once existed. At the start of the book, the old man, whose memories of the past are intertwined with his current existence, walks along a path that was once a train track, now overgrown with vegetation. He guides Edwin, describing a time when people populated the area, contrasting it with their grim reality filled with wild animals, like bears, which threaten their survival. The old man reminisces about life before the plague—speculating about the nature of money and civilization—while Edwin displays curiosity and youthful skepticism, questioning the relevance of the past as they face immediate dangers in their harsh environment. As they stop to hunt and gather food, the old man's reflections reveal the depth of the societal changes brought by the plague, hinting at the collapse of a once-thriving world. (This is an automatically generated summary.)