It was autumn. The air smelled of wet leaves and smoke. A week had passed since the world had fallen apart, since strangers had become something closer to family. One week ago, we hadn’t even known each other’s names. Now, when danger comes, we don’t even need to speak, we move, cover, protect each other instinctively. We made one rule early on, scribbled in Nathaniel’s notebook and whispered to each other like a vow: