( something about how she speaks, the meaningful and persistent questioning... it makes him think distantly of Karen. not a bad thing. though perhaps a bit of a bittersweet thing. it's been a year since he saw the intrepid blonde, after all. )

The village has been like this since the flood. It's in a sorry state, but we haven't had the time or the manpower to repair it. I think a few people stay here, still, but plenty of us had to move on to places with an intact roof.

( as for Beacon at large, that's a harder question. ) We've lost a lot of people, recently. It seems like we're stretched quite thin, but we're getting by somehow.