“What if they’re all out of power?” I cried. “We’ve walked for days and the power’s out here. It probably is there too. Maybe it’s out everywhere. Maybe the whole world is dark.” I let out a high-pitched sob. “We were expected in New York days ago. You know how tight the schedule was! They’ve probably replaced me by now.”

“No one replaced you, babe,” Charlie said. “You’re irreplaceable. They know our plane went down. Lots of people will be worried about us. They’re probably having a candlelight vigil. Oh my God, we’ve gotta be front-page news…everywhere.” He looked briefly elated as his gaze zoned out somewhere behind me, probably picturing his fans sobbing uncontrollably in social media posts. The whole imagined scenario seemed to perk him up, but all it did was make me more miserable.

The world was dark, and my career was fading by the moment. No one waited around in the music business. Not even for tragedies. Not even for things that weren’t your fault. Charlie was established. They wouldn’t give up on Charlie. But me? I was replaceable. Everything was crumbling. Everything.

“For the love of Christ, get it together,” Tuck said.

My head came up as anger raced through me. “You get it together, you smug asshole.”

“I have it together,” he said smoothly.

“Do you?”

His eyes flashed, and another bolt of indignation pinballed through my body. How dare he? I’d been miserable for days and I hadn’t complained at all, despite being the smallest of the group and wearing improper footwear. I reached down, picked up a handful of gravel and hurled it just because. The resulting sound was soft and scattered and mostly unsatisfying, even if both Tuck and Charlie leaned to the side so as not to get hit by a rogue pebble. “I don’t have your muscles and your…stupid long legs,” I shouted, waving my arm in the general direction of his sturdy thighs and well-muscled ass I’d been staring at for days now. “But I’ve been keeping up anyway! And I’m wearing fucking slippers and leather pants!” I practically screeched.

“Are you done?” Tuck asked.

With a loud growl, I elbowed him aside, moved past him, and started marching down the road, Charlie catching up after a moment.

My general rage kept me moving for the next thirty minutes until we made it to the base of an on-ramp at which point I sagged against the guardrail. The sky had turned a gorgeous shade of deep mauve, and despite the dwindling sunlight, not a single light had blinked on over the highway. It was confirmed: we’d walked for miles and miles and were still in the dark.

And beyond that, it was quiet. We were standing right beside a highway, and not a single engine could be heard.