visions, either from kindly Mother Abagail, or from the demonic "Dark Man" Randall Flagg. The dreams counsel the survivors to either travel to Nebraska to meet Abagail, or to Las Vegas to join Flagg. Lloyd is freed from prison by Flagg in exchange for becoming his second in command. Trashcan Man destroys fuel tanks across the Midwest and is directed to Las Vegas by Flagg. Larry escapes New York City with a mysterious virginal woman named Nadine Cross. Despite their mutual attraction, Nadine is unable to consummate a relationship with Larry because of her visions of Flagg, who commands her to join him; she leaves Larry to travel on her own. Larry then meets a school teacher named Lucy, and a traumatized boy she calls Joe, outside Des Moines, Iowa, which has burned to the ground. After escaping the CDC facility, Stu gathers a group of survivors, including Frannie, Harold, and former college professor Glen Bateman. They are joined by various other immune survivors. Harold is consumed with jealousy over Stu's leadership of the group and his growing relationship with Frannie, on whom Harold has an unrequited crush. Nick barely escapes an attempt on his life in Shoyo, Arkansas by the bigoted town bully, and makes his way across the Mid-South. Nick ends up in May, Oklahoma where he meets Tom Cullen, a mentally challenged man who spells every meaningful word he utters as M-O-O-N. The two men travel into Kansas, and encounter Julie Lawry, a vicious girl who vows to kill them when they refuse to let her join them. Nick and Tom then meet kindly farmer Ralph Brentner, and the three head west together in Ralph's pickup truck. Nick's group reaches Abagail's farm in Hemingford Home, Nebraska. She warns that a great conflict is imminent and they must travel to Boulder, Colorado. The survivors form a community called the Boulder Free Zone and begin restoring civilization. Flagg sets up a brutal autocratic regime in Las Vegas which he rules with an iron fist, with the intent of defeating the Boulder survivors using salvaged nuclear weapons, which he sends "Trashcan Man" out to find. Harold's resentment toward Stu and Frannie intensifies, causing him to be seduced by Nadine and join forces with Flagg. Abagail, convinced that she has fallen into the sin of pride, leaves Boulder to walk in the wilderness in an act of atonement. Three Boulder survivors