I reach for the first floor door handle when Daniel stops me. "The growling is behind there," he whispers. "Let's leave it that way."

We continue up the stairs to the second floor, which is as tall as it goes, and burst through the door leading into a hallway. The hallways in the Immortal are lit and clean, but the Beast is dark and moldy. The stench sticks in my nostrils like cotton balls soaked in rotting leaves—the kind you find decomposing beneath the snow after a long winter—and Daniel and I lift our collars to block it out. Where there are doors to dormitories, labs, and the cafeteria on the Immortal, the Beast only has cells. Bars run up and down the hall, separated by thick slabs of cement wall. The floor seems to be stained, and when I realize what has discolored it, I run to vomit in the corner. Blood.

"Isla," Daniel says, holding my hair back as I gag the last of my stomach contents onto the floor.

I wipe off my mouth, and think about making a no kissing joke to lighten the awkwardness, but instead I say, "I can't see red or blood," so he knows he's not alone. We both have things that haunt us.

He pulls me away from the corner, turns me to face the wall, and gestures for me to stay. "I'll go first and check out the rest of the hall. Stay here so you don't have to look at the red."

I do as he says, appreciative of the help, and look at a dusty map of the Beast that hangs on the wall in front of me. I brush it off, and try to find food or supplies storage. The top floor comprised completely of cells, except for an office at the end beside the balcony where Gunther first spoke to me. On the first floor is where an infirmary, a small cafeteria, and a lab room are located. What could the growling sound have been?

My back still turned to the blood stained hall, I shout to Daniel, "If there are any supplies on board, I think they will be on the first floor. This map here shows only cells and an office up here."

"I'm checking the office," Daniel calls, and I hear a door open and shut. In the surrounding silence, I hear something stirring downstairs. Whatever is behind that door is alive and moving. I grip my slingshot tightly and draw back the loaded sling.

Warm hands rest on my shoulder, startling me enough to jump and release pellet with a buzz against the wall.

I turn around to find Daniel with wide, apologetic eyes. "Don't scare me like that," I say.

He apologizes and asks, "You okay?"

I shake my head. "Something is downstairs. I heard something moving."

"You're right, there is something downstairs. Animals. A lot of them," he says. I look at him with confusion, my mouth unable to close. "I saw it in the office. The cryo ark that Phoebe, Winston, Gunther, and Alexander created before all of this is downstairs. Except the power has been out on the Beast probably since Gunther abandoned it. All the animals are probably unfrozen in their chambers by now. They're probably starving, if they're even still alive."

Animals, I think, and the fear clears away. We have to help them.

I race downstairs to the first floor. Daniel runs behind me, telling me to wait, but I can't. I swing the door open into a hallway. The cafeteria is on the end, the infirmary is to my right, and a lab is to my left. The sounds of growling intensifies behind the laboratory door.

There's a small window at the top, so I stand on my tiptoes to peak in. Most of the specimens are just drawers of cells and DNA, which will hopefully still be viable, but there are a few animals that have been fully preserved. Mostly North American species. I guess the more exotic animals were preserved in the arks on their continents, now that I know Roberts and Cooper was global.

There's a large enclosure with a pair of sickly looking moose, another with a pair of white-tailed deer, and another with two bears, who appear to be hibernating but could be dead. The largest enclosure in the room holds an emaciated buffalo and another one lying on the ground. I can't tell if it's breathing. Along the right wall are some smaller enclosures with breeds of bird, rodent, dog, cat, and reptile in them, and to the left is another large enclosure for gray wolves, but only one wolf is inside. It's dead and bloody on the enclosure's base, its body open and half-eaten. Between the sight of it and the broken glass all around its head, I feel sick. Where is the other wolf?

By now Daniel has joined me in looking in to the lab, and as we both stare in awe and disgust, the missing wolf jumps onto the door, his teeth stained red and his mouth dripping with saliva. Daniel and I both fall backwards in shock as the wolf barks viciously in shock. Despite growing up in the apocalypse, I've never seen an animal so bloodthirsty. Big, predatory animals are nearly all gone in the wild these days, over-hunted for their skins and meats. This is the first time I've actually seen a wolf, and I don't know if I should feel anger at Gunther for turning this animal into a monster or sadness that this is what life outside of our Deathless camps has come to: eating your own for survival. I settle on sadness, and while the wolf continues salivating at the sight of us and barking, I say, "We have to get these animals to camp. We can't let them die here."

"Yeah," Daniel says, still panting from the shock. "If we can get these animals healthy again and help them repopulate their species, we may be able to restore the ecosystem. At least in North America. We could get this world back to how it was before all of us ruined it." His face lights up as he says this, and I can tell this is exactly what Daniel needs. He needs someone to help, someone who depends on good science to survive. Daniel needs to feel good again.

We run out of the Beast to get my mom and fill her in on what we found, and then the three of us drive back to camp in our separate vessels. Mom and I in pods, and Daniel in the Beast. That is, after we decide on a story Daniel will tell camp. He will tell them he ran off, because he knew where the Beast would be and that the animals would be on it. Then he will tell them that he wants to be in charge of the animals' reacclimatization process back into the wild, and that will be Daniel's in back into the world of science.

When we return, Daniel tells the story, which is ultimately the truth except for a little white lie about how he got there, and he is applauded. Declan announces, after consulting with me and Mom of course, that tonight's dinner will be a celebration of Daniel's bravery and compassion for these animals. And just like that, Daniel is at once a hero and a scientist again. To the camp, he always was. To himself, this is step one of getting back to his core.

***

After making toasts to Daniel for his discovery of the animals and toasts to an absent Winston for helping to create the cryo ark in the first place, Declan makes the big announcement: One day after tomorrow, we will head for Virginia. Start packing up your things. It's time to get ready for war.

That quickly, the energy drains from the room. From where Declan, Mom, and I stand, I swear I can see the joy cool into fog over everyone's heads.

"What if we don't want to go?" an Original from the back shouts out. She doesn't identify herself, but I can tell the sound came from the clique of Original mothers who sit together in the corner.

"We aren't President McCleary, George Cooper, or Gunther Quail," Declan replies. "We aren't going to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Conversations erupt from the tables where Originals sit. From up here, I can make out bits and pieces like, "Are you staying? I am. Why would we go? This isn't our war." I feel like I may explode with anger.

"Excuse me," I interrupt. I wait until they're quiet before I continue. "Declan is right that it's your choice whether you come with us or not, but this isn't just our war," I say, gesturing to the three of us before them. "This fight belongs to every living being on this planet. Isn't that what we're celebrating tonight? The rescue of animals from Gunther's torture? What makes you think he will let you go on living or treat you any differently than he did those animals if we lose? There's no happy ending for you unless you fight. If you want freedom to live your life, you'll have to fight for it with the rest of us."

An Original woman stands up in the back. "We were safe in the dam, protected by its power and our community. When General Sato came to us, he brought the war to our doorstep. We aren't part of this, we're just bystanders."

"Why would you want to just be bystanders?" I ask, my voice raised.

Mom rests her hand on my shoulder. "Isla is only concerned for all of our safety. Everyone here is vital to our efforts, and without even a hundred of you, our chances of defeating Gunther are slim. All we ask if that you think about it. Take tonight to think it over. If you stay, we can't protect you anymore. If you come with us, you'll be part of the revolution to fix this world. Thank you."

She grabs my arm and leads me out of the cafeteria as Declan follows behind. Once the cafeteria doors shut behind us, Mom let's go of her diplomatic act. "They are idiots if they choose to stay," she says.

"We can't control them, but yeah," Declan says.

"Whatever. If they stay, they're cut off. We're not helping them with anything, not even after we win the war, if we even still can without their help."

"We should be okay... right?" Declan asks.

Mom shakes her head and shrugs. "I don't know."

"We don't need them," I spit. "We'll be okay." I only hope I'm right.

***

1 day until we leave for Virginia. 19 days until Roberts' crew lands.

The Originals have officially decided to stay at the camp when the rest of us leave for Virginia. Those of them who want to come with us, like Dr. Guzman and Julian, will; but most are staying at the camp. The Original teenagers—who I guess have been here, enjoying their childhoods in the apocalypse all this time while I've been working and fighting—have planned a last hoorah party at the lake this evening with young people from the Deathless and from the estate too. It's their way of saying, "Thanks for saving our lives and all, but we're not going to contribute anymore." The whole situation makes me angry, but at least the lake will cool me down.

Even though we'll be swimming—Julian said to wear something we didn't care about getting wet, which for us could only be our second jumpsuit or underwear—Celia has made sure her hair is perfect and her makeup is done.

"This isn't the estate, Celia," I tell her as she frantically blots her lips in her little mirror. "You can feel safe to just be yourself and not wear makeup."

She looks at me with big eyes, like I've offended her. "I never wore makeup for Cooper," she says defensively. "I love putting on makeup. I'm an artist, and I like to use my face as a canvas. It's calming to me."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I didn't realize."

She shrugs and wipes the dirt off her dress—really, it's a long piece of fabric wrapped around her like a dress—and stands. "It's okay. I guess... well, I guess I'm trying really hard now to separate myself from who I was at the estate, so that kind of hit me the wrong way."

"You're not the girl you were at the estate," I say, remembering how she asserted that to Collins in the detention center. She's right, though. She isn't. Celia is confident and quick and deadly. She is a new version of herself too.

"Thanks," she says, smiling. The tent flap opens, and Daniel walks in after a long day with the animals. He plops down on the fabrics and furs on the ground to rest.

"Hey Daniel," Celia says.

"How was the rest of your day?" I ask.

"Great, but tiring."

I stopped in to see him after I checked in on Dr. Guzman about the possible fluid solution to remove the chips from our brains—apparently it's coming along. While I was there Dr. Guzman updated me on Eleanor's condition too, informing me that her stress caused the pain, but he mentioned something else he noticed. Something concerning. The baby's heartbeat is irregular. He is watching Eleanor and the baby in the infirmary until he can complete the necessary tests to clear her. In the meantime, Comforters are coming to her for their babies' DNA and to make arrangements. Eleanor is already talking about building a school and adoption center wherever we end up after the war. Eleanor always looks to the future, even from a hospital bed.

Then I went to see Daniel in the Beast. I watched from the stairwell as Daniel's assistant removed the pane of glass at the top of the door, and as, not even a second later, the wolf leaped up and into the tranquilizer bullet Daniel sent shooting into the room. From up the stairs, I could hear people knocking down walls. They are expanding the cells for the animals until they are healthy enough to be released back into the wild. But today, while the dust from the cells settled, Daniel focused on feeding, hydrating, and testing the living animals. For a while he didn't realize I was there. I watched in awe as he nursed the animals back to health, since technically this project falls within my sector.

When the people working upstairs smashed a hole in the ceiling so they could lift the surviving buffalo, Daniel finally caught me watching him through the falling dust. He smiled. "Creeper," he joked. "What are you doing staring at me?"

I walked through the cloud, waved to the people through the hole above me, and hopped over debris into the animal room. "I came to check on this Biology sector project, since I'm the boss and all."

"Oh no, you're going to remind me that every day aren't you? This is going to be torture."

I laughed and looked around at the remaining animals to be fed and taken care of. In one of the small enclosures, there was a pair of small brown rabbits. Just like the one I'd shot years ago. "Can I help you feed the rabbits?" I asked.

"Sure," he said. He got some of their nutrient-rich formula from the lab case on the other side of the room, away from the enclosures and the dust as a group of people started strapping the buffalo into a harness. After handing me the bottles, he stepped around the buffalo commotion to get the rabbits, and handed on to me along with its bottle of formula.

Together, Daniel and I cradled the rabbits, and as I watched the young rabbit in my arms drink its formula, I turned to Daniel. "Another first? Our first pets?"

He made a face. "No. These guys are going back into the wild as soon as they're strong enough." Turning his eyes down to his rabbit, he asks, "Why did you want to help feed these guys?"

I let my gaze focus on my rabbit's eyes. Big, brown, and sparkling with vulnerability in the light. For that moment, I was in charge of keeping this rabbit alive, and though I knew it didn't make up for the rabbit years ago, it brought me peace to know, creature by creature, we were doing our part to give those animals a fair chance at survival. Just like I always wanted to do.

"You know why, Daniel. You're not the only one who wants to feel good again," I said.

I return to the present as Celia helps Daniel to stand. "I'm glad you're back," she tells him.

"Yeah," he says, "I just had a little walkabout to go on before I could be myself again."

"It seems like it worked, but next time, leave a note, okay?"

He smiles. "Okay, sorry, Celia."

"It's alright," she says, adjusting her dress. She takes a deep breath. "Okay, let's go," she says.

We walk to the far side of the lake, where the Original teens have been constructing a shifty looking pier that stretches all the way out to the deep part of the lake. Some of the Originals are in the lake, swimming around the last planks of wood, hammering them together, and digging support beams made of branches into the lake's bottom so the whole thing doesn't snap. I'd be excited about it if I were one of the Original teens and I knew I was going to stay here to enjoy it. But the pier only makes me angry. Sure, we'll fight to keep you all safe, to make it so that you can enjoy your time as a teenager. No problem. It's not like I needed a childhood, I think. But then Celia looks at me with the widest, dopiest smile, and says, "If I could swim, I would totally go on that," so I suppress my anger.

Daniel chuckles. "You can go with me or Isla. We used to swim in the rivers around where we grew up all the time. We'll make sure you don't drown."

Somehow her smile widens. "Okay," she squeals and continues forward with a literal hop in her step. Yep, I will have to hold off feeling angry so I don't ruin Celia's time, I tell myself as I force a smile.