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really expected from such a
basic kind of food. Something somewhere in his mind sighed
contentedly that this was how food should taste, not the
heavily-processed junk he was used to.
     
    He ate two,
Bane three, and Kevin a rather astonishing four, but Deanna had
only one along with a tossed salad she threw together for herself
that had an impressive number of vegetables in it.
     
    Jesse, still
wondering at moments why he didn't like the idea of sitting here
with three other people, saw Kevin's expression go rather distant
as he gazed into what remained of the fire.
     
    Later, as it
grew darker, Kevin went to bed and Bane wandered off somewhere, but
Deanna added more wood to the coals and showed Jesse how to toast
marshmallows, which was fun in a silly kind of way. When they
decided to go to bed, he helped Deanna bury the fire thoroughly
with dirt to make sure it was completely dead. Somehow, that was a
relief—but he still had no idea why.
     
    3
    By the time
Jesse woke up the next day, the tent was empty, but he found Kevin
and Deanna outside, one in sun, one in shade, talking about
something. They broke off when Deanna saw Jesse and called a
cheerful greeting.
     
    "Good morning!
Help yourself to whatever takes your fancy for breakfast. And I do
mean anything, and as much of it as you like."
     
    "Thanks." He
ventured into the trees for a few minutes, first, then came back to
wash his hands in the bucket that got filled as needed from a
nearby stream.
     
    Afterwards,
Kevin checked what Jesse enjoyed, and co-opted Bane's laptop
computer, which had a few games on it—basic stuff like Solitaire,
and some puzzle-type games, and a handful that Kevin said were
strategy and simulations. Relieved to have a way to distract
himself from feeling awful, Jesse settled himself in the shade on a
blanket, with a bottle of Gatorade, to experiment.
     
    Between one
eye-blink and the next, it felt like, he went from partway through
a simple puzzle game, with lots of time left, to the game playing a
short optimistic tune and flashing a message onto the screen. He
stared at it in bewilderment, unable to make sense of the words in
front of him, unable even to remember what the point of the game
had been. The odd moment passed, and he discovered that it was
telling him that he'd run out of time and lost, and would he like
to play again? Which meant he'd just lost something like six
minutes of his life.
     
    Maybe
something really was wrong with him, and he should be trying harder
to get home, maybe see about visiting a doctor. Did they have
hospitals this far north? They must have something, people must get
sick even if they did go camping and eat home-grown food and were
nice to their neighbours and probably had a depressingly healthy
lifestyle overall.
     
    On the other
hand, that would involve an awful lot of effort, and he really
didn't think he was going to get very far on his own. It was safe
here, food tasted the way food was supposed to, people even had the
right scent, Bane and Deanna and Kevin were all friendly... If he
was safe, then maybe just another day or two of rest would be
enough for him to get over whatever was wrong with him…
     
    He woke up to
find that the laptop had turned itself off. Maybe it was a way of
saving power.
     
    Sitting with
Kevin and Deanna and Bane was a newcomer—in the shade, which
actually made sense for once, since he was a very light-skinned
redhead. He didn't look at all imposing; he was a bit on the skinny
side, and probably not all that tall. He did look comfortable,
lounging on the grass in light brown cargo shorts and a white shirt
with a mostly-blue short-sleeved cotton shirt open over it.
     
    Kevin saw
Jesse sit up, and waved him over. "Come meet Flynn," he called.
     
    Uncertainly,
Jesse left blanket and laptop there and joined the quartet.
     
    "Sorry, I must
have fallen asleep. Was I out long?"
     
    Kevin
shrugged. "Wasn't watching, sorry, but you were asleep when Flynn
got here about