âLiving in the present does not mean there is no regard for the future. What are you doing? There is always a next. A next town, a next day.â
Caleb felt surrounded by darkness. He was dreaming. He felt like he was dreaming. He was dreaming. He was speaking to Molly, who was dead, as if it were normal. Or maybe it was normal.
âI think you are drunk.â
Or Caleb was. Things were swimmy and hazy and he could feel his center being pulled. But where?
Next meant forward. Next was always forward. But Caleb, the groupsâ human compass, had no idea where north was, where next, forward, future were.
He did not expect to be this lost. He moved. Forward. But was unsure of what that meant anymore.
âMolly⌠where are we?â
   Mollymauk had not expected to see another soul here, another person, here in this inky dark. He could see Caleb, too. It was as if the darkness seemed repelled, floating around him. It clung more readily to himself. Only his red eyes shone clear in the shadows.
   He still wasnât certain that Caleb was truly there. He had been lost and alone for such a long time, now. It could have simply been a trick of his own mind. But at the same time, he wanted so desperately for it to be real.
   The corner of his mouth turned up at the remark that he was drunk, but it faded at Calebâs further questioning.
   âI wish I could tell you. Not really sure, myself.â He glanced around once more before seeking Calebâs gaze once more. âYouâre not... Nothing happened, did it?â