<span style="color: pink">Daisy raised her eyebrow as Tripp said she didn't care for others. "Well, that ain't no way to live in these desperate times, honey," she said. "If we don't look out f'r our fellow man, then who the hell will? The government? No friggin' way, honeybunch." <br/><br/>It was a dumb thing to say, she knew. If Tripp was a Lightness spy, she'd just blown it. Still, the damage wouldn't be overwhelming even if that was the case. The rebels far outnumbered Tripp. They could take her, Daisy was pretty sure.<br/><br/>But it was obvious the girl had no government affiliation. All this distrust was mostly a formality, a gesture of the 'you-can-never-be-too-careful' mindset that everyone knew they should maintain but nobody wanted to. Even the engineer, holed up in her barn with her tools and robots most of the time and stoned for the rest, knew people needed more than themselves and their constant vigilance. They needed other people. They needed someone to trust.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">All of us do.</span><br/><br/>An extra wrench was sticking out of her back pocket. She made a point of not reaching for it.</span>