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going to happen.” Carter’s voice was like steel.
    Lily dropped his hand, wanting to throw up her own hands in exasperation. “Fine. We’ll pretend it’s not a possibility. But just so we’re clear, if I ever am exposed to the virus, if I ever do start to turn, I want you to take me out before I can hurt anyone else.”
    “Jesus, Lily, you can’t ask me to kill you.”
    “I’m only asking you to do what you would do for anyone else.”
    “But you aren’t anyone else. You’re you.”
    “If I’m exposed to the Tick virus, I won’t be me anymore. I’m asking you to do the right thing. I’m asking you to protect the people I care about if I’m not in a position to do it myself.” Just to be sure, she turned and looked at McKenna, too. “Got it?”
    McKenna gave a queasy nod. “Got it.”
    Carter didn’t respond, but just stood there, his jaw clenched so tight she thought he might crack a molar. She stepped closer to him and looked him in the eye. This close, his eyes were startlingly blue. She thought of all the things they’d been through together. She thought of the boy she’d met in the Before two years ago—that impossibly handsome, recklessly charming guy. That guy she’d crushed on and then made herself forget. And then she thought of the guy who showed up at her Farm to rescue her and Mel just over a week ago. She knew now that he was so much more than just that hot guy she’d crushed on. He was a hero. A guy who’d put his life on the line to save her and to lead this ragtag band of human teenagers. And he claimed to love her.
    “Look,” she said bluntly, “I’m not going to just hide here in this cave. I didn’t escape from that Farm and come all this way so I could cower. I came here so I could make a difference. So I could fight. You have to accept that.”
    Carter pulled her back into his arms and tipped her jaw up so she met his gaze. “Fine. And you have to accept that I’m not gonna let you get exposed. Ever. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe. No matter what.”
    He didn’t give her a chance to answer. Which was probably just as well, because she didn’t know what she’d say. She was used to taking care of others, not having anyone take care of her. Having Carter in her life was going to take some getting used to. Just like the cold of the cave. Just like the knowledge that she had the Tick gene, that she had the potential to become a bloodthirsty monster.
    That was okay, she was adaptable.

CHAPTER THREE
    Carter
    Six weeks later
    I knew I was in trouble when I walked out the bay door and saw Lily waiting for me by the Hummer.
    Spring had come early to the mountain—thank God—and the last deadly ice that had covered the parking lot had finally melted. Which meant we were doing more food raids and sending out patrols nearly every day. It also meant that the ice and snow farther up the mountain was melting as well. Which was why Taylor Tech and I were going up the mountain to the solar array he’d installed last fall. Taylor had landed at Elite for stealing, hacking, and reselling five hundred iPads from his old school district. If it had wires and a circuit board, he could hack it. And thank God for that, because if it hadn’t been for the solar panels he’d scavenged and then set up, we wouldn’t have any electricity at Base Camp. Living in the caves without light would be difficult, but without the air filtration system, it would be impossible. Just up the mountain from camp, the solar panels had been inaccessible for most of the winter. Which was why Taylor and I needed to check on them today, make sure they were in good shape, and hopefully have time to install a few of the new ones that had been scavenged in the last food raid.
    While I couldn’t blame Lily for wanting to be outside now that the temperature was finally above freezing, I didn’t like it. Even though she was still inside the fence line. Even though I was right here. Even