We ride until nightfall. The uphill rides are the worst, but after the initial mountain, the little rolling hills seem like a joke. My calves and thighs burn; my blonde hair sticks to the back of my neck. When I wipe my sweat off, it's ashy gray from the fire. When Stephen says we should stop, Isaac jumps off so fast he trips, stumbling to catch himself.

"We will take turns guarding in pairs," Stephen says as Isaac and I sit down to rest. "Clare and I will go first, so you two can sleep."

Neither of us argue.

As we spread our stuff out, I notice that no one brought a sleeping bag. Clare has a blanket, a change of clothes, a jacket and some food. Stephen's pack is even lighter. He carries a pack of matches, a change of clothes, a canteen of water, and a picture of a woman and Jackson. My sleeping bag is back at the Al-Ma, crammed full of food.

Already, the temperature is dropping.

"Anyone know how to build a fire?" I ask, shivering, "We might freeze if we don't. We aren't very prepared."

"I can," Isaac says, walking off to the line of trees beside us.

My stomach growls, and I clamp a hand over it. The three granola bars that Clare has stashed will not be enough for all of us; so I just need to get over it.

"We were gonna leave tomorrow," Stephen says, watching me eye the food. I glance up at him, raising my eyebrows. "Some people didn't want us to send you back. Said there wasn't any point in and tryin' to save everyone. They said that we made it this far survivin' on our own, we would make it through this too."

I take a deep breath as he pauses, picking at a blade of grass.

"But just this morning, we voted to leave tomorrow. We were making a list of supplies you would need when Ollie called a break. I wasn't supposed to come. We were gonna send Mandy, Justin, and Clare. I was supposed to stay with Jackson."

The tone in his voice is full of remorse and loss. There's a little bit of anger, but it isn't aimed at me. Staring up at him, I breathe deeply, sucking in the cold air from around me.

"I'm sorry we brought you into this," I mutter as Isaac returns, arms full of scrawny twigs.

"You didn't do this," Stephen continues, handing Isaac his matches, "This ain't your fault, kid."

Isaac lights the fire then, and automatically, the air around us heats up. We fall into silence, watching the sun set behind us.

"Sleep, Jay," Stephen continues, walking off to sit by Clare on the edge of the pavement. I spread my jacket out over the ground, laying down with my hands behind my head. The fire beside me is warm, and my eyes droop in a matter of seconds.

"Will you be my pillow?"

My eyes pop open, looking shocked at Isaac who is sitting beside me.

"Excuse me?"

"Can I use you as a pillow?"

I laugh.

"I thought that's what you said. Sure, whatever."

He smiles back at me, stretching out perpendicular to me with his head propped up on my thigh.

"I'm hungry, Jay," he whispers, eyes closed.

"Yeah, me too."

"I think I've been hungry since we left the compound," he continues, breathing deeply, "The food was terrible, but at least we got enough."

My hand moves to his head, stroking his hair with a smile.

"You'll have to be hungry a little longer," I say as I pet him, "There's not enough for all of us. I want Clare and Stephen to have it for the trip back."

Isaac sighs, nodding. He thinks he understands, but I don't think he quite catches the drift of what I just said. 

Like always, Isaac is out in a matter of minutes; so, I let my hand fall, eyelids drooping into my own restless sleep.

"Jay."

I jump awake, coming face to face with Stephen. Rubbing my eyes, I shake Isaac by wiggling my leg. His mouth is half-open, neck bent at an odd angle.

"Time to switch?" I ask, stretching as Isaac moves. Stephen nods, sitting down.

Around us, the night continues. It is some of the darkest black I've ever seen. There are no streetlights, the moon is covered in clouds. I can't even see the stars through them. As Isaac and I take up our spot at the road, I wonder how in the world we would even see something if it attacked us. If it wasn't for the fire, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I hear crickets and cicadas in the trees behind us, and an owl synchronizes with their music. I'm reminded of the knock-knock joke I told Howard what seems like ages ago.

"Isaac."

"Yes, Jay?"

"Let's play a game."

I glance over at him, watching his mouth turn up into a smile.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I Spy."

He snorts, holding back his laugh. He nods, pinching his lips together.

"I spy something black."

"Is it the sky?"

"Got it. I spy something else black."

Isaac laughs out loud, turning his face completely this time.

"The road."

"You're awesome at this," I say, smiling at him.

Our little game goes on for a while, with me just telling him that I spied something black and him naming off another random thing around us. Eventually, he runs out of things to answer, and we fall into a bored sort of sitting. I doze off, snapping my eyes open every few seconds.

When the sun rises finally, I could jump up in joy. The fire's embers burn feebly, light orange against the green grass around it. In the distance, the smoke from the Al-Ma still rises. I catch Stephen watching it curl upwards as he packs up his bag and stuff. Clare never does look back, staring at the ground and stomping out what remains of our fire.

"We will be at the compound by nightfall," Stephen says, rolling our bikes over to us. "You two got a plan?"

Isaac and I look at one another, taking our bikes. I raise my eyebrows, hoping he has some sort of answer. I have never been good at planning things. If it hadn't been for Isaac, I would have left the compound on foot the first time around.

"We still have today," Isaac finally says, "We will figure it out."

Stephen nods.

"If it comes down to it, we can just make Jaelyn tell Hartley a joke, and maybe he will keel over out of boredom."

I smack at him in the air, scowling. He roars in laughter, pedalling away quickly. Stephen chuckles, shaking his head as he follows behind him.

Most of the morning ride is just more rolling hills. We don't talk, because the work is so tedious. Our bikes soar over a steep downward slope, and I push the brakes desperately. The smell of burning rubber fills my nostrils, and I cover my nose with my arm to block it out.

After that, though, it is smooth sailing. The ground flattens out, suburbs of houses rolling by us. Green and white signs hang over the road on metal poles, some of them dangling by one bolt, others still fully attached. I read the road names as we pass under them, trying to pronounce the complicated names.

First, there's Sequoia Road which turns right after a semi-dried out lake. Then there's a sign that I can't read because half of it is torn off. A little ways further is Thrasher. We ride under a concrete bridge, the underside of it covered in graffiti. My name is sprayed in bright red, the paint dripping down like water.

After passing about two more signs, when the sun is midway through the sky, I begin to start recognizing my surroundings. The mountains loom closer on the right, and I can see the edges of the city. The sign overhead reads Mountain Creek, and here, the building's are closer together on each side of us.

It all stops abruptly, though. The houses are levelled; the ground is clear. The government demolished the area around the compound twenty years ago, in preparation for the construction.

"We shouldn't go any closer," I say, as the wall comes into view. The ground is gradually becoming steeper again. Stephen stops, propping up beside me.

"Got a plan?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at me. I fight the desire to look at Isaac, who is looking towards the wall.

"I say we wait until nightfall," I say, remembering the way Duncan was shot in broad daylight. They would have replaced us by now, and I don't know who would be guarding the south gate. I don't want to risk getting these people shot.

"If we are lucky, Howard will hesitate," I continue,  "And maybe, I can talk him into letting us in. We won't have a chance with any of the other guards, though."

Stephen nods, looking at Isaac for approval. The boy nods, stepping off his bike.

"Alright. We wait until the sun sets," Stephen says, dismounting as well, "But we have a long wait ahead of us. Better get comfy."