Glass stepped toward him. “Wells,” was all she said before wrapping her arms around him again, this time in a comforting embrace. Glass knew him far too well to let him get away with his stoic act. The best part of their friendship was that he didn’t mind.
After a long moment, they pulled away from each other. There was something Wells needed to tell Glass before she got to camp.
“Glass,” he started, “things are a little… different here on Earth than we expected.”
Concern flashed across her face. “What is it?”
He tried to choose his words carefully, but there was no way to sugarcoat the shocking, disorienting information. “We’re not alone. Here. On Earth.” He said it quietly so no one around them could hear. He waited for her to process what he’d said before continuing. At first, she smiled, looking ready to make a joke about all the hundreds of other Colonists around them. Then she grasped the implication of his words, and her expression shifted.
“Wells, are you saying…” Glass trailed off.
“Yes. There are other people here on Earth. People who were born here.”
Glass’s eyes grew large and round. “What?” She swiveled her head from side to side, as if expecting to see people watching her from the trees. “Are you serious? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m one hundred percent serious. But it’s okay. They’re very peaceful and kind. Well, most of them. There’s a small group that broke off about a year ago, and they’re dangerous. But the rest of them are just like us.” Wells thought of Sasha and couldn’t suppress a smile. “They’re actually pretty inspiring. The Earthborns are good people, maybe better people than we are. I think we have a lot to learn from them. I just have to figure out a way to let the others know without scaring anyone.”
Glass was staring at him, but it was no longer with confusion. “Wells,” she said slowly, a small smile forming at the corners of her mouth, “is there something you’re not telling me?”
He gave her a sidelong look. “Yes, there’s obviously a ton I haven’t told you yet. There was this terrible attack, and a fire, and then people started getting sick, and you’ll never guess what happened when—”
“No,” she said, cutting him off. “Something you’re not telling me about these Earthborns. Or maybe one in particular?”
“What? No.” He was usually pretty adept at hiding his thoughts, but something about Glass’s tone made his cheeks redden.
“Oh my god,” she whispered. “There’s a girl. An Earth girl.” Her voice was equal parts shock and delight.
“You’re crazy. There’s no Earth—” He cut himself off with a smile and shook his head. “How could you possibly have known that?”
Glass reached out and squeezed his arm. “You can’t keep secrets from me, Wells Jaha. It was the way you were talking about these inspiring Earthborns. You had the same look on your face that you got when you used to talk about Clarke.” Her expression grew less playful as her brow furrowed. “Does that mean you two broke up? What happened?”
Wells sighed. “It’s a long story, but I’m fine.” He smiled, thinking about the previous evening, lying with his head in Sasha’s lap as they stared up at the stars. “More than fine, actually. I can’t wait for you to meet Sasha.”
“Sasha,” Glass repeated, seeming slightly disappointed that it wasn’t a more exotic name. “Where is she?”
Before Wells could reply, a tall boy in a guard’s uniform approached, carrying a small water container with one hand, his other arm bound in a sling. Glass’s face lit up at the sight of him, and she didn’t look away as he passed the container to her and waited for her to take a sip. “Thanks,” she said, smiling at him before finally turning back to Wells. “Wells, this is Luke.”
Wells extended his arm and shook the guard’s good hand firmly. “I’m Wells. Nice to meet you.”
“I know. I recognize you, of course, and Glass has told me all about you. It’s really good to meet you, man,” Luke said, grinning as he released Wells’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder.
Glass hooked her arm through Luke’s and glanced back and forth between the two boys, beaming.
Wells grinned. He had no idea how Glass had ended up with a guard, let alone one who wasn’t from Phoenix, but none of that mattered down here. Besides, there was something about Luke that Wells liked right away. He seemed solid, sincere. Nothing like the slimy Phoenicians Glass used to date. She was clearly in love, and that was all Wells needed to know.
“Welcome to Earth,” Wells said with a smile, gesturing to the sky and trees and water all around them. As he did so, he noticed the blood covering Glass’s shirt. He inhaled sharply. Had she been hurt without realizing it? He pointed at her. “Glass, are you okay?”
Glass looked down at her shirt, and her face paled. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said quietly. “That’s… that’s not mine.” Luke wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight.
Wells’s stomach plummeted as he braced for the terrible news he could already feel hovering in the air, as if Glass’s pain were radiating out from the dark place she’d hidden it away.
Glass took a deep breath and tried to compose herself, but before she was able to form any more words, she crumpled and buried her face in Luke’s shirt. He whispered something into her ear that Wells couldn’t hear and stroked Glass’s hair.
Wells stared in horror. Part of him wanted to wrap his arms around his best friend, but that clearly wasn’t his place anymore. So he stood, waiting, until Luke turned to face him. “It’s her mother,” he whispered. “She’s dead.”
CHAPTER 5
Glass
Glass had never felt more out of place in her life. Not as a Phoenician visiting Luke on Walden. Not as the daughter of a man who abandoned his family. Not even as a recently freed convict back on Phoenix for the first time. She stood by the fire pit, shivering though the sun was high overhead, and watched the frenzy of activity around camp. Everywhere she looked, kids her age or younger were busy with crucial tasks.
People darted in and out of the hospital cabin, bringing water for Clarke’s patients and carrying out bloodstained bandages to burn or bury in the woods. Some of the kids spilled into the clearing, carrying axes and firewood they’d chopped themselves, while others were laying the foundation for a new cabin. A few hours earlier, a group of grim-faced volunteers had headed down to the lake to start digging graves for the passengers who hadn’t survived. There were too many to fit in the cemetery on the far side of the clearing, and there was no point to carrying the bodies all the way to the camp.