Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.

I didn't know what to do. I hadn't even realized that Jeb had gone out there, but it made sense. He was our leader and would protect us even if it meant dying himself and it did. Ian was still crying as I pulled his face into the crook of my neck. I absently stroked his hair. I was so in shock that I didn't even think to cry. He eventually calmed down and pulled away from me. I wasn't even going to ask what happened right now. All I cared about was that he was okay.

He picked himself up off the mattress and I followed him out of the room. He walked down the hall and entered Melanie and Jared's room. They were locked around each other with tears running down their cheeks. We walked over, without them even acknowledging our presence and wrapped our arms around them. We stayed that way for a long time until I heard Kai wake up. I picked her up out of her crib and cradled her against me.

Eventually, we had all cried all of our tears out and sat in silence. I felt like we needed to do something. There had to be something going on outside the walls of this cave. Melanie came over and took Kai from me and handed her to Jared. He looked into her eyes as if he planned on never letting her go.

"I think we should probably go see what's going on," I finally suggested and the rest of my family soundlessly agreed. We walked to the kitchen. I silently entwined my fingers with Ian's and rested my head on his shoulder as we walked. The kitchen was silent except for the occasional, audible sob. Everyone was sitting around the table just staring at their hands. I finally decided that we all needed to know what happened.

"Ian," I whispered, "what happened?"

He stayed silent for a few more moments before pulling me off to the side. I could see Jared doing the same thing with Melanie. Finally, he spoke, "We were charging towards the seeker. There was only one so it shouldn't have been too difficult to take him in, but as we got closer, Jeb ran straight at the motorcycle. I don't know if he thought the seeker would stop or what, but he didn't stop. He swerved, but it was too late. The seeker hit Jeb and flew off his own bike. He flew through the air and eventually landed on a nearby rock. He was dead too. We rushed to Jeb. He was still breathing, but his face was so bloody we knew we had to get him to Doc and fast. When we started to pick him up, he swatted us away. He told us he was ready to die and to just leave him. There was no way we were going to leave, so we sat in a circle around him and watched him take his final breath. He looked so peaceful. Then we decided to just bury him before we went back to the caves, just in case more seekers came looking for the dead one. Jared gave a beautiful speech and we watched as Kyle and Jamie filled his grave."

Tears were falling in a steady stream and I was almost worried that they would never stop. I pulled his head down to my shoulder once more as I rubbed his back reassuringly. I looked over to Melanie who had his hand in Jared's and noticed that he was speaking to the entire room.

"…Jeb was a great man, one of the greatest I've ever known. He died doing what he was so proud doing, protecting all of you, his family. Jeb was our leader and got us through some pretty rough times. He wouldn't have let us let him die out there tonight if he didn't believe that we would make it without him. We will have a memorial service for him tomorrow out on the cliffs since we already buried his body next to the others."

With that he left the room and was followed by Melanie, with Ian and I not far behind. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen, but I had a feeling that Jared was going to take Jeb's place as our leader. He already led every raid and knew everything there was to now about the caves. He motioned for us to follow him into their room and Ian and I sat against the far wall as Melanie put Kai back I her crib.

Jared finally spoke, "I know this is going to take some time to get over and I'm not saying it won't, but we need to be strong for everyone else. We have grieved and cried as much as our bodies will allow. Jeb told me once that if anything should happen to him, he expected me to take responsibility for the caves and the people in it. We will all get through this together."

I noticed that in the corner of the room was Jeb's gun. I could finally feel a trail of tears stream down my face. I closed my eyes and felt Ian's hand wipe away my tears and rest against my cheek. I leaned into him. For some reason, it felt wrong to go back to our room, so we sat against the wall and gradually we all fell asleep not ready for what the next day would bring.

When I woke, Melanie was gone. I checked on Kai and she was still sleeping so I decided to try and find Melanie. She wasn't that hard to find. She was in the glow room cave that looked like the night sky. I sat down next to her and saw that her eyes were red from tears. I put my arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head onto mine. We sat in silence for a while until she cleared her throat.

"Did you know he taught me how to ride a horse when I was six years old," she asked rhetorically. "And did you know that when I was about to start high school, he told me that any boy that even looked at me funny would have to answer to him? And when the invasion began he left me a ring and said that if I wore that ring, I would be able to find him. And when I was scared, he would tell me everything was going to be okay because he loved me. He was like my dad and now he's just gone like my real dad. He won't get to see Kai grow up and he won't get to meet your kids. He loved us all so much and now he's just gone."

She started crying again and we held each other. Some time later, Jared walked in and picked her up to carry her back to her room. It had always amazed me how they didn't need words. He could almost sense that she was hurting and he was the only thing that would fix her.

I followed them back through the caves but ended up back in my own room so I could get ready for the memorial. Ian was sitting on the bed with his guitar in his hands. He wasn't playing and he looked almost as if he had forgotten how to. I sat down next to him and he turned his head to look into my eyes.

"Jeb gave me this guitar," he began and I nodded encouraging him to continue. "It was just after he found Kyle and I. He caught me looking at it in the kitchen one day and told me I could have it. I told him I didn't play anymore and that he could keep it and I didn't want it. That night, it was just sitting in the corner of my room and it sat there for almost three years before I actually picked it up and played it."

"We all have things Jeb gave us," I said, "Hell, he was the one who let me stay here when everyone else wanted me gone. I'm alive because he brought me back here, but he wouldn't want us to dwell on everything he did for us. He did all those things so we could survive and if we don't try and do exactly that, then we will have failed him."

"I want to be done crying. After today and the memorial, I will be done crying. It doesn't get me anywhere."

"I don't think you will, Ian. You love too much to not cry. The moment you lay eyes on your child you will fall so deeply in love that crying will be the only thing you can do. Sometimes tears express what we can't say in words. When I see tears running down your face, in sadness or in happiness, I don't think you're weak, I think you are the strongest person I've ever met."

He kissed my forehead for the first time since he told me Jeb was dead and looked into my eyes.

"I love you so much."

I could see the tears begin to form in his eyes and felt the tears form in my own. Now wasn't the time to tell him. I would tell him after the memorial.

A/N: Well that's a cliffhanger! What could she need to tell him? Tune in Wednesday to find out! Drop a review and tell me what you thought. Until next time! :)

P.S. If you like to listen to music while reading, I would listen to "Fix You" by Coldplay during this chapter. Just a thought! :)