indecision in the
girl's nearly imperceptible movement. But she did not come.

Well, at least she didn't run, either; and Nelson could claim to
having broken ahead some in stirring up any indecision at all. He
found the can's release and pressed it with his thumb. There was a
hiss as the seal came loose and an odor of cooked food as the contents
sizzled with warmth. Nelson looked up at the girl and smiled.

It could have been wishful thinking, but it seemed to him that she was
a step or two closer than she had been before he had taken his eyes
off her to open the can. He couldn't be sure. He smelled the food for
her benefit and told her, "It's pork and beans." He held it out to her
again. "I stole it from a patrol warehouse a few weeks back. It sure
does smell good, doesn't it? You like the smell of that, don't you?"
But she still wasn't convinced that this wasn't a patrol stunt to get
hands on her and haul her back to a mausoleum. He couldn't blame her.
He slowly pushed himself to his feet and walked to a spot about ten
feet from where he had been, and still about twenty feet from her, and
put the can carefully on the ground. He went back and seated himself
against the same rock to wait for her to make up her mind.

* * * * *

It didn't take long. Without taking her eyes from him, she moved like
an animal to the food and stooped slowly, keeping alert for any sudden
move on his part, and picked up the food. She stood up, and stepped
back a couple of steps.

She ate with her fingers, dipping them in and extracting hot food,
with no apparent concern for the heat. She pushed the food into her
mouth and licked her fingers carefully of clinging food. She ate
rapidly, as if for the first time in weeks. And she kept her eyes, all
the time, on Nelson.

Nelson didn't care, now; he wouldn't have jumped her, or done anything
to scare her at all, even if her guard were to be let down for a
moment.

He let her finish her meal, then smiled at her when she looked at him.
She still held the empty can, and she was wiping her mouth with her
free hand. She stared at him for almost half a minute before he said
slowly, "You like that food. Don't you?" She said nothing. She looked
at him and at the can she held. He knew what was going on in her mind
and he believed that he was winning. "You know we'll both be needing
someone out here, don't you?" But her answer was an uncertain
expression on her face