“We need two others. I know more of you may want to come, but there could still be another attack on this cavern. We want to leave you well armed and well guarded. If you think you can shoot, if you’re in exceptional physical condition, and if you can control your fear, then join me over at the door.”

Ethan sat on the stage between Theresa and Ben.

The boy said, “I don’t want you to go back out there, Dad.”

“I know, buddy. Between you and me, I’m not all that wild about it myself.”

“So don’t go.”

“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re the right things.”

He couldn’t imagine what was going through the boy’s mind. All the lies he’d been taught in school suddenly melting against the blistering heat of the truth. Ethan could remember his dad waking him from nightmares when he was Ben’s age, telling him it was just a bad dream, that there were no such thing as monsters.

But in his son’s world, monsters did exist.

And they were everywhere.

How did you help a boy come to terms with something like that when you could barely face it yourself?

The boy wrapped his arms around Ethan and squeezed.

“You can cry if you want,” Ethan said. “There’s no shame in it.”

“You’re not.”

“Look again.”

The boy looked up. “Why are you crying, Dad? Is it because you aren’t coming back?”

“No, it’s because I love you. So very much.”

“Are you coming back?”

“I’m going to try my best.”

“What if you don’t?”

“He’s coming back, Ben,” Theresa said.

“No, let’s be straight with him. It’s very dangerous what I have to do, son. It’s possible I won’t make it. If something happens to me, you take care of your mother.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.” Ben started to cry again.

“Ben, look at me.”

“What?”

“If something happens to me, you take care of your mother. You’ll be the man of the house.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

As Ethan kissed the top of the boy’s head, he looked over at Theresa.

She was so strong.

“You’ll come back,” she said, “and when you do, you’ll make everything about this town better.”

HASSLER

HASSLER

The nomad had planned to spend one last night in the wild, but the moment Hassler zipped into his bivy sack at the top of the pine tree, the realization hit: sleep would never find him.

He’d been out in the wild beyond the fence for 1,308 days. He couldn’t be certain, but by his estimate, Wayward Pines was just a few miles to the north, and now that the swarm of abbies had moved out of his path, he was in the clear to go home.