One Way or Another

The earthquake—the rupture of the world—had scattered them all to the winds, and now they were in distant orbit, trying to find their ways back to one another. After all of Nancy’s weeks of vigilance, monitoring every tip that came through The Hawkins Post, every deluded crackpot calling in to the local radio station—her work had paid off. She had just stared into space somewhere over Nancy’s shoulder, her face half shrouded in the kitchen shadows. Finally, after ten interminable minutes, Nancy could hear footsteps in the hallway.