Morning comes with pink brush strokes across the sky and a pale white moon nestled on the horizon. The rising sun casts its pedicured fingers across the bedroom, warming my face. Without a word, Isaac smiles down at me. He kisses me softly— this time on the corner of my mouth. Then, he gets out of bed and disappears to the bathroom.

Today's the day.

The clock beside me reads five a.m. Ollie will be waiting at the gate for us. Jane, Trevor, and Emily will have the truck loaded. Who will come to say goodbye to us? Did Ollie and Jane come up with a plan? Is everything in order?

The questions cling to me, long after Isaac and I are both changed and we've started packing. This time around, my backpack carries a lot more stuff. I pack extra changes of clothes, my pocket knife, the picture of my father and I, and sanitary supplies. This time, though, I cram a first aid kit on top of everything else. Tossing in some books from my shelf, I meet Isaac at the door.

"Ready?" I ask, reaching out to hold his hand.

"Whether I am or not, it's time."

The house is quiet. Jackson and Belle still lie asleep on the living room floor, but the adults are gone. Dad'll be up soon, getting ready for work. Mandy has to be around here somewhere; she gets the kids ready for school. I'm not sure where Stephen is. Isaac asks if I wanted to look at them, but I say no. We've got places to be.

We wait for Ollie at the gate, watching the compound begin to wake up. Isaac leans against The Wall, eyes wide and alert. I want to ask why he's on edge, but instead, I stand still and quiet, waiting. The guards move around overhead, getting ready for shift change.

With every passing minute, the sinking feeling sets in that no one is going to come say goodbye. If no one else, Dad should have came. It's probably good Mandy didn't. I can only imagine how that would have gone.

I'm not doing this for her, though, or anyone else. This journey is for me.

That's not entirely true. Isaac is most of the reason I'm going. Yet, there is a tiny piece of me that wants to be a part of something else. A part that wants to go outside The Wall again, that craves to see the mountains surrounding her. I miss being able to see miles down the road, the freedom of doing what I want whenever I want, and the freedom that comes with being outside. Sure, the compound is the safest place for me, but safety isn't what I want.

Safety will never be enough. I see that now.

"You're from Compound 5, aren't you?" I ask, making Isaac jump. He nods down at me. "Are they building an army?"

He purses his lips together. "I'm not sure. I passed my Intelligence Exam two years ago, when I was sixteen, but I was reassigned, remember? Plus, Kovach's not President anymore. His daughter took over, I think. I remember hearing about it from one of the Transfer Crew."

Intelligence Exam? Kovach? I open my mouth to continue the questioning, but an approaching shadow interrupts me.

"The Jaelyn Price."

I turn on my heel and smile broadly at the woman.

"Jane," I say as she saunters towards us.

She spreads her arms and wraps me in a giant hug. "Thank you so much for coming," she whispers in my ear. "It would have been a long few months with that mother of yours." She pulls away and extends a hand to Isaac. "And you! I'm so glad you pulled a Jesus and rose from the dead. You always were my favorite Wall Guard."

We share a moment of laughter before another body joins us.

"Alright!" Ollie claps her hands together— typical Ollie move— as she comes closer. "Here's the plan. Jane has the trucks parked and ready outside the gate. She's going to get you into Compound 3, help you finish what she's already started, and then introduce you to the right people in Compound 2. When it's time, she'll help you leave and head to Compound 2. We're hoping this will happen in a domino sort of fashion."

The guards begin to open the gate, and Isaac picks up our bags.

"Any idea what I should say to get the people on my side?" I ask her.

"Tell them your story." She hands me a small leather packet. I open it to see a set of silver disks. "That's the Hartley videos. It'll help sway them. I don't know what the other compounds are hiding, but you have to find their weak point and exploit it. Just like you did here. Find their figurative second strand and destroy it."

Isaac takes the disk from me, puts it in a random bag, and starts heading towards the trucks.

"I told you," Ollie continues. "It's going to be a lot of winging it."

"How exactly did you end up in charge?" I cross my arms, scowling at her. She laughs, and the smile lingers long after the joke's worn off. Except, I wasn't joking. I don't think her unpreparedness is funny at all.

Ollie shrugs it off and turns towards Jane.

"Good luck." She offers Jane her hand, and the redhead grimaces as she shakes it. "Please keep me updated. Now that the power's working, you can always call."

Jane rolls her eyes, more discreetly than I would have. "I'll be sure to do that whenever we pass our first telephone booth." With a cackle, she turns and walks away. Even Isaac emits a tiny snort, hiding it behind his hand.

Ollie scoffs but follows all of us out to the truck. "I'm serious! The video links are all back online. Use Compound 3's tech to call us when you get there. I need to know how things are progressing."

"I will, Ollie," I finally say. "I'll do my best to call regularly. Thank you for being so concerned about my safety."

"I am worried about you! But this is much more important than you and me. We're talking about the future here."

I just nod and watch Isaac toss bags into the bed of the truck. He favors his right leg, leaving his left foot elevated on his toes. He winces with every bag he picks up, keeping the hesitation in his eyes and nose. No one else would ever notice, but I see the slight difference.

Isaac catches me watching him and waves, a gentle smile tugging at his mouth. Man, how I've missed that smile.

"Earth to Jaelyn," Ollie says, tapping me on the shoulder. I look back at her over my shoulder. "Did you hear any of what I just said?"

"Sorry. I just zoned out."

She tsks at me. "I said that your dad wanted me to tell you goodbye. He had to hurry and run to the infirmary. Something about a patient."

"Yeah? Well, thanks."

Dad left out the truth. As much as he wants to say goodbye, he knows he can't. He doesn't want to feel vulnerable again. He revealed a side of himself in that white room that I'll never see again. My father does not cry. Ever. Why would he put himself in a situation that will depress him? I'm flattered that my leaving makes him want to run away. It means he feels something, that he cares.

"And I'm sorry about Mandy," she says.

"It's alright. She didn't have to come."

"But those two are all you have, aren't they?"

I take a long, deep breath. Two months ago, the answer might have been yes. My father was my life; I would still do anything for him. Although my mother was dead in my mind, she was still a big part of my dreams and memories. The two of them represented everything I had ever known.

Now, though?

I watch Isaac hoist himself up into the back of the truck, groaning in pain.

No. Now, I have him.

"Jay?"

I look up at Jane. She half-leans out the drivers' side window, waving at me.

"You ready?"

Isaac repositions himself so that his leg is stretched out in front of him. Emily sits beside him, chattering away as she leans on a box. In the cab, Trevor's shadow waits patiently. His arm dangles out the window and taps a beat on the metal.

"Yeah," I say, ignoring Ollie's question. I jump into the truck with Isaac and Emily. "I'm ready."

Isaac scoots over and pulls me down into the corner, squished against his shoulder. He hands me my backpack, his sketchbook already in his lap. The pages ruffle in the morning wind.

"Can I see that?" I ask as Jane starts the truck. It lurches forward, jostling all of us around.

"Sure, but why?"

I don't answer as he passes me the sketchbook. I flip through the pages instead. Images of the Infected, the giant bird, the mountains of Dunlap. The page where we were passing notes about leaving. I trace the letters with my fingers, feeling the grooves like canyons on the paper.

"Cut it out. You're going to smear it," Isaac scolds as I feel the shape of the bird's beak. He snatches it out of my hand and goes back to drawing. He's oblivious to The Wall receding into the foreground. I rest my head on his shoulder and let the sun warm me up.

"I missed you so much," I say as I dig through my bag for a book. He laughs and elbows me.

"I know you did." He keeps sketching, never once looking at me.

"Hold tight, guys," Jane yells from the front. "It's a long drive back to Compound 3."

I take a shaky breath and watch The Wall become nothing but a caterpillar on the green expanse of grass around it. Whatever happens next, we can handle it.