She takes a breath and feels her shoulders relax a little. Anne's never struck her as someone who says something for the sake of sparing someone's feelings. If she says she doesn't mind, then she probably doesn't mind. So she nods and she explains.

She tells her about the meteors, and the creatures that seemed to come from them. She tells her about how the world shut down. Any noise they made, they were hunted, so they had to be as silent as possible. And any trip to town was carefully planned, carefully executed, as a family, so they could keep an eye and an ear out for each other.

"Everything was just... empty," Regan says. "A lot like this. So I feel like I have to be that quiet, again. Like if I don't, one of those things is going to appear and..." And kill everyone she cares about, she doesn't add. She shivers a little and shakes her head. "I just keep thinking everyone's being too loud, even though I know it's not the same thing."