After leaving his place, his mother safely tucked away upstairs, Joe Bridgeman pedaled first to Sandra’s house. She’d had no luck reaching her kids by phone, and he’d promised to see whether they were there.

The streets of Garrett were largely deserted. Word obviously had gotten around that the safest place to be—if you couldn’t get off the island altogether—was inside. The cars were deadly, but getting into buildings presented a challenge. At one point, he saw a woman standing in her front yard, clearly scanning the street to see whether it was now okay to be outside.

“Get back in your house!” Joe shouted at her as he cycled past.

“Where are they?” she shouted.

“Just get inside!”

It was a good question, though. He’d encountered not one Arrival since leaving his mother’s house. He guessed the cars had gone where they expected to find the most people. The town’s center, most likely. Maybe the mall, although that struck him as probably a safe place for people to hang out until the crisis had passed.

He pumped his legs as hard as he could. His calves and thighs were already screaming in pain when he’d reached his own house, having ridden from the ferry as quickly as he could. It had been more than twenty years since Joe had spent any time on a bicycle. Once he got his driver’s license, the two-wheeler stayed in the back of his parents’ garage. He’d never been a recreational cyclist, although had he been, Garrett Island was heaven. Thousands of tourists came every summer with bicycles strapped to the roof of their cars, or rented them from numerous outlets throughout the island.

It took him ten minutes to reach the street where Sandra Montrose lived with Archie and Katie. He cut right across the front lawn, hopping off the bike steps from the house. He rang the bell, and when no one answered within ten seconds, he banged on the front door.

“Katie?” he shouted. “Archie? Anybody home?”

It was possible, he thought, they were hiding upstairs, or in the basement, and had not heard him. He tried the door, found it unlocked, and stepped into the front hall. Joe called their names a second time, loud enough to be heard anywhere in the house. He went through the first floor, out the rear door, and conducted a quick inspection of the separate garage. Satisfied that the kids were not here, he went back into the house.

He wished he had better news to give Sandra. But just because the kids weren’t here, it didn’t mean they’d come to any harm. They could be at a neighbor’s house. Maybe they were at the home of one of Archie’s friends.