Chapter 13 Summary

November arrives and Dan appears clean-shaven at breakfast to talk with Randy. He admits he loves Helen and wants to marry her. She feels the same but worries Mark is still alive and may return someday. Low-flying planes begin to appear this month that both frighten and excite them. A large four-engine transport flies over at one thousand feet and Sam believes it collects radiation samples. Another transport circles Fort Repose the next week and drops leaflets from its belly. The leaflets announce not to be alarmed or interfere with the United States Air Force conducting atmospheric surveys preliminary to bringing relief to the Contaminated Zones. The residents are encouraged by the news but leaflets are immediately useful as toilet paper. By the next day they become useful as paper money. December brings the appearance of a helicopter dangling a long wire with...