Valerie Rye, a woman in a post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles, has lost her husband and children. Rye is on a bus, heading to Pasadena, to see if her brother and his children are still alive. She witnesses a fight break out between two teenaged male passengers. The conflict escalates and several smaller fights break out, until the frustrated bus driver stops the bus and Rye gets off, though, as she remarks, buses were rare in those days and if one were lucky enough to get on a bus, one stayed on it. As she gets off and makes for the safety of a tree, a car pulls up; cars are even more rare than buses, as able mechanics and fuel are in short supply. A bearded man gets out and begins gesturing towards her with his left hand.

Rye remarks that“Left-handed people tended to be less impaired, more reasonable and comprehending, less driven by frustration, confusion, and anger” (148). This explains the two fighting youths seeming frustrated and attempting to speak by mock hand gestures and grunts. Three years prior, an unknown event hit the world and rendered people unable to speak, write, or otherwise communicate, save for a few errant gestures: “Language was always lost or severely impaired.