Page 45 of Preying Game

There were a lot of other more shocking developments he could tell her about—like terrorism, police brutality, “group mentality” generated by social media, fake news, and climate change.

But he figured it was better not to jump into that kind of stuff.

Scrambling for something else she’d like to hear, he said, “They still have Milky Ways, Mounds, and Snickers bars.”

She tipped her head to the side. “Those are your candy bars of choice?”

“Yeah.” Switching back to business, he said, “I’d like to take you to Decorah Security headquarters. You can stay there for a few days while you decide what you want to do.”

Her features registered panic. “I’d rather stay with you.”

“My place isn’t exactly plush. It’s an apartment over an old garage.”

“That’s fine.”

“I hope so,” he answered. Did she want to stay with him because he was the only person she knew here? Or did she want to be with him as much as he wanted her?

“I told Grant we’d be starting back.”

She nodded, and he turned the key in the ignition.

His nerves were jumping as he made the two-hour drive back to Beltsville. On the way, he told Alice more about life in the twenty-first century.

Trying to think of big and little differences, he said, “They figured out cigarettes are bad for you. Hardly anyone smokes them. Some people switched to electronic cigarettes.”

Her brow wrinkled. “What are they?”

“They deliver nicotine vapor. That’s the active ingredient in tobacco.”

“Okay.”

“There are lots of fast-food restaurants—also not good for you.”

“Fast food? What is it and why is it bad?”

“It’s stuff you can get in a few minutes. Like McDonald’s. They had that in the fifties and sixties, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there are tons more. Other hamburger chains plus pizza, Mexican, even fish. But their meals are loaded with calories. The U.S. population is getting heavier.”

How had he gotten off onto talking about fast food? He felt like he was babbling, but he couldn’t settle down, and he kept trying to add more details about modern life.

“People dress more casually. And, I guess you could say society isn’t as civil.”

“What does that mean?”

“People are less polite. They curse more.”

“Tell me something good.”

“There’s a big movement not to raise and kill animals for their fur. Instead, there are very good synthetic furs. You don’t have to break your fingernails dialing a phone. They have push buttons. And you’re not tied to a phone cord. You can take the receiver out of a charging station and walk around the house with it. And, oh yeah, a ‘caller ID’ will show you who’s on the other end of the line before you answer.”

“That sounds good.”

“Well unless they don’t want you to know who they are. Then it might say ‘unknown.’”

Trying for more good news, he said, “We still have the old TV networks, but there are more than 300 channels.”

---