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Logan knows exactly what he means. “Thanks. I’m going to stay here.”

Both Deck and I grow still. “What?” I ask. “For good, you mean?”

“Yes. I’m not going to leave Elizabeth, and I’m not going to take her away from her grandparents. This area is as good as any. It’s isolated and protected by the forest, and I think we can set things up to defend ourselves here. Pretty soon most of the scavengeable supplies will be used up, so we’d have to settle somewhere. Might as well be here. We can work on growing produce. Maybe trade with the folks around here. I think we can make a life for ourselves in this place, so I want to try. But I’m not going to make anyone do it who doesn’t want to settle. Anyone can leave if they want.” He pauses. Glances at me and then over at Deck. “Would you want to stay?”

Deck and I look at each other. A smile breaks on my mouth that matches his.

I’m speaking for both of us as I tell Logan, “Oh yeah. We definitely want to stay.”

EPILOGUE

Six months later,I’m behind Deck again on an ATV, driving along an old hiking trail.

There are a couple of roads through this forest, but they’re barely passable now from disrepair and overgrown foliage. So to get around, we use the ATVs and take whatever trail will get us closest to our destination.

It’s a different life. Living here in the woods, cut off from the rest of the world, isn’t like traveling on the old highways and finding abandoned buildings to scavenge. It’s been an adjustment for all of us, but we’re making it work.

Logan gave everyone a choice as to whether to stay or not when he decided to settle.

Not a single one of our group left.

The abandoned commercial property we were camping in has become Logan’s headquarters—all our work and trade and food storage and supplies arecentered there. Some of the group even sleeps there, although a lot of us have found or built our own places. Deck and I are still in the little hunting cabin we discovered. For a couple of months, we spent all our free time fixing it up, so now it’s in good condition, comfortable, and pleasant.

I love it, and Deck does too. It’s home when we never had one before.

We still work for Logan. That’s never going to change. We have a variety of duties—including guarding headquarters, working in the garden and kitchen, and running errands.

For the past two days, we’ve been on the western border of the forest to see if there’s a possibility of trade with the farming community that Greta and Jimmy were a part of. It’s not really that far away from us, but Deck and I traveled the entire length of the border, and none of it allows safe passage anymore.

As far as we can tell, gangs of ruffians have taken over there. It won’t be worth trying to get through.

So now we’re on our way back. I’ll be glad to see the others. I’ll be glad to get home.

I’m so excited I squeeze Deck’s waist and rub my face against the back of his shirt.

He turns his head over his shoulder.

“It’s nothing,” I say, answering his unspoken question. “Just happy to get home.”

He signs a quickMe too, smiling as he faces forward again.

He’s been smiling a lot lately. Far more than he didwhen I first met him. He still doesn’t speak. Maybe one day he will, but we do just fine using a mix of ASL and our own signs and gestures we’ve come up with. I’m closer to Deck than I’ve ever been to anyone. I don’t need to hear him speak to understand him.

As deeply as he understands me.

Life has been really good these past several months. Better than I ever believed life could be again.

And there’s no reason not to hope it can get even better.

We reach the main gates to the compound two hours later. In the guard post, Micah gives us a friendly wave and says it’s about time we got home while Carl turns the crank to open the gate. Deck accelerates through and drives up the driveway to park the ATV with the rest of the vehicles.

When we dismount, he pulls me into a hug.

Of course I hug him back. But when I pull away, I ask, “What was that for?”

Because I love you. And you felt happy behind me the whole trip.His expression is teasing but warm.

I giggle. “Iwashappy behind you the whole trip. Remember when I was angry all the time and you finally got me to punch it out?”

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