Duncan only caught her gestures in his peripheral vision, locking his eyes there only once for an instant before discreetly avoiding staring.

“I don’t really know mechanics really great.  I’m more like one of those guys that always ends up with spare parts.  I probably should have tried a regular hybrid car.  But now you know why I used a hybrid.  At least I had juice to get back.  All the cars I have set aside are diesel - which lasts twice as long as gasoline before it degrades and eats up the fuel lines.  I flushed those with stabilized fuel.  Stabilized fuel is good for 2-3 years.  But if you didn’t stabilize it back when all this started, it is too late.”

He paused.  “I know.  I am talking a lot.

“I’m a workaholic.  Anyways, I have only had a couple weeks back. To be fair, some of these ideas were the result of a hobby before the Plague. I used to collect Used books about how to do just about everything to rebuild civilization from Stone Age tech and up. My foster father did a lot more. They took lessons from the Mormons and prepared for an apocalypse. As soon as they realized they were getting sick - and I wasn’t- they made the decision to send me away. The Millers were good people - closest thing I had to a family since I was 6.” He face turned a little serious, but he didn’t explain himself.

He moved over and quickly closed lab notebooks filled with scribbled advanced calculus.  There were some printed papers with the name Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski.  The title of the papers were something about gravitational something and supersymmetry.  More of the same scribblings were on the laptop screen.  It was Duncan’s ‘homework.’  He gave another poker face.  “Light reading.  Dr Paterski.  She was touted as the world’s next Einstein.  She might have been if she wasn’t distracted from her work so much by dinners and cruises.  I read her early work.  Definitely not an Einstein level of work.  Math written for mathematicians.  No layman was ever going to understand it.  I call it a work in progress.”

“My foster father had all sorts of stuff in digital format, backed up on external hard drives. It is MIT stuff. My mother worked at UNM Medical Center. She included a lot of basics about first aid - I had some already, but she and my foster father organized it better. And she taught me a little about cooking - like how to make a simple stew, gravy, and such. I have made butter before - and ice cream. Grandparents on every side of my family had farms. Mr Miller was an engineer. He showed me the stuff about converting a car to alcohol, recipes for making diesel substitutes, and more. A lot he just wrote down. Like where to get Zeolite to make a molecular sieve. I know half a dozen ways to start a fire from scratch. I took a paleolithic anthropology seminar - think of a humanities class about stone age people. I learned primitive skills there. It is actually a standard part of 7th grade classes in New Mexico - but my seminar actually made us go through the motions.

“Now I did figure out how to do a lot of the stuff on my own. But I have always been good at that. I just made a list back before last winter. Mr Miller helped. But I spent the winter refining my list and planning. Then I came out and started my search. Along the way I picked up maps and phone books - the paper kind that have addresses. I learned to read maps in detail when I was 6 or 7. I collected maps starting at 8. I’m not some John Connor though. I was just thinking about running away from home.” He smiled. “I like to plan. I hate having to change plans though. Anyways, on my search I swapped up for an 18 wheeler. I found myself some working bobcats. To make a long story short … I stocked up.

“I have half a truck load of solar panels. And I can get more, but they were back in Arizona. I have plexiglass sheeting to build greenhouses. And seeds. And some hydroponics supplies. I tried to grab everything I could get, plus fertilizer. I still have a lot to collect up. I have only just got started. Problem is, it is really too late in the year to plant. So for the winter I am stuck with canned food again.” He finally paused.

“It is still early.  I tell you what.  If you have something to change into you can grab a shower.  Or we can run by Tanger Outlets and you can clean up later.  When you do, use up ALL the HOT water.  One time offer.  I will eventually need to ration.  But there is nothing like a shower to make you feel human again.  While you shop at Tanger, I’ll run grab another 5th wheel RV like this one.  I have several set up, just not here.  But that will give you more privacy.  Then we can run by my garden and harvest some fresh food.  Then I need to get back and feed the animals.  Patches is probably feeling neglected.  Horse.  No, can’t ride him.  He’s in really bad shape

“If you have question, feel free to ask.”  He flushed a bit.  “I haven’t spoken to anyone in about a year.  I’m normally a hermit, but … even I have my limits.”