"I don't think things are -that- bad," Katie said, though it was getting harder for her to believe it. "Besides, are Communists even allowed to own their own cars? 'Property is only for the state' and all of that nonsense..."

She climbed in, with a gracious nod to Quentin, and mused, "And less-than-living doesn't necessarily make them Communist, anyhow." Normally, she would be in the spirits for joking, but she was still sore from her dispute with Chester, and the mild jest slipped past.