Summary

Chapter 1 opens with Caroline saying there is no choice but to be ready for anything that happens. She feels she is ready as she follows Father to a salvage yard. Father gives her directions as he searches for rebar and metal for their camp. Caroline watches cars pass by, knowing those people are simply going about their lives. Father chooses the items he wants, but he takes time to sort through other items, organizing them as a way of paying for what they take. Caroline has her toy horse Randy with her, as always. She holds her finger over the hole in his stomach, keeping in the things she has put inside his hollow body. They begin the walk home, made tedious by the long rebar. They encounter a dead deer on the way. Near their home, they step only on stones...