The wall was breaking.
Astrid stood paralyzed next to Sam, having just told him that she threw Petey to the bugs. Astrid thought sacrificing Little Pete hadn't worked. But it seemed like it was, now.
"What is happening?" Jack asked, gaping up at the cracks racing up the wall. Astrid forgot he was standing there.
"It looks like the FAYZ is finally ending," Sam said. Astrid couldn't tell if he was disappointed or happy. She didn't know how to feel, either. When it first began, all she wanted was for it to end. But now, after all she had done, and she didn't even do the worst of things. Astrid stood staring, mystified, at the wall slowly breaking apart.
"Um, won't the pieces crush us all when they start to fall?" Jack asked. Astrid looked back at him. He was nervously watching more cracks crawl up the dome.
"Yeah, I think you're right, Jack. We should get everyone inside houses," Sam said. He started walking slowly backwards, still watching open-mouthed as the dome that had confined them for so long slowly weakened.
The three kids were shaken out of their shock and amazement as the dome emitted a loud, thundering boom that shook the ground. Sam, Astrid, and Jack started sprinting towards the town plaza. The many other kids were already rushing into houses, or staring at the wall that was now about to fall apart.
Sam started yelling at everyone to take cover immediately. But it was unnecessary. The dome shattered into millions of tiny pieces that slowly floated down to the Earth. It reminded Astrid of snow, even though there never was any snow in Perdido Beach.
Sam took a deep breath. Astrid could tell he was worried there were going to be problems with huge chunks of the wall plummeting towards the houses. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack frowning and shooing some kids away that were sticking their tongues out, trying to eat the falling bits of the dome.
"This isn't snow," Jack muttered and shot the kids who were still trying to eat the "snow" a look as he walked back towards Sam and Astrid. Astrid smiled. The smile soon vanished as she realized the FAYZ was over. It was all over. Or at least she hoped it was. The Gaiaphage is probably still alive, but the military could take care of that. It wasn't her problem anymore. It wasn't Sam's, either.
It didn't take long for the military to rush in. They started to take everyone to a military base camp for questioning. Sam put up a fight, trying to stay with Astrid, because he was supposed to get sent to a different place with all the other mutants. Finally, the soldiers trying to haul Sam away gave up when Jack started helping. Astrid would have laughed at the sight of a scrawny, nerdy 13-year-old pinning a tall, beefy soldier down to the ground in a matter of seconds. But more troubling thoughts were on her mind.
Why did Jack and Sam not lose their powers?
Astrid, Sam, and Jack were taken away to a base camp with Caine, Diana, Brianna, Dekka, Lana, Edilio and Quinn. Sanjit and Virtue were taken immediately by their parents, with Bowie, Pixie, and Peace. Albert was sent away to the Mcdonald's Headquarters. How they found out that Albert ran the Mcdonald's, Astrid didn't know. The rest were happily swept into their parents arms.
She did know that Drake was taken to a special base camp.
A very secure base camp.
Or at least she hoped.