About the Book: Two lifelong friends, Jess and Storey, embark on their annual wild‑hunting pilgrimage in rural Maine. After weeks off‑grid, they return only to find their route disrupted by catastrophic violence: bridges blown out, buildings burned, abandoned cars littering the road. As the state is embroiled in “secession mania,” they navigate a shattered landscape, dragging a wagon across dirt roads, scavenging abandoned boats, dodging armed men whose loyalties they can’t discern. Then they discover a young girl alone in a boat cabin—this alters everything, turning their journey into a desperate fight for survival and a search for meaning in the ruins of a divided country