( his eyes continue to follow the woman around. for once, he's not distracted by her body or the small laugh that escapes from her mouth when she looks at him with those dark eyes ( — well, not entirely distracted). with a derisive snort, ) 'Course they're outdated. It's not easy for trucks to get new stock when the only road out of town is just a huge circle that leads straight back in.

( he can't say with any certainty where his stock came from. one morning, he arrived at the store and it was all here. the next morning he mentioned needing more copper wires. a few hours later, after lunch, he discovered a box full of copper wires at the front door. no postmark, no identifying factors: just a cardboard box warped in brown paper and tied with twine. just another mark to his ever-running tally of "strange shit occurring in wayward pines." )