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both backed away but Lilla stepped up to him willingly. She pulled her sleeve up and thrust her arm toward him. Ally turned away, unable to watch.
    Across the concrete lot, more skeletons of buildings sat, their contents long ago emptied out. Before she even thought it through, Ally was running toward the building. As an Exceptional she would have been able to reach it in seconds, but in her slow Ordinary body, it took her longer. She crawled over a mountain of concrete debris and settled onto a large, flat piece on the other side. Now she was at least out of sight. She leaned her head back against the hard, cool stone.
    Ally would be lying to herself if she hadn't felt a little curious when Luke told her what was in those injections. Since losing her abilities she had thought more than once how convenient it would be to have them back. She had been strong, and powerful, and that was only just the beginning. She hadn't liked knowing that she could kill so easily with her bare hands, but she was at least able to protect her friends and family. At least, everyone except for her mother.
    "Al?" Stosh appeared at the top of the concrete pile, picking his way down to her carefully.
    "Have a seat." She patted the slab she was sitting on. "I'm just admiring the lovely view."
    From here they looked into the gutted remains of the building. There wasn't much left, just debris and metal forms of shelves and the structure. A steel door lay in the middle of the room.
    "What do you think this used to be?" Stosh asked as he took a seat beside her.
    "A grocery store, maybe?" she responded. "Or maybe a clothing store. Brooke said that there were buildings full of clothes, shoes, and makeup, and that people shopped through them daily."
    "Can't imagine that," Stosh said.
    Ally nodded in agreement.
    "Luke thinks we should get moving again. He seems nervous out here, in the Wilderness." Stosh picked up a small stone and chucked it into the building. It hit the steel door with a loud clang.
    "Did Lilla take the injection?" she asked her brother.
    Stosh threw another rock. "Yes, and she passed out right after. Luke loaded her onto a cot in the back of the transport."
    "Do you think she'll be okay?"
    Stosh shrugged. "I think since she was an Exceptional before, maybe the transition will be better. I don't really know much about that though, you were always the smart one."
    Ally laughed. "I think the last few months are a testament to how untrue that is.”
    "You really don't see all you've done, do you?" Stosh turned his body toward hers. "Ally, without you we would probably be dead right now. The Rogues would have come and there would have been no help because you wouldn't have discovered the use of the vaccine as a cure. Sure, maybe the Exceptionals would have eventually won the battle, but there would have been more lives lost. The settlements would have been defenseless, and even Champaign could have been attacked."
    Ally closed her eyes. "And all for what? The loss of our mother, broken friendships, and a long travel south on a whim...."
    "Don't get like that," Stosh said in a deeper voice. "We are coming with you because we trust you. Because we believe in you. Don't lose hope, because then the others will too."
    "They have Luke, and Max, too. They both seem to grasp what we are doing better than even me."
    "Max is only here because of you," Stosh pointed out.
    "That's not true."
    Stosh laughed. "I really don't think he would be here if Luke hadn't showed up."
    "Well now you aren't making any sense. Is he here for me or Luke?"
    Stosh grinned. "He is here for you, and because of Luke. He feels threatened."
    Ally paused. "I was leaving no matter what. He may have never seen me again."
    “Yeah, but at least he would know that you weren’t with Luke, I guess.”
    “Besides,” Ally continued. “I told him that I just want to be friends.”
    Stosh raised one, dark eyebrow. "You think he is going to give up that easily?"
    Ally groaned and leaned