"We walked on quietly for a while, and then she said, "Thank you." Her hand brushed mine, on purpose I think.I said, "You're welcome," we were both qu...et, saving our energy as the shadows got longer and we climbed a long hill.We stopped to rest every time I figured we had walked about a mile. It was not easy walking on that old, deeply rutted road and the short breaks were welcomed by both of us. I guess we made three miles each hour, something like that. My canteen was dry and both of us were. ”- - - - -Two weeks later, we met up with Todd, Trisha, Jim, and Cathy. We met at the local Olive Garden for dinner. Cathy was another gorgeous blonde with a gorgeous body to go with it. Over dinner we decided to take the list approach so that I would go with Cathy, Jim would go with Trisha, and Todd would go with Veronica again. Then the following week we’d move down the list. That way a couple would never end up with their spouse.That worked great for three weeks, then Jim said he’d found two. But after having lived without electricity for so long, we found it impossible to sleep with the lights on."Anyway, after a while Frank assumed we were asleep, shut off the light and climbed into the sleeping bag with all his clothes on. Now, I'm sure you're well aware that even though it's been unseasonably cool since the meteor shower, it's still summer, and that's just odd. Both Adrian and I were sleeping on top of our sleeping bags wearing only boxers." Yeah, I get it, so what happened?". "Lucian stared at her, saying nothing."When you arrived at Norton's, Lucian," Kurtz went on, "you had thistotally ridiculous image of yourself - no doubt thanks to your father."The doctor's voice was soft and motherly."You were a beautiful, sweet little girly boy to everyone who saw you -except to yourself."She rested a hand on his bare knee. He saw the glove had gone. Shedefinitely was a nail-biter."You were a heartbreaking mess when you arrived, honey," she went on."You didn't need those.