The library is a comforting place.

I used to hate the damn place. My brother would always beg my parents to let him go and choose a new book each week. I was always more of a movie girl, instead picking a DVD and checking it out whilst my brother stumbled around with his piles of books.

Those were the good old days before we grew up. Once that happened, my brother dove head first into gaming, whilst I became too occupied with socialising to spend any time venturing to the library, especially when Netflix became available.

I remember how my friends and I used to laugh at the dystopian shows, stuffing popcorn into our faces as we soaked up the destruction. Little did we know, it was heading straight for us. What a joke.

And here I am, now... in this make do library inside a huge, invisible town within the centre of London, hiding from the very people who made Lord of the Flies so famous. Absolutely savage Slayers.

 I rest my head back against the shelves, letting my eyes trail up and glance at the bright, white spotlights overhead. Every single window is boarded up, the walls and ceiling painted black.

I wonder what this place even was before the war. A warehouse to store weapons, to house carpets, to distribute tiles... who knows.

It's overwhelming, the way they've moulded this place into a genuine liveable home, almost an actual small village that's stuffed inside one giant building.

"Em?" Anna suddenly appears, her head poking around the edge of the bookshelf. "Are you okay?"

I shrug before nodding. "Yeah."

"Save the lies for someone who doesn't know you," Heidi retorts, stepping out from behind Anna before the two of them slowly walk towards me. I don't say a word as they slouch down, Heidi right beside me, Anna opposite.

"I'm not lying," I lie.

"As if." Anna scoffs. "You liked Isla as much as the rest of us."

"Why don't you like her?" I furrow my eyebrows and she smirks.

"Did you see how shiny her hair was?" Anna jokes. "Look at the state of mine in comparison! I used to be the eye-catching brunette." She pouts as I laugh. "Plus, you don't like her. Us girls have to stick together." She grins.

I'm surprised by Anna's words, the journey to the South having definitely changed our relationship and broken any barriers that used to exist between us.

"It's not that I don't like her. It's just..." I trail off, gritting my teeth.

Fucking Zac. Life was so much easier before I let him consume every part of me, affecting all aspects of my emotions.

"You don't like her?" Heidi fills in and I slap my hands over my face before nodding. Anna giggles. "It's understandable!" Heidi insists as I shake my head.

"Is it?" I exclaim, angry at my own jealous feelings. "He knew her over five years before he knew me. It isn't rational to be frustrated by her sudden appearance."

Heidi shrugs. "It was frustrating before the war to encounter your partner's ex. This time... you thought they were all dead."

"That's true." Anna nods. "Plus, remember how much you hated me?"

"I still do," I counter with a grin and she rolls her eyes.

"The point is, every girl gets blindsided by a sudden ex," she says. "You're not a bitch for struggling with it."

"Thanks." I smirk before biting my lip and looking back up at the dark coloured ceiling. "Sometimes I feel like I've lost my way."

"You do?" Heidi pries and I nod.

"I never used to let anything bother me. I wouldn't let someone walk over me, not a single person could tell me what I didn't want to hear," I reply. "Anna, you said it yourself... we never used to be the best of friends. I never used to let Zac get away with shit..." I trail off, scoffing at my own words before running my hand through my hair.

"So?" Anna raises an eyebrow. "You've just walked over eighty miles through enemy land, watching people be murdered, whilst still trying to keep your marriage afloat." She smirks. "If you ask me, you're doing better than the rest of us."

"I agree," Heidi pipes up. "After all... just look at Sam and I." She shifts on the floor before visibly biting her lip.

"Your annoying feistiness is still inside you," Anna continues before shrugging. "Just wait for a while. Let yourself recharge."

"How long will that take?" I mutter before we descend into a comfortable silence. Anna slowly shifts, turning around on the floor. She trails her fingers over the spines of a few books before eventually pulling one out. I raise an eyebrow, never expecting Anna to be someone who enjoys something as simple and normal as reading.

"Kieran used to hide this one from me when we were kids." She smirks, holding up a copy of Jane Eyre. "I loved it," she pauses before grinning up at the ceiling. "Check it out, big brother! You can't take this one away from me..." Her voice gets quieter at the end and she quickly purses her lips before burying her head in the book.

"Anna? Are you okay?" I ask tentatively.

She looks up, her eyes clouded with tears. "No."

"I'm sorry," I say softly and she smiles slightly.

"It's okay." She shrugs. "At least Kieran can actually tell Claudia that you finally got rid of those hideous heeled boots."

"They were not hideous," I insist and Heidi shrugs, clearly agreeing with Anna. Blasphemy! "What? They were nice!" I splutter.

"Each to their own," Anna sings, opening the book and beginning to read. I shake my head at their absurd suggestion. Idiots. I miss those boots every single fucking day.

"Have you spoken to Zac after earlier?" Heidi asks and I grimace.

"No," I answer. "There's nothing to say. I was sleeping with Rayden well after the war, just like he was Anna."

Anna shoots me a wide eyed look as she looks up from the book. "All water under the bridge, right?" she asks and I nod.

"Exactly," I reply. "It's not like I can say anything about one of his earlier flings. It means nothing. And I know that."

"I get it," Heidi says. "We're here for you." Anna nods in agreement.

I grin, wrapping my arm around my sister's shoulder and pulling her in for a hug. "That means a lot."

"Good." Anna smirks, looking back down at her book. "It's easier that both of you are talking again instead of dealing with all that bitchy shit."

"Bitchy shit?" I scoff. "Look who's talking."

"Shut the hell up," she exclaims, shutting the book and playfully chucking it at my head. I manage to catch it just before it dents my forehead. "I'm an acquired taste."

"That's one way of putting it," Heidi retorts. Anna nods, shuffling back and resting her head on the bookcase.

"This place is crazy," she breathes out, eyes trained on the ceiling.

"Agreed," Heidi mutters, her head on my shoulder. "I'm happy we found it."

"It makes you wonder though..." Anna trails off. "Is it actually what it's cracked out to be?"

Heidi shrugs as I nod in agreement. "I have no idea," I tell her.

"Have you spoken to Sam?" Anna suddenly asks Heidi, an eyebrow cocked. "Since we got here?"

Heidi shakes her head. "No," she pauses, glancing at me. "I don't think I can get over it. The lie from him. The fact he liked both of us but didn't tell me."

A wave of guilt begins to surge through me before a loud bang has all of us shooting upright. My eyes are wide as we all stand, immediately defensive, heart hammering against my chest. 

There's nothing around for me to use as a weapon, until Anna grabs Jane Eyre from my hands, holding it up behind her, ready to pounce.

Bridget suddenly rounds the corner, looking instantly startled by our stance. I breathe out as Heidi slouches back against the shelves, Anna lowering her novel.

"Jeez, I'm not going to hurt you!" Bridget exclaims, holding her hands up. "Callum wants to see you all."

Slowly, Anna straightens, looking over at Heidi and I. I duck my head before quickly following Bridget, knowing that the blonde is no doubt upset by our actions. But then again, she has no idea of the hell we've been through since she disappeared.

"Sorry," I say softly and she shrugs, fiddling with the sleeve of her jumper.

"You don't trust it here," she comments.

"It's not that..." I trail off. "We don't trust anything."

Falling into silence, Bridget leads us down the winding, bright corridors. I'm already lost, not having a clue how to find different areas of the building. It's so vast, the lack of signage making me nervous. I notice Anna's eyes constantly flicking from side to side, quickly ascertaining that she feels the same.

Within a few minutes, Bridget grabs onto an oak door handle, opening it and walking in without so much as another glance our way. Stepping inside the dark room, I let my eyes trail around. The boardroom style layout surprises me and I raise an eyebrow at how normal even this room seems. A large, dark wooden table fills the middle of the room, eight chairs around it. A projector is set up in the middle, set to display a flurry of information on the wall opposite. The room is dark, Callum standing at the end, leaning his large, strong arms on the surface of the table.

Jordan, Myles, Sam and Zac are all here already, and I don't miss the way Zac's eyes flit towards me. Not one of them look comfortable in their chairs, clearly nervous. They're ready to jump up within a moment's notice, sitting right on the edge as their eyes dart from person to person.

Reluctantly, I step forward, not sensing that any of the other girls are going to join me. I pull out a chair, slouching into it and attempting to avoid the intense gaze from my husband across the table.  Not now.

The other girls slowly follow, Heidi and Anna sitting either side of me as Bridget takes a seat at the end.

I bite my lip, looking down at the uneven, light knot in the wood... the way it stands out in contrast to the rest of the surface.

"Thank you for coming," Callum says and I feel Zac bristle from across the table.

"I wasn't aware that we had a choice," he retorts.

"Of course you did," Callum replies with a shrug before standing up straight, towering over us at maximum height. "But I figured you would all be interested in helping eliminate the threat we face."

"You might be a threat," Heidi counters and Callum nods.

"You're welcome to leave at any point."

"What is it that you want from us?" I ask, pressing my elbows to the table and sitting forward. The sooner this meeting is over, the better.

"I want more information on the North," Callum replies. "I have what everyone else like Bridget told me; the way it's run, the State, the marriages. But what the hell happened to make you decide to come South?" Callum sits down in the chair beside him as Anna scoffs under her breath.

"We thought that maybe London hadn't fallen," she says with a smirk. "That someone here could help us get rid of the State."

"You were right."

"No we weren't," Myles mutters.

"I want to help," Callum argues, sitting forward and placing his monster sized hands on the table.

"There's nothing you can do." Zac shrugs. "My sister is running a well oiled system with a tonne of trained fucking Enforcers to make sure she gets her way," he finishes and I hear Poppy suck in a breath behind me.

"He's right," I agree, sitting further forward. "You may have three hundred people, but Gia must have well over a thousand. They patrol every inch of the North. And the wall."

"What the hell do you think you're achieving here anyway?" Jordan asks, gesturing around at the darkened, well-put-together building. "How is this helping anything?"

Callum takes a deep breath before sitting back and letting his eyes trail over every single one of us. "For starters I'm keeping families safe. This is the only place I know of in the South where anyone can relax and not fear the death that approaches from every corner," he tells us. "Secondly, everyone here is undergoing training to fight. They know this isn't a permanent solution. What happens the day the Slayers figure out we're here?"

"Fair point," Sam replies. "Then what's your plan?"

Callum gestures to all of us. "It's hardly like I'm able to do anything without knowing what each sector looks like. Getting help from every single one may be the best way forward... but it may also be the worst idea possible," he says. "East and West could be worse than our two and it may be an absolute suicide mission asking them for help."

"They could be hostile," Myles says, nodding in agreement.

"Exactly," Callum answers. "Now, at least we know that the North is struggling and that most people will probably be happy to see the State disappear. It's a step in the right direction," he pauses before continuing. "Maybe with all of you here, we can finally start something."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Is this a good idea?!

What about the East & the West eeeeek!!

So many uncertainties...