Walking Zoey's line of retreat was Mei's familiar figure, shadowed by Alice. Past Alice's blond hair I could see the others returning from wherever they'd gone.

"Seems I missed something."

Mei stopped several feet away and scrutinized me from head to toe.

"If this were a hospital, you'd be confined to bed rest for days."

"No rest until we reach a safe zone."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

I looked at her expectantly, casting a glance at Alice. Mei shielded her.

"Putting whatever happened with Asteria aside, you should know we were attacked twice while you slept. No one died, but we reasoned there has to be someplace safer than this. We found a map from one of the dwarves that highlighted a few possible locations. Asteria wouldn't wait and set out to scout with Valorie."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She held up a crude replication of the dwarven map with circled annotations.

"Oh."

With Mei's words also came the truth of my mistake. I may have cut our connection, but I underestimated Asteria's hero complex. She wouldn't leave these people behind, not after the events on the surface.

Everything was still going according to the book, save that this group of extras survived, and Asteria and Zeke met slightly earlier. Any feelings she has for Zeke will be mixed at best and confused at worst. Perhaps she thought of us as rivals, in a sense.

"Can I see that map for a second?"

I snatched it before I had the chance to finish my words. Mei crossed her arms and shifted her weight dramatically, but I was too busy having an epiphany.

A Depot. A Brewery. A defensive camp. Multiple routes. Checkpoints. The Scout Station. The foundation of a rivalry, and now, a supply of able bodies to increase my speed. The need to separate them from Asteria was the icing on the cake.

"Mei."

"What is it?"

"I haven't thanked you yet, have I?"

"I didn't treat you expecting a thank you."

"Good. That'll make my gift much sweeter."

I held the map up and pointed to a small spot labeled SS.

"This is our safe zone."