He’s gone only a moment. When he returns, he’s carrying the AR-15. He offers it to Wyatt. “I think you should be the one to hold on to this,” Trey says.

Tanq whips around to stare at Trey. Manny’s eyebrows go up.

“Trey,” Wyatt says, staring at the gun. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, Trey, are you sure?” I echo. He’s not just giving Wyatt a gun. He’s handing over power.

“I’m sure,” Trey says. “It’s safest in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.”

Wyatt takes the gun reverently, fully understanding how much trust Trey is placing in him. “I’d feel more comfortable if we all carried guns,” Wyatt says. “And I promise to teach everyone as soon as it’s safe to do so.”

“So, Tanq,” Trey says, brushing off the gun thing like it’s no big deal. “Are you going to come with us tonight?”

“Hell, no,” she says.

“Why not?” asks Wyatt.

She spits out: “Because I’d rather feel alone by myself than alone with people.”

But it’s even more than that. Her wide eyes are terrified.

“There’s something you can help us with right here,” Manny says.

“What?” she says.

“When I took this job, I swore an oath that I’d do everything I could to gather and protect as many survivors as possible,” he says. “So while I’m gone, I’d sure appreciate it if you kept an eye on those monitors. If anyone else heard our broadcast and comes knocking, someone needs to guide them inside and welcome them to our bunker. I don’t want to miss a single person.”

She purses her lips, considering. Then: “I can do that.”

Tanq strides from the kitchen, taking her glass of strawberry milk with her. On her way out the door, she throws over her shoulder, “Thanks for the Red Vines, Wyatt.”

April-ish

WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN, PAUL TOOK RYAN AND ME CAMPING UP here at Sandusky Bay. I’ll never forget watching from our campsite as a family of bald eagles frolicked at the shore, dancing in the lapping water, blowing up spray with their wings. They were huge and beautiful, graceful in the air, so cheerfully awkward on the beach. Two of them didn’t yet have the white head and tail feathers of their parents, but there was no mistaking the shape of their yellow-orange beaks or the immensity of their wingspans.

Bald eagles used to be endangered. Their population got so low it seemed likely the species would be wiped out.