It took us forty-five minutes to make the walk, despite having to hide from approaching vehicles twice, the sky lightening from platinum to pearl as we traveled. The block Emily had directed us to was as nondescript as she’d described, a number of ugly square buildings with weeds growing through the small, paved sections in front. They almost appeared like storage facilities that had gone unused for some time. She was right, those searching for necessities wouldn’t likely bother with these. At least not until absolutely everything else had been looted.

We tried the front door, but that was locked. “There’s a door in the back,” Emily said, taking my hand as we rounded the structure. “And if not, we can break a window. There’s no need to worry about alarms now,” she murmured.

The back door was locked as well, but as she wiggled the handle, I noticed the shade move slightly on the window close by. I took her hand and pulled her so that we were on the other side of the door. “Someone just looked out of that window,” I said. Before she could answer, the back door squeaked open, and I shoved Emily behind me as I faced the person emerging.

It was a woman. And she was unarmed.

“Layne?” I heard Emily say from behind me where she was obviously peeking out.

“I knew that was you,” the woman named Layne said. “Oh my God. Come here. Are you okay?”

Emily stepped around me and Layne took Emily in her arms, and they embraced. “I can’t believe you’re here,” Emily said after she’d stepped back.

“I’m assuming you came looking for food and water too? Who’s your friend?”

“I’m so sorry. Tuck, this is Layne Beckett. She’s an amazing singer. Layne, Tuck Mattice. We walked from Illinois where my plane went down.”

“Holy shit, are you kidding me? No, of course you’re not. Nova, the things that are happening in this city right now.” She gave her head a small shake. “God, speaking of which, I’ve lost my mind. Come inside. Hurry.”

We all entered the building and Layne closed and locked the door behind us, leading us through a dark room to a space beyond where light was emanating. “There are no windows in here, so it’s safe to have some lights on. There were some battery-operated string lights and other mood lighting,” she said, turning slightly and using air quotes. “Oh, and Leon Lee is here. He’s your manager, right?”

“Yes,” Emily breathed. “Oh my God.”

“He’s sleeping in one of the booths. We got here at three a.m., and he needed to get some sleep.”