When Mary got up from her crouch, bending over to pull a helping of beans from their burlap sack, her expression was one of total bewilderment. This s...hould not have come as a surprise. Lou had watched her retrieve beans at each meal and the dwindling supply was evident even from where he lay clear across the room. Logic seemed to be another of the many victims of her fits. She'd been surprised when he rejected her intimate advances. She tied him up, made him live in his own filth, and then. “Sounds good, now we actually have an interesting situation for you, and if you don’t mind sitting tight in ISO for a while, we can tell you.”ISO, short for isolation, the only part of QZs Jim saw any of. He hated it, feeling like a lab monkey or a criminal while the safe ‘normal’ people spoke at him from behind plexiglass. However, the promise of an interesting situation piqued his curiosity just enough that he agreed.The door to the QZ slid open and people in hazmat suits ushered Jim into one. I had a dish of braised beef short ribs with mash, and Jessie tried the seared Jonah crab cake. We shared little bites of our dish with each other, but both went for the chocolate torte dessert. We talked and laughed throughout the meal; she was amazingly good company and a great dinner companion, just like I’d hoped she would be. I happened to glance at the wall clock, and it was just gone nine! The hour and a half we’d taken to eat had flashed past.I asked her if she wanted to go dancing or. Her hair was still wet as she was fresh from the shower. A warm smile overtook her luscious lips as she turned to look in my direction. She looked absolutely delicious. “Good morning,” I said while returning the smile. “Where’s Jason?” “Yes it is a good morning. He went to the store. We’re out of eggs. I thought I’d make us a big breakfast before our hike today. So how did you sleep hon? Did you have nice dreams?” she said with a wicked smile. I walked over to her and put my arms around her.