Five years after Day Zero, Marcus stood in the courtyard where they'd first buried Mrs. Hart, watching Elena kneel beside the headstone, now sixteen years old, tracing the engraved letters with careful fingers the way she'd done every year since the memorial was properly built.
"Hey," Elena said quietly, speaking to the stone the way she always did during these visits. "Sorry it's been a while. School's been busy."
Marcus stood back, giving her the private moment she always claimed during these visits, though he never quite managed to stop himself from listening.
"I got accepted," Elena continued. "Early admission, public health program, the one I told you about last year. I start this fall."
She paused, brushing a stray leaf off the headstone's base. "I think about you a lot, actually
