"I'm from a different Earth," Eleanor volunteers. "One that's not quite as fucked up as this one."

She takes another bite from the apple, then lobs it back to Jamie.

"We both arrived about eight months ago, somewhere near the Iowa-Nebraska state line. I knew an alternate version of him and his mother from another place, but he'd never met me."

"It was love at first sight for Maurice," she snickers. "And he's been hanging around me like a bad smell ever since."