A bonfire was blazing, a crescent moon had appeared in the night sky. The group had expanded from 11 to 15 in just a few minutes. Aelix had taught Max how to make a fire, explaining it would be a very useful skill. Fey and Summer were crouched next to Regina, who had fallen asleep.

Otherwise, it was very calm. Bernie wasn't sure how, but Fey had managed to convince Finny to come and sit with them. Everyone was in small groups around the fire.

Then, the teens began to demand some explanation.

"What are you guys doing out in the desert in the first place?" Aelix asked. 

"Well," Sapphire was first to respond, "About a month ago, all of us except for Max woke up in this metal bunker. We stayed there for a while, but yesterday morning, when we all woke up, Max was there. He convinced us all to leave, and now here we are."

"...what?" Marko's eyes were deep with worry and confusion. "How did you get into a bunker in the middle of the desert?"

Naomi looked between all the teens. "That's the thing... None of us can remember."

"You can't remember anything?" Henry asked.

"Well... that's not true," Sawyer answered.

"What do you remember, then?" 

No one answered.

Henry's mouth shot open, about to ask why none of them would answer, but Fey spoke first. "That's okay."

She glanced meaningfully at Henry, "We don't need to know."

"What?" Henry's nose scrunched up, "Skjerp deg, of course we need to know! How else are we gonna--"

"Shut up," Aelix hissed. "They don't want to talk about it, so we won't make them."

"Of course," Bernie noticed how quick Marko was to agree after Aelix, "We can't make them tell us anything they don't want to."

Henry's mouth opened again, but then he realized it was 3 against 1 and he closed it again. "Fine. Just tell me... is that all that happened?"

"There was this screen down there..."

"And?"

"When we first woke up, this lady with red hair appeared on the screen," Sapphire said nonchalantly, "And I guess she's one of our moms. She told us not to leave. She said it wasn't safe once you got too far away from the bunker. She said we were put here for our own safety."

"And I guess you've already had your taste of that," Fey said, glancing at Regina.

"Ooh," Sapphire continued, "And she definitely told us to never leave the desert."

"Wait," Aelix realized something, "Are you planning to leave? Leave the desert?"

"Yes...?" Bernie could never be ready for the sudden outrage from the teens as she answer.

"No!" Fey cried, "You can't leave the desert! Not ever!"

"It's not safe. It's all wasteland now."

"What?" Sawyer asked. "Wasteland?"

Henry ran his hand through his dark hair. He turned to Aelix, "Should we really explain this to them?"

"I know they're so young, but..." Aelix answered, "I think we have to. They might try to leave otherwise.

"Right," Marko said. He paused for a moment. "Well... About 3 months ago, a message was sent out to the entire world. In less than 3 weeks, the world will no longer be safe. There was a mass panic. The world plunged itself into chaos, even before the damage had been done. It only got worse as time went on. People went crazy... lost their humanity."

"Something had been released into the air. Something that when you breathed it in, it destroyed your brain from the inside out. Humans destroyed themselves," Aelix said in a dark tone. "They went back to the uncivilized monsters they were thousands of years ago. Killed one another with no second thought."

"But we'd been in this desert our whole lives. It seems like this was the only place left unaffected. It's safe. I don't know why, but it is," Marko finished.

There was a heavy silence. Everyone was scared, completely uncertain of what to do with themselves.

"I know you're all scared," Fey said gently, "But if you stay with us, we'll keep you safe. All you have to do... is stay in the desert. Here."

But Max was shaking his head. "We have to go. We've already left the safety of our bunker. We need to find out the truth. If we never go, then Regina was bitten for no reason! We knew it would be dangerous, but that didn't stop us before, and it can't stop us now."

"We have to leave. We don't have any other choices."

Fey's mouth shot open, but Aelix put a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you all agree?" she then asked.

There was a small silence, before all the kids shared a single, fate-changing "yes".

"Du kommer alle til å dø," Henry shook his head with disbelief.

"Well..." Aelix said. "We can't leave the desert with you..."

"But we'll take you to the very edge!" Fey cried out. "We have to make sure you get there safely, but then we'll have to wish you good luck, and leave."

"You're REALLY gonna need that luck," Henry said pessimistically.

Marko smacked Henry over the head with the back of his hand.

"Tell me I'm wrong!" Henry snapped, but no one responded to him.

There was suddenly a loud yawn from Lea.

"It's really late," Fey said, "Let's all go to sleep and..."

"...hopefully you all change your minds..." Henry said under his breath.

"...We'll leave in the morning," Fey said at the same time, covering Henry's voice completely.