It was completely silent as the group of five drove to Nashville, Tennessee. There was a place there that they would meet if something were to happen at the Underground. So, they were headed to Rally Point's Nashville Station. There is where she had hoped to see everyone alive and well.

After the events that had happened with Lorna, Winona felt her connection with Renee sever. That could only mean two things: that the girl had intentionally broken their connection, or that she was dead. Winona couldn't think of any possible reasons as to why Renee would purposely break their connection. It was the woman's idea to create a connection when Winona had decided to leave her place all those months ago.

It was Renee's way of looking out for the girl. She had told Winona what it meant if that connection had ever broken. Winona didn't want to believe that she was dead. She couldn't be dead. The Martin girl looked up at the rearview mirror and glanced at Dominic. She hadn't told him about what she felt because she didn't know what it meant. She didn't want to make this already shit day even worse by telling him that his sister might be dead. Especially when she wasn't one hundred percent sure.

She turned her head to look out of the window. Her mind wandered back to the Underground. She thought about Elaine and how she might be gone. She thought about Edward and the Struckers. She thought about everyone. The worst possible things filling her head. They're fine. They're fine.

From the driver's seat, John glanced over at Winona before returning his focus to the road. He placed a hand on her thigh and she looked over at him. He didn't look at her, instead keeping his attention on the road. But, he squeezed her thigh as a way of comfort and she sent him a weak smile, hoping he'd see it in his peripheral vision.

His gesture did little to sooth her worries, but she appreciated it nonetheless. Winona's mind began to travel back to Renee, her thoughts filled with the woman before they traveled to Lorna. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about the green haired girl. As she thought about what she had done. She had killed people. Winona had never thought that that was something that Lorna could do. She had never seemed the type.

But she was wrong. Boy was she wrong.

She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed again. She couldn't help but be disappointed in herself. She could've done more than what she had tried to do. She should've tried to reason with her more. She should've used her powers. Sure Lorna had threatened her with knives, but she wouldn't have actually used them on her. Would she?

John squeezed her thigh again and she looked at him. He sent a quick glance her way before looking in front of him again. "You okay?" He muttered. Winona shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "No," she replied. He sighed and she looked at him again. "What about you?" She asked. "Not even a little," he mumbled. "You wanna talk about it?" She asked quietly.

He briefly looked at her again and sighed, looking back at the road. "Maybe later," he answered and she nodded. She hoped that by maybe he meant definitely because they really needed to get things off of their chests. The SUV became immersed in silence again, leaving Winona to her thoughts. Nothing ever seemed to go their way. They never got to win.

Everything was going to change now. For all of them. And Winona knew that none of it would be good. Not for the mutants. What Lorna did would put an even bigger target on their backs. Sure, two enemies were gone, but even more would grow in their wake. It'll be a never ending cycle of hatred and violence. More bad things would happen to them and they won't stop until every single mutant was gone.

Lorna started a war. One that Winona wasn't sure they would win.

····

When they had finally arrived to the Nashville Station, Winona was nervous to see what would lie within it. She wasn't sure how many of them had gotten out of the Underground and a part of her didn't want to know. She didn't want to face the harsh reality that maybe some people hadn't gotten out.

She looked up at the small building and frowned. A mutant opened a slide up door for the vehicle to enter and John drove in. They all got out of the SUV to find Sage waiting for them. They walked over to where she stood. Winona waited anxiously for her to speak, hoping to hear good news. "It was close, but we got everyone out. If it weren't for Lauren and Andy, we would all be dead," Sage told them.

A relieved breath left Winona's lips. "And headquarters?" John asked. Sage was quiet for a moment before answering. "It's gone," she replied sadly. "Gone? What do you mean, gone? It can't just be gone," Marcos said. "I'm telling you, gone. It just I-I've never seen anything like it. No one got out but the Strucker kids," Sage informed. Winona's mind briefly flashed back to what happened in the lab and what the Struckers had done.

Dominic left after that, going to find his sister. Winona turned to look at John. She could practically feel the sadness and disappointment radiating from his body. This made her sad. She gripped onto his shoulder and he raised his eyes to look at her. "Are you okay?" She asked. She didn't know why she had asked. She already knew the answer. He shook his head slightly and began trying to form the right words.

"Uh, just, we sacrificed so much," he said, his voice strained. She could see the swirl of emotions in his eyes as she looked at him. She pulled him closer to her and embraced him. John slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and she pulled him closer. He dropped his head into the crook of her neck and tried to keep the tears at bay. But she felt a few drops of liquid hit her bare skin. A hand went up to his head and she gently massaged it, in an attempt to comfort him.

Winona pulled away when she heard her name being called. She turned around to see Renee, who had already reunited with her brother, walking over to them. Relief flooded her veins as she saw her. Winona turned back to John who nodded. "Go," he said. She nodded and turned around, quickly rushing over to Renee and pulling her into a hug. "I thought you were dead," she muttered. Renee pulled away and looked at her, "Why would you think that?"

"I felt our connection break. I-I—" Renee cut her off. "I had to do it. I was sure that they would get us and who knows what they would've done to me. I didn't mean to worry you, I just—" Winona pulled the girl into another hug, successfully cutting her off. "What, no love for me?" Elaine questioned as she approached the two. It was hard to tell if she was joking or not.

Winona pulled away from Renee and quickly launched into her sister. She squeezed her as tight as she could. "Jeez, not that much love," Elaine wheezed. "Shut up," Winona mumbled. The two pulled away and Elaine smiled. "I'm glad you're not dead," Winona said. "Ditto," Elaine replied. When Edward came over to them, Winona hugged him as well.

She then went to go find the Struckers along with John, Clarice, and Marcos. When she saw the family of four a small smile came onto her face. She walked over to Lauren and hugged her first. "I'm proud of you," she told the blonde. Lauren smiled weakly at her words. Winona then went around and hugged the rest of the Struckers.

A little while after, the remaining mutants found themselves sitting around in a large circle, trying to figure out their next move. Winona was sat in between John and Elaine. She was rubbing her forehead tiredly. "We need to start thinking about next steps. With the headquarters gone, a lot of people have nowhere to go," John began. "John, we know what we need to do. We need to rebuild," Marcos said.

"Rebuild what? You heard Sage. The place disintegrated," Clarice commented. "Not about a building. It's about the network and the people in it," Marcos said. "He's right. A building doesn't make us who we are. It doesn't make us strong and it doesn't change the fact that we're still the Underground," Winona said.

"Everything we have is gone. Restart from nothing? It's not possible," Sage replied. "Besides, anything that we build, they're just gonna smash it again," Shatter added. Murmurs of agreement could be heard around the room. "No. That's not a reason to give up. That's a reason to fight harder," Caitlin said. Winona was nodding in agreement.

"Listen, I get you trying to help, but you're not even a mutant," Fade said. Winona rolled her eyes at his words, sending him a look of annoyance. "I am. And my children are. And the Underground saved our lives. If the Sentinel Services comes after another family, we owe it to them to be there," Reed spoke. "I'm sorry, but the fact is since your family came, half our stations have been destroyed," Sage said and Winona scoffed.

"Aren't you guys the ones who devoted yourselves to helping mutants in need? Sorry that doing your job had a few inconveniences," she said, giving Sage a look. "And you can't blame us for that. The Hound program was coming one way or another," Caitlin added. More murmurs broke out throughout the room. "Okay. Hey! The X-Men didn't do this 'cause they thought it would be easy. They knew it would be a struggle. They knew it would take sacrifice," Marcos said.

"There's nothing noble about struggle, Marcos," a new voice spoke. Winona looked up to see that it was Lorna. Esme was walking behind her. A scowl took over Winona's face at the sight of the two and she stood. "And sacrifice is just a pretty name for losing," Lorna continued. "Lorna, what are you doing?" Marcos said, standing up as well.

"I'm telling them the truth. The Mutant Underground is dying. That world where we don't have to hide that we've always talked about? I want to build that. For all of us. For my baby," Lorna said. "That baby is ours. And this is where your family is. Lorna, you know I will do anything for you, but I can't help you do this," Marcos said.

"No one's asking for your help. The people we're here for, they know who they are," Esme said. "What the hell does that mean?" Marcos asked. Winona stared at them in confusion before Fade stepped forward. He made his way over to Lorna and Esme. "Fade? Fade," Marcos called. But the man ignored him. The next to walk forward was Sage. Winona's mouth fell open in shock.

"Sage," John said. The girl turned back to face him. "I'm sorry, John. They ended the Hound Program. This is just about survival," she said. Mark went next and Winona shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me," Clarice said. Elaine sighed before she too walked forward. Winona was quick to grab onto her arm. "No. Not happening," she said. "Yes," Elaine said, pulling her arm out of her sister's.

"You can't be serious, Elaine. This isn't what you stand for," Winona said. "What I stand for? How would you know what I stand for? I've been locked up in a prison for a year. I've been treated like shit and like my life didn't matter by them. The humans. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of them running things. Of them killing us for no reason. I'm not just gonna sit by and take it anymore. And neither should you, Winona. Come with me," Elaine said.

Winona shook her head in disbelief. "You know I can't do that," she said. Elaine sighed but nodded. "Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that. Little Winona, always trying to see the good in the worst situations," Elaine said with a scoff. "Don't do this, Elaine. There are still humans out there that aren't against us," Winona said.

"Like who? Mom and dad? Who kicked me out for being a mutant. For trying to kick you out because you might be a mutant too? Who abandoned us? The people who we loved and trusted, the people who were supposed to protect us, they betrayed us. Those are the people that you're trying to protect?" Elaine said incredulously.

"I'm trying to protect everyone! This isn't right, and you know it. Don't, don't do this," Winona pleaded. She was on the verge of tears now. Elaine looked down at the ground and took a deep breath before looking up at Winona. "I'm doing what you're obviously too incapable of doing. And what do you care anyway? You've got a new family now," she said, her eyes briefly looking to John, Clarice, and Renee. She then turned away from her sister and walked over to where Lorna and the others stood, whilst Winona stood in shock.

Winona went to walk forward to stop her but John grabbed onto her arm. He shook his head sadly when she looked up at him. She returned her gaze to her sister who was now stood next to Esme. Winona couldn't begin to explain the level of betrayal that she felt in that moment.

"The Mutant Underground is not over. As long as there are still mutants in danger out there, as long as there's still people that we can help, we're still here. The X-Men may be gone, but we're not. They left us behind for a reason, right? We can't give up. Not when there's still a chance," Winona said to the ones who were joining the other side.

"But that's just it, Winona. There is no chance," Sage said. When Andy stood up and walked forward, Winona didn't understand what was going on anymore.

"No. No way," Reed was quick to protest, grabbing onto his son's arm. Andy pulled his arm away. "Andy, stay where you are," Caitlin told him before turning to where Lorna stood. "You are not taking our son!" She exclaimed. "They're not taking me. It's my decision. This thing they're trying to rebuild, the Hellfire Club, it's something that our family was a part of. And you're the one who's always talking about helping people," Andy said.

Winona shook her head at him, disappointment filling her body. "A war between humans and mutants isn't helping anyone," Caitlin said. "I can't let you do this," Reed told the boy. Andy looked between his parents before shaking his head. "I'm not asking," he replied. Lauren walked forward then. "Andy. When we were kids playing X-Men, we did that because they were heroes. Because they saved everyone. Please. Don't leave me," she said.

Andy was looking down at the ground. When he looked up at his sister, he didn't look to be changing his mind. "The X-Men are gone. We're not little kids anymore," he said. "Andy," Lauren said quietly. "Andy, no," Reed said, grabbing onto his arm again. Andy pushed him away using his powers and shaking the whole building in the process. John steadied Winona when she began to lose her balance.

"Thanks," she muttered. She looked over to see Reed, Lauren, and Marcos helping Caitlin off of the ground. She looked over at the boy in disbelief. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I love you guys, but you're my family, I don't want to hurt you. Don't try to stop me," Andy said. He turned around and walked over to the newly formed Hellfire Club.

Winona looked at Elaine who was avoiding her gaze. The group of seven looked forward at the remaining members of the Underground. Esme was back to looking smug and Winona had never hated anyone so much. She looked back to her sister. "After everything I did for you. You're just gonna leave as though I don't mean anything," she said. Elaine looked over at her and shrugged. "Maybe you don't," she said.

Her words were a blow to the chest and Winona felt as though her heart were being constricted. She took a step back. Surprise couldn't even begin to describe what Winona was feeling at her words. John angrily stepped forward but Marcos was quick to grab him by the shoulders. Winona took in a shallow breath of air. A plethora of emotions were swirling through her body.

The seven gave everyone one last look before turning away from them and beginning to walk to the exit. Caitlin ran forward to get to Andy but Marcos and Reed stopped her. "No, no, no, don't," Marcos said. Andy turned to look at his family again. Lorna placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned back around. Lorna walked them forward and toward the exit. They had all left the building with everyone watching after them.

Winona let the tears that had been building up slowly trickle down her face. She angrily wiped them away and shook her head. She allowed John to pull her into an embrace and she wrapped her arms around him, breathing in his scent as she pushed her face into his chest. Elaine's words continued to repeat in her head. Over and over and over again.

An echo, that wouldn't stop.

°°°°

Whoo! What an ending, am I right? I bet none of you were expecting Elaine to leave, huh? As soon as I had watched the finale, I had the idea to have Elaine leave with them. It just made sense to me. So, what did you guys think of the chapter? This is the end of Echo. There will be no second book. I tried writing it a few years ago but lost interest and unpublished it. Anyway, I do hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter as well as this book. It's been a wild ride that I quite enjoyed. Thank you all for your endless support of me and this book. I really appreciated it so so so much. Please check out some of my other books. Don't forget to leave a comment or two and a vote. Let me know what you thought. Anyway, have an awesome day.