Chapter 38: Dealmaking
A girl comes back from the dead, salt water sluicing from her clothes.
She slogs out of the ocean and sea monsters watch her go. She staggers up the beach and past the knot of watchers, ignoring friends and strangers alike. They follow her, heartbroken but relieved she has finally seen sense.
That girl is not me.
I refused to turn my back on those who needed me. I would not abandon my city and my people to escape to safety and comfort. I promised myself I would fight until my last breath to save the ones no one else would.
And so, in the dark of the night, a girl creeps from the midst of the sleeping camp and races back to the shoreline. She enters the water once more, unbothered by monsters and unrestrained by friends or the needs of the few survivors on this f
