After: Three

News breaks three days later: Timothy McVeigh’s truck bomb destroys the Murrah Federal Building, killing 168, including children. Allison, Van, and Allison’s parents, who have flown to Greenland, sit on the bed watching live coverage between Allison’s FBI interviews. The devastation reminds Allison of King Sorrow, deepening her sense of responsibility.

In bed, Allison tells Van they must contact Colin about Oklahoma. Van rejects the idea, insisting they can only watch and feel sick. Allison argues McVeigh resembles Horation Matthews—anti-government and violent—and wonders if BA 238 and Oklahoma are connected.

Allison recalls Horation’s taunt about a “white army” and confederates moving even then. She cannot remember the names until months later—Bridges and Parker—aliases tied to McVeigh and Terry Nichols, which strengthens her fears of overlap. Van avoids probabilities, preferring not to know.

As Van sleeps, Allison reflects on her love for him and on Horation, imagining the aid he might have offered McVeigh and Nichols and how King Sorrow’s attention mythologized his cause. Her anxiety spikes when golden light floods the curtains; she fears the dragon’s return.

Allison discovers instead the northern lights unfurling across the sky—emerald whips, bronze spears, red wings like a vast dragon. She watches until dawn, held between catastrophe on the television and the aurora’s sublime beauty, her dread tempered by wonder.