Chapter 25
Friday, two weeks later
JOSH, JAKE, CLAIRE, and several other members of the community were waiting under a hastily erected tent at the Sampson depot when an old F Series diesel painted in the colors and containing the logo of a railroad whose name had disappeared in a series of mergers in the seventies, came to a stop beside the old depot. The engine was pulling a tank car and three passenger cars, and nothing else. The tent was equipped with a dozen chairs, a couple of tables, and bottles of water.
The group watched as two middle-aged men emerged from one of the passenger cars, followed by a younger man who was carrying a huge briefcase. One of the men was short and plump, with wavy brunet hair. The second man was as thin as the other one was plump, and was bald. The younge
