"Carnelian, we have to leave but we'll be right back. We'll hopefully only be a few hours," I say, stroking his hair back.

"Okay. Stay safe. Go save humanity," He says with a lighthearted wink and tries to hide a wince.

"Don't talk," I say. "Get some rest while we're gone. Goodbye."

"Goodbye," He says. I give him a kiss on the cheek then leave the house without another word. I pray to the earth that wasn't the last time I will ever see him alive.

"He's really come through, huh?" G asks glancing back as we walk. "I had expected him to..."

"We've all been through a lot. Trust me I think a part of him wanted to go, but he's stronger than that," I say. G nods.

"My city was much like yours was. We had second child laws, mind manipulation, other horrible things. I never rebelled but now I know that it was there all along. My sister..." I hear her make a choking sound and I think she's about to cry. "My little sister was killed in the shooting when we all escaped."

"I didn't know you had a sister. I'm sorry," I say. I want to comfort her more but I don't think she'd welcome it.

"Well, it's over now. She's dead and I'm alive. Funny how that works, huh?" I see tears in her eyes. "Beautiful people die and the ugly ones get power and riches."

"I'm going to make it to where everybody is treated as equals," I say, my throat tight with passion. G looks me up and down.

"I pray that's true," She whispers then starts to walk ahead.

"We all do," Rook says throwing an arm around my shoulder. He leans in close and whispers, "don't feel bad Rowan."

"I already do," I whisper back so G can't hear us. "But thank you."

He gives my shoulder a squeeze before quickening his pace to catch up with G. I look up at the Center only a few blocks away. It was unfortunate that I ever had to enter this place once and maybe even more unfortunate now that I'm entering it again. This will be the last time I come to Eden. I want to be sure of that.

I take one last look behind me at my old home and it feels like I'm looking back at my whole life. How many times have I changed the fate of humanity? I'm done playing god. I will fix everything that I've done wrong today and leave it all in the past. Now, I live for Harmonia. I live to make Harmonia better, not humanity. Not humanity because today I will complete this job. Somehow I will. Tomorrow morning I will wake up and have a new life and if that means being a new Rowan...then so be it.

I jog to catch up to them as we reach the Center. We walk through the eerily quiet stark hallways trying not to be on edge. There's not another living soul for miles and miles but we still jump every time a light flickers. I remember the horrors I have faced in this building and try to take deep breaths. We walk to Elena's office and although I'm not wearing heels, I feel unbalanced.

Rook opens her office door and I gasp. I look inside and...nothing has changed. There's nothing unexpected. All the bodies were moved, which was expected, but yet I gasp. I gasp because Mira died here. I gasp because my own mother tried to shoot me here. I gasp because this is the plotting place of the woman I once thought was my real mother. I gasp because...this place just holds too many horrible memories to bear.

The quicker we get through with this the quicker we can leave, Yarrow says. I blink a few times to distract myself from the memories and step into the office. I waste no time, pulling the peach seed out of my back pocket. I pinch it between my fingers and look down on it.

"It's your turn now. You get to save humanity," I whisper to the seed as I place the seed on the scanner of the control panel. As I set it down I imagine all my burden and pain leaving me. And as we watch the beam destroy the seed, I imagine that some of my burdens are destroyed with it.

The familiar buzzing noise gets increasingly louder and louder until we hear, "Welcome." Aarons voice fills the room and...it's my voice too. It's just a hint of it that I can barely hear. "You are authorized to make changes to the systems. All prior authorization has been overridden."

G, who was in her junior year of college, has studied technology almost as much as Carnelian. She crouches on the floor with the laptop and gains access to the Ecopan. I grab Rooks hand in need of support as G hits the backspace. Slowly, we watch as the coding disappears from the screen. The Ecopan is still there...just unable to function. It almost seems too under-dramatic. We just saved humanity literally with the click of a button. When the programming is completely wiped we slowly stand up looking around...it's all different now. None of us can see any change but we can sense it...it's all different now.

"What now?" G asks, and that is far too real. What now? I wish I knew the answer to that question, truly I do. Honestly, I don't have any idea. One thing is for sure, I'm not the old Rowan. When I go back I will be a woman who had her childhood stolen from her so many times that she could no longer keep her innocence. Carnelian will go back with a broken heart and scars. Rook will go back to a family, he is the lucky one. And G will return to a new place, with new people and new faces. She will probably feel a pain that I'll never be able to understand. Either way, we all go away a little bit hurt, a little bit different.

"Carnelian," I say a few minutes later as we enter my old home again.

"Did you succeed?" He asks trying to sit up but failing. He hits the counter he's still laying on with a grunt.

"I think so," I sigh. "Now...we go home."

There's a moment of silence as these words hit us. The common question goes through us all. What now? What happens next? Who is Carnelian going to be when he goes back to a "normal" life in Harmonia? He will grieve for Mira and not know who he is without her. Rook, who is only twenty two, will go back to his future wife and child and figure out how to be the best father and husband possible. He will still remember his trauma and deeply fear for his family. His struggle doesn't end just because he's happy. G will come home with us and go through more than any person should ever have to go through. And me? I don't know who I truly am anymore. Who am I without pain and destruction? Will I be satisfied when this is all over?

Carnelian lets out a grunt as Rook picks him up. He can't sling Carnelian over his shoulder because of his wound so he carries him under the knees and armpit. We walk out of my house and I look around one last time. I quickly grab a picture of mom, Ash, and dad from the mantle and keep walking out of the door with them. I stuff the picture in my backpack.

We walk to the edge of Eden and reach there by mid-afternoon. We look around at each other, then at Carnelian. To get out of Eden you have to crawl in a tight space for what feels like hours. Carelian can't do that right now. Not with his wound, It'd be impossible.

"Bikk!" He breathes as Rook sets him down against the wall. "Go on without me."

"No! We can't do that. I won't leave you here after everything that has happened in this place. We won't leave you here to die!" I protest.

"I know you won't," Carnelian says. "You'll come back as soon as possible with help and medicine so I don't have to stay in this hell for more than a few weeks to heal."

I look around at the others. I hate the idea of leaving him here. Aaron could send more security bots. He could have an infection we can't see and have a seizure. He could reopen his wound and bleed out, unable to fix it himself. He could run out of food and water before we are able to reach him or find him again. I could go on and on about all the things that could go wrong by leaving him alone here. I look around at the others and they give me a look. We have to go now. They want to leave him here.

"Okay," I agree at last. "But we'll be back as soon as possible." I kneel down and give him a kiss on the cheek. Rook, G, then I climb into the wall of trash and start to crawl.

Do you think it worked? I ask.

Maybe, Yarrow says. But you almost don't care anymore.

I do care. I'm just worried about other things.

You don't want to go home, do you? Yarrow says.

I-I don't know where my home is. I know it isn't the house that kept me a prisoner for almost seventeen years. I know it isn't Harmonia. Maybe it will always be the Underground. I miss that beautiful, perfect place that I destroyed. Harmonia will never be my home, even if it's everyone else's. Nature is my home.

Do you still have a grudge against Harmonia? Yarrow asks.

Yes. That city is ruined. Not like Eden was but it's still horrible. They have no laws and no compassion. I hate that place.

That not the only thing on your mind, Yarrow pries.

I just don't know, I say sadly. I'm so confused. I love Lachlan, I love Lark. I want them both but I don't want to have both at the same time. I wanted the war to end but now I'm not sure what to do with myself now that it is. What's wrong with me? Did I like being hunted?

It's actually more normal than you think, Yarrow says. Your life has been nothing but chaos for nine months, and nothing but pain for seventeen years. Living in a safe happy community where you can be fully accepted and loved is going to be a hard adjustment for many. Not just you.

With these words, Yarrow leaves me alone with my thoughts to crawl through garbage. What feels like hours later we stumble out of the garbage wall and stretch our limbs.

"Earth, you have done that how many times?" G complains as she cracks her back.

"Too many," I respond, heading straight for the sand. If we're lucky we can get back to Harmonia around sunset for a late supper. The three of walk towards Harmonia and it almost feels like walking to Eden. It's a grim and regretful journey. Or maybe that's just me acting dramatic. Rook is heading to his child and fiance, and G is heading to her new life. I'm probably the only one here who is truly sad. Honestly, I don't even know why the thought of leaving Eden behind hurts so much. It's home but it is hell.

I look at Rook and he still looks ready and stern. His body is tense and his browns are knotted close together. I look to G and her eyebrows are knitted in knots too. She looks...worried? I don't know much about her or her emotions but I swear she looks guilty or distressed at the very least.

"G, don't worry about going to Harmonia. It's full of happy people because of recent events. You'll find friends quickly. Everyone is curious to get to know each other," I say trying to reassure her. She nods her head giving me a weak smile.

"I'm sure you're right," She says shakily. Why is she acting so weird? Suddenly, in the distance I see a man running towards us. He gets closer and I realize...oh earth, it's Lachlan! I run towards him and he pulls me into a tight embrace.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Fern told me where you went. Why the hell wouldn't you tell me where you were going, Rowan?" He says taking me by the shoulders.

"I knew you would try come with me," I say. I'm still shocked to see him here. Lachlan goes to argue back but G interrupts him.

"I don't know who this is but we should probably go," G says, her eyes darting around. She's nervous, I have no doubt of that now.

"G, what's wrong?" I ask. Her eyes flicker to the horizon line and I look too.

When I see it I gasp. People. Probably hundreds of thousands of them. They're still far away but they're heading here.

"Who are those people?" I gasp.

With tears in her eyes, she says, "Those are my people, and they want revenge."