Ethan led us back to his little hiding place. It was an abandoned building that was half burnt down. It didn't look that bad or good. He opened the door.

We walked into a small room with a bed, a couch, a table, fridge, and a stove. It was a nice place. On the walls were drawings and neavy books were on the table.

"Make yourselves at home," said Ethan. "Sorry it's not that . . . clean or big."

"I'm freakin' thirsty," said Benny.

"So am I," sighed Fallon.

The fridge opened by itself. Two cans of Dr. Pepper floated out of there and landed in Benny and Fallon's palm.

"Telepathy must be you a bit lazy," smirked Erica.

"You mean telekinesis," Ethan corrected her.

"Ugh! I'll admit that I miss the corrections."

"Ethan, how did you come back from the dead?" I demanded.

"It's very complicated," he explained. "I was resurrected somehow."

Resurrected? Like how Jesus Christ died and came back to life on the third day.

"By what?" asked Benny.

"I don't know. What I did know was that I ran into Jesse in Arizona. He gave me a heads up about what's happening. He told me that he would keep an eye on Stern so I could find out more about the Optimus."

"Why didn't you have us in it?" asked Erica.

"I couldn't risk it. Stern has been following you guys everywhere and when he wasn't, he was looking for me to get the Optimus. If I met y'all again, Stern will know and destroy us all. I had to go into hiding."

"Stern had the Optimus stuff now," Jesse reminded us. "Who knows what he will do to everybody."

I stood up and walked outside to the balcony. The wind was slightly blowing and the stars were as bright as the sun.

This was so hard to take in. Ethan was alive the entire time and he didn't even tell me. How could he? How could he just leave us and never wanted to come see us again?

"Sarah," said a voice which made me turn back.

Ethan was leaning against the doors.

"Hey." My voice was nothing but a broken whisper.

"Are you alright?"

"Sure, I'm fine." I looked down in frustration. Please, go away.

"No, you're not."

"You promised me that you would never read my mind."

"I broke a lot of promises."

"Why? Why didn't you come back?"

"I thought it'd be too dangerous."

"Do you realize the pain a-and suffering…" My eyes were starting to become watery. "…I've been through…since the day they buried you six feet into the ground?"

"I didn't know. I'm sorry for what I did. You have no idea how much I wanted to come back. I wanted to."

"Nothing ever made me feel better. I went through a lot of shit. I kept seeing you in my dreams and it made me look like I was insane."

"I wanted to see you. Sometimes I would lose control and I end up making it into a nightmare."

"Yes, you do. Do you realize how many times you turn it into a 'Sarah, you let them kill me' dream?"

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I regret putting you in this pain and I'm not worth it. For one thing, I only left to protect you guys. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I can…I will." I slammed myself against his chest and hugged him passionately.

"I missed you so much," he mumbled.

"So do I."

"It was really you who pulled me out of the water."

"Yes, it was my chance for you to actually see me."

"Nobody loved me as much as you did."

"Nobody loved you as much as I do." He corrected me.

I looked up at him. His face, his body, his scent was making me cry more.

"Why are you so good to me?" I asked.

"You're my Sarah. You're always my Sarah."

He and I walked back into the living room. Everybody was still sitting there smiling at us.

"So are you two like…back together?" asked Erica.

"Who said we broke up," I asked.

"Well, E, we don't really have anywhere else to stay," moaned Rory. "And I'm really enjoying this couch. Yeah, this might take awhile."

"Of course you can."

"Rory, don't take the couch," said Erica.

"We can share."

"Ugh! Fine. But if you even try to touch me, your arm is gonna come off."

"Roger that."

Rory scooted over as Erica laid on the opposite side of the couch. Benny then laid on the couch covering himself with his jacket. Jesse laid on the floor with Fallon curled up next to him. Ethan and I laid on his bed.

"How can we sleep knowing that Stern has the Optimus?" I asked.

"I have no idea what's going to happen," whispered Ethan. "He just wants us all dead."

"What do you think might happen to us?"

"He might enslave us like the Holocaust. He let us die from hydration, hunger, disease, and other things."

"He might be starting the Apocalypse sooner or later."

"If he does, we'll stop him."

"You can't see the future."

"I know. But we will."

"So how was life after being resurrected?"

"Weird and strange."

"What's heaven like?"

"The most beautiful place ever. Anything you can think of and God will let you have it."

"Did you meet him?"

"Yes, he's a wise man. His son, Jesus is actually seated at the right hand of the father. Both of them are larger than life. Like father. Like son."

"How are the both of them?"

"Amazing. In heaven, nobody dies and it's the perfect place for anybody."

"I'm never going to be there."

"I can't live in a place where you don't exist."

"Ethan, I'm dead. There's no way I could ever go there."

"Hey, I'm not going back to heaven without you."

Boom! A rumbling noise startled us. Everything was shaking. Our friends were waking up to the frightening noise.

"What the hell is that?" shrieked Erica.

"Is it an earthquake?" asked Jesse.

Ethan jumped off the bed and ran to the balcony. I followed him outside. I bumped into him and stopped as I gazed at the sky.

"Mary, mother of god," breathed Ethan.

Dark grey clouds rolled in as quick as a jet. Fire was starting in sections of the city. At the top of the tallest building there was Stern covered in blue flames—the hottest flame of them all.

"Stern just declared World War III," I murmured. "It's starting."

"And we're ending it," said Ethan.