Page 59 of Beyond Redemption

“Maddox!” someone shouted from across the yard.

We all turned, but Travis was already waving. He glanced back at me the way he used to as a kid, checking to see if I’d noticed, if I’d seen him do something worth approving. I gripped his shoulder once before letting him go, then looked back toward the bay where the twins were still following Zeke, absorbed in his every word and gesture.

It wasn’t until I caught Trenton’s glare that I was reminded of where I stood. Optimism didn’t erase what I’d done. Hope vanished, and my chest felt twisted and heavy again. Even if we weren’t permanently at odds, the best outcome might simply be tolerance.

Chapter Eleven

Liis

The men had lumbered off toward the far side of the compound nearly half an hour earlier. The kids were winding down, laying on a quilt in the shade, pointing out clouds drifting past in the sky and calling out things like elephant with a bow, horse with a sword tail, dinosaur body cat head.

Abby lowered a sleeping Carter until he was comfy and cuddled next to a napping Stella and Oliver, then she sat on a free corner of the quilt. She waited patiently for a few moments, staring at each of her remaining sisters-in-law until they made eye contact, and then gestured for them to join us. Ellison, Falyn, and Camille said a few parting words to the kids before making their way over to us, finding their own place to sit in the shade under the slide. Falyn remained half-turned toward the playground even as she sat, eyes tracking Olive, Hollis, and Hadley without apology. Ellison dropped into a space like she owned it, dark hair pulled up into a messy knot, inked arms bare in the desert air, her eyes sharp and restless.

For a moment, no one spoke. Abby had gestured the others in, so we waited for her to tell us why.

Abby clasped her hands together. “I don’t think I have to emphasize the danger we’re all in.”

“This is arguably the safest place for us to—” I began, but Abby abruptly cut me off, holding up her hand.

“I wasn’t finished. We may be in the safest place possible, but we’re also all gathered here… with our children. I know the Carlisis. They don’t see the fences as a deterrent, or even the militia. All they’re thinking is that, with us all here, it’s a one and done opportunity.”

Ellison brushed sand from her hands and glanced toward the watchtowers. “All right,” she said. “Then we should plan as if it’s only a matter of time before they attack the compound. But I mean… what can we do? Naomi is a solider, Liis is an agent. We’ll just be in the way.”

Falyn’s eyes stayed fixed in Olive’s direction even as she spoke. “What exactly are we planning for?”

“Structure,” Abby said. “That way, no one’s guessing about how to get to safety if things move fast.”

Camille adjusted Oliver slightly where he slept. “Meaning a rally point?”

I nodded once. “It’s a good idea, Abby.” They all looked to me, waiting, so I continued, “I noticed a reinforced access door to a building the size of a walk-in closet coming back from Command yesterday. Concrete frame, keypad entry, no windows. It’s likely the bunker I noticed on the posted escape route sheet in the Longhouse.”

Ellison tilted her head. “Underground?”

“Most likely,” I answered simply.

Abby nodded slowly. “Good. If alarms sound, or if the guards start moving people, we head there. Liis? You’ll show us where it is?”

I nodded. “As soon as nap time is over.”

Falyn finally turned fully toward the group. “All of us?”

“My recommendation is that you, Camille, and the children will go first,” I said. “Ellie will stand guard. Abby will be with me, returning to the bunker when I give the word.”

“Which will be…?” Abby asked.

“If the perimeter is breached,” I met each of their eyes, “the situation changes immediately. Stay low when you head back to Ellie. Once you’re together, go straight inside, don’t wait.”

Abby nodded once.

Ellison leaned forward, resting her forearms on her knees. “And if we’re separated when the alarm goes off? What if we don’t all make it there at the same time?”

“Your priority is to make it to the bunker,” I said. “We’ll take a head count, and anyone not accounted for gets located after the doors are secured.”

Falyn looked to me again. “And you?”

“I’m more useful outside that door than behind it,” I said. “But if the compound is breached, the bunker becomes the fallback. I’ll regroup there.”

Ellison nodded, glancing to Falyn who reluctantly agreed.