Raelynn stared hard at Amarana. "You can't be serious?" she exploded at her. "He's a slob, but that doesn't mean Sir deserves to…to be burnt alive!"

Amarana shook her head. "My parents died to fire and did nothing," she chucked a little. "You really think Sir's any bit above them? Besides, don't you want to get out of here. Do you really want to die here?"

Annalise's eyes flipped back and forth across the ground, as if she could see the options of staying or burning the place to the ground on the floor. "If we don't take the opportunity, we don't know how long we will be stuck here for."

"Thank you!"

"But if something goes wrong, we'll be as good as dead if Sir finds out. He never wants us to leave."

"That's why he's dying. So we're free."

"You can't murder the man that saved your life. What kind of person does that make you?" Raelynn butted in. She turned to Annalise. "You can't seriously be considering this. You're our head. You're supposed to be the logical one."

"We're gonna die here anyway. Might as well make a run for it."

Raelynn sighed. "Even if we were to pull this off, how does this get us to the Capitol?"

Amarana grinned. "We make the President think we're sadistic enough to get on his murder squad. Hitch a ride to the Capitol, fake our deaths on the train, and live happily ever after in the lavish comforts far far away from here."

Annalise squinted at her in confusion. "As the 'appointed head,'" she stuck her tongue out at Raelynn, "even I can say there's too many moving parts in that. What if he kills us because he thinks we're rebels. What if we can't jump off the train and we become part of the murder squad? I'm all for this, but we need a better after-plan."

"What's so bad about the murder squad?"

"AMARANA! You are thirteen why are you so obsessed with murder."

"Survival, mom."

"When is he even coming anyway?" Raelynn raised.

"He didn't say…" Amarana slowly spelt out.

"And…"

"And so we need to have the plan ready for when that hovercraft goes over."

"NO!" Raelynn smacked her arm. "I'm not- I'm done with you both. If you want to get us killed more than we already probably are going to be, have fun!" She stomped into the couch room and laid down next to Blu.

Annalise watched after her and the dog. Amarana didn't know much about how the girls met before Downhill, but she knew that Annalise took care of Raelynn while her mother was out on drugs. Even with this, she was still thinking for the both of them, not just herself.

"Find out when he's coming. If we're gonna die, might as well be either on our own terms or knowing we tried."

Amarana opened her arms for a hug. "Thanks."

"That doesn't mean I'm happy about it. But it's worth the shot." She wrapped her arms around her, completely absorbing her.

For the first time in a few years, Amarana had hope of a family and home again.