Where We Go | Book Three

31. Everything Changes

Ben's face brightened when he spotted Sophia sitting on the bed. He knelt in the doorway, and she sprinted over to him, leaping into his arms. He grunted at the impact as they both fell to the floor, laughing.

"How have you been, Soph? I missed you," he asked as I took a seat beside Julia. Chris and Pilot stood by the window while Tom and Donut sat on the floor.

"Good," she giggled. "I've been to school!"

Ben and I looked at each other. His brows pushed together as he turned back to Sophia on his lap. "School?" he questioned. "What do you mean you've been to school?"

I caught Julia's face out of the corner of my eye. Dark circles no longer pressed beneath her eyes and her skin looked remarkably brighter than it had been when I'd last seen her. She looked proud as she watched Sophia across the room.

"They've got a school here," she replied. "All the other kids get to go too, and we learn stuff."

"It's next to the medical building," Julia clarified. "There's a few people here who used to be teachers, so they take it in turns." I couldn't hold back the smile that pressed against my lips. Land's End had an answer for everything.

"What kind of stuff are you learning, Soph?" I asked.

"Um," the girl thought as she brought up her fingers to count. "We've done English, Science, some French and it's Maths today."

My brows lifted. "Wow," I grinned. "You're going to be the smartest one here."

"Miss Turner says I'm doing really well!" she beamed.

Ben hugged her. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Speaking of school," Julia said, looking down at her watch. "We're going to be late if we don't go now."

"Okay!" Soph agreed as she leapt from Ben's lap. She took Julia's hand and began to lead her out of the room.

"I'll come to sort your serum later," Julia said in a low voice over her shoulder.

The rest of the men looked at us as the door clicked shut. The air was tenser, heavier with the attention that focused on us. "Did you find them?" Tom asked.

Ben only nodded.

"And they can do it?"

"They've got all our samples," I answered. "We left them to work on it."

Chris sat on the bed. "Did they say how long it's going to take?"

I lifted my shoulders. "They don't know. They've not had to do something like this before."

Pilot scowled. "So, what now?"

"We wait," Ben said. "It's the only thing we can do... But if anyone hears or sees anything we need to let each other know."

"I've been posted by the gate," Tom replied. "Those guys usually know everything that's going on. If anything happens, I'll give you guys a heads up."

"Thanks," Ben said. "I appreciate it."

"We should probably head out too," Tom added as he stood. "There's work to be done for us as well."

Ben got to his feet. "Do you need us to come and help?"

Tom shook his head. "You've been out all night," he said. "You should rest up. We can handle it." He stepped out the door, patting Will on the shoulder as he went. "Good to see you back, boss." The others followed, and before we knew it, we were alone.

Will turned to us. "I'm going to check on the others from Carnelian first and show my face a bit," he said. "I'll let you two rest."

Ben put a hand on his shoulder before he could move. "I'll see you later though?"