Survive the Night: A Novel

When Charlie leaves the bathroom, Josh is right outside the door. He tells her that the woman told him Charlie was drunk. Charlie tells him she saw another movie in her mind. They return to the car, where Charlie sees the woman smoking outside her Oldsmobile. Once back on the road, Charlie tells Josh the movie in her mind was unpleasant. Josh then suggests playing 20 questions—for real, this time—as he wants to know more about her. He correctly concludes that her parents died and that she stopped driving because of that. He asks her if she misses them. Charlie replies that she misses Maddy even more than her parents; while she still sees her parents in herself, Maddy was so different from her and from anyone else. Josh explains his love for comics as a child, which helped him escape from his parents’ volatile fights with each other. He also mentions his fun Halloween as Batman when he was eight, shortly before his mother left him and his father and never returned.

They drive into The Poconos, Maddy’s childhood home, and Charlie reminisces about Maddy again. Josh asks if she’s getting carsick, and Charlie realizes Josh turned off the stereo during her supposed “movie.