Something is under my body, and I shift to my side to find Sam’s dad’s glasses. I hold them above my head, and I let the moon reflect in the lenses. I suck in a deep breath and whisper, “We’ll see each other again soon, Sam. I promise.” And then, when I think things can’t get much worse, it hits me almost harder than the blue force field. “Oh shit! Six’s address for when we meet. It was in Sam’s pocket. I’m so stupid! How are we going to find each other now?”

Over his shoulder, Nine says, “Don’t worry, Four. Things are happening for a reason. If we’re supposed to meet up with Six or Five or whoever, we will. And if Sam is supposed to still be a part of all this, he will be.”

Bernie Kosar jumps into the backseat in his beagle form and licks my cheek. I pat his head and let out a long-drawn sigh, in utter disbelief that after everything that’s gone wrong in the last forty-eight hours, I’ve also managed to lose the address Six had written down. I look out the window to see the wind is blowing to the north, and I wonder if it might be telling me something, or, at the very least, pointing me in the right direction as Six believes it’s done for her.

“Head north,” I say. “I think north would be good.”

“You got it, boss.” Nine steps on the gas and I look over at Bernie Kosar, who has curled up and fallen asleep.

We bury Héctor’s body at the bottom of the dam, where the white concrete meets the grass.

“He once told me that the key to change is letting go of fear,” I say, looking into the eyes of Ella, Crayton and Six. “I don’t know if I’ve let go of fear just yet, but the change is happening. It’s definitely happening. And I can only hope that you all can help me through it.”

“We’re a team,” Ella says. “Of course we will.”

After we say our good-byes, we climb the dam’s ladder. We stand on top of the dam, peering down into the valley and the lake. On the other side of the dam is a series of locks holding back a much larger lake, and I can’t help but think it’s a metaphor for the way I’m feeling right now. In front of me lies my past, small and distant and dotted with carnage, threatened to be flooded at any time. Behind me and my fellow Garde members, the future is massive and held back by unnatural forces.

I turn to Six and ask, “Do you know a John Smith in Ohio? Is he one of us?”

Her smile is wide. “I do know John. He’s Number Four.”