i can remember the two of us running down a deserted alley , my swollen ankles killing me , duncan 's disease in full bloom-tendrils of bright green fruiting bodies shooting forth from his hatless head like flares signaling the enemy-while behind us , through the billowing smoke of an hands grenade attack , some dozen fandl irregulars chased us , intent on making us pay for someone else 's transgression ... and as we ran , duncan wrote a love letter to mary-a jotted phrase or two at a time , scribbled on a thrice-folded piece of paper .