Kletter let out a motherly sigh as if Dominic had made a fart joke. “I think we’d all be blown away if we could’ve seen it before the Flare. Imagine all those places filled with light, the air with music and car horns, people walking shoulder to shoulder, eating and laughing. I’d give my left foot for time travel.”

Her conjuring of the past just made the present that much quieter and more empty. Besides the birds, besides the distant susurration of the ocean, besides the rustle of wind in the tree leaves, the city was a tomb.

“Are there any . . . people here?” Miyoko asked.

Cranks, Isaac thought. She meant Cranks.

Kletter sighed again; maybe that was just how the woman breathed. “We don’t really know what happened here. A lot of flood damage, a lot of bones, a lot of nothing. But no people. They all died or left, I guess, decades ago. It’s why my people set up camp on top of a mountain nearby. Seemed like we had the whole place to ourselves. Although it’s not much of a place. You go to some cities, they actually have things like grocery stores and hospitals up and running. At least that’s what we hear. That’s not for us.”

“What is for you?” Alvarez asked, a quiet fellow who hardly ever spoke.

Kletter cut him a glare that made Isaac think the man had said something wrong. “Sadina. All of you. Why in Earth’s name do you think I just went through hell and back to get you people here? And . . .” She cut off abruptly and looked away. They all knew what she didn’t have to say. She’d killed her own friends, associates, whomever they’d been, to accomplish the task of getting here with residents of the island in tow.

“Never mind,” she finally said. “You all came by your own choice. You’ll understand a lot more once we get to the Villa. It’s about two days’ hike from here.”

Isaac and his friends spent a moment exchanging glances. No one said a word, but eyes attempted to communicate things, although Isaac wasn’t quite sure what. The air had taken on an ominous, heavy feel, as if they’d been so preoccupied with getting off the ocean that the prospect of what awaited them had only just now occurred. That was, of course, far from the truth. Isaac had spent many sleepless nights wondering about the old world and the many terrors that resided there. And now, there was here.

Ms. Cowan spoke up. “We’ve spent our whole lives hearing about what happens to people who caught the Flare. Cranks, whatever you wanna call them. Do we have to worry about people like that leaping out of these dark buildings? Coming out of the sewers? Jumping out of trees?”