“We made it,” I say. “That’s all that matters. Did we all make it?”
“Everyone but Ellen,” Levi says sadly.
I put my hand to my heart as it aches at Levi’s news. “Where is Pace?” I ask. Where else would he be but grieving for his mother, but the thought of him alone at this time is more than I can stand.
“Building her a coffin.”
I look at him in confusion. “He wants to bury her.” Now I understand. Pace told me about people burying their dead in the ground before the dome.
“Lyon moved everyone to a safer place after we went into the dome. A place on higher ground that was easily defensible. That’s where we are now. They accomplished quite a bit while we were inside. They built a large stockade with a cabin and shelter for the animals and…”
Suddenly a gray striped ball of fur leaps onto the bed and bounds for me. “Jonah!” I exclaim and gather him to me. His purr rumbles as he butts his head beneath my chin.
Levi reaches out and rubs Jonah’s back. “He’s been right beside you ever since we carried you in. And your pony is fine also. I know you worry over them.”
I smile my gratitude. “He’s been on the Quest the entire time?”
“Jane couldn’t stand to leave him behind after…”
“After what?” Jonah moves from my hands to sit next to me on the bed. He presses his back against my hip and begins to groom himself, purring loudly as he does so.
“They thought we were dead,” Levi says. “Which is why they didn’t rescue us. When Lyon went to the dome there were three burned bodies staked outside the dome that resembled us in size. A few of my personal items were there with them.”
“My father’s work,” I say. Then I ask. “Where is Zan? I remember something about her being missing.”
Levi picks up my hand. “Zan has been missing since the night we went into the dome.”
“What? How?”
“Lyon doesn’t know. She simply disappeared. It took them two days to get out of the mines. There was a lot of backtracking because the tunnels had changed. Zan was not here when they finally made it out. Since all the gliders were still on top of the dome, Lyon flew the Quest over and they went down on the ladder. The gliders were there, along with Zan’s fur coat and hat, but Zan was simply gone.”
“Could she have fallen off?”
“They searched everywhere. There was no sign of her. Not even a scrap of clothing.”
“She went inside,” I say. “That’s the only logical explanation.”
“I hope so,” Levi says. “Thank God there were only three bodies out there.”
“You don’t think one of them could have been Zan do you?” I ask, panic suddenly filling me.
“She’s got several inches on you, heightwise. Lyon said the body and clothing style matched you. Plus the victim had brown hair that wasn’t burned off.”
“I wonder who they were,” I say. “Probably more of the poor scarabs.”
I think about the scarabs we saw imprisoned when we were taken outside. The poor people, left there to starve and be tools in my father’s games. Then another memory comes to me. One from the cells. “Levi. I think I know where Zan is.”
“What?” he asks in disbelief. “Where?”
“When we were put in the cells, Pruitt asked if Jilly and I should be put in the same cell as another girl. Findley told him no, to put us in a cell by ourselves and to take the girl up to my room. That night I heard them move her. She was raising quite a ruckus, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.” I squeeze Levi’s hand. “It has to be Zan. Who else could it be?”
“You’re right,” Levi says, and his smile lights the room. “It has to be. I’ll go tell Lyon and Jane.” He jumps up from the bed and drops a kiss on my forehead before he leaves, and I am alone once more, except for Jonah. I lean over, somewhat painfully, and bury my nose in his fur. I immediately get dizzy and lean back on my pillow.
I need food, but, more importantly, I need to see Pace. His mother is dead and he has to be grieving. I will not let him go through this alone. I wait for the dizziness to pass, and then slowly and carefully I rise from the bed. My legs are wobbly but they hold, and I make my way to the water closet with Jonah trailing behind me.
My boots sit on the floor. My goggles are on a small table. Zan’s leather pants are there also. That is when I realize that my boots and my goggles are my only possessions. I’ve lost everything. My home, my family, and the few meager things I owned. Yet I have so much. My freedom, good friends—I smile at Jonah, who sits on the edge of the tub—and two outstanding young men who claim to love me. I have so much to be grateful for.
I lean on the sink and look in the mirror. I have a bruise on the left side of my face that stretches from my cheek up into my hairline and a cut that will add another scar to my collection.
I ease the gown off over my head. My stomach is tightly bandaged and the tightness gives my wound a sense of comfort although it does make it hard to move. I turn around to look at my back in the mirror. It is peppered with bruises, as are my upper arms and the back of my right hand. My legs are in much better shape that the rest of my body, so I have great hope that they will continue to support me.
I am grateful to be alive. I am also grateful that we were rescued, that for the most part we survived this. That David, Lucy, and Harry managed to escape the dome also.
Now we just have to find Zan, convince the people inside the dome that the only future there, for everyone, is if we tear down the walls and prepare for another rover attack, because I know Wulf will not let our escape go without some sort of retribution.
“It’s going to be a busy day,” I tell Jonah. “No time for laying about for us.”
I hate raiding Zan’s things for something to wear, but I don’t have much choice. I go into the living area of the Hatfields cabin to find Levi, Lyon, and Jane talking.
“Wren,” Jane exclaims. “You shouldn’t be up. I was just going to bring you a tray.”
“I need to see Pace,” I say. “But first I wanted to say thank you, for everything. Especially for rescuing us from the rovers.”
“You should thank Peter also,” Lyon says. “He’s the one who saw you. We could not believe it when he said you were alive.”
“How did he know?”
“We’ve had someone posted at the entrance to the dome every day, hoping for news of Zan. We were certain you three were dead, and I tried everything I knew of to get in or to get someone to respond, but there was nothing. If not for those three bodies we found outside I would have thought the dome empty,” Lyon says. “I knew Zan had to be inside and knew that when we went inside it would have to be with a show of power. That’s when Jethro came to me with his idea for a walking fortress.”
“That’s the big machine with the guns,” Levi explained as I perch on the edge of a side table while I listen to the news. Jonah makes himself at home on the back of the sofa, purring loudly while I listen to the news.
“Actually, I call it a tank,” Lyon says. “Because the top looks like a big water tank to me. We made it from metals we scavenged from the area’s castle ruins. Old suits of armor and things like that. While searching for supplies we found our current location. A fortress originally set here. Dr. Stewart thinks it dates back to medieval times. It is easily defensible with a good supply of water.”
“Dr. Stewart was just testing the tank when Peter showed up, out of breath from running the entire way, to tell us that he saw you three, along with the rest, given to some rovers outside the dome,” Jane says. “We were overjoyed when he said one was Rosalyn’s husband and the other his uncle. David and Lucy knew the other young woman had to be Jilly, and of course we had no idea who Pace’s mother was until you were rescued. I’m so sorry that we lost her.”