looked at their feet, still unsure of their place.

“Ha! They didn’t think I’d make it back.”

“That’s not true.” Jean limped into the light. “Not at all. They knew if anyone could get my boy back, it would be you. And they always knew you’d return.”

Everyone at the fire jumped. They hadn’t heard him approach. They’d already decided not to share the news of Frenchie’s resurrection and defection to the school army with him. If his son’s death hadn’t killed him, then this surely would. Bullet paid attention to the way he moved to see if he’d overheard.

“I knew it, too. Knew you were a fighter the second you showed up.” He smiled at her. His demeanor was calm, focused on making the girl feel better. There was no way he’d overheard the traitor part.

“And you know, my girl, you don’t have to go. You can stay here with us. I always wanted a daughter.”

This touched Rose. She hadn’t been anyone’s daughter for so long, hadn’t worn that title since she was a little girl, before her parents were hauled away and she was left hiding from Recruiters in her grandmother’s backyard. She’d hidden so well that it wasn’t until early the next morning that her great-uncle Jake found her while sneaking to his sister’s house through the back.

“Holy hell,” he’d yelled, hand over his heart, when her face appeared from between the pallets. “You scared the piss right outta me. What are you doing?”

She could do nothing but cry. It was the last time she’d shed tears until the day Minerva had died. Now it seemed like she couldn’t stop crying. When would things just stop so she could go back to the luxury of not crying? The truth was, she was the only one who could make it stop. She had to find a way to be at least okay, if not happy, or she would never stop. She would die, a dehydrated girl floating in a pool of her own tears.

Nam moved closer so that Rose felt their leg against her own. “This community is big, bigger than any I can remember seeing.”

Rose nodded, sniffling. “Mm-hmm.”

“If…if we stay, I think…I think it could work.” They watched as Rose wiped tears from her cheeks.

“Oh yeah?” She cleared her throat.

“I mean, no one even questioned me,” Nam continued. “They just shook my hand.”