We stood in front of a rusty old stairway. It led up to a wrought iron wheel latch. Once Eve and I got up to the top she turned the metal bar clockwise, making a dong sound when it rotated all the way to the end point. Pushing the heavy door forward she leaked open the North side to me.

Goosebumps crawled along my forearms giving me the shivers. This was it. I was finally going to step out onto the Luckies' ground for the first time. Once we reached the top I looked around and noticed that we were in a small empty closet filled with dust bunnies and broken cleaning material. Spider webs hugged at every corner and smelled of sulfur.

Closing the latch quietly behind me, Eve walked over and opened the dark casting door that enclosed us inside. "Stay close to my lead okay?" She grabbed the bag that she was carrying and took out a small flashlight with a small weird attachment to the side of it. Winding it up as if it was a jack-in-the-box, she spun the handle and out shone the light.

I hadn't seen a flashlight in years. Yes, we had a power source connected from the Luckies' side but batteries in this era were hard to come by. I highly doubt anyone had them anymore.

I nodded in understanding.

As soon as we headed out, the big building was dark. Only the flashlight showed what we could see. The place looked like it had been through a tornado. Broken chairs and tables were scattered on the floor and lots of shattered glass illuminated from the light shining on it. The crunch sounds below our feet made the place that much creepier as we continued stepping over glass amongst other unknown things.

Flashing her light towards the right, there looked to be another door with a small window at the top. There was smeared blood all over it. I grabbed ahold of Eve's backpack, holding on tight. I braced for whatever the light would revel to us. Hanging strips of wire swayed above our heads reminding me of a jungle. Instead of smelling vegetation and moisture, it smelled like rotting decay and smoke. Looking left, what looked like dentist chairs with Velcro straps dangling at their sides took the cake for how bizarre this place made me feel. They were lined up next to each other, telling a strange tale of something that once was. More broken glass vials lay on the floor untouched, including red stains that had dried up over time.

"This is the place where it all started," Eve said.

She didn't need to say any more. This was the place where Morgan and all the other firsts were changed back to humans. But that also meant that this was where subject 101 was created.

Finally reaching the exit, Eve took no time in stopping; she knew the way she needed to go. I didn't have a chance to look at anything but the back of her head because I was afraid I would lose her. But the aroma of the Luckies hit my senses immediately. The sweet smell of flowers caused me look over toward a bunch of potted plants along the walls of one building. I couldn't help but look around. Everything was so clean and spacious. Their homes were not on the verge of falling down like ours was, barely holding on by a thin strand. Large windows displayed the insides of their comfort, not afraid of anyone watching because they didn't need too. They felt safe.

I couldn't help but walk over to one of the homes and take a peek inside their lives. The savory smell of beef slowly entered my nostrils as I approached their window. The happy family of three was immersed in their world, completely unaware of my existence and prying eyes.

They were all seated at the dining table, a table of their very own, enjoying the company of one another. Sitting at the center of the table was a red porcelain pot. Opening the lid, out came a steam of fragrance, the delicious scent that had me spying over here in the first place.

Continuing to stalk them, I imagined my mom and dad in their place. My mom would talk about what she did throughout the day as my dad and I would listen, eating the delicious meal she had cooked up for us. Dad would talk traveling or maybe going to the lake sometime this weekend to fish. It felt like home, as if the zombie apocalypse never happened. Like it was all a dream.

Pulling me away from the window, my eyes focused in on a glowering Eve. "What the shit, Leona!" she whispered loudly.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," I said.

"This isn't like our side. Rankers are everywhere, left and right. Some of these houses are theirs too, did you realize that?" she said, letting go of the firm grip she had on me.

"I didn't mean to. I just..." I looked towards the house one more time. Shaking off the thoughts of my parents, I looked back to Eve. "It won't happen again."

Her brows pulled down flat and forward over the bridge of her nose, furrowing at the center. She nodded to me in understanding. "Let's get going."

After making a few zigzags around the buildings and houses, we had to stop a few times to sneak past a couple of Rankers on patrol. We conclusively made it to our destination. The small square building was isolated from all the others. Medium-sized columns stood on each side of the doorframe but we didn't enter through the front. Instead, Eve took us to the back side of the building and knocked three times. She paused, knocked again twice, paused, and then knocked the final time.

I could hear heavy footsteps approaching the other side of the door as we waited. A middle-aged Latin man greeted us with his presence. His light colored eyes looked at both Eve and me. Before letting us in, he peered his head out looking in all directions to make sure we weren't being followed.

Walking inside I noticed the floors were all wood as my feet creaked beneath me. Piles of boxes and bags stored along the shelves and floors of the room we were in.

After the man locked the door behind us, he approached Eve. Once walking under the light bulb that was suspended from the roof, I could see that he was in fact a Lucky as his sandy complexion shed a vibrant color. "Good to see you again, Eve."

"Oscar, this is Leona. Leona, Oscar," she said, introducing us.

He extended his hand out in greeting. I hesitated for a moment before connecting our two palms together and shaking.

"What brings you here to my shop?" Oscar questioned, looking at both of us.

"We need more food supply. Trinity and Morgan are completely out," Eve said.

"They're keeping a tighter lock on all the shops now. Any foods and goods that are distributed." He combed over his hair with his hand. "It's getting bad over here. We're trying to have everything under control and close knit in the alliance, but it's getting more difficult."

"How so?" Eve questioned, putting her hands to her side. I continued to look at the two of them absorbing all this new information.

"Sergeant Cooper and his Rankers are raiding people's houses and asking a bunch of questions. People are going to crack under the pressure Eve. Give some info to them. We'll all be done." His forehead crinkled showing the worry lines on them.

So Buzzcut indeed had a name.

"Shit's about to hit the fan, no matter what we do." She paused before continuing, "Be ready because it's happening tonight."

That got Oscar's attention fully as he snapped his eyes over to meet hers, not leaving. "Tonight?" he questioned.

Eve glanced my way and then back at him and nodded. Before I could ask what the hell was going on, she grabbed the items out of my pocket and handed them to him. "We have items to trade for the food. Pack some supplies. I need to handle a few things," she said, leaving me in the room with the stranger.

Oscar must have noticed the facial expression I was making when she left because he put a smile on his face to comfort me, but I couldn't help but notice how much it looked forced as he continued to eye were Eve had exited from every now and then.

Staring at the jewels in his hand, he glided his finger over them to get a better look. "You know, my wife would have killed me if I lost my band." He chuckled as he picked up the ring, taking in its beauty.

"Would you give up your band if you knew it would keep your wife from starving?" I simply questioned.

His brows frowned and I could see my words hit him in some way. I didn't want to cause any type of piteous feeling he would have towards us. I just wondered if a Lucky would do just that.

"I'd have done anything to protect her," he said and placed the jewels back in my hand. "You're a brave young girl who's going to bring a lot of change to your people for the better." He smiled and started packing grains and canned veggies in an empty duffle bag.

After filling the entire bag of food, I tried offering the items again to Oscar but he didn't accept. If you had asked me how I felt about a Lucky a couple days earlier, I would have told you not nice things about them. But after coming across not one but three brilliant and kindred souls, it had me looking at them at different angle.

Eve came walking into the storage room and waited by the exit door for us. Looking over at Oscar one last time, something came over me. Before I knew it my arms wrapped around his waist, hugging him tight. The duffle bag that was closely nestled on my side gave an overwhelming feeling of solace.

Leaving the building, Eve ran the opposite way from where we came from. Hopefully, it was a shorter way to get home because the bag I was carrying felt like a ton of bricks. Following her lead close behind, I replicated each step she took making sure no mistakes were made on my part. I needed to make sure, at all cost, this food would be safely taken back to our side. Jenny and the others were counting on me.

We were hunched near a colorful brick wall that had painted swirls and flowers on it. It did a good job of covering our location. At the end of the wall, Eve stayed still, waiting.

"What are we doing?" I questioned.

She didn't respond, which gave me the uneasy feeling that we were about to do something stupid. She continued to look in the center at an open spot where a bench sat next to a giant oak tree.

"Eve!" I said, quietly trying to get her attention.

A shadow-like silhouette came into my view. Trailing, my eyes shot up at who I was looking at. Her long bleach-blonde hair could be seen in the darkest crevasse of the earth. Her clothes were clean and styled like a Lucky, except she wasn't a Lucky at all.

"Blondie?" I questioned.

Eve took my hand and we jogged over to the tree that masked us with its low-hanging branches and leaves. Still in shock, I watched as the two talked.

"Did you get my message?" Eve said quietly.

"Yeah, Bernadette told me about it once your guys' radio conversation was over."

"Well, do you have it?" Eve questioned, looking Blondie up and down.

She pulled out a card that showed an image of a woman in a white coat with bold letters at the top spelling out Bernadette.

Eve took it from her hands and put it in her pocket. "Okay, let's go." Eve looked at me, her expression urging to get out of there.

I felt like my mind was playing tricks on me as I continued to stare down Blondie. My initial thought was, Why is she still in this vortex of a community? Did she not escape? Did she trade sides? Was she taken by the Luckies? I'd had it with Eve and her damn secrets. I parked my feet firmly on the ground and dropped the duffle bag.

"What the fuck is going on?!" I said, looking at both girls. "Why are you here in the North? And why did you give her an access key that belongs to a damn white coat?!" My voice got louder at the end making both girls get closer to me.

"Please don't be loud. The Rankers are nearby," Blondie pleaded.

I blazed my eyes at Eve and even though it was still night out I knew she felt my daggers.

"Didn't you tell her?" Blondie asked.

"Tell me what exactly, huh? That you got sick of living on our side and chose the life of luxury? Is that it?" I said crossing my hands over my chest.

"Holy shit Eve, you didn't tell her? That's a whole new low, even for you." Blondie pointed at Eve. "They brought you hear to recruit you." She looked at me.

Nothing made sense. I tried to put the pieces together. There were the maps hanging on the walls of Trinity and Morgan's lair and then Eve's secrecy around the whole thing. But, it still didn't add up as to why I was there.

"What is she talking about?" I questioned, looking at Eve and waiting for a straight answer.

"We're bringing down the South," she said with no hesitation.

My mouth dropped to the floor. How could any of us do that? They were stronger than all of us and they had armed forces working against us. There was no way any stiff could bring down a whole colony of Luckies.

"Trinity and Morgan are recruiting Stiffs to hide out in the North, providing any sort of resources we have that might help in tearing them down," Blondie interrupted. "Some of the Luckies are with the cause as well."

"Is this true?" my thin brows threaded in the middle as I looked at Eve who was now biting her nails.

When she didn't respond, I walked over and grabbed her arm away from her face. "Is it Eve?"

She inhaled and exhaled loudly. "Yes. I wanted to tell you. I just didn't know how."

I started to pace back and forth. To think I was just getting food for everyone. Now I'm stuck in between the battle against the Luckies that's been happening right under my nose.

"Look, I have to get going before my folks get worried." Blondie interfered. It made me stop in my tracks. "You should probably ask why you're here, Morgan and then don't just have some random Stiff tagging along." She eyed Eve to be sure Morgan knew exactly who she was referring to. "You have to have something valuable to bring to the table."

And with that, she disappeared into the night as if she was never there. Taking in what she said, I turned to face a guilty Eve and pressed my words to her. "What does she mean, bringing something valuable to the table?"

"You're the fastest person I know." She stepped closer but I met her and stepped back. "If I had asked you to do what we're about to do, you would have said no." She pinched the bridge of her nose as if a headache was coming on. It must have been all the lies she was keeping inside. "Jenny is your priority."

"Watch it," I warned her, hoping she would choose her words more wisely after.

"And I know that would have brought another factor of dismissing the offer. So I made it up and forced the connection," she finally said.

"Made what up?" I stared blankly at her.

"Everything—the Stacy thing, the jewelry, all of it. I knew Stay was friends with Brooke so I made up a lie about someone getting to the North side because I knew she would tell your friend." She tried to take another step forward toward me. "I knew we were running low on food and Julia was desperate so I told her that you knew a way into the Luckies side."

My brain was trying to process what I was hearing. Since day one of this whole thing, it was Eve playing puppet master with my life. I looked over to the duffle bag stocked with food. Mixed emotions had me hurt and thankful all at the same time. I didn't understand what I was feeling. I grabbed the bag and placed it over my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she said reaching out.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted, pushing her hand away and walking off to who knows where.

"Leona, please..." Eve said, trailing behind me. "You're going to get caught! You don't know the way."

I stopped in my tracks. "Then lead me back home," I said as my lips tightened.

"We can't yet."

"And why not?"

"We have to get something first." Her eyes went down.

Blondies words hit a nerve, reminding me why I was really here. "So what value do I bring to you, Morgan, and Trinity, huh?"

"Like I said, you're the fastest Stiff I know. Even with the shitty injections they give us, it doesn't stop you." She braced herself for what she was about to ask me. "We are going to break into one of their secret facilities and grab any hard evidence they have about what exactly they're cooking there."

"No!" and I continued walking.

Looking on either side of the street, not a single soul was near and I continued to hide myself under any bit of shadow I could find.

"Please, Leona. You're our last hope," Eve begged as she put her whole self in front of me, stopping me in my tracks yet again.

"My hope is to have Jenny survive and live the healthy and beautiful life she deserves," I said. Bringing up Jenny caused tears start to swell up as the overwhelming sensation of not being in control ventured inside me. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I found a way to calm my nerves.

"See that right there, Leona?" Not all Stiffs can do that. Just shut off that overpowering sensation that has you locked up inside." Her eyes swelled. "It takes me days to get out of that funk. Weeks, even. But you... you're mentally and physically capable of so much. There are so many like me who are suffering inside the barricaded walls of the South. It eats at us day by day until we can't take no more."

I was flabbergasted by her opening up to me like that. I approached her ever so gently and wrapped my arms around her. Her tears ran onto my shirt as I felt her softly cry on my shoulder. She was right, and for a moment, I lost sense in the big picture of what they were doing. This was bigger than me—bigger than surviving another week of food. It was time I stepped up and played my role for the sake of Jenny's future and for the future of all Stiffs.

Slowly letting go of Eve after I noticed she had calmed down, I looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile. "What do I need to do?"