Chapter 2

"So this is the legendary Safe Haven," William said, looking around curiously as Iris led the travelers through the middle of town.

"We're a legend, are we?" Iris asked.

William shrugged. "There are stories. I wasn't sure how much of it to believe. I've heard some really crazy things about the old days, and sometimes they even turn out to be true, but…"

Iris nodded. "So how does the real thing compare to the legend?"

"It's a town," William said. "It's a big town, sure enough, but…"

He looked around, staring at the buildings that lined the dusty main street. There was a handful of weathered stores, and beyond that were several dozen frame buildings that that looked newer, including a large one that was clearly a school, with children running around a playground area outside. Vonda and Jorge were staring at all of the buildings in amazement, but William seemed much less impressed.

"It's just a town," William said. "I mean, I've seen the ruins of L.A. They're enormous – they just go on and on and on. So many people in one place, and the riches they had…" He shook his head. "Safe Haven is supposed to be like something from before the Fall. At least that's how the stories have it."

"Hey, believe me, in the old days this place was nothing like L.A.," Caroline said. "It was just a little one-horse town in the middle of nowhere. If anything, I think there are more people living here now than there were before the Fall. I doubt anyone who lived here in the old days would recognize the place."

"Well, it has been thirty years," Iris explained. "And yeah, we've expanded a lot. We've been bringing survivors in from all over the place. Even I shepherded a few caravans of refugees, before I had kids to worry about." She grinned. "I brought my first load in when I was ten years old."

Caroline stared at her. "You were running refugees at ten?"

Iris laughed. "I was imprinted into the body of a ten-year-old girl, yeah."

"Good God." Caroline shuddered. "Puberty all over again."

"I said exactly the same thing," Iris said. "And it's really no easier the second time, believe me."

"I'll take your word for it. When were you imprinted?"

"2019," Iris told her.

"And the original us was still alive then?"

"She was, yeah. She died a couple of years after that, in L.A. She was leading a salvage team in the old downtown, and she got bushwhacked by some gangers."

Jorge spoke up then. "So who's in charge here now? You?"

"I'm on the Council," Iris said. "But the mayor is a woman named Priya."

Caroline grinned. "Sierra's still around, huh?"

"And a few others you'll know," Iris promised, as they turned up a path that led up a steep hillside. "By the way, you'll be on the Council too, once you've had a chance to settle in. All the Carolines are."

"Huh? All of us?" Caroline's eyes went wide. "Just how many of us are there?"

"Three at the moment, counting you," Iris said. "Although you're number six overall."

"Six," Caroline said, shaking her head. "Crazy."

They were approaching a rusty chain-link fence surrounding a cluster of old whitewashed frame buildings. "Still here," Caroline said softly. "After all this time. Remember the first time we were here? It was, what, 2009?"

Iris nodded. "Blind as a bat and high on Jesus," she said with a wry grin.

"Oh, Esther," Caroline said, sighing. "Funny thing was, I liked being her."

Then she stopped in her tracks as two people came out from behind one of the buildings. One was an old woman with steel-gray hair in a tight bun on her head, leaning on Victor's arm and holding a cane with her free hand. Despite her age, she was instantly recognizable as Adelle DeWitt.

Beside her stood a muscular man with thick black hair, handsome despite the ears that stuck out from the sides of his head. He nodded at Iris, and gave the travelers a thorough look-over.

Caroline recognized him too. He was Victor. And he hadn't aged a day.

DeWitt hobbled forward, sweeping the ground in front of her with her cane and squinting hard. "Is it true?" she asked. "We have another Caroline?"

"It's true," Caroline said, suddenly realizing that DeWitt was almost completely blind. "Hi, Addie."

DeWitt reached out a trembling hand, and Caroline took it in her own and guided it to her face. DeWitt gently traced Caroline's features, and smiled. "My goodness, you're quite a bit shorter than the others."

"You're looking good, Mom." DeWitt wasn't actually Caroline's mother, but it was an old joke between them.

DeWitt snorted. "You're also a much worse liar than the others," she scolded. "I'm seventy-six years old. Victor looks good."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Caroline said. "Same as Dr. Saunders."

"So she's still there," DeWitt said with a sigh.

"She doesn't quite remember who she is, but yes, she's still there."

"She got partially wiped a long time ago," Victor explained. "We've sent a couple of expeditions back to try to re-imprint her, but they've never made it to the House. L.A. is a rough place these days."

"Si," Jorge agreed. "It is."

"She still remembered enough to operate the chair," Caroline said. "So let me guess – her seemingly eternal youth is connected to that regenerative therapy you both got for your faces, right?"

Victor nodded. "It turned out to have a few, uh, side effects."

"Nice," Caroline said.

"It would be," Victor agreed, "if eternal youth was the only side effect. But it's not."

"What does that mean?" William asked.

Victor stared at him for a moment before saying, "You really, really don't want to know."

Then he turned and said, "Come on. Topher should have the lab powered up by now, and we need to make sure you don't have anything dangerous in your heads. After that you can all have lunch and a shower."

"Food?" Vonda spoke up for the first time since the gate, looking hopeful.

"Shower? Hey, let's get going then," Caroline said eagerly.