"But that's supposed to be...."
"Radioactive? Most of it, anyway. Good thing, too. Otherwise we'd have no place to go."
"Look, kid, you better explain," said Craig. "You were right about somebody being after me, but I don't get the 'we' business. Or how you knew all about this."
"All right, mister, but let's get away from here. Those guys won't come through to here, even if they find a way—I don't think. But they're gettin' smarter and you're pretty hot right now."
The boy led the way to what appeared to be a completely demolished building.
"Used to be the old library," he said.
They circled the heap of plaster, brick, and twisted steel. On the other side Craig saw what appeared to be a window. The boy let himself down through it.
Craig was amazed to find a large, relatively clear area inside, probably part of an old room that had been spared by some freak of the blast.
"You live here?" Craig asked the youngster incredulously.
"Part of the time." The boy brought up an old crate and offered it to Craig as a chair. "Listen, mister, I don't know who you are. You're an ex-spaceman and that's enough for me." There was a slightly amusing attempt at adult hardness about him. "You shouldn't have wasted time with Nave. You should have got out of there."