Mike shook his head. "I never said not to pretend you don't want to be here. If you didn't want to be here, you wouldn't have put yourself through the academy; at this point, nobody's doubting you want to be here. But I dunno."

He leaned back into the seat, peering ahead through what he could see of the bus windshield from where he sat. It'd be great if there were some kind of moving air in here, but he'd rather sweat than freeze, any day.

"Maybe it's just weird for me to think of anyone being enthusiastic in the face of the end of the world."