He’s never been much of a talker, and I realize he’s said more to me in the last minute than he ever has before.
“Anyone”—I stop to clear my throat—“anyone else?”
“Keller is here though I’m not sure how he got out.”
I hear footsteps, and Milo emerges from behind the rocks with more former residents of Plastictown. My throat tightens as I recognize each of their faces. Each one takes my hand briefly, many of them with tears in their eyes.
Then, without ceremony, she’s standing in front of me.
My heart stops and my knees buckle. I nearly fall, but Aerin grabs onto my arm.
“Talen, are you all right?” she asks.
“Ava,” I whisper.
I regain my footing and pull away from Aerin to move toward Ava. She takes a step forward as tears stream down her face. Wordlessly, she reaches out and grabs hold of me.
“Ava!” I wrap my arms around her and hold her close. “Jesus, Ava! I thought…”
“I know,” she says through choked sobs. “You were gone so long, I thought you were dead, too.”
“You’re alive!” I bury my face in her shoulder, smelling the familiar scent of her silky blonde hair. “You’re alive!”
“Layshell is, too. She and her brother are here.”
“You’re alive.” I can’t seem to stop repeating myself as my heart finally starts beating again. “You got out.”
“Jonny saved us,” she says. “He got Milo and Layshell’s brother out, then came back for me and Layshell. He went back for others, but he…he never came back out again.”
“I found his…his body,” I say. “He was near your tent. I knew he’d still be watching over you, and when I found him with two other bodies, I thought it had to be you and Milo. I even buried you, you bitch.”
Ava laughs and pulls away. She places her hands on my face and leans in to briefly press her lips to mine.
“You are going to have to tell me where the hell you went,” she says. “You’ve never been gone that long before.”
I see the hurt in her eyes, and wish I knew how to take it away, but I’m overwhelmed with the relief of finding her alive when I hadn’t even dared to hope it was possible.
“It’s a long story,” I finally say.
“Later, then.” Ava relaxes her shoulders and gives me a glorious smile. She shakes her head slightly before looking behind me. “Who’s that?”
I turn to see Aerin standing stoically behind me with her eyes cast to the ground.
“Aerin!” I reach out for her, and she glances up. “Aerin, this is Ava. She’s alive!”
“I see that.” Aerin takes a step closer and offers Ava a tight-lipped smile.
“We’ve been doing a little exploring together,” I say to Ava with a wide grin. “It’s part of that long story.”
“So I see.” Ava raises an eyebrow but says nothing else.
As Will and Samuel reach us, Milo rushes down to help them up the hillside, and we all retreat behind the rocks. Nestled among some scraggly vines and bushes is a deep depression in the mountainside. Though it’s not quite a cave, it offers some shelter to the people inside. I see Keller tending a small fire near the entrance, assisted by Brian, the butcher who recently moved to town. Samuel and Will sit beside him while Layshell and her young brother take their places on the other side. Ava leads me to a spot close to Layshell, and I sit as Aerin continues to stand and examine the surroundings.
The fire warms the area, and the open front of the depression allows most of the smoke to exit before it gets too thick. The crackling wood has a much more pleasant smell than burning plastic but still serves as a reminder of what happened, putting everyone in a somber mood.
Including Aerin and myself, fourteen survivors sit around the small fire in the center of the group. In turn, they each tell their own story of how they survived the fire and shed tears over those who did not escape. Other than Luther and those rescued by Jonny, everyone else was close to the river when it started.
“We figure if we just keep going west long enough, we’ll eventually be out of the reach of the Thaves,” Milo says. “We can’t go east or south without running into more Thaves, so west it is.”