Dr. Kessler lay motionless near the lounge entrance. No one spoke about him.
The rescued husband held his toddler close while his wife and teenage daughter hovered nearby, shakingly. Rory stood watch at the door. Maya leaned against a wall, chest rising and falling unevenly.
Jace stood very still. The adrenaline that had carried him through the fight was gone now, leaving something heavier behind.
He turned slowly toward Maya, "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
She didn't answer at first. Her hands were trembling, "I don't know," she said finally.
Rory gently guided the family down the hall to wait while Jace and Maya remained in the lounge — surrounded by broken glass, overturned furniture, and flickering lights.
Maya slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
"A clone," she said, almost to herself, "I'm not even the real Maya."
Jace crouched in front of her, shaking his head, "Don't say that," he said immediately.
She let out a sharp breath, then said, "How am I supposed to not think that? He said the real Maya died."
"I remember being adopted," he admitted, "I was young. They told me my parents died in an accident. I never questioned it."
"Me too."
"Now I don't know what's true anymore," he said, looking down.
Maya then spoke with a puzzled expression, "I don't remember anything before the Dome."
Jace responded, "No one does, but you've laughed. You've fought. You've saved people. That's not programming. That's you."
Her eyes filled as she spoke in a shaky voice, "What if I'm just something he built?"
"Then he built someone who hates him," Jace said sarcastically.
Maya let out a faint, broken laugh.
He reached forward slowly, resting his hand over hers.
"I don't care how you started," he said warmly, "You're my family, my sister. Not because he said so. Because I chose that."
She wipes her tears, "Thanks, Jace."
Behind them, Rory called out, "We need to move now, guards are coming!"
They moved quickly through Dome 4, escorting the family back towards the exit door. Maya glanced back once at the dome's towering interior before they slipped out into the desert air.
The wind hit them cold and sharp; it was now midnight. Jace checked his watch, it read 12: 35am. They crossed the canyon carefully; the moon and flashlights were their only source of light, keeping low behind dunes and abandoned supply crates, staying close together.
They were heading back to the bunker. When the bunker entrance finally slid open and they ushered everyone inside.
The room was too quiet.
"Lena?" Jace called. No answer.
The blanket where she'd been wrapped in lay crumpled on the floor.
Jace's pulse spiked as he shouted for her again, "Lena!? Where are you?"
He checked the storage area. The bathroom. The supply corner. Nothing.
"She wouldn't just leave," Maya said, panic rising.
Rory's voice cut through the chaos, "Jace! Look at this."
He stood at the center table, holding something in his hand. A folded piece of paper. Maya and Jace walked toward him.
The handwriting was jagged.
"She's safe. For now.If you want her back, come find me in 2 days."— S
Below the signature was a set of coordinates.
Jace's face drained of color, "No," he whispered.
Rory's jaw tightened. "S... for Sam."
"But—" Maya started. "I ki—"
"That Sam died but...," Rory said hoarsely.
"His clone...is probably alive," Jace finished.
They looked at each other in horror.
"His clone?" Maya asked.
Jace paused, then responded, "Yes, every test subject has an identical clone. The clone is only activated when the person dies during the experiment. However, they cannot function unless released from their capsule. In this case, Sam was set free during the chaos."
"We'll get her back," Rory said, trying to ease the tension, "But we can't rush in blind."
Jace's hands were shaking as he covered his face, "I should've stayed here," he muttered, "I should've—"
Rory grabbed his shoulders, "Stop. That's what he wants, to break us. But we have to move smart."
Jace tried to compose himself and nodded.
"We can't bring them into this," Maya said, glancing at the family, who were confused.
Rory agreed, "First, we get out of the desert."
The coordinates pointed to the city where they had all lived before the Domes. Sam wanted them there. Which meant it was a trap. But Lena and her unborn child's life is at risk.
The desert temperature dropped sharply, turning the air brittle. They grabbed every coat and jacket they could find in the closet and packed sufficient food from the pantry before heading back outside.
Rory spotted an SUV sitting half-buried in sand near a maintenance shed, empty. They moved quickly, brushing sand off the windows. Luckily, the doors were unlocked.
Jace slid into the driver's seat. He let out a disbelieving breath, "You've got to be kidding me."
The engine started, and Jace drove slowly toward the outer service gate. Two guards stood inside the checkpoint booth, bored and distracted. Jace straightened his posture, pulling on a discarded lab coat from the back seat.
"Hide," he quickly told the others.
The family crouched low. Maya and Rory ducked behind the rear seats.
Jace rolled down the window as they approached the gate.
One of the guards stepped forward lazily, then checked his ID card. "Dr. Phillips, shift ended?"
"Yeah," Jace said, pretending to sound irritated, "They're shutting down non-essential labs after what happened."
The guard peered into the backseat, but it was dark, so he shrugged.
"Go. Have a good night, sir."
The gate lifted. Jace's hands were slick on the wheel as he drove forward steadily, resisting the urge to speed. Only when the checkpoint disappeared in the rearview mirror did he exhale fully.
"I can't believe they bought it," Rory whispered.
Maya looked back at the fading Domes.
For the first time in ten days, they were truly leaving.
The road stretched ahead — long, cracked, treacherous.
In the backseat, the toddler giggled softly.
The mother began to cry — not from fear this time, but relief, "We're going home," she whispered. Maya watched them, something warm flickering in her chest.
Behind them, the Domes stood like silent monuments to lies and control. Ahead of them, the city lights flickered faintly on the horizon. Whatever waited there — truth, traps, war — they would face it together. Maya stared out at the road, the coordinates burned into her memory.
She didn't know whether she was born or built.
But she knew this:
She won't allow another person to die because of her.