Shouts rang up from the distance. Dominic was leading a pack of their friends down the street. He was running, trying to keep up with Ms. Cowan, who had to be as screwed up with mixed emotions as Trish. They all looked pissed and ready for war.

We’re on the right path.

Jackie agreed. As strongly as she’d ever uttered anything in her life, she spoke two words for her friends and all the world to hear.

“We’re coming.”

Roxy handed him a metal bowl, hot to the touch, filled with a gorgeous stew that smelled so good it brought tears to his eyes. They sat next to a fire—she had insisted on calling it a “campfire,” a word better suited to their fun adventure, she liked to say. He didn’t care. He wouldn’t have cared if they’d given the flames a stupid name, like Casey. Brent. Jeffrey. Whatever. It was warm, it cooked food, and the food was tasty.

“We’re going to have a lot of time to get to know each other,” Roxy said after a swallow of stew. “You know? So I’m not going to do that old lady thing and constantly ask you questions. No, sir, I won’t do it. When you want to tell me about your life, then, why, you just go ahead and tell me about it.”

She nodded stiffly—as if convincing herself, not him—then took another bite of dinner.

He thought he’d throw a surprise at her. “Well, what about your life? I wanna hear every little detail. Leave nothing out.”

She stared hard at him, the stew on her spoon sliding back into the bowl.

“Minho, you’re teasing me. That’s not very nice. You shouldn’t tease a cool, level-headed, middle-aged lady like yours truly. No, sir. Really gives you a bad look.”

Minho made a sound that might be a chuckle in other civilizations. “I’m not teasing, Roxy. I haven’t teased anyone since I was saved from the Flare pits as a baby. Tell me about stuff. I’ll open up eventually, but you gotta set the example.”

“Well, that’ll work just fine, young man.” She beamed, a face lit up with a sincerity and genuineness he’d rarely—if ever—seen back at the Remnant Nation.

“Let’s hear it, then.” He scraped the last bits of stew from the bowl, licked the spoon clean, then settled back and put his hands behind his head. “I apologize in advance if I fall asleep.”

Despite that, she started.