It amazed her to see how quickly most of the people in the building had given up.  Thinking that as soon as the doors would open the majority of them would flock back to their families, she was shocked that more than a few—even the ones that had been protesting—had elected to stay inside, afraid of stepping foot past the doors in the lobby.  

Elizabeth was not one of them.  She needed to leave.  She needed to find some way to check on her son.  Ava was another one choosing to leave, the woman having her own family to get back to.  The one person that probably surprised her was Tyler.  Thinking that maybe he would be too scared, she was shocked when he stated he wasn't going to be locked in again and was getting out while he could.  Even though he didn't have family to get back to—and Elizabeth doubted he had any friends, either—the bachelor would have rather taken his chances locked in his own apartment.  

The most controversial decision, however, was the little girl.  After being saved, she'd stuck close to Elizabeth and the others like glue and when it came time for everyone to figure out what they were doing, once they made their choice she piped up, “I'm going, too.”

It created more chaos as people claimed it was too dangerous for her to go out there.  The adults intimidated her as they hovered over her saying, “Oh, no.  It's too dangerous for you.  You need to stay here.”  

But Elizabeth noticed that she as a strong little girl.  Whenever she felt scared or overwhelmed, she reached out to hold her hand, but she stayed steadfast in her decision.  “No.  I need to find my daddy,” she told them all.  The firm tone sounded odd in her sweet high-pitched voice.

Knowing that she'd just lost her mother, she could understand why she'd want to leave and find the only other parent she had left.  As everyone argued over what should be done, Elizabeth said, “I'll make sure she finds her father.”  Happy to find someone on her side, the little girl hugged her leg.

Those leaving all gathering at the elevator, they were given a brown paper bag with 24 hours worth of rations.  They were allowed to come back within 24-hours if they changed their minds, but the Judge made it clear no one would be allowed entry after that point.  Not planning to come back, it wasn't wasn't an issue for Elizabeth though Tyler looked as though he had doubts before getting on the elevator.

Out of all of them, Erin, the little girl looked the happiest.  She stood beside Elizabeth, her hand in one hand and the brown paper bag in the other one.  “It reminds me of the lunches we had on our field trip to the orchard,” she said happily, tilting her head back to look up at her.  

“Oh yeah?” Elizabeth asked, giving her all her attention.  “Did you have fun?”

Scrunching her nose up, she shook her head as she remembered it.  “Not really.  It was just a bunch of trees and Billy Mitchell kept pulling my hair on the bus.” 

When the elevator doors opened to let them out and they all stepped off, they said their goodbyes.  Tyler was first with a heartfelt goodbye for Ava thanking her for all her help.  Just when Elizabeth thought she might miss him a little bit he turned to her and said a curt, “Farewell, Lizzy.  I hope to never see you again.”  

Rolling her eyes as he walked away, her response was a little too late and she had to yell across the room, “Yeah, well, the feeling's mutual!”  After she was done huffing, she turned to Ava to give her a hug and say goodbye.  The woman bent down to give Erin one as well which she returned.  

Once it felt like everyone was gone, she looked back at Erin who stared expectantly up at her with her big brown eyes.  “Where do you think we might find your father?”

The girl perked up happily.  “He's a teacher,” she responded excitedly.  “He teaches older kids.”

“So a school,” she stated.  Erin gave an eager nod.  “Shouldn't be too hard.”