Summary

The novel opens with a chapter titled “Andrew.” Andrew is imagining a movie of the events of his life might include some foreshadowing about the pandemic that killed many people, then time lapsed to a survivalist setting a bear trap. Andrew had stepped in that trap a day earlier. The only saving factor was a limb that kept the trap from completely closing. He has only a little food after having “the silly idea to get off the main roads” (2). He bound his leg with an old t-shirt and is hobbling with a tree branch as a makeshift crutch. He is now moving more slowly for fear of finding more traps. He stumbles on a cabin that he hopes is uninhabited with some first-aid supplies. He notices a “chunky garden gnome” at the bottom of the steps.

The next chapter is titled “Jamison...