Flashback
Ashley was holding on for dear life, she was trying to keep her cool. The palm tree looked shorter on the ground; Makayla offered to get someone to catch her. She was too proud for help; she knocked the coconuts down and leapt from one tree to another. Makayla followed from underneath her. "You are not!" Ashley took a deep breath and fell into the shallow wave washing onto the island. Makayla fell to the ground laughing. Ashley leapt up and kicked sand on Makayla. "You're the one who wanted the coconuts." Ashley helped Makayla up. "I didn't think you'd actually try and get them." Ashley picked up a coconut and used her knife to puncture a hole in it. "Here, drink this, I'm going to crack it open." Makayla spontaneously kissed Ashley. For a couple seconds the island disappeared. Like they were standing on the water alone.
4 Days After Makayla's Death
"How do you heal from a broken heart?" Ashley asked Jay. Jay was measuring the interior of her treehouse. Jay contemplated the numbers in his notebook. "You endure a broken heart, the harder you love the harder you mourn. I've been in love, I've fallen out of love, I've buried my love. No matter how many days have passed, my heart still aches. For them for what could've been. Makayla was your first love Ashley, stay alive, keep your head on a swivel and she won't be your last." Ashley's heart has been broken a lot in her short life. "I remember riding my bike, circling the block in Chicago. Like any other day, I noticed people I typically see outside inside boarded up apartments. A bus driver who waved at me every day was banging his head against the steering wheel. The passengers were all huddled by the mid door bloody. I rode over a dismembered leg, and I remember this overwhelming anxious feeling. I wanted to go home. My mom was locked inside the house, and I knew, I had a feeling she was one of them. My first love was Kelly Jay, he pulled me away from there and to safety. He taught me how to survive. Without Kelly I would've been a little dead girl in a burning city. I had the opportunity to get to know Makayla because of him. Makayla made me feel my age, she showed me how to be carefree and happy. Makayla's going to be more than dead; she'll be a movement."
5 Days After Makayla's Death
Ashley requested everyone gather in the common room. She stood at the podium in front of everyone and talked directly to Kelly. He was sitting in the front beside Jay, Gallo, Ellie and Ariana. "I'm not a good person, I've done things none of you would agree with. If I got into detail, you'd look at me differently. I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I blame myself for everything, Makayla…my mom, Ritter. I blame myself for why Kelly and Gallo feel responsible for me. I have a gut wrenching feeling I'm going to be the reason they die. I called this meeting because I was wrong." Ashley looked directly at Maggie who was holding June and sitting at another table. "Maggie and June are one of us and the Scholars took something away from them. We're going to Georgia and we're taking everything from them. We're either bringing Ethan or the Scholar's heads home. I loved Makayla, if I could get her back I would. We're going to try and get Ethan back in her name. The Unit is a team and all of us are a part of it, Ethan too. Makayla made me realize how important it is that we're all on the same page. That we communicate and stand up for each other. Jay, Gallo, Kelly and Ariana aren't the only ones I respect. I respect all of you and all I ask in return is for you to respect me." The Unit was a team, more than a family they were fighters, they were survivors.