With plenty of abandoned, decaying homes for the army to stay in, it was with great luck that Chuck's squad happened to be allowed to stay in a mansion near the edge of the city, which was still inhabited. Further its single inhabitant, Josephina Menendez, was kind enough to promise to cook for the soldiers if she was allowed to stay in the house, and she was allowed to stay. She was a 30 year old Latino woman with black hair and brown eyes. In the evening, Josephina cooked quesadillas for Chuck's squad, and while she was cooking Chuck busied himself chatting with her and finally learning something about what life was like for the surrendered. She was trilingual, and spoke English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and he conversed with her easily.

"You know, outside of the city we were attacked by an old man who seemed hellbent on not letting us into the city," said Chuck.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Josephina as she sizzled beef in a pan. "You of course know the old saying by Samual Acuna. If there was anyone left in the city that had true courage and loyalty to their nation, they would have been killed in the initial demon attacks. Plus, previous times when you Americans tried to break out from the southern tip, any cities you liberated would be the subject of terribly retribution when they were captured again by demons. So, I understand why the old man acted like he did."

"You're not going to do that, are you? Try to kill us somehow in hopes of getting more mercy from demons?"

Josephina shook her head. "If the demons return, I'm dead anyway. It is only through great luck I haven't been killed already. My brother was killed by demons in 1986, and I'm sure I would as well if I drew any attention. I'm a devout Catholic, and though I hide it as best as I can whenever I am near demons, they can read feelings. I can only thank God they cannot read minds or hearts, because if they knew what truthful feelings I had for them in my heart, they would do terrible things for me."

"What's it like living in a city dominated by demons?" asked Chuck.

Josephina turned her attention away from her cooking for a moment, and regarded Chuck Horner carefully, either trying to think of how to tailor her response, or trying to remember English words for what she was thinking. After a moment she spoke.

"It's a life of...economic stagnation," she said finally.

Chuck was doubly surprised. First, he didn't know her English was that good. He'd heard superior officers with worse English skills than she possessed. Second, he was surprised by the choice of words, and thought she would say something sappy like that it was a life of "despair" or "fear" or "sorrow."

"Economic stagnation?" repeated Chuck. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Look around you," she said. Chuck did. He had given a cursory look around when he first got to the mansion, but at her cue he now really looked at the kitchen. It was as modern looking as could be expected, and looked like it was probably built in the 1930s or thereabouts. There were incandescent light bulbs in most of the sockets, and switches on the walls still, but there was no electricity going to the house, and there were unlit lamps and candles, as this was late afternoon and light still streamed through the windows.

"Do you have any electrical appliances?" asked Chuck. Josephina pointed to a cabinet, and when Chuck opened it, he found it contained a small assortment of cooking appliances from the 1960s. They weren't dusty, but one or two were rusty and it was obvious they hadn't been used in years.

"When was the last time you had electricity?" asked Chuck.

Josephina paused a moment, then said "I don't quite remember, but I think it was a year or two after the Gate to Hell opened. I don't even know why I still keep those. Memories, I suppose."

"So, you live in economic stagnation without electricity?" asked Chuck. He knew that wasn't exactly what she meant, but asked so she would clarify more.

"It's not just that," she said. "If it was just the trouble with generating and delivering electricity, we could still live pleasantly like it was the 1800s. But you'll also notice that I can't burn with coal, and have to use wood. By economic stagnation, I mean that it's not possible to have any industry at all in in Barreiras. Traveling in general is dangerous, and especially dangerous to travel outside the city. Every encounter with a demon means first demonstrating your helplessness, and then also hoping that they either aren't hungry for human flesh, or that you've packed enough food to satisfy them. So, practically speaking, we can't import anything, and can't export anything. We're not quite trapped in Barreiras exactly, but going anywhere outside the city is so dangerous we might as well be. So, no major businesses can run. Nothing can be mined, nor can coins be minted or governments run. I currently live like it is 1700, tending my cattle and repairing what breaks as best as I can, but nothing can really be replaced. As time goes on, life in Barreiras has degraded greatly, and would continue degrading until anyone left will live like a caveman. Civilization needs peace and security to prosper. To live in Barreiras is to survive, if you feel helpless enough, but demon harassment simply means we will all die slowly, and if we were not relieved, one day there would be no tools left in the city aside from sticks and stones."

Chuck Horner ruminated on what she said for a moment. The meat was almost done, and it would be dinner time soon."

"What do the demons eat?" he asked.

"Meat and fungus," she said. "For meat, they don't care what kind at all. Whether it's fish, birds, cattle, or people, they will eat any kind of meat. And for fungus, they seem to enjoy the kinds of mushrooms poisonous to humans, and there are many people in Barreiras that simply tend almost exclusively to large fields of mushrooms to satiate hungry demons so they do not hunger for human flesh. I'm just glad they do eat like snakes - eating large quantities at one time, and then not eating at all for a long time afterwards. Anyway, the steak's done."

Josephina called in the rest of the squad, and they busied themselves making steak quesadillas. When they were sitting down to eat, Isaac asked Josephina if she'd heard much world news in the last few years.

"No," she responded. "I do have a radio upstairs, but all my batteries died many years ago. It is just as well. Last time I used it, I picked up nothing but static. Also, we don't get many visitors from other cities or towns, so I'm kind of in the dark for world news for the last decade or so."

"Oh, then do you know the news about King John Redmond and King Justin Gatewood?" asked Chuck.

"No. What new disasters have they caused for the world?"

"Plenty, but they at least can't cause any more. They're dead."

Josephina just said "Hmm." She then continued "I would say I hope they meet Diablo in hell, but as he still walks the Earth, perhaps their stays in Hell will not be torturous enough."

"Actually, Diablo's dead."

Josephina dropped her quesadilla on her plate in shock. She raised her arm to make a sign of the cross, but then must have remembered she was in the company of Protestants, and dropped her arm.

"He's dead? How is such a thing possible?"

"Actually, I brought a book on the subject."

Chuck dropped his half-eaten quesadilla, wiped his hands on a napkin, and went to his backpack. He took out Deicide, which had a bookmark in it marking that it was almost finished.

"I'm almost done with it, and as luck would have it, I'm right at the part about the death of Diablo. Let me read you the end of the book."

Chuck began reading out loud, and the side conversations died down at the table as his fellow soldiers listened in to him reading of the death of Diablo.