Nicholas Quirke was overwhelmed On 7 March 2020 by the realisation that he had not stepped outside the confines of  Peng’s apartment.  It had been made easy by the good spirits of his fellow captive and he did wonder that someone could manage to endure such a sustained period of having someone in their home day and night with virtually no escape and maintain calm and composure. Of course Peng had his routines and his way of doing things and Nicholas did his best to adhere to the standards that his friend expected of him. Saturdays it seemed were really a day of total rest and relaxation and Peng planned on having a day of binge watching The Outsider which they had been enjoying. This meant a break from the exercising too. Nicholas had also been talking about a detox and kick starting the process with a fast, designed to give his body a shock and support the weight loss. Peng had never fasted before and agreed to join him. It had seemed a good idea and for him it was quite easy to not eat for 24 hours particularly with the erratic diet he had been experiencing since 12 January 2020. As he indulged his customary gazing at the outside world from the window, he noted that a shop opposite was not only open but there were an increased number of customers frequenting it the street itself seemed busier. The numbers were looking good for Beijing and keeping the virus out of the awakening city seemed to be the priority now. Life in the metropolis slowly begin to get back to normal. The day of television viewing was punctuated with tea drinking, recording their temperatures, dozing in a Japanese scented steam eye mask, a stint in the massage chair, laundry, street watching and a highlight was the delivery at 5.30pm of some cloth wipes and then finally the salad bowel, Nicholas received confirmation from his sister Kate that the flight to Hong Kong was cancelled and he was extremely grateful for her expert assistance. By the end of the day Peng was delirious with thoughts of food, while Nicholas actually enjoyed the sensation of an empty stomach. Night and bed was a welcome visitor.