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would
guard the food supply. One person would guard from midnight until
four in the morning, and the other would guard from four until
eight. Soon, Mike realized that there were not enough people to
keep up this schedule. So he recruited others, who were not
officially part of the Spears, to help. In this way, he was able to
ensure that the guards would have this duty only one night a week.
Yuie was the only girl who was willing to be a guard.
    Yuie always came to the nightly meetings.
Sometimes Desi came with her. At first, John had escorted them back
to their side of the river after the meetings, but Yuie put a stop
to that. She and Desi liked to discuss what they had heard in the
meetings privately without a boy around.
    Yuie was not surprised that Desi took such an
interest in the meetings, and she no longer thought of Desi as a
bimbo. When she talked with Desi, she realized that the girl had a
clear idea about one thing, and that was the need for someone to
take charge. Desi realized that they were in a lot more danger than
anyone else understood, except for Mike.
    Desi had her own ideas about how to survive
in this new world. One night, after the meeting had ended, Yuie was
about to leave and she called for Desi.
    "I’ll come down later," said Desi, and she
gave Yuie a significant smile.
    Yuie looked troubled, but she nodded and
left. As Yuie left, Mike, John and Desi were standing outside under
a cloudy sky. It was the twentieth of June, and the days were
warmer although the nights were still chilly.
    Mike and John were used to spending a few
minutes each night chatting together, before John went to his bunk
and Mike retired to his cabin. The presence of Desi seemed unusual
but not terribly awkward. Each thought that she would soon head
down to the girls’ area.
    "Can I see the Admin's cabin, Mike?" Desi
asked.
    "Uh, all right," replied Mike, who had not
anticipated this request but saw no harm in it.
    John looked at Desi. Then he looked at Mike.
He frowned. "I'm going to bed now, Mike," he said quietly. "See you
in the morning." He stole one last glance at Desi.
    "Night," Mike replied.
    John left, and together Mike and Desi walked
up to the A-frame. Mike unlocked the door, and they went
inside.
    "Wow, this is nice," Desi exclaimed. "I guess
this is your place now, Mike. Yuie calls it, 'Chief’s
Headquarters’."
    Mike laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's a good
name for it," he agreed.
    Desi sat down on the bed.
    "Mmmm..., this is soft."
    She lay back on the bed, and then she clasped
her hands behind her head, and she smiled up at Mike with her
supple brown eyes. Mike thought that the room suddenly seemed much
warmer.
    "Would it be okay if I stayed here tonight,
Mike?" Desi asked in a voice that was soft and sultry.
    Mike gulped. "Yeah...sure...okay," he replied
with a squeak in his voice.
    The next morning, Mike left the cabin while
Desi was still sleeping. He felt like he was older and much more
experienced, and he felt wonderful. He found John in the dining
hall.
    "Morning," he said to John. John looked at
him, then he looked past Mike for a second as if he were looking
for someone, and then he looked back down at his cereal and
grunted.
    "It's a really good morning. I feel very,
very good, if you know what I mean," said Mike happily and a little
slyly.
    "Well, I'm so happy for you!" John snarled.
He got up and stalked out of the room. Mike stared after him,
mystified.
    "You idiot!"
    Mike turned to see Yuie staring angrily at
him.
    "What's your problem?" he asked, annoyed at
her. First John and now Yuie was acting weird this morning.
    "You dummy! He likes Desi. Didn't you know?"
Yuie demanded.
    Mike was thunderstruck. "Oh, shit," he
said.
    But now that Yuie had told him this, he
realized that he should have known. John was always mentioning Desi
to him. Mike realized that he was not the swiftest boy when it came
to girl-boy relationships. But he should have seen this.
    John avoided Mike the rest of the day, and
Mike