Nina woke up early to help Grizz and the rest of the team pack for their trip. She tried not to worry about it, her brother leaving for up to two weeks and probably dying and suffering and being eaten by wild animals or something. Grizz saw the worry on her face and pulled her into his side. Nina hid her face in his hoodie.
"Don't worry so much. It's gonna be fine. We're prepared this time." He said. Nina had a feeling it was aimed more at himself than at her. Nina nodded, her head still pressed into her brother's hoodie. She squeezed him tightly once before letting go. "You going to the studio?"
"Yeah." Nina said, nodding. "Then back to Allie's to work on her speech for the debate."
"You should run." Grizz said.
"What? For mayor?" Nina asked, slightly surprised.
"No." Grizz laughed. "For council. You're basically on it already."
"Maybe." Nina shrugged. "I'd actually love to not make any decisions for a while, though."
Grizz gave her a small smile. She hugged him once more before leaving the gymnasium and going to the dance studio. She didn't stay long though. Her brain was muddled with guilt over Elle and Lexie, anger at Clark and Jason, and worry over Grizz. She still hadn't told. She had seen the fear in Elle's eyes and just couldn't believe that she meant to hurt people. Maybe Elle had changed since they were friends but she didn't become a murderer.
When Nina got back to Allie's house, Gordie met her in the kitchen. He held his finger over her lips to keep her from making any noise and pointed into the living room. Nina peaked around the corner and her draw dropped. Allie and Will were making out. She turned back to Gordie.
"Gordie, you fucking perv." She whispered. Gordie gave her an annoyed look. They heard Will and Allie speaking again and the two of them rushed over to the island and tried to look like they were busy. Allie and Will came back into the kitchen.
"Hey." Nina said, trying to look casual. Will had a dorky smile on his face but Allie looked troubled.
"Hey." Allie said. "How was Grizz?"
"Good. They're all nervous but they're prepared. Between Grizz and Bean, I'm pretty sure they'll be okay." Nina said. Gordie and Allie nodded in agreement.
"I'm gonna go check on them." Allie said. She left before anyone could say anything. Gordie and Nina shared a look, Will noticed.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing." Gordie said. Nina snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough.
"Uh, I'm gonna go shower…" Nina said. She started going upstairs but stopped halfway. "Unless… you and Gordie are gonna jump each other's bones, too. Then I'll stay."
She dashed up the stairs, ignoring Gordie's shout of disapproval and Will's embarrassed groan. When Nina got out of the shower, she had a missed call from Elle. She tried to call her back but Elle didn't answer. She briefly considered just going to Campbell's house but shot that idea down quickly. She couldn't go without some kind of protection. Grizz needed to focus on the expedition and Clark was ignoring her. She tried Elle a second time but she didn't answer.
Nina couldn't sit around the house all day. She had too much on her mind. So, she pulled a Grizz and went down to the greenhouses. She wasn't surprised to find her brother there. He nodded a greeting at her and she knelt beside him. Together, they pulled out the last of the weeds and vegetables for the winter. They stopped at the last bed and Grizz grabbed Nina's hand, running his fingers over her bruised knuckles.
"What the hell happened?" He asked. Nina shrugged awkwardly and pulled her hand back. Grizz let her.
"I punched a wall." She said quietly.
"Why?" Grizz asked. Nina shrugged again.
"People always do it on TV and shit… it looked therapeutic." She said.
"Was it?" Grizz asked.
"No." Nina laughed softly. "It just hurt."
"When angry, count to four. When very angry, swear." Grizz quoted. "Mark Twain."
"Is that a real quote?" Nina asked. Grizz nodded.
"Yeah. From the Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson." Grizz told her. He stood up to get the coverings for the raised beds and Nina sat on the edge of one.
"Do you actually read all these books or do you just look up quotes on Goodreads?" She asked. Grizz laughed and tossed a cover to her.
"I actually read them." He said. He instructed her on how to cover the beds and why. She felt better just being in her brother's presence and she admitted to herself that she was scared to be away from him for two weeks. She was about to admit it to Grizz when Sam walked over to them. Grizz frowned and concentrated on the dirt.
"Can you give us a minute?" Grizz asked Nina quietly. She nodded and went to the shed, unable to overhear them even if she wanted to. Grizz joined her in the shed a few minutes later. He silently put away the tools he had been using and Nina waited for him to tell her what happened. When he didn't she gave him some prompting.
"So… you and Sam? I didn't know you were friends." She said. Grizz clearly wasn't impressed with her fake nonchalant questioning.
"We aren't." He said bitterly.
"Was that were you were? On Thanksgiving. When you wouldn't tell me?" She asked. Grizz nodded. "Are you two like… a thing?"
"He's Becca's baby's father." Grizz said. Nina sat on the work table and Grizz sat next to her. "And he didn't tell me."
"To be fair, I mean, that's not really something you advertise on a first day." She said. Grizz made a noncommittal noise and Nina nudged his side. "But Sam is like, gay gay, right? Not bi. So, it was probably just… an experiment. And it's not like New Ham has a Planned Parenthood."
"Nina-" Grizz started. He took a deep breath and Nina sighed. She leaned on his arm until her wrapped it around her shoulders. "I'm gay."
"Yeah… I picked up on that." She said softly. Grizz didn't laugh and she felt bad. "I'm glad you told me. And I'm rooting for you. I know I can be annoying but… I just want you to be happy, Grizz. I love you."
"Yeah. I love you too." Grizz said. They were quiet for a minute and Grizz pressed a kiss into Nina's hair.
"Do you like Sam?" She finally asked.
"Yeah." Grizz said. "I just… I don't know if I can deal with all of it. I mean… Yeah, I thought I was ready to be with Sam. But if he's gonna be a father and he has some kind of relationship with Becca, I just- I don't know if I can do it."
"But Becca and Sam will always have a relationship. They're best friends. And if it is his baby, it's always going to be complicated. But if you like each other, you'll find a way. You know? And if it were up to me, then you three would make the coolest throuple in the whole town." Nina said. Grizz laughed but he didn't fully feel better.
"I don't think I'm ready to be a dad." Grizz said, only half joking.
"None of us were ready for literally any of this." Nina pointed out. "But we've managed. There's a quote, it goes… you can do it, put your back into it."
"Who said that?" Grizz asked amusedly.
"Ice Cube." Nina said proudly. She started singing. "You can do it, put your back into it. I can do it, put my ass into it."
Grizz pushed her off the work table and Nina landed on the dirt floor with an 'oomph'. Grizz started laughing. Nina started laughing too. After Grizz calmed down, he helped Nina off the floor and they left the shed.
"You're hopeless." He said.
"What? Ice-Cube is one of the greatest minds of our generation." Nina said.
"He's like 80 years old, Neens." Grizz pointed out. He started walking down the road towards town and Nina followed absentmindedly.
"You quote old dudes all the time." She said.
"Yeah. Scholars and philosophers." He countered.
"Ice Cube is a philosopher." Nina said. Grizz laughed. "Say that Ice Cube is a philosopher."
"Fine, Ice Cube is a philosopher." Grizz agreed. "I still prefer Tupac."
"That's valid." Nina said. They stopped walking and Nina cringed when she realized they were outside Luke's house.
"Wanna come in for a beer or something?" Grizz asked. "I'm leaving in the morning."
Nina groaned. She didn't want to go inside but she also wanted to spend more time with her brother before he left. Grizz waited patiently for her to decide.
"Clark and I are fighting." She said quietly. Grizz nodded.
"I know. Over what he did to Lexie." He said. "It was a mistake, Nina."
"Oh, come on, Grizz! He's not that stupid." Nina said, annoyed. Grizz's eyes flickered to the door and back to his sister.
"He kind of is." Grizz admitted. "And he won't do it again. We both got onto him for it, okay? Just come have a beer with me before I go. Or do you want to spend the rest of the night with Allie and Will going over Allie's speech?"
She didn't. So, she followed Grizz inside and joined their friends in the living room. Almost instantly, Grizz regretted forcing his sister to come inside. Clark was wasted and giving pointless commentary on Jason's video game. Nina gave Grizz an annoyed look and he gave her a sorry smile. They sat on the floor and watched Jason play, each sipping steadily on a beer. Clark mostly ignored Nina.
Clark and Jason got steadily drunker until Jason turned off his video game and the two of them fell into a political rant. Nina wanted to leave but Grizz looked miserable so she stayed for his sake.
"Fuck this, bro!" Clark finally decided. "Yeah, fuck this. This is fucking wrong. She's trying to limit us."
"Fucking serious." Jason agreed drunkenly.
"Who the fuck does she think she is?" Miss. I'm-in-charge-and-this-is-right, blah blah blah. Go fuck yourself." Clark ranted. Nina took a deep breath and leaned her head on Grizz's shoulder. Grizz took a big sip of beer.
"Exactly!" Jason egged him on.
"Like we're her servants, doing her bidding." Clark said.
"Yeah. We're like… we're like pieces of meat. We're like dogs… we're like really big dogs." Jason slurred. Nina laughed and took a sip of her beer.
"You think this is funny?" Clark asked. Nina nodded sarcastically. Clark slid off the couch and knelt next to her, leaning over her to talk to Grizz. Grizz's eyes grew wide. "You know what?"
"What?" Grizz asked, uncomfortable.
"She… is fucking wrong bro." Clark said. "We got ideas. We got substantive ideas."
"We do?" Jason asked. Nina laughed again and Clark glared at her. Even though she knew Clark wouldn't hurt her, she understood how scary he could be while he was leaning over her.
"Shut up!" Clark told Jason. He got closer to Grizz's face, blocking Nina entirely from Jason's view. "We could have ideas."
"You know what I think?" Grizz asked, looking at his sister.
"What do you think?" Clark asked.
"I'm thinking you guys are being fucking idiots." Grizz said. He pushed Clark back a few inches to give Nina some space and stood up. "Allie's right. You guys can't go pulling this kind of shit right now."
Grizz gave Nina his hand and pulled her out from her spot between Clark and the chair.
"Okay. I see what's going on." Clark said. He set his beer on the table and stood up, getting in Grizz's face a little. "Big man on campus. Suddenly you're leading this fucking expedition or whatever and now you think you're better than us?"
"No, man. No. I'm just trying to do my job." Grizz said calmly.
"Oh?" Clark cocked his head to the side.
"You guys should try it sometime. Cause honestly, I don't know what happens if we don't." Grizz said. For a split second, Nina was scared that Clark would hit Grizz but instead Clark just looked sad. Grizz walked out, pulling Nina behind him.
"Grizzy, come on, buddy. Don't go to bed angry." Jason called drunkenly. Grizz dragged Nina out of the house and down the road.
"You should stay at Allie's tonight." She suggested. She was pretty sure that Grizz was going to anyway but she still wanted to offer it.
"Thanks." Grizz said. They walked back to Allie's in silence.
Early the next morning, Allie woke Nina up. Grizz was already gone, his makeshift bed on the floor was empty. Allie wouldn't tell Nina what was happening, just that she needed to come down and talk. Nina let Allie drag her to the living room in her pajamas, pillow imprints still red on her cheek. Elle was waiting for them. She wouldn't meet Nina's eyes. Nina sat in the chair beside her, trying to give her some space. Allie sat across from them.
"Okay, what's up? Are you going on a trip?" Allie asked. She motioned to Elle's pink backpack. Elle shook her head no.
"No." Elle said softly.
"I know you've been trying to figure out what happened at Thanksgiving," Elle started. Nina swore under her breath. "And I'm here because… I'm- I need to confess."
"What?" Allie asked.
"I'm responsible." Elle clarified. "I did it."
"You're serious?" Allie asked.
"Yes, you need to arrest me. I poisoned everybody. I did it." Elle said.
"You poisoned everybody?" Allie asked, clearly not believing her.
"Yes." Elle said.
"You, Elle. You intentionally poisoned a dozen people at Thanksgiving?" Allie asked.
"Yes, I did." Elle said, her voice growing thick with tears.
"What'd you use to poison them?" Allie asked.
"I used antifreeze. I put it in a pie that I brought to dinner." Elle said.
"No, you didn't." Nina said quietly. She knew Elle wasn't lying. She had known for days. But now that she was finally hearing her confess, she didn't believe her.
"Did Campbell put you up to this? Did he tell you to come here and confess?" Allie asked. "Because he's capable of something like this."
"No! It was me. I did." Elle said.
"Why would you want to make everybody sick like that?" Allie asked angrily. Tears started dripping from Elle's eyes.
"I just- I- I don't know. I- I needed-" Elle stuttered.
"Needed what?" Allie demanded. Elle stuttered a response but Allie wasn't listening. "Whatever game you and Campbell are playing, I'm not buying it."
"It's not a game." Elle said gravely. "I just needed him to stop."
"Stop what?" Nina asked softly. Elle didn't answer.
"Is he hurting you?" Allie asked. Elle sobbed. Nina and Allie sat on either side of Elle. Nina took both of Elle's hands and held them in her own, preventing Elle from picking at her cuticles until they bled.
"Cause you know if I was home… If I was home I'd just… I'd just get on a bus or a train and I'd go." Elle sobbed. "I'd just go but there's no way. There's no way. There's no way from here. And… I tried. I tried to get to it. I tried to eat as much as I could. I didn't want anyone to get sick. I didn't want to hurt anybody just him. I just wanted to die. I just wanted to be dead. But you need to protect me. Please. Just arrest me."
"I'll arrest him." Allie said.
"Arrest him for what?" Elle asked.
"If you arrest him, he's just gonna tell everybody what I've done. And what I've done is so much worse. Please?" Elle begged.
"Okay. I'll try to figure something out." Allie agreed.
"We won't let him hurt you." Nina added. Elle nodded.
"We can't tell anybody why you were arrested. You don't deserve to be punished for this. We don't want anybody to start asking why we aren't having a trial." Allie said.
"Thank you. I didn't know where else to go." Elle said. She squeezed Nina's hands and Nina pulled her into a hug.
"Nina, can you show her to Cassandra's room?" Allie asked. "I'm gonna, uh, call the Guard."
"Yeah." Nina agreed. She stood and Elle stood too, grabbing her backpack. "Just… call Luke."
Allie nodded. Nina led Elle upstairs to Cassandra's room. No one had been using it since Cassandra died, it was too weird.
"Um. Here it is. You share a bathroom, through that door, with Allie. But you can lock the door, if you want. And uh, I'm right down the hall if you need anything. Gordie is in the downstairs bedroom and Bean is next to me in the office." Nina explained. Elle nodded and sat on the bed.
"I'm really sorry." She said quietly. Nina sat next to her.
"It's okay. You were just trying to protect yourself. I- We should have done something. We know how Campbell can be-" Nina said. Elle cut her off with a whisper.
"No… No, he's so much worse." Elle said. Nina pulled her into another hug and Elle clung to her arm. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Nina whispered.
"No. I almost killed you." Elle sobbed. Nina felt her pajama shirt sleeve growing wet with tears.
"I knew something was wrong with the pie, Elle. I knew you were acting weird about it. And then everyone got sick… but I just… I know you. I do. We were best friends for years. I knew you weren't trying to hurt people." Nina said.
"You could have died." Elle cried.
"You would have died too. And then what would I do, hm?" Nina asked. Elle cried for a few more minutes, Nina rubbing circles on her back in an attempt to comfort her. When she stopped crying, Elle pulled away. Her breath was still coming in harsh gasps as she wiped the tears off her face. When she finally spoke again, her voice was gravelly.
"I hated you, you know?" Elle said softly. "I thought… I thought that you'd abandoned me. Left me all alone while you got more and more popular and hung out with girls who bullied me."
"I never meant to abandon you, Elle." Nina said regretfully. "I thought we could still be friends after I quit dancing. I didn't realize how much it would change things."
"It wasn't your fault." Elle said, shaking her head. "I didn't even try."
Nina murmured a no and pulled Elle into her arms again. She pet Elle's hair down and Elle relaxed into her arms.
"I should have texted you back. I was just… I was angry and then… I was scared." Elle said.
"It's okay. It's okay. That's over now. You're here now. And I'll keep you safe." Nina said.
"What if you can't?" Elle asked. "Campbell is strong. And he's sneaky. He-"
"Elle," Nina said, taking Elle's head into her hands. "If Campbell tries to hurt you again I will kill him. That's a promise."
"You can't just use… brute force. You have to be smarter than him." Elle told her. Nina wiped the fresh tears from Elle's cheek.
"Then we'll be smarter than him. The two of us, together, we can do anything. Promise." Nina said. Elle nodded.
"Okay." Elle agreed. Nina kissed her forehead and let her go, standing and walking to the door.
"I'm gonna give you some space. You should get comfortable… take a bath or something." Nina suggested.
"I don't really like baths anymore." Elle said. Nina froze, the thought of everything that Campbell could have done to Elle alone in their house suddenly hit her. Nina wanted to kill him, even more than she had wanted to kill Dewey. And she was pretty sure that this time, she could pull the trigger. Elle looked uncomfortable so Nina gave her a nervous smile.
"Okay. Uh, well. I'm gonna be just downstairs, if you need me. Okay?" She asked. Elle nodded. Nina left Elle's room and shut the door. She leaned against it and took a few deep breaths. Nina went down to the kitchen and found Allie making several cups of tea.
"How is she?" Allie asked. Nina shrugged and sat at the island. Allie slid her a cup of tea.
"Thanks. She's okay… I think." Nina chewed on her lip for a while and Allie leaned against the counter, waiting for her tea to finish brewing. "Allie, I need to tell you something."
"What?" Allie asked. "You didn't poison anyone, did you?" She joked. Nina shook her head no, smiling a little at Allie's question. She wanted to tell Allie that she knew. That she knew it was Elle and she let them arrest Lexie anyway. But she couldn't.
"Um… I don't- I don't like mint tea." Nina said. Allie raised her eyebrows at Nina then laughed.
"Better be careful. Gordie might kick you out of the house for that." Allie warned jokingly. Nina laughed, trying to push the thoughts to the back of her head.
"Hey, is Luke here?" Nina asked. Allie shook her head no.
"Clark is on the porch and Shoe is in the back." She said. She took the tea bags out of the remaining cups of tea. "I'm gonna go pass these out."
"I'll take Clark's." Nina said hurriedly, taking the mug from Allie. Allie gave her a weird look but let it go. Nina was tired of fighting with Clark so she took his cup of tea out to him and sat on the porch beside him.
"I'm mad at you." Clark said, not looking at her. He took a sip from the tea.
"You're allowed to be mad." Nina said softly. Clark glanced at her from the corner of his eye and sighed. He set his tea to the side and pulled Nina into his lap. Nina leaned her head on his chest and sighed.
"I'm sorry." Clark finally said. Nina nodded.
"I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to say that to Lexie… but I'll accept it for now." She said. Clark groaned. Nina slipped her arms around his neck.
"Luke told me that Elle was in trouble. That's why I came." Clark said. "I mean, I would have had to come anyway… cause I'm in the Guard and we don't get to make decisions. But also, I knew Elle was your friend, right? So, I came here to take care of it."
Nina nodded in understanding and Clark tightened his grip on her.
"I just feel like everything is about to fall apart…" Nina said softly. Tears stung at her eyes and she wiped them away, annoyed with herself. "Like… like the town is going to fall apart. And Allie, and Elle… And Grizz is leaving. And I just really need you to be here. To be Clark. And to keep everyone safe."
"I'll always keep you safe, mini Visser." Clark said. He kissed the top of her head.
They sat together on the porch for a few more minutes until Nina went inside to check on Elle. Elle was still nervous but she wasn't crying anymore. In an effort to get her to relax, Nina suggested a movie day. The two girls, and intermittently the other house residents, watched movies all day until Elle finally slept.
The next morning was the day that Grizz and Bean were leaving for their expedition. Nina brought Elle some breakfast and sat with her while she combed her hair.
"Are you going to be okay? I can stay." Nina said nervously. Elle rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.
"Nina, I'm not five. Go say goodbye to your brother." Elle told her. Nina chewed on her fingernail and Elle rolled her eyes again. "Seriously, go. Clark is still outside, right? I'll be fine."
"Okay…" Nina nodded. She stood up but stopped in the doorway. "I… was thinking of going to the studio after teh debate. Just for a little while, it helps clear my head. You know? But I can totally just come back here right after we see Grizz off. It's no biggie."
"Nina. I mean this in the nicest way possible," Elle said, turning in her chair to look up at her friend, "but go away."
Nina laughed. She hesitated in the doorway and Elle gave her a pointed look. Nina smiled at her and joined Allie in the kitchen. Shoe was there too, waiting to walk them to the goodbye ceremony. When he saw Nina coming down the stairs, he scooped the last of his cereal into his mouth.
"Ready to go?" Shoe asked, his mouth still full. Nina nodded. She glanced back at the stairs again and Allie rolled her eyes.
"She's gonna be fine, Nina." Allie assured her. "She's in Cassandra's room, not a Russian prison."
Allie linked her arm through Nina's and dragged her out of the house. Shoe followed them quietly, he never spoke much. Allie stopped them in the doorway and unlinked her arm from Nina's.
"Wait here." She said. Nina tried to ask her what she was doing but Allie was already outside. Nina looked back at Shoe. He shrugged. She looked through the window and saw Campbell arguing with Clark. Nina pulled Shoe outside with her and locked the door.
"If this is some kind of fucked up game-" Campbell was saying, Allie cut him off.
"I don't play games." Allie said.
"You're not pretending like this is the White House?" Campbell asked sarcastically. "Clark's your pretend bodyguard. After the election, this all goes away."
"I'm not afraid of you. Or Harry." Allie said.
"You should be." Campbell said. He walked away.
"I'm a little afraid of him." Nina said quietly once he was out of earshot.
"Yeah, we know, Nina." Allie said quietly. "That's why I told you to stay inside."
"I mean, I could totally take him. Like in a fistacuffs, you know?" Nina said awkwardly. "I just… I don't like his… face."
"I could fuck his face up." Clark offered. Nina shrugged. Allie rolled her eyes.
"Let's just go to the ceremony. Clark, stay here and make sure he doesn't get to Elle." Allie said. Clark nodded. Allie walked down the steps and Nina and Shoe followed her to the edge of the forest. Nina split off briefly to hug Grizz and Bean and then joined the crowd. Allie gave a speech.
"I don't really think we know how to thank you. For taking this risk, for being so brave when we don't know what's out there. We have to make this town sustainable for living. And it's not just about finding land to farm, it's about taking responsibility for ourselves. And for each other. And I know it's not enough but thank you for giving us a little bit of hope." Allie said.
Everyone split off into small groups to say goodbye to their friends. Nina and Gordie help Bean put on her backpack. Nina took off her scarf and wrapped it around Bean's neck to keep her warm. Gordie have her his hat. Nina gave Bean her gloves. Gordie started to unzip his coat when Bean finally forced them to stop.
"Guys, seriously. I'm warm enough." She laughed. Gordie zipped his jacket back up and pulled Bean into a hug.
"Be careful." He told her. Bean nodded.
"You have everything you need, right? Nina asked. Blankets, and food, and an epi-pen?" Nina asked. Bean nodded.
"Yes, mom." She hugged quickly. Nina stepped back and pointed her finger at Bean threateningly.
"If anything happens to Grizz… I'm blaming Mickey." She said. Bean laughed.
"I'll take care of him. Don't worry." She assured Nina. Nina looked around for her brother but she didn't see him. Gordie and Bean started talking about survival tips and Nina wandered away to find her brother.
She finally found him a few feet away in a small clearing with Sam. The two of them hugged and Grizz gave Sam a sad look. Sam turned away and saw Nina. She gave him an awkward smile as he walked past. Once they were alone, Nina launched herself into her brother's arms. Grizz hugged her back tightly. She took in all she could, in case this was the last time she saw him, and then she banished that thought from her head before she had a total breakdown.
"I love you." Nina said. Her voice was muffled by her brother's coat and hey eyes were filled with tears. Grizz sniffed loudly.
"Dork." He said. Nina laughed. She pulls away and hit her brother in the chest, not hard enough to hurt him. Grizz pulled on his backpack and snapped it closed. He pulled Nina into another hug. "I love you too."
They parted and Grizz wrapped one of his arms around Nina. He led them back to the group and Nina tried to pretend that she wasn't crying. Everyone split into two sides to form a sort of tunnel for the explorers to walk Grizz was leaving, Nina stood by Gordie and he tucked her under his arm. It was a little more difficult, since Gordie wasn't as tall as Grizz, but she still appreciated it. Everyone cheered and the explorers hiked into the forest.
Afterwards, Allie gathered everyone and went to the church for the mayoral debate. The people who didn't see the explorers off joined them in the church shortly after. Harry and Allie sat at the front of the church on opposite sides. Henela sat between them to monitor. Helena began the debate.
"First you will both give your speeches, and then with 30 minutes left we'll open the debate up to questions. Harry, you won the coin toss, so you go first." Helena said.
"Uh, thanks for coming, everyone. And thanks to Allie for stepping up after her sister died to do a very, very difficult job. Five months ago, she was the only one that could've done it. But that's not true anymore. A lot of things now are very different from when we first got here. Maybe in the beginning, we needed to give up everything that we had. All of our freedom, our possessions, our identities, all for the greater good. Maybe we needed to turn over every decision in our lives to become the ants in the colony that we are right now. But now, this place works. And I say it's time to give back what's rightfully yours." Harry said. A few people cheered and Nina rolled her eyes. "Control over your property, control over your destiny, control over your own lives. And if you do, I-"
"Time." Helena said, effectively cutting Harry off.
"Really?" Harry asked. Helena nodded. "Well… vote for me."
"Thank you, Harry." Helena said. A few people clapped and Harry sat down. Helena nodded to Allie. "Allie."
"Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Harry. I'm proud of us. For getting here, to this moment. And I know it hasn't always been easy, but take a look around you, we survived. Because all of us agreed to put this place first. And ourselves second. We were raised in privilege. And we've had to forget everything we learned about what life owed us. And instead, think about what we owe each other. The next six months are going to be tough. We have to feed ourselves. We have to face winter. What Harry's offering might sound appealing, but now is not the time for selfishness. For asking, 'What is mine?' What is mine is yours, and what is yours is all of ours, and that's how we're gonna get through this. Together. And how, some day, we're going to find our way back home. Thank you." Allie said. Nina clapped. She had heard the speech about a hundred times already but she still loved it.
"Thank you." Helena said as Allie sat down. "I'm now going to put the first question randomly from-"
"I'd like to make my statement." Lexie said suddenly. She walked to the front of the church.
"The debate's already started." Helena said.
"Right, but it's not over." Lexie pointed out. "And I'm here now."
"You had to sign up by the end of the day." Allie said.
"No. Five PM. Sign says. It's not five o'clock." Lexie said. "Is there some problem?"
Will turned to Nina and Gordie.
"What the hell is happening?" He whispered, clearly annoyed. Nina shrugged. Allie shook her head at Helena and Helena nodded.
"No. You can make your statement." Helena said.
"Thank you." Lexie said. She turned around to face the audience and smiled. "I'll get to the point. First, you can't vote for Harry. He doesn't want to give you back what's yours, he wants back what's his. And that's true for him and all the rich assholes who support him, and you know who you are. You guys want back to your big houses and your cars and your money in the bank. Like, as if that means anything. So You know what? If that's you, vote for Harry. Everyone else - don't be fucking stupid. The guy who wouldn't give you the time of day in high school, he's not gonna look out for you now. As for Allie, she's a bit more complicated. She gets things done. Like a dictator gets things done. You know, here's a story you don't know. After people got sick at Thanksgiving, Allie and her military police started interrogating people. They interrogated me, in the dark, for four hours. I got my period in the middle, and they made me change in front of them. I had to take off my clothes while they watched."
"Time." Helena said.
"No, I'm not done yet." Lexie said harshly. "I had to cover my menstrual blood so they couldn't see. I had to hide my breasts. And that's just me."
Nina turned in her seat to look at Clark and Jason. Jason looked annoyed. Clark was holding his head in his hands and Luke looked pissed. She turned back around while Lexie continued ranting.
"Time, Lexie." Helena said.
"Yeah, I heard you!" Lexie said. She turned to Allie. "You arrested Elle, didn't you?"
Nina swore. She heard Gordie swear too and she reached for his hand.
"You don't get to ask questions now." Allie said.
"Oh, why? Because those are your rules? No. Fuck that, Allie. Did you arrest Elle? Yes or no?" Lexie asked. Nina briefly considered standing up and calling Lexie a cunt again but she thought it would just make things worse and she hadn't had four glasses of wine. Allie didn't answer and Lexie crossed her arms proudly. "Come on, it's a simple question."
"Yes." Allie answered. The crowd broke out into chatter.
"On what charges?" Lexie asked.
"I can't say, but-" Allie started but Lexie cut her off.
"She arrests people without charges! She tortures people in rooms you no one can see." Lexie ranted.
"You're distorting what's happening!" Allie shouted.
"No, you decide where we sleep, what we eat, what job we have, how late we can be on the streets. You punish us, Allie. You punish us. And you decide the punishment and there is no appeal." Lexie shouted back.
"Can we get back to the debate?" Helena asked angrily.
"I need to be able to answer this." Allie said, just as loudly.
"All that power in five months! Just imagine who she'll be in two years if we elect her now." Lexie said.
"What would you do differently, Lexie?" Allie asked.
"I'd stop you." Lexie said. People cheered in response and Will groaned. Nina felt panic building in her chest again and turned to Will.
"Hey, can you… handle Allie? I need to not be here right now." She whispered. Will nodded worriedly and Nina left. She took a few steps away from the church and sank onto the steps, holding her head in her hands and trying to catch her breath. Someone sat beside her and she tensed up.
"What's wrong now, princess? Hm?" Campbell asked. Nina stared at her shoes, her face still covered by her hands and her hair. "Hey?"
"What do you want, Campbell?" Nina asked. Campbell didn't speak until Nina sat up and looked at him. He had an annoying grin on his face.
"I wanna know where my girlfriend is and why you and Allie are hiding her from me." Campbell said simply.
"I don't know where she is." Nina lied.
"I don't believe you." Campbell said.
"Then don't believe me. I'm leaving." Nina said. She stood up and Campbell grabbed her arm, yanking her back onto the steps. He kept a tight grip on her arm and leaned uncomfortably close to her.
"She wants me." Campbell said simply. Nina almost laughed.
"Go fuck yourself." She said. Nina walked around the corner. She threw up on the side of the church.