Author's note: Picking up at page 162 of the American hardcover edition, if you're intent on following this with the book.
It was midnight now, and Evan Walker had finally made the shadow see that what the Others were doing was terrible. Humans have emotions. Yes, the emotions get in the way but they also built what the Others had just orchestrated to destroy. Evan stood up, realizing now how out of breath he was. He looked around, evaluating what work there was left to be done and glanced at the sky to see how close to dawn it was. He was alone in the dark, soaking in the work that he was chosen for; Silencing. He moved the bodies the way he had the same day he had shot Cassie: with the three in a line, hands behind their head. The organization comforted the shadow in his head, disorder made the shadow fidget and squirm. Evan entered the tent, careful not to touch the blood that was splattered on the walls of the tent. He found a duffel bag, two back packs, three sleeping bags, and a plastic box. He first emptied the backpacks, the owners of which made obvious based on the stuff inside. The first contained comic books and legos, belonging to Target Three. The second backpack, more full, contained a scrapbook that was slightly water damaged and toiletries a middle aged woman would need, therefore belonging to Target 2, leaving the plastic box and duffel bag. The plastic box looked sad and nearly empty. It contained a few cans of spam, cans of beef gravy, and a can of canned bread. Evan laughed to himself when he saw the canned bread, because of the sheer ridiculousness of canning bread. The duffel bag contained two guns: a large gun, ideal for longer distances with a scope at the top, and a pistol. Both were out of ammunition. Also in the bag sat a large hunting knife and a family photo. After a few moments of hesitation, Evan examined the photo. The family used to have two more. Must've been lost with the Horseman. With a sigh of exasperation, Evan zipped up the duffel and hauled it out of the tent. As he straightened himself with the duffel bag over his shoulder, he checked the sky for a hint of how much time he had left. The sun would be rising again soon, he had to get back. There's a cattle farm not too far from here.. Yeah, I can make it.
On his way back, he stopped by Lauren's house. At least she isn't here now to see how bad everything is. He walked up the path to her front door, the first time since he had run to her house hoping he hadn't lost her. He rested his hand on the bronze doorknob of the front door, the familiar cool feeling in his hand. He waited… He hesitated….. He sighed. Pulling away from the house where his heart had expanded, thrived, and crumbled. The sky was turning pink and Evan had to get home. Two miles from Lauren's house resided a cattle ranch. The rancher was smart enough to let the cattle roam before the Horseman took him. Evan had been picking off of the herd since he heard the rancher had passed. The virus had been round long enough for him to see that it did not carry through animals besides birds. He found the wagon he hid in the brush near the fence and killed one of the cattle. He heaved the cow onto the wagon and carted it to the barn just outside his home. He had done this many times before, never failing to make it back home. When he returned home, he went through the process to best prepare and preserve the meat. When he had it all packaged, the sun was up, about 8am, he guessed. He headed inside to greet his constellation and check on her bandages. By lunch, Evan was feeling shadow free and generous. He even made Cassie a hamburger with some of the meat he had gathered.
After she had eaten, he changed the dressing on her leg. The wound was healing, losing whatever infection it may or may not have had but it still looked terrible. The guilt of shooting her leg creeped up his neck. "I want to wash and comb my hair." she said to him. He was a bit shocked. He hadn't thought of the possibility of her doing something by herself. Something so human. He stood there thinking about how human the act was and why would she want to do that when she can't even walk on her own yet? Her clear confident voice broke him out of his thoughts, "If you won't help me I'm going to smash the kerosene lamp over your head." Her intentions were clear, she wanted nothing more than to just take a bath and feel human again. Evan set up the claw-foot tub so she wouldn't have to lay down. He went back to her room and carried his constellation, careful not to put unnecessary pressure on her leg. He plopped her down and went to the kitchen to get a metal tub and fill it with steaming water. The tub wasn't too heavy, but it did cause his biceps to strain a bit. He began to wash her hair, pouring warm water that smelled faintly of rose petals. When he tried to work in shampoo, she waved away his hands and began to do it herself. I watch her scrub her hair and He noticed the water course up her body, tightening the nightgown, fitting it to her body. His eyes lingered, the shadow far from his mind. He cleared his throat, disrupting any thoughts that could occur. He turned his head away. Next thing he knows, he standing outside the bathroom door. "Are you standing out there?" He hears from the bathroom. "Yes" he responds. "Why are you standing out there?" think, think, think! "I'm waiting to rinse your hair." good. "This is going to take a while" He stared at the door and the photos hanging in the hallway. "That's okay." She said something else filled with sass but he was lost in a picture of his family at a picnic before everything hit the fan. "Are you still there?" He shifted his weight. "Yes" After ten minutes she finally let him in. He was able to rinse her hair while they talked about why he stayed in his house once the waves began. They talked about Silencers and Val and Lauren. Evan had not felt such trust in someone since Val died. Still, he couldn't tell her about his shadow or about who really shot her or even why he needs help feeling human. But having someone like this around made the invasion more bare able, no matter how much he was still against it. The human Evan still rang over shadow Evan, especially with someone like Cassie to remind him that being human is supposed to be easy because it's what we are. Cassie just made it easier for him. He tried to do the same for her.