There were spots where he could tell the old homes had been torn down to make way for something new post-zone. He could see the rooftop of a large warehouse not far away, and it looked like a large swath of homes had been cleared to make way for a dirt parking lot, where several old cars sat.

Ethan skidded to a stop suddenly. He was out of breath, clearly not used to running. “You two need to go.” He pointed toward the rear of the compound. “Straight back. Just climb the wall once you get back there; it’s not hard.”

“Are you sure?” Maisie asked. “We—”

An explosion rocked the earth, making them all jump. Lennon instinctively reached for Maisie’s hand, but she was already pulling out her gun. Smoke rose from a building a street over. He could hear yelling nearby.

“Yes, go,” Ethan said. “It’s too late for you to help. Just get him out of here.”

Maisie took a step back with a nod. Lennon pulled out his gun.

“Don’t—” Ethan winced. “Try not to shoot anyone, okay? Or shoot them in the leg or something.”

“Of course,” Lennon said.

Another explosion. Ethan whirled around, and then took off. “Straight back!” he yelled, pointing.

“Thank you!” Lennon yelled after him. “For everything.”

“Don’t thank me yet, my dad might still kill you!” he called over his shoulder.

“Damn, he could have just said ‘You’re welcome.’ ”

“Come on. We’re getting you to that gate,” Maisie said.

Another explosion, this one on the other side of the compound. Lennon’s chest squeezed, and not just because of the imminent danger.

He was leaving Maisie in this. He was about to waltz through that gate back to his life, and he’d have no idea what was going on inside the walls. She was headed straight back into battle. He was headed to a nice room at CDC quarantine.

“Lennon,” Maisie said, clearly not for the first time. She was several steps in front of him.

“Sorry.” He broke into a run.

They turned a corner, and Maisie came to a sudden stop. Lennon bumped into her, putting a hand on her waist to keep from toppling them both. She pushed him back, so they were partially hidden behind a tree.

“I think that’s…” She trailed off, nodding at something ahead.

It was Ethan, standing next to an older man almost as tall as him. Lennon recognized the man’s angular, bearded face from photographs. Jonathan Spencer.

“It is,” Lennon whispered.

Jonathan said something to Ethan, and then roughly grabbed him by the arm. They walked across the street, into the warehouse.

“What the hell?”

Lennon slowly turned at the sound of the familiar voice.

Declan stood in front of them, his gun pointed at their faces.

MAISIE

MAISIE LAUNCHED HERSELF at Declan before he could shoot Lennon. She’d seen the moment he decided, when he started to turn the gun toward him.

Given that Lennon hadn’t raised his gun, he had missed it.