When Allison came down the stairs the next morning, she was greeted by the smell of coffee, bacon, and eggs. Having gone to sleep so early the night before, Frank had awoken well before dawn; having recalled that she said she performed a pre-dawn perimeter patrol, he thought he would treat her to a hot breakfast that she didn't have to make herself.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Frank teased as his hostess entered the kitchen. He gestured toward the fridge, informing her, "Milk and juice are still in the fridge. Butter, too. I noticed the container was almost empty yesterday. I assume you make it yourself. Is that something you can teach me?"

They chatted as Frank filled two plates with food and two mugs with steaming coffee. Robert was sitting up in the nearby playpen, babbling again and -- when trying to look up to the newly arrived Allison -- spilling back onto his back before giggling and flailing his little arms and legs.

"I have my list of chores," Frank said, pulling a scrap paper out of the chest pocket of yet another of Allison's grandfather's plaid shirts. "Anything I need to add to it that I didn't do yesterday?"

A casual observer would have thought the two of them had been friends -- or even partners -- for years by the way they so comfortably interacted. Frank asked if he needed to pack her anything to snack on while she did her patrol. He finally sat and dug into his own serving, once again marveling at the joy of a full, hot breakfast.

"I was thinking," he began when they were finishing eating and -- demanding that she stay seated -- Frank began gathering the dirty dishes while Allison partook of a second mug of coffee. He leaned back against the counter as he continued, "There is a lot of work around her, as you told me and as I learned yesterday. You could use more help than just me."

Frank hesitated, wondering if Allison knew where he was going with this. He went on, "The community where Jennifer and I came from ... there are a lot of good people there that we made friends with. [i]Not[/i] like the ones who chased us down, obviously. [i]Good[/i] people looking for a [i]better life[/i]. They're all Immunes, obviously. I doubt very much that there's anyone left alive at this point who isn't immune, unless they're isolated away on some remote island or down in Antarctica."

He sipped at his own coffee as he studied Allison, then added, "Just something to think about."