A chilly gloom spread across poor Thomas' heart. "Okay.", he said, too quickly, as the dire news of Tatum's tolerable wood-situation for the night was revealed. But she kept talking and drowned his mutter of defeat, turning the conversation into a deep-frozen lawyer.<br/>"Oh, it'd be a sad day to scoop a Pop-Tatumsicle up.", and flashed a brief smile to shoo away the dark.<br/><br/>Just down the block, he thought, and there they would be. There.<br/>At her doorstep, wishing good night. Asking about seeing at the church on Sunday, after the mass.. Maybe they'd just say 'Hi', and scurry off to their would-be important chores. Maybe there wasn't any embers to heat up the night when even the days leaned towards the harsh coldness of winter's breeze..<br/><br/>But Tatum clung at him, and Thomas felt his heart revitalizing. Maybe all hope was not lost, his mind threw in timber for the solemn beacon of hope<br/>There might be flame and cinder, some day. There were so many signals in the air that even Thomas couldn't misinterpret them: there was something right here. Walking and talking meaningless things with her. Stupid things. Their stupid things.<br/><br/>Few minutes they walked in silence, and while Thomas was gathering the shards of his hopes of filling Tatum's log-holders for the night, she said something.<br/>Something which changed everything.<br/><br/>Suddenly the anxiety of caused by the inevitable proximity of Tatum's house shifted into sheer excitement, and as soon as it fully hit Thomas, the excitement turned on it's heels twice and reversed straight back into deep anxiety of the indefinite vincinity of Tatum's house.<br/>It was suddenly a dance around the porridge neared as the two were no longer completely trying to dodge the elephant in the dimly lit room.<br/>That's how one could summarize how Thomas felt when thr Pop-tatum-sickle clenched on his arm: for it was an electrifying, and shocking feeling.<br/><br/>She had invited him in, and it didn't take very careful connecting of the dots to deduct that it wasn't for checking about for wood in the lodge, nor was it to read The Holy Bible.<br/><br/>In the merciless riptide of his mind, waves of excitement were countered by waves of insoluble horror.<br/>Excitement was something he was used to: to the thrill of the hunt and cornering the pray, and ultimately chasing it into his den for the final, and often rewarding, struggle of close combat.<br/>But the horror came from something else. It was something New.<br/>This wasn’t normal in this town, not anymore. It wasn't... allowed.<br/>And there were reasons for it. The village could barely sustain itself and pregenancies were more than unwelcome: they were dangerous.<br/>There were very few condoms left in this new reality, and there definately weren't any pills available for women, not to mention that the both were deeply frowned upon by the spiritual folks. It was succumbing to lust, a primal sin, and urged the sheep for immoral things that would ultimately have dire consequences.<br/><br/>But, going to check that Tatum had enough wood for the night to stay warm wasn't forbidden in any books.. And Carol had urged men to escort women safely to home, had she not? And "safely" meant that their needs were met, for.. like.. wood, as a good prime example.<br/><br/>Could they do it? Would they do it? He wanted to do it. Should he do it? Would he be a jerk if he did it, or would he be a total jerk if he wouldn’t do it?<br/>Maybe if he got everything wrong? Maybe she'd say 'no', or worse, she'd be too afraid to say no, and she'd tell the elders and he'd be beaten, banished, or both, or worse?<br/><br/>The minutes of silence had too much for Thomas, who was speeding his truck into mad oblivion of doubt, fear and sheer panic paced by the slow footsteps of the two walking in the desolate street.<br/><br/>A panic in an eyeblink was abated in the next. "Sure, no problem.", he beamed a smirk. Not too wide, not too small, but the perfect smirk for the situation. "I got a lighter, too. It still has some gas on it: not for long, though.. I never thought we'd be running out of lighters and matches. Never-ever..", they made the last turn towards the dark lump of Tatum's lifeless house, and faced The Door.