"What did you bring me?" Theresa asked. Graham's cheek went redder and redder. Before Theresa could make sense of it, he shoved a recorder into her hands. "Theresa, listen to it yourself. You have to listen." Then, like a dog that'd been yanked, he turned and bolted. Theresa watched his retreating. She clicked the player on and heard one line right away. "Theresa, all of us — including our captain — everyone has a crush on you!" Theresa was left speechless. She sat there for half a minute after it ended, then she burst out laughing. On the third day, Theresa woke up early. The moment she stepped outside, she saw everyone in the camp fully assembled and in uniform. "Ms. Hall, request your inspection!" they called. Theresa scanned the ranks that stretched like a sea. She let her gaze move across the faces. She spotted her neighbors, acquaintances from other camps, and even the students who'd hidden and refused to leave. Every member of the Blazing Sun Alliance main force — over forty thousand people — had shown up. After seeing that, something rose in her chest, like a flame. A warm swell filled her up from the inside. At that moment, she heard the thump-thump of a helicopter. She looked up. A straight contrail cut across the clear sky, and a helicopter was streaking toward them. It wasn't the Starborn Order's. It was the Blazing Sun Alliance's. "Terry!" The helicopter touched down on the cleared area beside Theresa. The hatch opened, and a woman came running out with a pack of dogs. "Woof! Woof!" "Woof woof!" Summer led the charge and was the first to crash into Theresa's arms. Tania followed right behind.The other dogs surrounded her, barking like mad. Even Professor K's dog had come back. It pushed through the crowd and leaped into the arms of an older man sitting in a wheelchair at the edge. Theresa stared at the returning faces, stunned. Then she looked toward the last person to climb down, expression calm — Bennie. Usually skittish and careful, Bennie lifted his head and looked straight at Theresa. He shouted, "I'm back." I always put my own life first, yet here I am choosing to come back and stand with them. I must be out of my mind. And if I am, then so be it. Theresa can fight all the way through. I am a man. I can't let myself fall short of her. I have been a coward my whole life. I need to be brave at least this once. Theresa watched Bennie stride back in. She shoved the dog and Tania aside and swung at him. "What the hell did you come back for? You not even man enough to keep a woman and a dog in line?" Bennie had no answer. Right then the helicopter blades started chopping overhead again. Tessa pinged into Theresa's security feed. It was an outsider's aircraft. Theresa adjusted Tessa's authorization level. She stopped short of letting Tessa open fire. A sleek, high-end chopper came straight for them and landed next to the pad they had just used. The door folded open. A man in a sharp suit with his hair slicked back stepped out. He wore gold-rimmed glasses. Under them his eyes tilted up at the corners like a bird's. He carried an air of superiority, and beneath the gentle mask there was a hard, clinical coldness. Sage had arrived. Click. More than forty thousand guns snapped up and trained on the man stepping down. Sage acted like he didn't notice the dark barrels. He climbed out, brushed the dust off his shoe, and walked toward Theresa. Click. Lucas and Tyger planted themselves in front of him, eyes blazing. Sage looked at them with thin impatience."Put them down," Theresa said. "Theresa." "Theresa." They both turned to her, keeping their weapons steady. "Lower them!" Theresa repeated. This time Lucas did something he had never done before. He shook his head. "Theresa, don't go. Even if the dead swarm the walls, we die together. I am not letting you go." Theresa heard him and grabbed his muzzle with both hands. She pressed both guns down herself. "Theresa!" they called. She reached out and looked at the two of them. For a rare second her eyes softened. "Lucas, you have been with me the longest. I have always trusted you. From now on I'm leaving the camp to you. Take care of it for me." Lucas' pupils trembled. He pressed his lips together and stared at Theresa for a long beat. Then he saluted. "Yes. I will complete the mission." "Tyger, please watch over Aunt Tania too. Do what I say. Protect our camp. Protect Aunt Tania."