Following one of Simon's contacts, Jeremiah and Kurdy learn of a group called the Burners; help out a pregnant woman; and meet someone who's set her sights past the horizon.

According to Eddie, the "burners" travel in groups of four or five, wearing protective suits, setting fire to whatever they come across - sometimes entire towns, such as Lucusville, where William encountered them. Some theories about them: they're trying to destroy an infection "left over from the Big Death"; they're troops from overseas; they're a bunch of crazy Canadians. They've been seen in Detroit, Milwaukee, Washington DC, New York, Syracuse; the pattern suggests a coordinated effort. After the fight at Clare's house, Jeremiah finds metal tags with codes inscribed upon them: VS-41417, VS-41563. Valhalla Sector?

Clare has been stealing gasoline for ten years to fuel her boat. She intends to sail beyond the horizon, to see what's on the other side of the world. She and Jeremiah have sex; the next morning, after salvaging what was left of the fuel, she sets sail.

Eddie has a pool hall and a wall of $100 dollar bills. He also maintains a list of contacts and which part of the country they're from; these include Simon and William, who's seen the burners first hand. Eddie has been tracking the burners' progress, and is killed for his troubles.

"Like I always say: he who hesitates gets fucked." - Kurdy

Having reverted to a bartering society, currency is useless. Eddie is collecting $100 bills, having heard that the Government's coming back. This was one of the theories from the Clarefield tavern - is it just a rumour doing the rounds, or is there more to it?

It looks like Eddie pulls Simon's pin out of the Colorado State section of his map (see below). Does he know that Simon was from the Cheyenne Mountain facility, or is this just a general marker of location?

Eddie's speculation that the burners must be using radios to coordinate their efforts is interesting - so far the only person we've seen with that sort of technology was the long-haired odd person in "The Long Road".

In addition to the group doing the actual burning, a heavily-armed gang goes after anyone overheard discussing them. This, coupled with what William says about how the town was totally destroyed, suggests that Eddie's theory about the group trying to control a new outbreak is the most likely. So - is it the Big Death, a mutation thereof, or something completely new?

What happened to William?

A mixed bag this. It's nice for Kurdy to get something to do beyond watching Jeremiah's back and getting the best lines; it's also nice to have a more tender and romantic subplot than there's been room for so far; and one suspects the identity of the burners will become important later. Not an indispensable episode, but worthwhile.