I stayed, ear pressed against the lukewarm metal of the door, listening for anything: running footsteps, shouts, gunfire. If they caught her, they would kill her. There was nothing but silence. Ginger might move like a tiger, but Princess was the real sneaky one. I snorted to myself. Of course she snuck out of this whole facility with no one the wiser. She was probably halfway to wherever she intended to go. She couldn't have cared that much for any of us, really, if she could just roll out and be done with us. I obviously didn't know the nature of her relationship with Ginger, apparently I didn't know her relationship with anyone, especially me.

Why did she leave? My fingers curled against the door. Nope, not going to think of her or how she left. I worried about the others, both in the guest barracks and outside, in the labs. What were they going to do to the volunteers? Where were they keeping them? We didn't exactly get the grand tour before General Jerkface shoved us into our comfortable containment. The barracks were only halfway down the hall, leaving a whole other half of the facility unexplored. Not to mention the closed doors we passed before we got here. Who else was here besides scientists and soldiers? Did Kit know we were being held here? Did he speak up for us once again? Would they hurt him if he tried?

Why the hell did that idiot kiss me?

When I saw her again, I was going to strangle her.

This line of thinking was going to keep me up all night. With nothing but silence keeping me company I forced myself off the floor and looked for an empty bunk. Fred, JD, and Curley occupied one room by themselves, the soldier off on his own side of the room while the other two slept in bunk beds. Curley snored like a freight train, until Fred's hand smacked the side of his face with one flailing hand. Neither of them woke up.

"There are free bunks across the hall," said JD.

"What are you doing awake?" I leaned on the door frame to get a better look at him, sitting up on his bunk with his eyes closed, back against the wall.

He sighed through his nose. "I don't trust the general."

"That's a given. Mitford's a salesman. That man would shit and convince you it's gold."

"He definitely wants us to buy whatever he's selling," JD smirked, opening one charcoal eye to look at me. "I'm not sure I see all of us making it out of here alive," he said.

"Well, I think one of us already made it out."

"Princess was always very good at looking out for herself," said JD, closing both eyes once more. Part of me agreed with him, except, that wasn't all there was to Princess It didn't mesh with the woman who'd risked being captured by aliens to protect her friend.

"I don't understand why she left," I said, more to myself than JD.

"It doesn't matter, Li," said JD. "She's gone. Concentrate on who is still here."

He was right. "Goodnight JD," I said. I left him to doze off, passing the dogpile of Lannie and Muppets on two couches they'd shoved together in the common room. She was snuggled between them, curled up into a ball. Bert and Ernie didn't seem to mind. They each had an arm over the girl, their hands clasped in the middle.

That was what I wanted to protect.

The other bunk room was empty. I tucked myself in alone on a lower bunk and tried to shut out the world.

**

"So that's it? You choose him over me?"

I sat beside my dancer, her eyes a soft cornflower blue that matched her sun dress. She sat with her legs tucked under her, shredding a wild daisy with frustrated fingers. Her wispy hair framed her heart shaped face. The sun shone through the leaves of the tree we sat under, painting a dapple pattern on her pale skin. Frustrated with me, but the only emotions that shone from her eyes were sadness and regret.

"It's not like that," I said, reaching for her. She jerked away from me, her silent accusation making my throat tight.

"Don't lie to me. Your parents never approved." She looked down at the shredded flower, pieces of white petal stuck beneath her fingernails.

"Emily, please." I wanted to hold her, to make the hurt go away but this was my choice. It was my choice to cause her pain.

"I'll never be able to give you what he can. I--" She cut herself off, words left unspoken. A secret she kept, knowing it wouldn't change the outcome of this conversation. This damn conversation. I could feel it at the center of a web, branching out into other moments and memories, other conversations half forgotten but it was this one that was my failure, my greatest regret.

She stretched, her long legs spreading the long grass at the edge of our blanket. The movement pushed the dress against her rib cage. Too thin. I wondered when she'd become so thin. It was a testament to our distance I hadn't noticed before.

"I want you to drive me home now," she said, turning her face away so I couldn't see the tears that spilled down her face. Her unspoken words stretched between us. She never told me, not until it was too late, not until one of our mutual friends called and said I had to get to the hospital because there wasn't much time left. She didn't have much time left.

**

My pillow was soggy.

I lifted my head to find a dark stain spreading across the bleach white fabric.

"What the–" I nearly smacked my head on the bunk above when I rose, staring at the dark gray wet spot. My face was damp. I brushed my cheek.

I'd been crying in my sleep.

First sweat now tears, but more than that, I'd dreamed a memory, a real memory. It was bittersweet, since recalling the dream made me wish I could forget all over again. I scrubbed at my cheeks, belatedly realizing I had just smeared my tears all over my face. I groaned into my palms and tried to find the wash room. The common room was empty, which meant Lannie and Muppets were awake somewhere. Hoping I didn't run into them, I stumbled, bleary eyed and still foggy from the unwanted dream, until I found the bathroom, complete with sink and mirror.

Egads. It'd been a while since I'd seen my reflection.

Yup, still looked like a horror movie monster. The gray streaks from my tears made me look like a cautionary tale of ghostly revenge. Scowling made the effect worse. Grumpy, I turned on the water, and splashed my face, scrubbing it clean. I sprinkled more water over my hair, running my fingers through it until it wasn't sticking up in every which direction. I missed my brush. It wasn't a huge improvement but I felt a little less cray cray ghost lady after I'd freshened up.

I found the others in the guest barrack's kitchen. The general might have nonchalantly jailed us, but at least our lone human wouldn't starve. Though it made me wonder if the general mistook Lannie as one of us. Streaked with dirt and dust from the road, shadowed by the Muppets, it wouldn't surprise me if Mitford hadn't paid much attention to her when he was so fixated on Ginger. The red head looked more human than our semi feral friend did.

JD stood at the stove, quietly stirring a pot while Fred, Lannie and the others lounged around the kitchen tables. I slid into an empty seat as the soldier plopped a steaming bowl in front of the girl, pointedly placing a spoon by her hand.

"Manners or I will spray you with the sink hose," said JD, easing into a chair next to me. Lannie eyed the lumpy white substance with as much speculation as I felt, a dusting of something brown, sweet, and familiar on top.

"Is that cinnamon?"

"Cinnamon on grits," said JD, nodding to the kitchen cabinets. "We are stocked with a few non-perishables and spices. Nothing good for a long haul but we can keep Lannie fed for now." He squinted at her as she let a spoonful plop back in her bowl. "If she eats it."

She glared at him over her spoon and stuck her tongue out. Ernie smacked her shoulder, pointing to the bowl. Lannie sighed and tentatively nibbled a lump from her spoon. Surprise lit her face up as she scooped more into her mouth.

We all watched her eat for a moment, vicariously enjoying the meal with her.

"Think we'll ever get hungry again," said Fred, resting his chin on one fist. He blinked, realizing what he said. "I mean, for real food, not–"

"I kinda miss Snickers bars," said Curley.

"Cheetos," said Fred with a wistful sigh. "They always left my hands, like, nuclear orange, but couldn't get enough of them.

"I miss my mom's pot roast," said JD, watching Lannie shovel grits in her mouth. "Shrimp and grits, jambalaya, chicken and waffles."

I raised an eyebrow at them. "Any of you feeling actual hunger?"

"No," said JD.

"Nada," said Curley.

"I took a bite of a protein bar earlier. It tasted like sand," said Fred. "Couldn't even force it down."

A couple minutes crawled by, the only sound was the scrape of the spoon at the bottom of Lannie's bowl.

"What do you think they are doing to the others?" Fred straightened, tapping his fingers on the table.

"I think the better question is what they will do to us when we refuse to 'volunteer," said JD.

Curley frowned at the lot of us. "Where's Olivia?"

Fred shot me a lot, his eyes widening. "She didn't. How?"

This was another one of those times I was grateful I could no longer blush. "She jerry rigged the door last night, threaded a string through the gears and yanked it high enough to slide out." I nibbled on my lip. "I don't know if she made it out or not."

"Oh, she made it," said JD. "We would have heard about it if they noticed her at all."

Fred looked between us. "So, why aren't we doing the same trick?" He slapped his hands on the table. "We are the bad ass Revived! We can bust the others out ourselves and get the hell out of here."

"What if the experiments are really helping them?" I hadn't expected Curley to play devil's advocate and state the obvious counter argument but I had other reasons for not wanting to jump ship.

"I have some serious reservations about their experiments," I said, "and I don't want to leave them alone here until we know to some degree they won't be harmed for 'the good of humanity.' But its more than that."

Fred and JD shared a look but I plowed on.

"There is something else going on here. Or did you all miss the obvious problem between ambushes and General Scary Pants?" They all looked at me as if I'd lost it. I rolled my eyes. "Do you remember what Princess told us back at Fort Braydon, the supposed reason they sought us out in the first place? There was a supposed to be a ship here, in a holding pattern over the Sub Station. So, where's the ship?"

Fred's jaw dropped. "How did we freaking miss that?"

"Mitford didn't even mention a ship," said JD.

"The sky rounder over the trees," said Lannie, licking her spoon.

We all turned to look at her.

The florescent lights flickered. An explosion overhead rocked the room. The cabinets flew open, spilling boxes and cans. JD's remaining grits splattered across the floor, still warm lumps dotting our legs. The Muppets wrapped themselves around Lannie as the light bulb swung down and shattered. I had my arms up, protecting myself on instinct as a shard of glass nicked my forearm. Dust and mortar rained from the ceiling for a minute before everything settled.

"Everyone alive?" Fred rose from the floor, his face speckled with grits and dust. He helped Curley to his feet. The poor guy had a big shard sticking out of his shoulder. He made a face as he plucked it free. JD rose from a crouch beside the Muppets, checking them over before he met my eyes.

"Guess the aliens are still here."