"Erica, please call me back. I need to hear your voice. I need to know you're okay. I can't lose you."

I kept hitting replay on my voicemail. Just listening to Jake's voice seemed to help and make everything so much worse at the same time.

God, what if something had happened to him already? What if he wasn't with Uncle Freddy? What if he had already left? What if he'd been attacked?

I asked myself the same what ifs as always, hating myself more and more each time I did.

It was late in the day or perhaps early in the day. I hadn't been able to sleep and I hadn't really paid much attention to the time. It was dark outside for sure, and technically I was out past Baltia's curfew. I sat on the roof of the laboratory, where Jacob and I had sat last time we had annoyed Carter. I pressed play on another voicemail.

"Erica, it's Jakey Jay. I'm sorry I hung up. Let me know you're okay."

I sighed, completely drained. Tears stung in my eyes.

"Weird I'd find you here, Locke." Jacob approached me, taking a seat besides me. Our legs dangled off the edge.

I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. "Do you need something?"

"I just... Thought I'd check in on you. I went to your room and you weren't there. I just thought you might want some company." He shrugged.

My heart almost skipped a beat. We weren't supposed to genuinely care about each other. That wasn't apart of the plan. And yet... He was here.

I shook my head. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're torturing yourself. These- these voicemails, they're just putting more pressure on you. Everything is going to go well tomorrow, don't worry."

I leaned against him, almost involuntarily. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close, encouraging that I let him support me.

"It's just... Do you think we're rushing things? The plan is kinda a mess and what if..." My breathing halted. My lip quivered. "What if one of us gets shot? Or we let zombies in? Or-"

"Okay you need to cool it with the 'what ifs.' Callie is going to be fine. Nicole is going to be fine." His eyes met mine. I could see the warm gold flecks in the hazel of his eyes. "You're going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about."

I chuckled. "You forgot yourself."

He rolled his eyes. "Well of course I'm going to be fine. Who else is going to make sure you're alright?"

I smiled softly. "Does that mean you're not going to get yourself killed by being your usual carefree self?"

"Of course I'm not gonna get myself killed." He rolled his eyes. "Weren't you the one who got shot?"

I scowled. "You were the one who shot me!"

He waved a hand. "Details."

I looked down at my phone. The battery had grown incredibly low. Nearly dead. I sighed.

"I'm not ready for tomorrow. I know I can't think like this but I just keep wondering... I keep replaying our little plan in my head and someone always ends up dead. Someone gets shot and I just... I don't know if I can risk that."

"Well we're going to risk it. Someone has to prove we're not their prisoners. Die free or live imprisoned, ya know." He nudge me with his arm. "And what did I just say about all that negative crap. We're all making it out alive."

"I know but-"

"Hey, Debbie Downer, stop overthinking this. We're getting out, tomorrow, ya got that?" He stood up, extending his hand. "Now let's get some sleep. We've got a big day ahead of us."

I took his hand.

There was a sunrise on the horizon. For one minute Baltia glowed with more hope and prosperity than I had ever known. The future was uncertain but I felt it through Jacob's optimism.

I would get to hear Jake's voice in person soon.

Okay so real delay, I know. I was stuck af, cause I am super nervous about writing the next chapter and I've kinda been delaying it as long as possible. Sorry! But I still love this story and haven't given up. I hope y'all haven't given up on me!

Also school has been crazy and I was trying to work on my novel and it was just a lot but mostly I was struggling with what's to come. Y'all can totally harass me if I'm super late with any other chapters again.
~Oz