There's something unreal about Possum Springs at night. Dark windows, empty streets. It feels like Mae's been given a glimpse of the future, a time when this town is dead instead of just dying, her safety net gone from under her.

She stands in the road, very still, listening for any sign that she's not the only one left alive.

"Mae?"

She turns around.

"Can't sleep either?" Bea asks.

"Are you real?" Mae asks.

Bea frowns, looks for a moment like she's going to ask a question about that. At last, she just shrugs. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm real."

'Pretty sure' is enough for now. It feels like anything more confident would be harder to believe.

"I was going for a walk," Bea says. "You want to come with me? It kind of seems better than just... standing in the road."

Oh. Right. Cars drive here. Not many, but enough for this to be a bad idea.

"Yeah, okay," Mae says. And, after a moment, probably too quietly for Bea to hear it, "Thanks."