And Tuck was right about the horses. I heard them too, and now I could see the front hoofs of one from behind a roadside diner.

I started to hand the binoculars back to Tuck when two men wearing black and white exited the diner, the door opening in our direction so that I could see the front glass had been shattered. I watched as the men let the door swing closed behind them and then stood talking. I stared for another second. “They’re Amish,” I said. “Oh my Gosh. They’re Amish. Maybe they’ll give us a ride.” The Amish were…harmless. The Amish didn’t just have horses. They had buggies!

“Let me see,” Tuck said, taking the binoculars from me. I watched him surveil them, his mouth turning down into a frown.

“What’s wrong? The Amish are nonviolent. We don’t have to be afraid of the Amish.”

“We have to be wary of everyone right now,” Tuck said without lowering the binoculars. “Also, we’re in Missouri.”

“So?”

“I’ve never heard of Amish in Missouri.”

“What are you, the Missouri census bureau?”

He did lower the binoculars then and trained a steady gaze on me. “Are we starting again?”

I smiled. “I’m joking. There could be lots of reasons they’ve traveled here from…” I waved my hand around. I had no idea where Amish people lived.

“Pennsylvania. Ohio,” Tuck said.

“Maybe they wanted to see how far the outage extends. You know…get the lay of the land.”

“Why would they? The Amish have no problem living without electricity. For them it’s business as usual.”

“True, but they do use services in the outside world, right? Like…banking and, I don’t know, like mail and stuff? They have to have noticed what happened.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

“Did you just say I might be right about something.” I brought my hand to my chest and pretended I couldn’t breathe.

“Guys,” Charlie broke in, “there’s only one way to find out. Let’s go talk to them.”

I glanced over at him as though he’d appeared out of nowhere. Why did I keep forgetting Charlie was here?

As Tuck continued to look through his binoculars for another minute, I took the switchblade from my backpack and stuck it in the inside pocket of my jacket. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but Tuck had quickly schooled me on the fact that my self-defense skills weren’t going to save me if I was attacked. And though I wasn’t overly worried about the Amish, it was better safe than sorry, wasn’t it?

Finally, Tuck sighed and lowered the binoculars. “Fine. I think it’s safest if I keep watch and you go talk to them. Wave to me if things seem okay. Scratch your head if things seem off in any way.”