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Any other night it would have been too cold to go on a long walk. But they didn’t wear twice as much clothing every night.

Hollis and Walt took a ride back home from the abandoned houses with Hollis’s parents, so it cut the time in half, but it was still a bit of a hike.

He wished he’d thought to ask Yulia if her pa was finished with her car.

I thought you’d be more nervous.

Walt shrugged their shoulders.

I did too. It doesn’t seem as scary now that I’m not alone.

It was a bright night, not a cloud in the sky. The moon wasn’t full, but without buildings or dense foliage, there was nothing to block the light.

What kind of buildings were here?

I’m not sure. I don’t know where the demo started. But at the edge of town, there should be a grocery store. Maybe a church.

Hollis had never seen a church in Rose Town.

When the buildings pierced the horizon, Hollis crossed the road and trudged through the field. They were near the gravel lot, where everyone had parked their cars so many months ago.

They walked as close as they could manage before Walt’s hands started shaking.

Hollis sat them down on the cold ground.

Is it as bad as you thought?

It’s too dark; I’ve never seen it with the lights put out. No candles in the windows, no streetlamps, no fires. It’s a grave.

Walt rubbed their mittened hands together; heated the wool with their breath.

People were always in the streets, day and night. It was loud all the time. The sidewalks were loud, the bars were loud, the clanging and forge at the factory were loud. People were always yelling and crying and laughing. Trying to sell stuff in the street, having a good time with their friends. It was loud even when we tried to sleep.

My pa used to snore like a bear. Kept the whole house up for years until we started shoving sponge in our ears.

What were they like?

Walt brought their knees up high so he could rest their head on them.

My ma was big. We barely had enough to eat, but she was big and stout. She worked as a seamstress, and she was very quiet. Very kind. My pa should have been a violin maker like his pa. But that paid less than factory work, so he ruined his hands so we could keep the lights on.

One of my sisters was nine when we left, the other was nineteen. Unmarried, so she stayed with us. They were both mean the way Yulia’s mean. Viper-tongued and sweet, despite it.

We lived in that house there.

Walt pointed down the main street at a place five houses down from where Jorge had nearly died.

It looks like the edge of town now, but it wasn’t. It was near the middle. If I told you how much of this place was carved away. If you could have shown me on a map where the line was. Where they cut this town to quarantine what was safe from what wasn’t, Hollis, I would have already known this was on me.

Walt pointed farther down the street.

You go a ways that way, you’ll hit the place I used to fight. It was a dance hall on the first floor and matches were in the basement. Way down nearer to the factory is where the Callaghans liked to gather. But the Rossis’ territory is field and farmland now.

Wonder if they relocated, or sold...

Anyhow, some guys, low-down guys who worked the line with me during the day were all right. They weren’t all bad, not the Rossis or the Callaghans on the bottom level. They were just hungry, like me. From families just a bit worse off.

I don’t know, Hollis. I wanted a minute to just take it in before we came here to do what needs to be done. I didn’t want my first shot back in town to be my last.

I get that.

Hmm. Lie down with me.

Walt let him carry them down, arm behind their head to cushion them from the frozen grass. They looked up at the sky.

I’m glad you came here. I’m glad we ran into each other that night. I’m glad I stopped and gave you my coat.

Walt laughed soft and private into the night.

Best, worst decision you ever made. If anything happens, I’ll miss you. I miss you right now.

Hollis slid off their mitten and kissed their fingertips.

You know, I think even if this place wasn’t full of ghosts things would be the same.

What’s that?

There are so many places like this out there, towns like ours. We’re not special. Just because Rose Town is full of angry spirits doesn’t make this more or less of a haunting than any other town with an empty shut-down factory and a bunch of poor people.

There’s land all over the place that’s so ruined no one can step foot on it. Signs around it talking about toxic poison and danger, parents worried their kids will sneak over to have fun and get hurt.

It’s not the same.

It is the same thing, Walt. It’s the same . We just have the luxury of calling it a haunting. We’re lucky enough to have nothing but ghosts in our way, not like... the brute force of environmental exploitation. But materially speaking, it’s the same. The American nightmare or whatever.

Big words.

Hollis grinned.

Shut up. I’m being serious. We all kind of know it too. That’s why no one really complains about it. Having ghosts is not so different from having nothing at all.

But, what if—

Yeah, Walt. What if. I’m sure there’s half a million people around this country with the same question. At least we might have a way out. At least you came back to help.

I didn’t come back to help, I came back to die.

Hollis closed their eyes.

You can’t make me hate you for that. Stop trying.