Three years after Lucinda's confrontation with the mastermind behind the infection, she is forced to risk everything to save Lucella once and for all.
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Fifteen-year-old Lucinda Emerson was well aware of the fact that she didn't take TIO down...
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"What should I do, Rose?"
I hugged her trench closer to my body. Even though I still washed it and dried it, I hadn't touched it much besides that since I got back from Doveport. It had taken me a long time to look at the large trench coat and picture the happy memories I had with my family rather than the ones of them being massacred. Once I finally managed to get over that phase of my grief, I kept Rose's trench safely in her closet. This was the first time I had taken it out in three years.
I never managed to go back to sleep after hearing what I heard, so I had to rub ice under my eyes to cover the dark circles. It was ten in the morning, so I had changed into a ankle length dress that had a floral pattern on it. I had learned to see the beauty in both my scars and my femininity. I had put Rose's trench over it as a source of comfort. As I sat on the edge of the Safe Place's roof, I reminded myself that I couldn't keep her trench coat on for too long, or all that time spent on trying to move on from her death would be futile.
What I had heard earlier this morning... it was the hope I had been looking for all this time.
The solutions to my problems. The peace to my irritation. The light to my darkness. The very way to eliminate the one person that caused Lucella nearly four years of endless loss, pain, and suffering. It was all in my head. I had the answer. I knew how to save Lucella. I knew how to restore my home to its former glory. I knew how to avenge my family, my friends, and everyone else who lost their lives to his hands. I knew how to find the closure I had been looking for all this time.
But the price that needed to be paid was more severe than anything I had ever seen.
That was why I was out here. I needed Rose's advice. I needed her to send me a sign. A sign on what I was supposed to do next. Before the infection, she was always there when I needed her the most. She had sacrificed so much for me, even before she put her life on the line for me and lost it. She sacrificed her sleep when stayed up late with me when I had pneumonia. When I had thrown up at school, suddenly her work came second. She never hesitated to cancel plans with friends if I needed her. She always had the best advice for me if I needed it.
Now, I needed her, and she wasn't here.
I let out a sigh and stood up before turning around and walking back to the door that went downstairs. Once I was back inside, I allowed for thoughts to consume my head once more as I walked down the hall. I knew what needed to be done, and it wasn't a hard task to complete, but it wasn't something I could do right now. That was the reason why I had asked my sister for advice. Maybe somehow she could send me a sign on what to do next.
The adults were out on a supply run, so Zee and Zuzy were most likely snooping through said adults' rooms. Georgie was in the shower, so I was the only one inside of our shared bedroom. I didn't think much of it when I pushed the door behind me in order to close it. I must've accidentally pushed it too hard, because the sound of it slamming made me flinch while causing something to fall off one of my shelves and land on my bed. I had gotten bored during the night, so I had taken out an old map of Lucella I found in a random store and laid it out on my bed. The closest place to us was Doveport, and even that was far away. However, the island made up for its distance with its size.
