FORTY-ONE

Adam, badly injured but conscious, instructs Juliette through the basics of driving the stolen automatic car. Juliette steers without headlights and lurches through the dark streets, worried about James and Kenji and uneasy about the absence of soldiers, which suggests either chaos after Warner was shot or some other unexplained problem.

Juliette reaches the abandoned building, nearly forgetting to park until Adam helps. She moves Adam into the backseat so James will not have to see the extent of Adam’s injuries, then runs inside and finds James asleep in Kenji’s lap with food cans nearby. Relieved that both are safe, Juliette asks Kenji to drive because Adam needs help and Juliette cannot get them far.

Kenji settles James in the passenger seat, takes the wheel, and acknowledges Adam’s survival. Adam thanks Kenji for protecting James, and their exchange shows a slight improvement in trust. As Kenji drives toward his safe place, Juliette searches the duffel bags for something to keep Adam warm, cuts sweaters open with a knife, and wraps them around Adam’s shaking body.

During the drive, Kenji and Juliette note that no one appears to be following them despite the car moving after curfew. Kenji also says his tracker serum should have exposed him, but it seems not to be working. Juliette connects this to Kenji’s earlier night in a strange barren field, and Adam realizes Kenji may have slept in the nuclear field Juliette had learned about; this could have interfered with the tracker. Adam then raises another possibility: Benny may have sold Adam out.

As Adam’s condition worsens, Juliette tries to comfort him with touch while Kenji notices the intimacy between them and asks why they never admitted they were together. Adam, exhausted, explains that he told James about them without asking Juliette and says Juliette should always have a choice. Juliette privately promises Adam that when he recovers she will show him the choice she has made, and Adam admits her touch is the only thing keeping him from losing control.