“My parents are the good, decent people. If I have any good traits it’s because of them and how they raised me. They—they’re really kind, they were perfect. They tucked me in at night and they punished me fairly when I was wrong, they—they played with me and sat down to do my homework with me and they really truly loved me. They did everything right, they never embarrassed me.”

Rain stood there, taking that in. He tried to imagine what it was like.

“They—they talked to me and cared about what I had to say. They—they aren’t this.”

“They aren’t Fallen?”

“They aren’t! They’re… they’re scared. The world ended and they lost everything, we lost family and friends and everything they worked for, and they broke down a little. These people got their hooks in and my parents bought it. But they’re still the same people. They’ll turn around and realize how bad this is… won’t they?”

“I don’t know.”

Fresh tears spilled forth. She buried her face in her folded arms, brought her legs closer.

“You need to get out, save yourself first. Then you can try pulling them out.”

“I think if I do that, I’ll lose them forever,” she said, her voice muffled.

Rain wasn’t sure what to say.

He’d never really had family, certainly not like Erin had described.

Even if she lost them forever, at least she would be okay.

“My dad,” Erin’s voice was small, muffled.

“What?”

“He was there, while Tim said all of that stuff. Bryce too. He just stood there. Then he apologized for my behavior.”

Rain was lost for words. He felt a tear well up and out and wiped it away before Erin could see.

“I’m so sorry.”

“After Tim left, I freaked, and all my dad would say was that I shouldn’t have provoked him. He said I should go to church like Tim suggested. My dad, Rain. With Bry there.”

Rain reached out, then withdrew his hand.

“I can get a car,” Rain said. “I’ll borrow one, we can go for a drive. We’ll do whatever you want, find your favorite food, talk. Get away from this.”

“I don’t want to go out there,” Erin said. “Not like this. Can I stay here? Please?”

“Of course,” Rain said. Was it for the best? If she got in a car with him, he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop driving her away from this. He’d been born to this, but she hadn’t.

He still felt lost. He wasn’t sure what to do.

“Do you—can I give you a hug?” he asked.

She didn’t even answer. She rose to her feet, walked up to him, and wrapped her arms around him, face buried in his shoulder.