Mark climbed on his bike. He waved goodbye to Jennifer, and gave her father a thumbs up. Then he switched on the two flashlights they had taped onto the front of his bike. The governor had ordered the streetlights all switched off to conserve power. There was only starlight outside, although the view of the stars was dazzling. Jennifer will absolutely love it.

He took off, his legs pumping the pedals around in around in circles. The flashlight batteries wouldn’t last forever, and he wanted to get home quickly.

As Mark rode, he noticed many people sitting in the street in the dim light from his "headlights". Some cried, some looked into space, and some tried to set up makeshift streetlights. But they all shared a common expression, the expression he had seen once on the face of a doomed man walking down a hallway to an execution room. Mark was surprised. One thing he had noticed about the human race was that it was almost undefeatable because humans always refused to give up. They always had hope. But these people all looked like they knew there was no hope. They had already given up. Mark was saddened. If there is no hope left, we are truly doomed.

Mark arrived home to find his mother also sitting in the street. She, however, looked quite hopeful. She smiled at him as he walked up to her. "Am I the only person who doesn’t think we are all going to die?" she asked rhetorically.

Mark laughed. "Hopefully not. But I can’t say I take the same stand as you."

His mother frowned. "That’s too bad. Hope will keep you alive, you know. Just have faith, honey."

Mark nodded in reply. He turned and walked inside, his mother behind him.

"How is your girlfriend doing?"

Mark almost yelled at her for bugging him about girls, but he decided it wasn’t important. "Not too well. She’s taking it really hard."

His mother nodded. "I’m not surprised. This is a tough situation. But I still think we’ll get through."

Mark sighed. "I hope so."

---

The next day, Mark woke with a start. He was freezing.

He got up and checked the thermostat. The little black numbers in the liquid crystal display formed a five and a six. Fifty-six degrees Fahrenheit? What the hell?

Mark ran to the hallway where the heater was located. The distinct odor of fried electronics wafted through the room. He grasped the knob on the door to a closet-sized room and pulled. The door stuck for a second and then swung open, almost slamming him into the wall.

Shaking his head, he looked at the heater. It was trashed. Smoke was coming out of every opening. Sparking wires were hanging out of a gaping hole in the side. There was a scorch mark on the wall.

"Oh, shit!" Mark yelled. The heater had overheated and something had literally blown. He looked inside the hole. All of the electronics were burnt out. Thankfully the pipes weren’t leaking.

"God damn it!" Mark yelled. He went into his mom’s room and woke her up. She sat up, startled. "Mom, the heaters busted. We have to go to someone else’s house."

His mom looked around groggily. "What? How? What time is it?"

Mark glanced at the clock. "9:17 AM."

"All right. Grab everything you want and lets go."

"Okay." He went into his room. He loaded his game boy, his palm pilot, a pocketknife, some clothes, a toothbrush, and a couple of books into a large bag. That should be good for a couple of days.

He went outside and found his mom loading food into the back of the car.

"Give me a hand with this," she told him. He set down his bag and helped load all the food into the trunk.

"What’s going on?"

"There’s no chance in hell a mechanic is gonna be around to fix our heater. For now, we’re moving out."

"Okay, but what’s with the food?"

"This meat was damn expensive. I’m not leaving it for some burglar."

Mark nodded. "So, where are we staying?" He prayed he would be staying at Jennifer’s house.

"Well, I’m staying with Marguerite. As for you…"

She pulled a cell phone out of her purse and pressed several buttons. Then she held the phone up to hear ear. "Hello? Oh, hi Jim. Our heater’s exploded – no, not literally – and I was wondering if Mark… he can? Oh, great! Thanks! I really appreciate it!"

Mark silently cheered. He couldn’t have hoped for a better turnout. He would be spending the next days or weeks in the same house as his girlfriend. Of course, he wouldn’t get to… do anything with her - there was no way that her parents would let them sleep in the same room – but he didn’t care about that. Mark wasn’t a hormone-driven guy.

They pulled up to the Rey’s house. Mark’s mom honked. Jim came out.

Mark’s mom rolled down the window. "Hey Jim! I brought some meat I bought at the store… can’t force you to take care of him without paying you, right? And meat’s more valuable than gold with the animals all seemingly doomed."

"Thanks, Laura. I really appreciate it." Jim went to the back and grabbed some of the meat from the trunk. He waved he head in the direction of the front door. Mark nodded and climbed out of the car, then went inside the house.

Jennifer was waiting for him on the couch. "A couple of stations are showing movies… you like the James Bond flick You Only Live Twice, right?"

Mark smiled. "It’s my favorite one. But you hate those movies, don’t you?"

Jennifer blushed. "Well, I just wanted to make you comfortable…"

"I’m always comfortable when I’m with you." He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "What do you want to watch?"

She blushed again, even brighter than the first time. "Actually, I don’t really like any of the movies that they are showing."

One thing he particularly admired about Jennifer was her honesty. "That’s ok. We’ll do something else."

"Alright. Hey, let’s go to my room. Maybe there’s something to do in there." She got up and started walking down the hall. Mark followed her.

When he walked in with her, she turned and locked the door. Mark wondered what she was going to show him that she didn’t want her parents to see. The thought made him feel a bit excited.

Jennifer sat down next to Mark on the bed. She looked at Mark carefully. "You think we are all going to die, don’t you?" she asked him.

Mark nodded and looked down, slightly embarrassed about his negative outlook.

"Don’t feel bad. Feel better." She leaned close to him. Her lips slowly pressed up against his. Mark was momentarily surprised, but he quickly embraced her. They kissed for a long time. The kiss was passionate and fierce.

Jennifer leaned back. "What do you think now?" she asked softly.

Mark smiled. "Maybe we will get though this." He was serious. If people could still hope, still love, humanity had a chance.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Jennifer’s eyes went wide and she let go of Mark.

"What are you two doing? Why is the door locked?" Jim’s voice asked through the door. His voice carried curiosity, not anger, concern, or fear.

"Oh, sorry dad, the latch must have dropped," Jennifer lied. She looked around, grabbed Mark’s Gameboy, flipped it on, and threw it at him. He caught it and pretended to play.

Jennifer opened the door. Her dad walked in.

"What’s the matter, Jim? Don’t you trust us?" Mark asked innocently.

"Well, I trust you, Mark, but I’m not sure about my daughter," Jim teased back.

Taking this more seriously, Mark protested, "Nah, you don’t have to worry. Jennifer’s a good girl. You can trust her," he assured.

"Well Jennifer, can I trust you? Would you like mark to sleep in here tonight? We don’t have an extra room?"

"Yeah, that would be great, dad!."

"Okay with you, Mark?"

Mark was ecstatic but just nodded.

Jim nodded "I’ll go get you a mattress." He left.

Jennifer waited nearly a minute before she said anything. "You know, it’s almost like he wants us to do it."

Mark laughed and nodded. "Yeah, he couldn’t provide a more convenient situation if he tried."

He heard footsteps and turned back to the Gameboy. The door opened and Jim leaned in. "Me and Clarice are going to the store to look for supplies that we’ll need in the coming weeks. We’ll be back in about an hour, ok?"

Mark laughed when Jim left. "I stand corrected!"