It's risky to break curfew, but that's why Dan and Aster are on the roof of the library.

It's tall enough that they can easily duck away from being spotted, and also tall enough to see most of the town. Aster has his growlight that Dan has helped him rig up like a massive, portable flashlight, hooked into a rechargeable power tool battery. They haven't gotten to test it on one of the forest creatures yet, but he has a baseball bat and a pocket full of rocks that he has tested on them already.

They're watching for where the mist comes in first to go see if they can sequester one off to get a conversation going.

It's been a week of them farming and giving Dan time to get his strength back after his months on the street. Time enough to have looked up all the records of attacks, to discuss Lady's connections and theories, to worry about her tremendously. Not enough time to make any real progress, which gets on Aster's nerves.

"Awful clear tonight," he says, looking at the woods that rim the town. The sky is very bright with stars. "Isn't looking misty enough for them to come."

If the mist is what contains them, anyway.