Part I, Chapter 2 Summary

The next morning, Robert arises at 5:30 a.m., and observes through the peephole door the creatures moving away, "weaker ... than when they had come, [u]nless they had attacked one of their own," which often happened. Next, he prepares a list of tasks to do that day (lathe at Sears, water, check generator, doweling (?), and usual). As he leaves in his station wagon to run these errands, he observes two female corpses—one sprawled across the sidewalk, and the other concealed in the shrubbery. He retrieves the bloodless bodies, their skin "the color of fish out of water," and hurls them into a canvas tarpaulin.

After lunch, he packs a bag of stakes and heads out in his car. Along the way, we see that the city is utterly deserted. He passes a fiery field that he observes...