I used my arm to nudge Tuck aside as I stepped forward. I plastered a big smile on my face. Nova’s smile—the smile of the girl who knew how to get anything she wanted. Not the wavering concession speech of a man who was trying so hard to live his life on the straight and narrow that he couldn’t bear the thought of stealing a couple of eggs or talking his way into a warm house. But I had no such compunctions. I was starving and tired. “We’re here to trade,” I said. “Nothing comes for free in this world, not anymore. At least for now. We’re well aware.”

The farmer’s eyes did a brief sweep of the two of us before he let out a short laugh and nudged his son. “Go on back inside.” Kyler looked briefly indignant but then turned toward the house. His father sized me up again. “No offense but doesn’t look like you have much to offer.”

Tuck went to step back in the position where he’d been, and I quickly put my arm out again, holding him back. “Information,” I said.

The man paused, and he turned his head slightly. I saw the spark of interest in his eyes and jumped in to take advantage of the opportunity. “Sir, we’ve been walking for over a week now. We first spent the day with Sheriff Goodfellow in Silver Creek, Missouri, and then we spent some time with a man who walked from St. Louis. Yesterday we were in Topeka where some military members have set up a camp for…refugees. We’ve gained information about what’s going on from there to here, and also specifics about one of the big cities. I imagine you’ve been chomping at the bit, so to speak, as you’ve waited for information that hasn’t come. No mail. No garbage pickup. No aircraft overhead. If you have an older vehicle, maybe you drove to a store nearby, or maybe a neighbor did and reported to you that no one knew anything there either. If it wasn’t emptied out then, I can almost guarantee it is by now.”

I could feel Tuck’s gaze on me, and he’d leaned back slightly as though to give me more room to talk.

“The most important thing to know is that we have news you’re going to want to hear, and quickly. It pertains to your safety and that of your neighbors as well.” I wasn’t lying on that front. If Isaac was right, in short order, there were going to be a lot more people on the road. And that even meant backroads. I hadn’t really let myself consider the details of that too much because it was frankly terrifying, but in that moment, I realized that, so far, we’d walked in relative safety, but that might no longer be the case.