All were alive when the helicopters picked them up. However the ones that would survive had extensive wounds they would have to cope with for the rest...of their lives. I did not like feeling helpless. I left the marines. I returned to college and got my teaching degree. My appearance bothered some at first but my students got past it quickly and most had ceased to be aware of it after a semester. Women did not hang around long enough to allow that to happen. All my sex had come from monetary. With the help of the nanites surging throughout his body, Tim knew the snap count and timed his attack perfectly. A straight bull rush on the center forced the snap to go high and the QB was unable to corral the ball before arching high above his head. Tim was underneath the center’s now outstretching arms and, with a combination lift and push, had the center unable to catch his balance, and Tim flung the man like a tackling dummy to his right side, away from where the play was designed to. It was covered in bright, shiny paper decorated with elves and Santas, tied up with a shiny red ribbon that must have been two inches wide and had been fashioned into a huge bow. Trying to lift it (that sucker was heavy), poking it, shaking it the best I could; nothing told me what it was. I begged one or both of my parents to let me open it at least three times a day from the time Dad put it there until Christmas day. I didn't think I was going to make it that year, worried that I'd die from. She kicked off her sandals to feel the mess of it against her bare feet as she flung the empty carton on the floor.If Daryl had been there, he wouldn't have leapt to his feet to consume her in a spontaneous combustion of lust and desire. She could see him in her mind, sitting incredulous at the table, gaping in disbelief. He would say something so utterly clueless as to not be worth saying. Something that would only make her feel like a servant.Marina slammed the refrigerator door shut, feeling.