Night had fallen over Galloway, bringing with it a darkness so complete that the abandoned streets seemed to disappear entirely into shadow. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky, offering almost no illumination, and the absence of any functioning streetlights or house lights meant that the world had been reduced to varying shades of black and gray.
Everyone was supposed to be asleep by now—it was well past midnight, that dead hour when exhaustion finally overwhelmed even the most persistent anxieties and fears. The community had settled into whatever makeshift sleeping arrangements they'd established in the houses we'd claimed for temporary shelter.
