Now Is Not the Time to Panic

The next day, Frankie and Zeke make 300 more copies of the poster. Zeke purchases a map of Coalfield to track the locations they display it. While passing the movie theater, they notice an employee taking down several they posted previously. Frankie recognizes the employee as a friend of her brothers, so she asks him about the posters, pretending to know nothing about their origin. The employee, Jake, is annoyed that his boss has ordered him to remove all the posters, adding that the boss also informed the police, who were unconcerned. Back in the car, Zeke worries they will be caught and reprimanded, but Frankie is unafraid. They head to an abandoned house that is a known teenager hangout for drinking, drugs, and sex. They decide to cover an entire room of the house with posters, a task that takes two hours. As they work, Frankie daydreams about the posters enduring decades beyond the present moment, though she knows this is not likely.

The next morning, Frankie thinks of her father, imagining his present life and trying to picture him living in her house once again. Her mother asks her what she and Zeke plan to do all day, and Frankie momentarily wishes she could show her the poster or her novel in progress.