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By the time the city’s core rose into view, Grey kneould have to abandon the interstate There was si to get worse the closer he got He drew the truck into the parking lot of a 7-Eleven and checked hisdon to the south, he decided, though this was just a guess; he didn’t know Denver at all

He veered south, then east again, picking his way through the suburbs Everywhere was the sa soul about He wished he could at least have had the radio for company, but when he scanned up and down the dial, all he could get was the same empty wash of static he’d heard for a day and a half For a while he honked the truck’s horn, thinking this ht alert anyone left alive to his presence, but eventually he gave up There was no one left to hear it Denver was a crypt

By the tiine died, Grey had entered a state of such complete despair that for several seconds he actually failed to notice So disturbing was the silence that it had begun to seeain-that the whole world, not just Denver, had been swept clean of huine had lost power For a few seconds the truck coasted on its ownhad locked up, too; all Grey could do was sit and wait for it to glide to a halt

Christ, he thought, this is all I need Sliding Iggy’s gun into the pocket of his jumpsuit, he clih junky cars in his day to know a broken fan belt The logical step would have been to abandon the truck and find another vehicle with the keys in it He was on a wide boulevard of big-box retail outlets: Best Buy, Target, Ho of cars in it But he had no heart to look inside the what he would find He’d swapped out a fan belt lots of times All he needed was the belt and a few basic tools, a screwdriver and a couple of wrenches to adjust the tensioner Maybe the Home Depot had auto parts It couldn’t hurt to look

He crossed the highway and headed for the door, which stood open The cage of propane tanks by the entrance had been pried open, all the canisters taken, but otherwise the front of the store appeared undaether, rested undisturbed by the doorway, as did a display of patio furniture dusted with yellow pollen The only other sign that anything was aainst the wall, spray-painted with the words NO GENERATORS LEFT

Grey drew the pistol froed the door open, and stepped inside The poas out, but a semblance of order had been h the floor was un out before hi the front of the store, his eyes scanning the signs over the aisles for one that said AUTO PARTS

He had made it halfway down the rohen Grey stopped in his tracks Fro, followed by a barely audibleGrey took two steps forward and peered around the corner

It was a wo in front of a display of paint samples She was dressed in jeans and a man’s dress shirt; her hair, a soft broept behind her ears, fixed in place by a pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head She was also pregnant-not have-the-baby-right-this-second pregnant, but pregnant enough While Grey watched, she pulled a little square of color froled it first this way and then the other, frowning pensively Then she returned it to its slot

So unexpected was this vision that Grey could only gaze at her inhere? A full thirty seconds passed, the woed by her ently placed the gun on an open shelf and took a cautious step forward What should he say? He’d never been good at icebreakers Or even talking to people, really He settled for clearing his throat

The wolanced at him over her shoulder "Well, it’s about ti here for twenty ?"

She turned from the display "Is this or is this not the paint departroup of sa cards "Now, I’ maybe Garden Gate, but I’m worried it will be too dark"

Grey was utterly dumbfounded She wanted him to help her pick paint?

"Probably nobody ever asks your opinion, I know," she continued briskly-a little too briskly, Grey thought "Just put it in a can and take my money, I’ment of someone who knows his business So, what do you think? In your professional opinion"

Grey was standing within just a few feet of her now Her face was fine-boned and pale, with a subtle fan of crow’s-feet at the corners of her eyes "I think you’re confused I don’t work here"

She narrowed her eyes at him "You don’t?"

"Lady, no one works here"

Confusion swept over her face But just as quickly it disappeared, her features reorganizing into a look of irritation "Oh, you hardly need to tell et a little help around this place is like pulling teeth Now," she went on, "as I was saying, I need to knohich of these would go best in a nursery" She gave a bashful s"

Grey had known some crazy people in his days, but this woman took the cake "Lady, I don’t think you should be here It’s not safe"

Another little hitch of ti his words and then, in the next instant, rewriting their

"Honestly, you sound just like David To tell you the truth, I’ve had just about enough of this kind of talk" She sighed heavily "So, Garden Gate it is then I’ll take two gallons in an eggshell finish, please If you don’t mind, I’m in kind of a hurry"

Grey felt completely flustered "You want me to sell you paint?"

"Well, are you or aren’t you the er? When had that happened? The fact was dawning on hi

"Lady, don’t you knohat’s going on around here?"

She pulled two cans from the shelves and held the so to ot your na about the woman seeged by a runaway horse "It’s Grey," he said "Lawrence Grey"

She pushed the cans toward hi hi out an eer, he’d never get a fan belt "Well, Mr Grey I’d like two gallons of Garden Gate, please"

"Uestured toward the counter "Just put it in the whatchamacallit"

"Lady, I can’t"

"What do you mean, you can’t?"