Duncan looked at Darlene with a hardened look, almost pained.  But he slowly nodded his acceptance.  He kept his voice even.  “Alright.”  He slowly smiled and held up the 4D Skeleton Key.  “Pick locks …. Right.  So … you didn’t need …”  He grunted a laugh at himself.  “Well, thanks for humoring me.  And I was so proud of this thing.”

He sighed.  “Well, I hope you will take some advice about what to take.  

“A.  A 10 speed bike.  Just toss one in the back so you have something to get around once the car breaks down.  I give it about 50 miles if you try to do everything on your own and don’t accept any help.”  Duncan tried not to sound sullen.

“B.  Water.  We are surrounded by scrub desert.  South follow the Rio Grande.  You came from the North, so unless you plan to backtrack, south is it for water being a short distance away.  Avoid the river or be really careful, especially near any areas where there were zoos.  People let all the Zoo animals go rather than leaving them to starve.  Watering holes are a favorite for predators.

“C.   As much of these fresh fruits and veggies as you think you can use before they go bad.  I can barely eat all this stuff myself as it is.  Take, don’t.  I don’t care.  Just good advice.

“D.  One of my Go Bags.  Plenty of ammo.  You seem to like a pistol.  I favor a rifle myself.  Again take or don’t.  I don’t care.

“I am sure you can figure the rest out for yourself.  If you come across isolated groups who have never been exposed to the Plague - avoid them.  You are resistant.  Odds are they won’t be and you will kill them all just by saying hello.  I probably know more about the Plague than anyone you are likely to meet.  For example, noone is immune  But you and I are Resistant.  We probably both got sick.  Then we got better and everyone chocked it up to Flu or Common Cold and we thought we were Immunes.  Only about 1 in a million will be ‘Immunes.’  Most will be in North America and Europe.  That’s about 70,000 people.  And some of those have died of starvation, violence, and even failed  experimentation.  Too many of us just don’t know how to take care of ourselves.

“There is a prayer you should remember:

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change.
The Courage to change the things I can.
And the Wisdom to know the difference.

“You will be welcome back if you choose to do so.  But I won’t be here much longer.  I don’t know what your problems are.  But if you decide to come back, leave your problems in the desert.  If you want to talk about them with a living person, I am right here.”

After that he was silent and went back to harvesting the garden.