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vines had overtaken the street lamps. Spring had prompted blooms to open here and there, and they glowed a pale gold in the morning light, framed by the young green of newly budded leaves.
    The muddy remains of Kris’s red architect’s coat seemed even shabbier in comparison with the glorious morning, but he stood there with such dignity, watching me, waiting for me to remember how to breathe. He still had my hand cradled in his, and abruptly I realized it was no romantic gesture, but one of supplication, of respect. Of hope. My eyes burned; the blood roared in my ears.
    A noise from a few paces away, sharp like a cracking twig, startled us apart. Kris dropped my hand and I flew back, whirling. Oren stood there, clearing his throat a second time. He didn’t look at Kris—his eyes were on me.
    â€œWe’re all clear.” Quiet, terse. Revealing nothing. “We should go before any of them circle back around.”

CHAPTER 5
    The walk back to the perimeter of the Wall was a silent one. Even Nix was quiet, nestled underneath my hair, as though demonstrating its loyalty. Oren walked in front, picking our path through the empty streets and alleyways—I could see nothing but the set of his shoulders, tense but unrevealing. Though I didn’t turn around, I knew Kris was close behind me. I could hear his steps, nowhere near as quiet as Oren’s, or even mine now that I’d learned better how to move quietly in the world outside the Wall.
    My ears were still ringing with his words, with his loyalty and faith. Half of me wanted to scream that he was wrong, that he needed to learn as I had that heroes never lived up, that the more he relied on me, the more I’d disappoint him. I’d spent years longing for my brother to return, to make everything better, only to discover when I found him that he wasn’t the hero I remembered. He was just a boy—just as I was only a girl, one girl against the entire city. I wished I could pound the truth of it into Kris’s trusting heart—and yet something held me back.
    True, Basil wasn’t who I’d built him up to be in my memories. True, my faith in him was misplaced. But it had gotten me there. It carried me across a wilderness I couldn’t have imagined and through a city I’d never seen. Maybe Kris needed the promise more than he needed me . Maybe all of them did.
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    We reached the Wall again by midmorning. Oren found us a section clear of obstacles, the harder for any errant shadows to sneak up on us. Kris dropped his pack next to ours and stretched, spine popping. “Once we get inside, we might not get a chance to rest for a while,” he warned us. “I’ve been gone for weeks now; there’s no telling how things have changed in there.”
    I glanced at Oren, who was crouching over his pack and taking inventory of the supplies inside. He still carried that tension, though, and didn’t look up even though I knew he could feel my eyes on him.
    â€œKris—” I said hesitantly. “I’m going to need some time. To get ready.”
    Kris’s eyes flicked from my face to where Oren crouched. “Right. I’ll go keep watch. Nix?” His eyes met mine again briefly as the pixie launched itself off my shoulder to go to his. Kris’s mouth curved in a small, quick smile. There was a broken-down, rusted-over walker machine not far away—he turned and made his way toward it, inspecting its legs and eventually starting to scale the machine for a better vantage point.
    Oren and I would be able to sense any oncoming shadows long before Kris would be able to see them, but I appreciated the gesture. If this was the last time we were guaranteed a moment to rest, it was also the last moment Oren and I would have alone.
    I waited until Oren had finished his inventory and cinched his bag shut again with a savage jerk. He stayed in a crouch, elbows resting