The music had turned to indistinguishable noise in the background. Laughter turned to a hum in Alex's ears. The singular focal point that had gained all of Alex's attention was the light that crept across the sky. It etched itself into the stars like a scar, bleeding a trail of smoke. A flare.

Alex watched, mouth agape, her eyes swallowing every bit of red light until it was the only thing she could see. 

"Do you see that?" Alex finally found her voice, croaking out what little words she could muster.

Her eyes tore away from the sky, and she blinked away the red blinding her vision.

Dread filled her belly. The flare could only mean one of two things; someone needed their help, or a trap was waiting for them. Alex knew the latter was more likely. No one from the camp would set a flare for help.

Ace stumbled over to them, clutching onto a nearly empty bottle with a questionable color of mixed drinks inside.

 "Did you guys see that? They have fireworks here. Not very good ones, though," Ace slurred. An unsteady hand gripped the edge of the table as he took a seat next to Alex.

"Unfortunately, it's not fireworks, Ace. That's a flare, and it's not good," Cicero said.

"Oh." Ace furrowed his brows. "Well, no wonder they're shit."

Cicero glanced out over the crowd of drunken Avoiders with a look of disappointment. He raked a hand through his hair and sighed.

"I think we're the only ones that aren't drunk," Alex said.

Looking over at Alex, Cicero's eyes darted momentarily to Ace. Then, he blinked slowly. As if he had flipped a switch, concern vanished from Cicero's face. An unreadable expression took over his features.

"Maybe it's time you two get to bed. Ace looks like he needs to sleep off a few drinks," Cicero said.

"Cicero?" Alex questioned.

"I'll go look for Rollo. You and Ace should go back to bed."

It wasn't a suggestion.

Alex helped Ace back to his feet without another word. She draped one of his arms over her shoulders and pulled him in close. The stench of alcohol and sweat was overpowering.

They started the walk back to the building Alex had woken up in. Ace stumbled every few steps, shuffling through the sand like his feet were weighted down.

Cicero was about to sober up the people they'd left behind, and Alex didn't envy what that would entail. If there was anything she'd been able to read from him before he'd turned off his emotions, it was that he was furious no one had started moving to investigate the flare as soon as it appeared.

She could still hear the party behind them—laughter and music and cheering. For the moment, at least.

The music stopped just as Alex pulled open the door. She let the door fall closed behind them.

"Wow, this is nice," Ace observed. He looked around the room as if it was the first time he was seeing everything.

"I just hope you're going to help me get you up the stairs," Alex mumbled under her breath.

She grunted and heaved Ace over to the staircase. Expectedly, Ace tripped over the first step. He caught himself on the railing and started ascending, slowly, step-by-step.

Alex wanted to throw him in the shower and turn on the faucet, but he could barely manage the walk to the room. It would be impossible to keep him from drowning himself in the bathtub. Not with the little strength she had with her injuries.

Instead, Alex got him through the already open door to their room and tossed him on the bed. Ace crumpled onto the mattress like a broken doll. She pushed him over until he was on his side, facing the door.

"You're so strong," Ace slurred out. He looked up at her with glazed over eyes, somewhat reminding Alex of a helpless dog.

"I'm just glad you helped me get your heavy butt in here."

"No. No, no, no. No." He held out a hand, pointing up at her face. "I mean in there."

"You're drunk, Ace. I don't think you've ever been this drunk," Alex said, an unamused tone in her voice.

Ace ignored her and patted the comforter next to him. He wiggled himself away until he pressed his back against the wall at the edge of the bed.

"You smell awful." Alex folded her arms tightly, shaking her head. 

He didn't acknowledge her insult.

Exhaling loudly, Alex crawled into the bed. His breath was definitely worse up close.

"I know you could have killed that guy yourself." Ace's voice was a deep whisper. He hiccuped and blinked slowly. "You've changed a lot since the four of us left Marksberg. You're stronger than you think."

Alex couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Even with their faces inches apart, it was difficult to discern. Ace was hardly ever serious. But, he seemed just as genuine as he did after the Vagabond almost strangled her to death.

"And you're drunker than you think," Alex said softly. 

She didn't want to acknowledge that he was being nice to her. It would mean even the smaller things in her life were changing.

Ace settled into the bed, pulling a pillow under his head. "Maybe." His eyes fluttered closed. 

Watching Ace sleep made Alex just as tired. She wondered if she should go to her own bed, but that would require her to move. Being near Ace brought her comfort. A kind of comfort she hadn't felt in a long time. 

It was the fact that at that moment, both of them were the most vulnerable they had been in ages. Ace, who always prided himself in being tough skinned and brave, was helpless beside her.

Alex fell asleep within minutes of Ace. Thoughts swirled away. Much like her worries did when she was screaming out in the desert. It wasn't worth it to let her mind take any more from her. She wouldn't let it.

***

  A single stream of sunlight crossed Alex's face. Her eyes creaked open, and she moved to hold a hand up, but found herself weighted down. Confusion turned to realization.

Ace's arm had wrapped around her, pulling her in like he was holding a small puppy. She wriggled herself out of his grip.

If she had been paying attention, Alex would have noticed how close she was to the edge of the bed. The thud of her body hitting the floor, and a small cry of pain woke Ace up. But, of course, he didn't wake up when she was struggling to escape his bear hug.

 "Are you ok?" Ace asked. He peered over the bed, eyes glassy and squinting at the sunlight.

Normally well kept, black hair was a tousled mess on Ace's head. He looked like he was suffering the consequences of his drinking.

Alex rolled over onto her back. "I always enjoy falling onto the floor when I first wake up."

 "Where's everyone else?"

She hadn't noticed Rollo and Cicero were still gone until Ace pointed it out. The room looked exactly as it did when she left the night before. 

Blinking a couple times, Alex propped herself up on her elbows to look around. No, they were definitely not in the room. 

The flare.

A tightness stopped the breath in her lungs. Alex clambered to her feet, ignoring the dizzying rush the sudden movement caused, and ran to get out of the room. The door flung back easily. Her bare feet thudded across the wooden floors of the hallway.

She could hear Ace stumbling around in the room behind her, and a thud as he undoubtedly fell down.

The first floor was empty, and everything was quiet. An unsettling quiet. Like a deep breath taken and held in before a jump off a high cliff into the water. Alex wasn't sure if she wanted to know what was below the surface of the water she would meet outside the door.

Her feet cemented right before the exit.

What if everyone was dead? What if Cicero was dead? 

She couldn't defend herself against one man out in the desert. There was no way she could fend off Will and the other Vagabonds.

But if they had somehow gotten past the barrier and the wall, then they would have killed the both of them while they slept.

Where is everyone?

Alex turned her head as she heard the shuffle of feet behind her. Ace had made his way down the stairs and was loading a pistol, albeit more slowly than he normally would.

"Where the hell did you even get that?" Alex inquired.

"I convinced them to let me keep one in the room while you were catching up on your beauty sleep the first couple days," Ace said. He was a bit wobbly on his feet, but crossed the room upright.

 Alex remained firmly planted and rubbed her neck with one of her hands. She remembered how it felt to have the life slowly squeezed out of her. Facing whatever, or whoever, was outside the door was more terrifying than she could have thought.

"You won't be able to aim straight if you can't even walk in a straight line," Alex said.

Ace scoffed and contorted his face as if she had said the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. He walked confidently past her, momentarily using the door to regain his balance, before pushing it open.

Sucking in a deep breath of cold air, Alex held the breath in her lungs until it felt like they were going to explode. She exhaled, slowly.

The door felt heavier than normal as she pushed it open.

Outside was a ghost town. Alex followed Ace, keeping enough distance between them so she could monitor any reaction he might have. They kept walking; on and on until they were staring at the concrete wall that led to the tunnel.

"This doesn't make any sense." Alex shook her head. She placed a hand on the wall, not knowing how to even get to the other side without Vida there to wave her magic wand.

They were trapped and alone.

"They left us behind these walls for a reason," Ace said. He turned his head to look down at her, the muscles of his jaws flexing as he clenched his teeth. "They left us in the most secure place they could think of. The two Designations, locked in a safe with the key thrown out."