Dry

“Everyone’s going to remember where they were when the taps went dry, I think. Like when a president is assassinated.”

Alyssa thinks this to herself when the taps run dry, noting even from the beginning how major an impact the Tap-Out will have on history. However, even as Alyssa envisions a future in which people will look back on the Tap-Out as a pivotal crisis, she imagines herself as an outsider. In her comparison, the president is the one who’s harmed, and others only remember where they were when the event happened. Alyssa doesn’t yet realize how big an impact the Tap-Out will make on her life personally.

“The McCrackens. The Herders of the world. Sure, our kind may look a lot like Wolves—large fangs, sharp claws, and the capacity for violence—but what sets us apart from the rest is that we represent the balance between the two. We can navigate the flock freely, with the ability to protect or disown as we see fit. My dad says that we’re the select few with the power of choice, and when real danger arises, we’ll be the ones who survive—and not just because we own a 357 Magnum, three glock G19’s, and a Mossberg pump-action shotgun, but because we’ve been prepping, in every possible badass way, since as long as I can remember, for the inevitable collapse of society as we know it.”

Here, Kelton describes how his family has prepared for this (or any) disaster while also showing how they view themselves as compared to other people. By calling themselves herders, the McCrackens both hold themselves to a higher standard than others and consider themselves superior. However, the way that Kelton describes their preparation reveals how truly it’s lacking. Kelton focuses on the aspects that he finds interesting, like guns, and fails to consider preparations far more relevant to the current crisis.

“It was only dark for a second. Maybe not even that, but it’s enough to make everyone stop eating. Everyone is frozen. What’s that expression? Waiting for the other shoe to drop? But it doesn’t. The lights are on, they stay on. But it doesn’t change the fact that they blinked.”

At this point in the novel, Alyssa and her family still attempt to maintain a sense of normalcy despite their lack of running water.