Everyone began to gather their stuff, and Harriet climbed the ladder to make sure it was safe for the guys to leave again. Marie glanced over and saw Abe stand up and stretch. He hadn’t made eye contact with her the entire meeting. She drummed her fingers across the table, trying not to imagine how they would feel when she woke up the next morning. With a sinking heart Marie realized there was a good possibility she’d never see him again.

“Marie?” Albert asked.

Marie glanced in his direction. “Hey, Albert.”

“You okay?”

“Fine, yeah. Just… I’m considering telling Abe.” Marie’s voice dropped. “Because he doesn’t know.”

Albert nodded. “You should. I would want to know if I was in his shoes.” Marie gave a short nod, and Albert got up. “Hey, Abe.” Abe glanced up from chatting with Billy. “Can we talk to you for a second?”

Marie’s heart started pounding in her chest. She didn’t expect things to happen this quickly. Though she had no idea when Harriet would be back, and this really could be the last time she’d see Abe.

“Yeah, of course,” Abe said.

Billy straightened as he glanced around the room. “I’ll go talk to Alice.”

Abe gave him a look. “You promised you’d stop trying to force couples together.”

Billy placed a hand on his heart, looking offended. “I do not force couples together. I help them weed out their insecurities and pride. Besides, I need to apologize to her.”

The three of them watched as Billy sat down next to Alice. Albert shook his head. “Empty closet?”

Marie shrugged. “Sure. Why not.” The three of them slipped into an empty closet.

“Is everything okay?” Abe asked.

Albert glanced at Marie, waiting for her to answer. Marie felt her hands start to shake. She really wasn’t prepared to tell the story again.

“So, um, you’ve gotten your chip removed, right?” Marie asked, feeling lame. It was important to know, though. She didn’t want him to start singing in the closet. Albert had a hard enough time when Marie told him.

“Yeah, Alice got it out. Can’t exactly have a supposed dead person’s chip activate and alert the S.E.A.”

Marie tried to smile, but found she couldn’t. She had no idea how to even approach this topic. “And you’re doing okay?” she asked.

“Good, I’m good.” Abe barely kept eye contact with her. “You know, it’s a super strange thing preparing for my death.” A lump formed in Marie’s throat. “I went with my parents out to dinner last night. Tried to give them some happy memories with me before they get the news.” Marie felt her courage leave her. “Billy’s going to check up on them, though. Make sure they’re okay. I think that’s the hardest part of this decision, knowing the pain they’ll go through for however long I’ll be gone.”

Albert cleared his throat. “Abe. You might want to stop and listen to what Marie says before you continue.”

Abe gave Albert a curious look before looking back at Marie. He frowned. “Why? What’s going on?”

Marie took a deep breath and let it out. Her courage still hadn’t returned. If Albert hadn’t given her an encouraging nod, she would have wished Abe well and left. This kind of news was never easy to say. Abe was now starting to look at her with concern.

“Marie?” he asked.

Marie swallowed. “I, um, I actually am dying.” Abe’s eyes widened. Marie looked down at her hands. “You’re going away for who knows how long, and I’m not sure I’ll be - here - when you get back.”

Abe made a strange, almost choking noise at that. “How did this happen? Was it President Arnold? When you were in the basement?”

“No, no. It was long before that. There’s this chemical, omnitocsil. It’s man made. They created it during the war forty years ago. Super deadly. I… I injected a diluted form of it into myself. The diluted formula destroys the memory wiping formula the S.E.A. injects into people to make them forget who they are.” Marie tried to sound as scientific as possible, but she couldn’t hide the shakiness in her voice. Abe continued to stare at her.

“Macbeth,” he whispered. He glanced up at Albert. “You knew?”

Albert nodded. “She told me a week ago.”

Abe leaned against a wall, looking completely dumbstruck. “How much longer do you have?”

Marie shrugged, trying to make it nonchalant. “Not sure.”

Albert glanced at Abe, gave Marie a small smile before he slipped out of the room. Abe didn’t even notice.

“I thought you should know. Before you go,” Marie said.

Abe nodded, his eyes full of an exhausted hurt. “And your dad?”

“Working on a cure,” Marie said.

“Is there a cure?” Abe asked.

Marie found she couldn’t answer that. She had tears in her eyes. “Abe, you’ve become one of my dearest friends. And if you get back and I’m not here…” The look in Abe’s eyes was ripping her soul to shreds, but she forced herself to keep looking. “Thank you, for being such a great friend. And… and keep being amazing.” Marie blinked away the tears. She was so bad at this. She couldn’t adequately tell him what she felt. Deep down she’d have to tell everyone a variation of this. She’d have to tell Albert. Sophie. Her dad. She’d been thinking about what she wanted to say for a while now, but it still felt awkward and unpracticed. “And I’m sorry. I did what I had to do.”

Abe stared at her. This was too much for him to handle. Marie allowed herself the smallest of smiles. Abe tried to smile, but it crumbled in on itself when he looked up at her. Abe said nothing, simply stared at her. It looked as though he was memorizing her. “Marie, I…” Abe faltered. Marie knew exactly what he wanted to say, and why he hesitated to say it. Marie gave Abe a hug so he wouldn’t have to say anything. Abe still had feelings for her. Feelings that weren’t going to magically go away, just like how she couldn’t magically have those same feelings for him.

She heard the distant beat of his heart. Since Abe was so tall their hugs were always a little awkward, with her practically hugging his stomach.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Marie? Abe? Harriet’s back,” came Albert’s quiet voice.

Abe broke away, tears streaming down his cheeks. Marie could almost see depression weighing him down. Marie squeezed his hand.

“Good luck,” she whispered.

“Thanks.” Abe straightened, then opened the door. Albert was there, watching Abe with a face full of compassion.

“We’ve got to go before it gets too late,” Albert said as though hating to be the one to say this.

Abe nodded. Albert glanced back at Marie and gave her a sad smile. Marie couldn’t bring herself to return it.

Most of the underground left. Marie, her dad, Sophie, and Tom were the only ones who needed to stay in hiding. The quiet settled into her bones as she sat back down in her seat at the table. Marie’s dad sat down next to her.

“It was wise to tell him,” he told her quietly.

The first of the tears fell. Saying goodbye to Abe reminded her how little time she had left, and how many more difficult conversations she would have in the coming days. She dried the tears from her face and looked up at her dad.

“I don’t think I’m going to sleep for a while. Need any help in your lab?” she asked.

He gave her a comforting smile. “Yeah. I do. Let’s go.”