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But now, in following the signs, one need not fear the hostilities of the raiders, for they too were overrun, years before, in the theater they had been using as their home, where they had learned how to run the projector, and where they had all watched the ancient reels of Gone With the Wind over and over until they knew the lines by heart and wondered, each individually, if it weren’t possible for such an era to co incontestable It rains as though it were going to be the last rain ever--Noah’s flood, a rain of oceans, like the seas have been picked up into the clouds and duht, so the car to a halt because she can no longer see the road

She shuts off the engine and makes sure the doors are locked and sleeps until she is woken by the crackling explosions of thunder that leave the air s flash, she can see the line of the horizon, i, ie of a stage she ht stumble off if she isn’t careful

She rubs her eyes and drives on

Every so often, she looks in the rearview hts, pursuing her still Truth be told she doesn’t knohether she fears it or desires it But she knows it’s impossible Even if he had survived, she has left behind the car with the tracker There is no way for hiine that she would coiven up by civilization

And the rearview mirror remains e by the ti cold and cadaverous through the rain clouds that are still spitting drizzles of water down froe of a lake, block after block of square two-story houses with patches of lawn in front that have long since turned to weed Other than the restoration of nature to its more primitive form, the area is untouched by devastation It’s one of those places that must have been evacuated early on--es had no reason to come there--and so far removed from safe society that it remained undiscovered by looters and raiders

Ghost town

Looking down the residential streets, she sees that the mailboxes are intact and form a pretty little line like tin soldiers--sohts, too, are still lit froht before, which means that the town rid that’s still operational

There are cars still parked in the driveways, bicycles still overturned on the sidewalks One of the housesrenovation at the time, because its back half is covered in plastic sheets that funnel the rain down into puddles in the bare e doors stand open, and she can see the appurtenances of suburban life lined up along the inside walls: theimplements whose functions she cannot interpret, hae holed boards suspended over workbenches

The white doors are wide and welcorown tall and blocks out many of the first-floor s

She looks at the er seat beside her

This is one lonesoitated, a tiny whine building in his throat

You recognize any of this?

The quiet whine continues--song or lament, it is i

I’ll tell you one thing, Maury It ain’t lookin so good for the Duchaht quick when the first alaruess But that means they could be anywhere in the country now If they’re still alive at all

The whine beco this place? Or you just wailin at that old gray sky? So dummy It sure would be easier on the both of us

She looks around The rain has tapered off, but the windshield wipers still clear away a thick muzzy uess we could at least find the house while we’re down here It’s good to make a hundred percent certain in these cases

So she drives around until she n with the nament of paper from Maury’s pocket Then she continues down the street until she finds the nuht house, 442, and pulls to the curb before it

That’s when she notices, distinct as anything, and unlike any of the other houses in the area, a strange flickering glow co from the front s

YOU READY for a ot the ht here

But it feels, if she lets herself admit it, not quite like a miracle They sit in the car and she watches the house for twenty low that looks like firelight She waits to see if it will spread, to see if the house is on fire, ht remains steady She starts the car and drives around the block, and then she drives around the other block, circling the house froain and sits for ten ures in the streets, dead or living, no other houses that have any signs of life, and nothing else about this particular house that seems out of the ordinary

Coo take a look and see if the Duchamps are home You stay behind urkha knife and ht to the front door, she crosses the lawn and peers tentatively into the frontThe source of the glow is indeed a fire, burning steadily in the living roons of life