The coast guard boat is ready and waiting for us, a chain-smoking captain in a wrinkled uniform prepared to take us wherever we need to go. I let Walker fill him in and a few minutes later we’re off, bouncing hard over the waves. Across the water, I can see flashing lights from the New Jersey side, helicopters bobbing in and out of view. Looks like the military set up a perimeter over there too, really trying to make sure the Mogadorians stay contained in Manhattan. I look towards the city and find the place frighteningly calm. There are still Mogs there, I’m sure, patrolling the streets and maybe setting up a stronghold. I hope most of the residents managed to make it across the bridge and, if not, then I hope Sam’s right about the Mogs keeping them as prisoners instead of killing them. That means they can still be saved.

As Liberty Island grows larger in front of us, Daniela nudges me in the ribs.

“You’re meeting this dude at the Statue of Liberty?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“Man, that’s some real tourist shit.”

Pretty soon, we pull up at the Liberty Island docks. A half dozen ferry boats float there, empty, one of them with scorch marks along its side. The entire place is deserted; no one’s spending the invasion checking out the Statue of Liberty. It’s almost peaceful here. As we hop out of the boat, I try to get the lay of the land. I force myself to think like Five, wondering where the best place for an ambush would be.

I have to tilt my head up to take in the statue. We’re coming at her from the side holding the book. The gold-plated torch gleams in what’s left of the daylight. The big green lady sits atop a huge granite pedestal that in turn sits atop an even bigger stone base that takes up almost half the island. To the right, there’s a small park that looks perfectly maintained. He won’t be hiding in the park—that’s just not how Five operates.

The boat captain stays behind, but the rest of us stride along the dock towards the statue. I think about when I first met Five, how he picked some creepy monster monument in the backwoods to reveal himself. I guess the guy has a thing for landmarks. Or maybe that crummy wooden monster statue was a clue, a stand-in for the monster hiding inside Five. If that’s the case, I wonder what his choice of the Statue of Liberty means. Probably nothing, I think, reminding myself that Five’s a total nutcase.

Next to me, Daniela snickers. “You know, I’ve never actually been here. Lived in the city my whole life.”