“You probably recognize me,” he said, glancing around hopefully before running his hand through his hair and offering a large, toothy smile. It faltered, then dipped as the people standing around looked at him with zero recognition. Charlie cleared his throat. “I’m an actor,” he said. “A…movie star?” I almost laughed at his timid, questioning voice. Despite the tense situation, I still managed to enjoy seeing him knocked down a few pegs.

“There aren’t too many movie theaters out our way,” the woman with her hand on Emily’s shoulder offered, “but our children might know who you are.”

“Oh,” Charlie said. “Right. Hmm… Well…” He trailed off, obviously at a loss and deciding not to follow up with whatever he was going to ask for in the wake of absolutely no one recognizing him.

The sheriff addressed me. “Are you the pilot? Of the plane you were on that went down?”

“No. Our pilot was killed.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I gave a succinct nod, a knot forming in my stomach as it occurred to me that Russell had been the first body we’d seen, but certainly not the only one between that moment and this one. I wondered vaguely if we’d see more death before we reached our destination and hoped to fuck not, but knew it was clear we’d have to be prepared for anything. “We haven’t been able to get any cell service, and the power’s been out everywhere we’ve been.” I looked around at the people, then back to the sheriff.

The sheriff relaxed his stance. “It sounds like you’ve been through a lot. I imagine the stories that are going to come out of this situation will range from interesting to catastrophic.”

“I imagine so. Do you know what caused this? We’ve heard a few theories.”

One of the men behind the sheriff took a step forward. “Roger Land, who used to be a science professor at the University of Missouri, thinks it was a solar flare. Others say it was a cyberattack that took our grid offline and knocked out our satellites. Lots of buzz from all directions. No one knows for sure.”

“But you’re a sheriff,” Emily said, coming to stand next to me. “You haven’t received any official word?”

“Not a peep,” he said. All three of us looked between each other and a whirlwind of unease rippled through the group. That was really bad news. Not only was the grid down, as well as cell phones, but all official channels had been lost?

The woman who’d comforted Emily addressed the sheriff. “Are we meeting at the community center tonight?”

“Tonight, and every night until this is resolved,” the sheriff said.

“And Kari’s gonna be there so we can ask her about medication?” the woman asked.