“So wait, we have a Vashon army of three hundred people, plus two hundred Colonist refugees?” I ask.

Trent shakes his head. “More than that. Sixty or so cannibals are here too.”

“The cannibals came with you?”

“After we heard the blast they got nervous. They came out of the tunnels.”

I glance around, noticing some whiter-than-white skin in the huge crowd. “Okay, but they aren’t all fighters.”

“No, but twenty or so are.”

“Twenty of them, maybe fifty fighters from my people, three hundred Vashons, and a weakened Colony defensive line,” Vin surmises before whistling happily. “We might be able to pull this off.”

“Oh, you’re in this now?” I ask him, disbelieving. “Since when?”

He frowns at me, feigning hurt. “Kitten, it’s for the greater good.”

“It’s for your good is what it is. You lost your Pod, now you want a shot at another one.”

“A bigger one,” he amends.

“You’ll get nothing if we don’t move on this right now,” Trent reminds us.

“You’re right. Where’s the head of these Vashons? We need to talk to him.”

“Her,” I correct.

Vin scowls. “A woman?”

“Not just any woman,” I tell him with a satisfied smile. “Persephone.”

It’s not easy to find her. The place is packed with confused, scared people milling around and looking suspiciously at one another. Getting them to fight together is going to be a nightmare—one we’ll need a miracle to make it out of—and I’m wishing for Ryan more than ever even as my stomach fills with dread every second I don’t see him.

But Cren promised me he’s alive, and even if it’s stupid and superstitious, I’m putting faith in that.

We finally find her back at Crenshaw’s hut, the wise old wizard standing beside her. She looks different than I remember. Her hair is pulled back fiercely in a tight, dark ponytail and her serious face has devolved into an angry scowl. I know we parted on decent terms, but as I look at her speaking to other Vashons, her hand resting comfortably on the gun at her hip, I’m suddenly worried.

“Is that your friend?” Vin asks.

I swallow hard before shaking my head. “Not a friend exactly.”

“That one is,” Trent says, waving.

Sam waves back from behind Alissa, his face breaking out into a broad smile when he sees us. He nudges Ali then points in our direction. Her eyes scan the crowd and when they fall on me, they narrow.

My hands start to sweat.

“About time you showed up.”

I look around me, unsure she’s talking to me.

“Yes, you,” she clarifies. “Where have you been? We show up to fight this war with you and you’re nowhere to be found.”

“Fight this war with me? You kicked us off the island!”

“Because we had to fight off the Colonist attack that you brought down on our heads,” she fires back.

I purse my lips, wanting to fight, but I don’t have a leg to stand on.

“So, where have you been?” she insists.

“We were getting more help.”

She points back the way we came. “You mean the shaking, terrified group of Colonists out there? Perfect. They’ll be a huge help.”

“There are others,” I insist, getting angry. “Fighters.”

“Really? Where?”

“They’re out there, mixed in with the Colonists.”

“And where did you scrounge them up from?”

“The sewers,” Trent tells her.

Her eyes go wide. “Cannibals?”

“Where else was I supposed to go?!” I shout.

“You’ve mixed flesh eaters in with our people? Unbelievable. Sam, go tell Alvarez now. We need to separate them immediately.”

“Wait, where will they go?”

Sam ignores me, taking off at a sprint.

“Not here,” Ali says firmly.

“You can’t kick them out. The outside is swarming with zombies.”

“Yeah, speaking of, what the hell? Do you people ever kill them?”

“All the time,” I reply defensively.

“Yeah, it shows.”

I don’t think I like her tone.

“We had them down to nearly nothing before a Colony collapsed and swarmed us again. And this new wave we’re seeing? You can thank Marlow for that mess.”

Ali grins darkly. “If I see Marlow, I won’t be thanking him. I’ll kill him.”

“Too late,” Vin deadpans.

Her eyebrows shoot high. “Really? He’s gone?”

Vin nods once.

“Well, one down. One to go.” She looks from Vin to Trent, her expression darkening. “Where’s the other guy?”

I cringe inwardly, looking away to hide it. “He’s missing.”

“You should find him. I like him better than this one. This one is trouble.”

I don’t have to look up to know she’s talking about Vin. Or to know he’s grinning at her.

“Come with me,” she says briskly.

She walks away without waiting to see if we follow.

Turns out Ali isn’t in charge. I don’t know why I’m surprised by that. She’s a nurse or a doctor—I’m not sure which—but she’s not a soldier. Not like most of these guys wandering around the forest are. They’ve contained the swarm of zombies that followed Trent, the Colonists, and the cannibals here. They’re already making piles of the bodies and lighting fires. It’s a method of mass disposal I haven’t seen in years—not since I was a kid and it seemed like the entire world was always on fire. The sky was constantly choked with black and gray smoke, the sun peeking through to find the ground scorched black from the constant pyres. We burned most of the living that way too, partially to be safe and partially because no one had time for burials. As the acrid smoke hits my lungs, I’m reminded of an important fact - while the fires burn the same whether the fuel is human or zombie, the smell is very, very different.

We pass Crenshaw at a workbench surrounded by bowls, powders, and what looks like wire or twine. Ali asks him if he wants to join us, but he stays behind to ‘work,’ whatever that means. Ali takes us deeper into the forest to a massive tent swarming with people. They’re running in and out of it, disappearing inside or into the trees. I feel anxious just seeing that level of activity. It throws me when Ali walks us casually inside.

There are tables set up around the room with one massive one in the middle. Guns rest on the outer tables, but on the inside are a bunch of maps and papers and I wonder if that’s what everyone else gathered when the world fell: maps and Old English novels.

“Alvarez,” Ali calls out.

An older man with tan skin, wrinkles around his mouth and eyes, and dark, graying hair looks up sharply. “Bishop,” he replies, his voice deep and calm.

“Who is Bishop?” I ask Ali.

“Me. It’s my last name,” she mumbles quietly. “He calls my husband Bishop too. Confusing as hell.”

“Only to you,” Alvarez replies with a smirk. “I know exactly who I’m talking to. Who have you brought me?”

“These are the people who came to our island. The ones who decided to overthrow the Colonies.”

Alvarez looks us over, his eyes lingering momentarily on Vin and his neck. “A Hive member was on our island? I’ll have words with Taylor about that.”

“No, he wasn’t with us. It was someone else,” I tell him.

“And where is he?”

I sigh, wishing I could just wear a sign that says ‘I lost Ryan. I’m sorry.’

“He’s missing,” Ali says gently.

I can feel her looking at me. Feeling sorry for me.

I hate it.

“Maybe he’s in the throng of people that just flooded my camp,” Alvarez suggests gruffly.

“We need to talk about that. There are cannibals mixed in that group.”

He stands tall, glaring at all of us. Even Ali. “So Sam said.”

“What do you want to do about them?”

“Advise them to not to eat anyone.”

“Seriously.”

“I am serious. I don’t have time to deal with them and their dalliances. Tell ‘em to keep their hands and mouths to themselves. We have bigger fish to fry. Night will be coming soon.”

“What happens tonight?” Vin asks the older man.

He eyes him again, more thoroughly this time, before answering. “Tonight we attack.”