The approaching dogs meant more running.
“Time to ramble through the brambles!” Theo said.
Keith was decidedly less enthusiastic. His pants already shredded below the knee and his skin a little less so, he didn’t need any more brambles.
He sighed and turned to Shelley. “If we do go out again, you’re not allowed to eavesdrop or people-watch.”
“I [...]

Keith sat with his back against a tree, watching the bot’s remote LCD. No hits after five minutes. He looked at Shelley, sitting on a rock. She smiled with her lips closed. He doubted he had a shot at dating her again.
“So, are we going to go out again after all this is over?” she [...]

“You’re saying that what you’re looking for is worthless to us?” Shelley said.
“She’s catchin’ on, Billy-boy,” Theo said.
“This day is really starting to suck,” Keith said.
“Why is it worth something to you?” Shelley said.
“You might say Theo is a collector of sorts. An eccentric.”
“Fancy word, there, but I’ll accept it.”
“I need money for my daughter,” [...]

The maglev power failed and the train fell onto the rails. Several passengers shrieked at the jolt.
“I thought these things had wheels for starting and stopping,” Shelley said.
“They do, but this stop wasn’t planned,” Keith said.
“Hey, look!” yelled a man pointing out the window.
The men called Falcon and Theo ran down the rail’s grassy embankment [...]

Keith and Shelley tried to get comfortable on the bullet train, heading south to Fullerton. The property surrounding Fuller’s mansion included about 500 wooded acres, and somewhere in that forest was a treasure that would make them rich, according to Shelley. Keith wasn’t so sure.
“I’m not so sure about this,” he said.
His fetcher bot, now [...]

They ate quietly and took in the scenery.
The setting sun reflected off skyscraper windows opposite the patio. It was the first tall building on the west side of town, so they watched the butterscotch disk slide down for the next 10 minutes.
Sunrise and sunset were the two times of day that the city could count [...]

(To read Part 1, please click here)
Keith stretched a dripping wet arm over the shower door and grabbed his towel off the hook. “Showers, towels. I’m so prehistoric.” Few things aggravated him more than doing without the expensive conveniences he worked so hard to make available.
He wondered if Shelley had to take showers. Surely with [...]

Still looking at the scratches on the chamber, I said, “Don’t worry. It may be an older model, but it’s still tough.””
“No, Falcon, not that,” Chura said. “I think something just bit me. This really hurts.” She reached to pull up the left leg of her overalls.
We all looked at the ground near her feet. [...]

I drove past the trailhead parking area and cut the steering wheel hard to the right. The Scout bounced hard, lifting all of us off the seat. Chura, the lightest, yipped as she hit her head on the bare metal roof of the cab.
“Falcon, the azaleas!” Danetta yelled.
We flattened them, and anything else between us [...]

“Hi, I’m Chura.”
“It’s my pleasure,” said the boy. “I’m Nathan, but please call me Nate. All my friends do.”
Chethra stepped up and put her left shoulder between the two youngsters, her right hand outstretched. “Hello, Nathan,” she said. Nathan offered his hand and they gave each other a customary two or three pumps before letting [...]