The Forsaken

And others on remote islands off the coast of India. We’re in touch with them by radio. Armies are being trained. We’re going to join together with them in a year or so. And return to the UNA to fight, and take back our freedom.”
    She leads me over to the door as I try to digest her words.
    “Get some rest now,” she says. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”
    Liam is still waiting in the tunnel, standing there with Dr. Vargas-Ruiz. They both look up as the door opens. I can tell they’ve been having an intense conversation.
    “Things will be different from now on. Your new life is beginning,” my mom tells me. In some ways, she’s a stranger, but in other ways, she’s the most familiar person in the world to me.
    “God, I missed you,” I say, as she leans in and hugs me.
    Dr. Vargas-Ruiz touches my arm. “I need to take you and Liam back to your quarters.”
    “And I’ve got guard duty now,” my mom adds. “We all have to pull our weight around here.” She kisses my cheek.
    I realize I haven’t said “I love you” to her yet. I want to say it, but I still feel too awkward—I don’t know why. I guess it’s just because I haven’t seen her for so long. Or maybe it’s because it feels like it would be rushing things to say it. It’s like she has come back from the dead. But I decide to risk it anyway.
    “I love you, Mom,” I tell her.
    She smiles, eyes damp. “I love you, too.” We hug one more time before my mom lets go of me and heads off down the tunnel.
    “This way,” Dr. Vargas-Ruiz prompts, as I stare after my mom’s retreating figure.
    “This place is incredible!” Liam whispers as we start walking. “I talked to Vargas-Ruiz. They’ve got a plan to liberate the wheel from the UNA and unfreeze all the pods. They’re going to meet up with some other rebel stations. She even thinks it’s possible my dad is still alive, at one of the other bases somewhere. That he might have been taken in the raid but escaped being killed. They’re going to try to find out more info for me. I still can’t believe we met each other when we were little kids. . . .”
    I nod like I’m following his rush of words, but I feel like my mind is fading in and out. Right now, I just need to lie down and sleep.
    “Oh yeah, and something else.” Liam looks troubled. “She said they think Veidman was a spy. Him and Meira. Not David. That the UNA put Vei and Meira in the blue sector and gave them fake names and identities, as a way to keep us in line and stop us from trying to escape. We weren’t supposed to succeed in getting off the wheel. We were meant to fail and go back to the village. I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
    Veidman a spy. And Meira, too?
    I think about how they always seemed to have things. The serum, the coffee, clean clothes. And about how Veidman was so obsessed with finding the spy. Was that all for show? It’s possible, but I still find it hard to believe.
    “I don’t know what to think,” I tell Liam. “Veidman’s dead. If he was a spy, then it doesn’t matter anymore. And Meira could be dead by now too. I’m more worried about rescuing our friends in the archive, and finding David.”
    We finally reach our quarantine room again and head inside, as Dr. Vargas-Ruiz leaves us. I can barely believe everything that’s happened to us.
    I’m not the same person I was before I got sent to the wheel. I will fight side by side with the people from Destiny Station. With Liam. With my mom. And if there’s any way to do it, Liam and I will try to rescue Gadya, David, Rika, and everyone else. I’ll do whatever it takes to liberate the wheel and ultimately destroy the UNA itself, so that no one else has to go through what we’ve been through.
    I see myself reflected in a mirror hanging on the wall opposite the bathroom. With my tousled hair and wild stare, I look more like a warrior than I ever thought possible.
    Liam walks over to me and holds me from behind, brushing back my hair. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he says.
    I laugh a little.
    “What? You don’t believe me?”
    “I’ve heard those words before. But right now, here with you? It’s the first time I actually believe them.” I nestle against his body, feeling his heat and his strength. “This is only the beginning,” I tell him. “You know that, right?”
    “Yeah,” he says. I turn around to face him and gaze into his blue eyes. “There’s no one else I’d rather have fighting by