"That's one way to put it," Larry said, and though his smile was genuine, it was tempered by the sober knowledge in his eyes. There was no easy or logical way to explain the breadth of what had happened, of how bone-deep the ugliness went. Just the idea of the apocalypse was enough to be getting on with, he figured.

"It wasn't all bad, though," he added, expression softening, if a little sad. "We had a pretty big group of good people all settled together, starting over. That's how Nick and I met."