I park my car and rush into the apartment. Sage is asleep on the couch, and I almost let her sleep, but there is too much to discuss.

“Sage,” I say, gently nudging her shoulder.

“Mhmm?” She mumbles as she tries to open her eyes.

“We need to talk.” She rubs her eyes and slowly sits up.

Yawning, she says, “What’s up?”

“Plath answered a lot of my questions tonight.”

She looks confused. “Who the hell is Plath?”

“The Hunter that almost killed me.”

“Dammit, Oreo. What were you doing talking to him? Especially without me! Why didn’t you text me to meet you?” She is wide awake now.

She is right. That was dumb. Oh well, too late now. “I wasn’t thinking. I guess I was just eager for answers.” I shrug my shoulders and say, “Anyway, there is a very good chance they are on their way to find us. We are not leaving. We will fight if we have to.”

“Okay. So what did he tell you?” I spend the next half hour explaining what Plath told me about our Sphere wanting to remain anonymous to Earth and not be corrupted by their ways here. I also explain that we are being hunted because we now have seen and know too much about life here. I then tell her that there is a way home, but we are forbidden to go back.

My voice full of determination, I say, “I’m going to find a way back, Sage.”

She rubs the back of her neck and sighs. “If we did find a way back…how could we have a normal life there again? We have been gone for four years now. A lot changes in four years. Plus, the Constable isn’t going to accept our return. Or at least it doesn’t sound like it. Definitely not a warm welcome…more like nooses tied around our necks and hanged in front of every Dweller in Dandux.”

“Then what do you suggest we do? Fight for the rest of our lives? Plath made it very clear that we will be hunted until we are dead. I don’t know about you, but that is not the life I want to live.” I’m irritated and overwhelmed. There is no way out of this mess, and I’m feeling suffocated by my own life.

Sage looks thoughtful for a moment, then frowns. “I hate to say this, but it looks like we are stuck here. It’s sort of like the story of Adam and Eve, isn’t it?

I laugh and lay my head against the back of the couch. “How so?”

“They ate fruit from the forbidden tree and were cursed. We ate forbidden fruit. We had no business being past safe grounds in Dandux.”

I laugh again at her metaphor, although, she makes a good point. “If I could do it all over again, I would have never followed those men that night. I’m sorry I got us into this.”

“I chose to come. I didn’t have to come find you that night. Oh well. It is what it is. We might as well live like there is no tomorrow. Enjoy what little bit of our lives we have left.” She smiles weakly and looks at me for a response.

I shrug my shoulders and close my eyes. I can’t accept never seeing Felix or my parents again. I wonder what they’re thinking this very second. I wonder if Felix told them what I told him about that night. I start to feel sick at the realization that I will probably never see them again.

Sage has already fallen back asleep. I take off my shoes then change my mind and put them back on. I probably need to wear them - just in case. I put my knife in one shoe and my gun in my pocket. I walk around to make sure all of the doors are locked, and once I’m satisfied, I lay down on the smaller couch in the living room.

I think about all of the things I need to do. Since we pretty much have no other option, other than staying here, I need to get my job back. I also need to talk to my adviser and make up a lame excuse for being absent before all of my classes are dropped. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. If we plan on making a life here, we need to have a plan.