Latest / Dr. NoSleep Animations / 10 Horror Stories Animated (Compilation of April 2023)

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10 Horror Stories Animated (Compilation of April 2023) · Dr. NoSleep Animations

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: The old house was dark and quiet when I pulled
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: up out front. The glowing red Luigi's Pizza sign on
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: top of my car was the only light in the area,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: aside from a few flickering blue street lamps mingling to
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: cast the road in an eerie flashing crimson and purple glow.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: This section of town was ancient, full of century-old houses,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and this place was no exception. It looked like it
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: had been built before World War II, with shutters on
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the windows and a porch with broad columns out front.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I pulled over to the side of the road, parking
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: up against the curb, rather than using the driveway. My
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: shitbox car leaked oil, and I'd gotten in trouble once
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: after leaving a small black puddle of crude in some
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: rich guy's parking space. Whoever lived in this place looked wealthy,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: and I didn't want to piss them off. When you're
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: a delivery driver like me, you'll do anything to improve
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: your chances of a proper tip. Some nights, those are
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: few and far between. When I rang the doorbell, a
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: voice answered through the intercom, sounding like an elderly British gentleman.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: The voice said, Hey, Luigi's Pizza. I've got your pie.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: No sauce, half beef. Sure, I said, smiling a little.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Appreciated was code for money in my line of work.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: There was a buzzing noise like you'd hear at any
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: apartment door when someone let you in, and I turned
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: the knob to go inside. Stairs greeted me immediately, leading
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: straight up. There was no door to access the first floor,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: which I found a little odd. Unpainted drywall surrounded me,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: which appeared new, and I could smell fresh sawdust, as
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: if there had been recent construction here. I climbed the stairs,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and when I reached the top, I found a hallway
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: leading towards a single white door. Goosebumps ran up my
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: spine as I looked at that door, and saw it
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: was open just a crack, but it was dark inside.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: With a brief, worried pause, I pushed the door open
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: and stepped inside. Hello? I called out. expecting the old
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: man to flick on a light and be standing there
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: in front of me, waiting for me in the darkness,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: waiting for a meal. But instead, there was nothing but silence.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Maybe this was the wrong apartment, I thought to myself.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: But there had been no other doors except for this one,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: unless I had missed it. I prepared to leave when
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: the door slammed shut behind me, so fast and so
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: hard that it sent a huge gust of wind through
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: the room. rustling unseen papers and making the hairs on
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the back of my neck stand on end. My heart
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: was a pounding drum in my chest as I spun
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: around and tried to feel for the door handle, but
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: there was nothing to be found. Only a perfectly smooth
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: wall and nothing else. A spider fell down from the
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: ceiling and crawled down my shirt collar and then another
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: and another as I brushed them off with trembling hands.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: I thought their fat body squirming away from my fingers
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: and skittering across my scalp. I began to scream for help,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: dropping the pizza on the floor and desperately searching for
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the walls for a light switch in the darkness, groping
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: my hands over the walls as I hyperventilated, yelling and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: begging for someone to let me out of this place, but... Ow!
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: It felt like something had cut my hand. A razor blade?
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: A jagged piece of glass jutting out of the wall?
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Whatever it was, it had been sharp enough to break skin,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: and it had cut me deep. Warm blood trickled down
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: my arm, and I began to whimper from the pain.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: imagining the gash going to the bone with no way
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: to see it to reassure myself otherwise. Spiders continued to
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: rain down on me from above, as if the ceiling
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: were a storm raining arachnids. Terror came over me in
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: a wave as I realized that this was no accident.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Someone had lured me up here intentionally, and they wanted
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: to torture me. My throat felt tight, and my knees
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: buckled as I shrank to the floor, clutching my knees
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: to my chest.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Having fun yet?
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: A voice asked from the walls. The same kind, elderly
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: British man who had greeted me at the door was
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: speaking from all around me. I screamed something unintelligible, begging
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: him to let me out. He answered with a cackling
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: bout of laughter, which devolved into a hacking cough.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: All my life I wanted to do this, but I
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: was always worried about.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Getting caught, he said, his voice giddy and giggling.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: But since my diagnosis, lung cancer, stage four, I don't
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: have to worry about prison anymore. I've only got a
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: few more months to live, they tell me.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: And now I can do all the things I've always
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: dreamed of.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: No more unfulfilled plans and lost wishes. What's the point
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: of money anyways? You can take it with you, after all.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Best to spend it on the things you enjoy. The
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: things that make you happy.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: That was when I realized this man was truly insane.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: a psychopath who got his entertainment from other people's suffering
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: and pain. Why else would he trap me in a
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: room sabotaged with razor blades and raining giant spiders? I
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: got up and pressed deeper into the room, unsure how
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I was going to get out, but knowing I couldn't
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: go back the way I'd entered. The door behind me
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: was gone, and the walls were covered with sharp objects
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: meant to injure me if I went searching for a
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: way out. I heard the sound of spinning electric saws
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: turning on, their whirring blade sending sparks flying. I made
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: the mistake of reaching out to check for a wall
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: and got hit by a spinning blade. The only option
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: was to go forward, it seemed. You're insane, I muttered,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: ripping my t-shirt into strips and wrapping my hands with
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: the fabric. What kind of person enjoys doing this to
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: another human being? Just let me out of here. My
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: boss will figure out I'm missing soon. They'll send the
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: cops for me. Do you want to spend your last
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: days in jail? The man began to laugh again, until
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: it turned into that horrible, hacking cough. I heard him
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: spit up a gob of something which was likely blood,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: before speaking again.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Don't worry about me. If that happens to me, you
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: should be glad. I see you're pressing forward, young man. Good,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: very good.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Be careful, though.
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: I have more surprises for you.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: With my next step, I felt the floor give way,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: dropping out from underneath me. I plunged down sickeningly into darkness,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: my stomach lurching upwards and trailing after me a moment later,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: threatening to eject the contents from inside. And then I
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: was falling, hurtling downwards into darkness so deep I couldn't
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: see my own hand in front of my face. I
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: hit the cement floor hard enough to rattle my teeth
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: in their sockets, spiking my tailbone and sending a lightning
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: bolt of pain up my spine. It was dark in
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: this new place. musty and wet like a basement. Things
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: were scurrying around nearby, making rustling, nibbling noises like rats
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: and mice. Before I could open my mouth to scream
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: for help, I heard someone else do just that. Please!
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Let me out of here, you maniac! I have a family!
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: Hello?
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: I began to say, but another voice cut me off. Help! Help!
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Help!
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: It was a woman, and she repeated the word over
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: and over again, not stopping for several minutes. It sounded
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: as if she had gone completely mad. I just got here,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: I managed to say when she was done. How long
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: have you all been down here for? Several dozen voices
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: began to answer, their responses horrifying me. They were all
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: behind walls, as if this were a dungeon, or a maze,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: a dark labyrinth of horrors. A month, said one trembling
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: old man's voice. A week, said the small, timid voice
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: of a young girl. And then finally, A woman spoke,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: the one who had been yelling help over and over again.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: I'm his wife, she said, then broke into a titter
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of insane laughter. I've been down here for three years,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: and you're all going to die down here. Working for
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: a residential property management firm is about as glamorous as
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: it sounds. It's a decent living. but most of the
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: tenants can drive you batshit crazy, especially at Martin Place.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: About half pay their rent late if they pay it
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: at all. Eviction court takes up most of my time.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Whenever I'm not booting out a squatter, I'm doing small
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: repairs in the apartments. No one else in the office
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: would take the place, so I got stuck with it.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: I can honestly say I never had a tenant I
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: liked there, except for Doug Albertson. He was decent In
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the beginning, anyway. In the end, he was the most
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: abominable person I'd ever met. Doug moved into apartment six.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Normal-seeming fella. Mid-forties. No kids. Work-from-home job. Behavior modification, he said.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I meet with people over video chat to help them
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: break their bad habits. Smoking, cursing, nail-biting. You name it,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and I can put a stop to it. He had
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: his groceries delivered. and took only his trash out at night. Nice,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: but reclusive. The guy never called for any kind of maintenance.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: The most communication I had with him was the day
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: I showed him the place. You'd see him now and
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: again in the hall, but that was it. The rest
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: of the building was chaos. Nonstop parties, drunks stumbling down
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the hallway, and druggies passed out on the stairs. Most
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: of these miscreants were guests of Toby Hanson in apartment 7.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: He raised hell all day. I was walking down the
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: stairs on a cold afternoon, when I had one of
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: my rare Doug sightings. He was walking up the steps
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: with his mail. We waved to each other and mumbled
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: hellos as we passed by. Excuse me, Doug called out
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: from the top of the stairs. May I speak with
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: you for a moment? Sure, I replied. What do you need, Doug?
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: He smiled uncomfortably and kicked his toe on the ground.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: You could tell he was uncomfortable. I looked at my
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: watch to give him the silent, hurry the hell up signal,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: so we'd move things along. The gentleman in apartment seven
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: keeps late hours, he said very politely. Very noisy. Do
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: you think you could talk to him for me? Sorry, Doug,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: I responded. I've talked to Toby Hanson about a dozen times,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: telling him to keep that racket down. Son of a
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: bitch ignores me. Can't evict him for being a turd.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Kid pays his rent. Your best bet is to call
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the cops with a noise complaint. If the boy gets
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: enough fines, maybe he'll shut up. I would rather avoid
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: involving the police, he said dryly. Perhaps I can help
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: him modify his behavior. Thank you for your help. We
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: said goodbye and went about our business. That was the
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: last complaint I ever received about Toby Hanson. Suddenly, he
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: became a model tenant. His rent was always in the
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: dropbox on time. I figured he must have gotten a
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: job because he was never home when I was in
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: the building. All of his no-good friends vanished. The parties
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: came to an end. It didn't fix the other ten
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: piss-poor tenants, but it went a long way toward quieting
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: the place down. Over the next few months, oddly enough,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: the apartment building started quieting down a great deal. The
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: couple in apartment three stopped their round-the-clock bickering and yelling sessions.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: For as long as I could remember, You'd always hear
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: them shouting at each other anytime you were in the building.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Shattering plates, clothes being thrown out the window, arguments in
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the hallway. One day, they were just quiet. I'd get
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: a maintenance request every other month or so from them,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: which I'd take care of while they were at work. Otherwise,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: not a peep. I popped by the building on the
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: second of the month to check the rent box and
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: was surprised to see Doug again. He lived on the
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: second floor. but I could swear he was coming out
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: of apartment five, Joe Kimbler's place. He was a violent
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: alcoholic with an impressive rap sheet. Didn't seem like Doug's
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: kind of company, but who's to judge? Morning, Doug. I
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: shouted and tossed my hand in the air in his direction.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: The building was as quiet as a tomb, a welcome,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: if not unusual change. This may be the most peaceful
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I've ever heard this place. Doug smiled and waved in return.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: It's all about behavior modification, sir, he replied as he
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: started up the steps. Your suggestion worked. I spoke with Mr.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: Hanson as well as the other residents. It seems my
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: skills were able to help them work through some of
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: their issues. Have a good day. You too, Doug. I
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: shouted back to him. He vanished into his apartment. My
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: job had become manageable, enjoyable even. That was until August
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: of this year when half of the rent checks from
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: the building bounced. I called the tenants multiple times, but
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: not a single one of them answered. Probably left three
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: dozen voicemails. Hell, a hundred text messages. Emails. Not that
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: anyone checks the damn things anymore. No answer. I was
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: shocked to see Doug's name on the list of bounced checks.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: After a few days and no returned calls, I headed
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: over to the building and started knocking on doors. No
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: one on the first floor answered. They weren't a likely
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: bunch to maintain regular employment, so I figured a few
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: of them were dodging me. I headed up the stairs
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: and knocked on Doug's door. No answer. I hammered harder,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: calling his name, but still no response. Just as I
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: was turning to walk down the stairs into the car,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I heard a muffled noise inside. I called his name
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: a few times, but no answer. Just those muffled cries.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my key ring
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: and slid the master key into the lock. As I
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: pushed the door inward, an overwhelming smell washed over me.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Ammonia and rotting food, maybe. Smelled like a damn kennel.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Doug?
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: I shouted. You here? You okay? No answer other than
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: a muffled voice coming from his bedroom. Concerned he may
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: be hurt, I headed for the door and opened it.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: The stench intensified so badly that my eyes began to
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: water Suddenly the room was filled with a chorus of
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: muffled moans and sobs. Along the walls of the bedroom
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: were dog cages. Inside each one was one of the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: building tenants. Their ankles and wrists were tethered together, dirty
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: rags in their mouths, and shock collars around their necks.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: On a table in the center of the room sat
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: a single sheet of paper. I picked it up and
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: read the brief script. I apologize for the bad checks, sir.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Some things cannot be avoided. I won't be returning. But
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: as a thank you for the wonderful accommodations, I have
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: completed my behavior modification sessions with your tenants. They shall
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: trouble you no longer. Yours respectfully, Doug Albertson. No one
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: knew where the storm had come from, but it was
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: the worst any of us had ever seen. The floor
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: tilted sickeningly, Each time we drifted up or crashed down
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: one of the massive North Atlantic waves, they were high
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: enough to break across the 30 meter tall bow of
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: our cargo ship. And at night, the waves always seem
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: even bigger. Beyond the glow of the ship lights, the
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: dark distances are infinite. The rolling black walls of water
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: reach for the even blacker sky, scraping across it like
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: the clawing hands of drowned giants. There's no help in
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: a place like that, No rescue team that could arrive
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: in time. No emergency number to call. No Christ to
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: calm the waters. Just a few desperate primates, clinging to
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: a hunk of metal, caught in the path of nature's wrath.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: It was no wonder I couldn't sleep. If I had
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: been able to catch some shut-eye in the heaving, creaking
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: guts of the ship, I might not have seen the
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: man in the water, and everything would be different. He
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: was drifting toward us, just an orange dot on the
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: crest of a massive wave. Only the flashing red light
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: on his life jacket allowed me to track his position
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: as he drew closer. We were his only chance. We
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: all knew it. But my crewmates weren't born yesterday. In
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: every one of our grim, tense faces, I could see
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: the same reluctance, the same cold calculation. We all knew
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the dangers of going out there, and no one wanted
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: to be the first to volunteer. Maybe it was because
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: I'd seen him first, or maybe I just knew that,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: since I was one of the only crew members already
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: in a dry suit, it had to be me. Whatever
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: the reason, I headed for the door. Andre, a glum
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Russian who smoked more than he talked, nodded to me.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: He was coming too. I felt a surge of gratitude
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: toward this man I hardly knew, now risking his life
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: so that I wouldn't have to go alone. A white
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: cap sloshed water through the door the moment we opened it.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: The wind howled like a living thing, and it was
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: a struggle just to clip into our harnesses. The cables
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: that bound us to the ship were capable of withstanding
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: hundreds of pounds of force, but that night they felt
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: as flimsy as butcher's twine. In the face of such
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: awesome power, all we could do was hurl a life
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: preserver toward the tiny, doomed figure in the orange life
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: jacket and hope he'd be able to grab it in time.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: The ship was closing on him fast, and there would
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: be no second chance. I hesitated. If I threw and missed,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: the man's death would be on my hands. I felt
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Andre tug the life preserver from my hands, and it
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: made a strange arc as it flew through the stormy skies. Somehow,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: it landed in the bath of the man in the
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: orange life jacket. By swimming with the storm, He was
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: able to reach the life preserver, but only just. As
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Andre and I hauled him in, I found myself glancing
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: at the ever larger waves on the horizon and wondered
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: if we were all going to drown in these frigid
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: seas soon enough. We didn't even look at the man
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: we'd fished out of the storm until we were back
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: behind the ship's groaning metal walls. Whoever he was, his
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: dry suit looked eerily familiar. With its red color and
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: silver reflective triangles, It could have come from our own supply.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Seawater dripped from the hair hanging over the man's face.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: I was working to free him from his life jacket
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: when I noticed the logo on the orange material. It
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: was the name of our ship. In fact, all of
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: his gear was from our ship. Andre must have realized
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: the same thing at the same time, because for a moment,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: there was no sound apart from the roar of the storm.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: We were paralyzed by the impossibility of it. Davis read
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: the name on his gear, a name I'd never heard.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: We were a small crew, and I knew every You
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: have to turn this ship around. Davis rasped through chattering teeth.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: There was terror in his sunken eyes, but it was
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: more than fear of the storm. You don't recognize me,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: do you? He asked me, accusingly. Andre, what about you? Please,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: please say you know me. I had never seen the
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: man before in my life, but somehow he knew who
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: we were. What the hell is this? Andre grunted, picked
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the stranger up by his collar, and slammed him into
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: the wall Where did you come from, eh? How do
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: you have our gear? Turn the ship around! The man shrieked.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Droplets of chill water flew from his ragged hair as
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: he screamed. We lurched over yet another huge wave. Everything
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: that wasn't tied down slid wildly to the left. We
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: all lost our footing. Davis freed himself from Andre's grip
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: and took off running toward the bridge. I don't know
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: how he knew his way through those twisting, badly painted hallways.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know how he was even able to move
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: after being buffeted by the icy waves. But I did
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: know that if this madman attempted to turn this ship around,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: we were all dead men. The moment one of those
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: waves hit us broadside, it would flip the cargo ship
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: like a toy. Then it would be the nightmare that
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: I'd had since I'd taken this job. One that maybe
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: all sailors have. The sickening pitch. The sudden rush of
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: heart-stopping ice-cold water. The limbs that tire. The lungs that drown.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: The blackness that swallows everything. I could almost feel it
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: nipping at my heels as I skidded on the slick
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: floor and grasped for the stranger's life jacket. On the bridge,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: I could hear my crewmates whispering about her chances in
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: frightened tones. Their conversations stopped dead when the stranger careened
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: into the room. Don't you know me? He panted. I
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: could see the desperation in his eyes as they darted
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: from one confused face to another. Don't any of you
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: know me? Grab him! Andre was yelling. He's fucking crazy!
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: We pitched down another wave, and suddenly, everyone was too
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: busy hanging on to worry about the stranger. A coffee
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: cup fell to the floor and shattered. Davis grabbed a
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: sharp ceramic shard and ran toward the one person who
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: hadn't said a word, hadn't panicked, but instead, had kept
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: her full focus on guiding us through the storm. Captain
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Erica Mitchell. I'd served on this ship before Captain Mitchell joined,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: and I had to admit, I didn't think much of
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: the idea of having a woman for captain at first.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Ours was rough, hard, solitary work, and I wasn't alone
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: in seeing it as a man's work. But after seven
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: years of serving under her, there was no one's hand
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: I would have preferred at the helm. If there was
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: anyone who could get us through this, it was her.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: And now her life was in danger. My fellow crewmen
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: leapt to their feet, but it was too late. Davis
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: had grabbed Captain Mitchell and was holding the ceramic shard
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: so tightly against her neck that a trickle of blood
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: flowed down her collar. Don't any of you move, the
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: stranger muttered. Don't any of you dare fucking move. Captain
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Mitchell kept her hands up, calm as always. The bigger
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: problem I saw was that with Mitchell incapacitated and the
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: stranger refusing to allow anyone near the helm, steering would
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: be impossible. More mountain-like waves rose ahead of us. They
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: were endless, and as awesome as they were terrifying. Galeforce
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: winds whipped the spray from the whitecaps, and for a moment,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: there was silence. Let's all just take it easy. Captain
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Mitchell kept her voice under control. Let's start with you.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Who are you, friend? What do you want? Look! Davis
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: licked his lips. See that clock on the wall? It
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: reads 2-56. At 3.03, we're going to see something out there.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Something even bigger than those waves. Something that wants to
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: keep us trapped in our final moments, devouring our fear
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: and anguish in a loop forever. I think we were
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: all staring at him with the same dumbfounded face. But
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: a few of us were moving, creeping closer to the stranger,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: hoping he wouldn't notice until we were near enough to pounce.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Turning around in the storm will kill us all. You
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: know it. I know it. But trust me, that's better
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: than what's up ahead. Lightning flashed. We could see nothing
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: on the horizon but more of the endless storm. Just
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: think about it, the man rambled. What can you remember
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: before this storm? Before tonight? Now? The chief mate, who'd
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: been a linebacker in college, tackled Davis. Captain Mitchell jabbed
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: her elbow into his ribs, and he dropped his ceramic
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: shard with a gasp.
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: No!
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: The stranger screamed. You have to believe me! We're heading
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: for a fate worse than death! The clock read 2.58.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Captain Mitchell pressed a napkin to her bleeding neck. Chief
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: Mate Anderson had taken over the helm. The stranger continued
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: to flail around, screaming incomprehensibly about fear drinkers and loops
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: and monsters outside time. Keeping him restrained was no easy task,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: especially with the way the ship was rocking. But for
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: some reason, Andre was holding me back. Take him below,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Captain Mitchell murmured. Why was everyone staring at me? Let's go.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Andre sighed, his hand on my shoulder. What? What's going on?
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I muttered, shaking off his hand. It was only by
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: chance that I glanced through the bathroom door, curled open
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: by the rocking of the ship, and saw my face
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: in the mirror above the sink. My face. Davis's face.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: I looked at the name tags on my dry suit,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: my life jacket. It all read Davis. What the hell
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: was going on? Easy, Andre warned. but I had to know.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: I still had my harness from when we'd rescued the
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: stranger from the sea. That man who was me. I
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: still had on my dry suit, my life jacket. If
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: I moved fast, I waited for another wave to rock
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: the ship before I sprinted for the door that led
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: to the bow. Andre gave chase. His big, strong hands
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: grabbed my life jacket while I was still fighting to
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: get the door open. But the surge of water that
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: rushed inside when it opened allowed me to slip free.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: I clipped on and clung to the railing, The gale
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: force winds buffeting me like a ragdoll as I slogged
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: toward the bow. I had to see what lay ahead.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: My watch read 301. Andre yelled something incomprehensible behind me.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: The ship's sirens blared. Freezing waves knocked my feet from
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: under me like a horrible prelude. A nightmarish teaser for
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: the rolling black water below. When it became too difficult
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: to stand, I crawled. Only the frail tether of my
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: harness held me to the ship. It might snap at
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: any moment. Then I saw it. An enormous, indescribable shape,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: darker than the night sky. In its impossible limbs, our
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: ship would be no larger than a child's toy. I
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: wasn't sure if it had eyes, but I could feel
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: it looking at us just the same. We were heading
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: straight for it. As we crested another wave, I could
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: see the thousands of cockroach-like limbs that lined its chest
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: rustle together with anticipations. Its slimy black tendrils, each as
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: wide as a city bus, lashed against the stormy sky. 303.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Even at this distance, the thing on the horizon had
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: already begun to drink my mind. The process was pure agony. Memories, dreams, hopes, nightmares.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: I could feel each one fading as it was sucked
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: out of me. But there was no way to fight it.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: No way to hold on. Except... I looked down into
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: the frothing black water below. If I could escape the loop,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: if I could go back, if I could warn us.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Hanging onto the railing by the crook of my elbow,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: I fought the salt spray to prepare my dry suit
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: for immersion. I turned on the flashing red light on
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: my life jacket. My eyes paused when they passed over
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: my name. Yes, Davis, that was it. Stitched on the
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: life jacket, onto the dry suit. I saw the logo
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: of our ship. This time, they'd believe me. They had to.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I'd find a way. If not, we'd be trapped in
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: this nightmarish storm forever. With one last look at the
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: writhing monstrosity on the horizon, I took a deep breath,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: unclipped my harness, and threw myself into the sea. Eagleside
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: is a rough part of the city. There's enough street
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: crime to make most people think twice about moving here.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: and few venture out from their houses at night, opting
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: to stay inside after sundown. As a delivery driver, I
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: don't get those luxuries. I'm out here all hours of
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the day and night, dropping off beer, liquor, pizza, cigarettes,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: you name it, to the citizens of Eagleside, good and
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: bad alike. I've got my own company. I call it
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: Bud's Brews. On account of the fact that my name
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: is Bud, and beer just happens to be my number
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: one cellar, I've got cases of it in my garage,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: so that after hours I can still hook people up.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: You can call me at 4.30 a.m., and I'll come
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: by and keep your party going. It might not be
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: your favorite brand, and I'll charge you double for the privilege,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: but most people don't give a damn by that point.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Some people will pay anything to keep the party going,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: even if it's just a one-man show and there ain't
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: no music playing. Saturday night had come and gone, but
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: I was still out on the streets as usual, rocking
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the tunes in my Trans Am and lugging six cases
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: in the back seat. I could fit a hell of
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: a lot more in there if I bought a minivan,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: or even a sedan for that matter. But what do
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: I look like to you, a soccer mom? Ain't no
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: way in hell you'll see me driving a Dodge Caravan
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: or a Camry. I'll blaze around town in muscle cars
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: until the day I die. And fuck the price of
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: gas while you're at it. Where was I?
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: So, it was the early morning hours of Sunday by
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: that point, when I got called to deliver a case
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: to some sorry sack on the north end of Eagleside.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: I'd been there before, and knew the way by heart.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: The guy asked for Bud Light, but I had Coors
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: with me, so I told him I was all out,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: and he'd have to take what he could get. He
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: spit into the phone but told me that'd be fine,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: and off I went towards the bastard's house. By the
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: time I got there, he was already waiting for me
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: at the bottom of the stairs, pacing back and forth
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: from one foot to the other like he had to
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: take a leak, which reminded me that was something I
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: needed to do once in a while as well. Mind
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: if I use your washroom? I asked as he took
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: the case from me. He hooked his thumb towards the
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: front door, and I followed after him. then went in
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and relieved myself, feeling much better afterwards. I drove away
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: back towards the middle of Eagleside, to my usual place
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: outside the McDonald's. That was always the best bet, since
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: people ordered from there all night long, and it was
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: close to everything else as well. It didn't take long
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: to get another call, despite the time of night, now
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: well past 3 a.m. Another party in North Eagleside, a
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: one-man party once again, I put the car in gear
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: and drove through green lights one after another. It was
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: like tonight was destined to be my night, not a
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: single red. And this next customer was a big tipper.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: I knew he'd be good for a 10, maybe even
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: a 20. Flashing lights up ahead made me step on
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: the brake suddenly, and I realized it was a hastily
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: constructed roadblock set up by the police. Flares were burning steadily.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: and had been placed along the road to funnel traffic
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: in towards two cop cars. Rain was just beginning to fall,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: and I noticed with some surprise that the two officers
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: were already wearing yellow rain slickers, as if they had
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: been expecting the weather at exactly that moment, as if
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: they had called it forth themselves with some dark, terrible magic.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: I never did like cops very much. I guess it's
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: a bit of a personality defect. The sound of rain
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: pattering softly outside could be heard as I rolled down
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: my window The cop tried to poke his flashlight into
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: my car, aiming it at the cases of beer in
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: the back, but the window wasn't rolled down far enough
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: to allow for that. I knew the law, and I
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: knew better than to allow them any access to my workspace. Hey, bud,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: he said, leaning down to sniff through the inch-wide window crack.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: The tip of his nose actually squeezed through the gap,
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: and for a moment, I considered rolling it up. I
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: imagined that mental image and almost burst out laughing. barely
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: restraining myself. Busy night? He asked. No. I lied. It's
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: been slow.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah?
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: So you haven't been up to the north end tonight?
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: I shook my head. Because the reason we're out here
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: is there's been a murder. Man had a fresh case
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: of beer too. And he didn't look like the type
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: to have a fresh case this time of night. Only
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: a single bottle was open too. This really shook me
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: to my core. My last customer? Was that who they
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: were talking about? Was this for real? You guys are
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: messing with me. What is this? Are you doing a
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: sobriety check here or something? This is real, he said,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: looking serious. You can go on your way now. It's
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: a free country. But be careful. There's a killer roaming
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Eagleside right now. And I think you might have just
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: missed him. Next time, you might not be so lucky.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: His partner leaned down on the other side to look
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: at me through the glass of the passenger window. as
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: if taking me in. Move along now, he said. I
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: began to drive, my hands trembling with fear, unsure if
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: the two cops were messing with me. For years, I
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: had skirted the laws around town. Secondhand sale of liquor
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: without a license isn't exactly legal, after all. Not to mention,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: I didn't usually ID people or bother with any of
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: that nonsense. My next stop was the rich guy's house,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: at least. Rich by eagleside standards. He tipped me a
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: $ 10 bill for my trouble, and I left with a
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: grin on my face. It wasn't two minutes later before
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: I got another call. This one from a less generous tipper.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: At least he lived nearby, though. And I had exactly
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: what he wanted. I was over there in ten minutes
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: and made another five for the delivery. The son of
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: a bitch didn't tip a red dime. But that was
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: to be expected. So I asked to use his washroom
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: and pissed all over his floor, leaving the seat up
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: for his wife the next morning to fall in. By
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the time I got back to McDonald's, it was 4.30 a.m.,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: and I was just about ready to call it a night.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: Not many customers bothered to keep drinking after that point,
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: and I wasn't about to pull a double and start
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: working an intermittent breakfast shift. Those were always hit or miss.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Red lights lit up behind me, and I saw it
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: was the police. The same two cops as before came
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: knocking on my window, looking at me with worried faces. Yeah?
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: I asked, feeling my eyelids drooping. Are you alright? The
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: cop asked, sounding nervous.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: Uh, yeah.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Why? I asked. It turned out there had been another killing,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: just after I left my previous customer, according to the cops.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Given the circumstances, they needed to take me in for questioning.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: I agreed, since I had no choice. and went along willingly.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: I couldn't believe my ears. If not for my luck,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: I would have lost my life. My legs felt numb
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: as I walked out of the interrogation room. Be careful,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: the police detective said, waving goodbye. There's still a killer
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: out there. Stay safe, okay? I told him I would.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: And then just as I stepped outside, I got another call.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Bob Vanders, from the west end of Eagleside. He wanted
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: an Egg McMuffin and a coffee. and he was a
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: terrible tipper. I remembered that much. I told him I'd
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: be happy to, and I picked up his order. Tipping
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: the vial of black poison into his coffee, I thought
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: again about how much better my life was going to
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: get once all the terrible customers were gone and only
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: the good ones were left. It would take a while,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: that was true, but it would be worth it. And
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: until then, I'd just have to work twice as hard.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: I flip the cover open and push the red button.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: My eyes drift to the red message on the screen
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: beside it. Lockdown measures initiated. All doors are now magnetically sealed.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Surface charges detonated. Life support systems permanently disabled. Hot tears
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: stream down my face. I can't hear the explosions, but
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: I can feel the station rumble as the caverns above collapse.
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: The steady hum of air circulators fades. I know it's
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: all in my head. but the air feels stuffy already.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: I see a caulk gun in a toolbox by the door.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: I use it to fill the space between the door
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: and frame. It will probably make me suffocate faster, but
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: I'm going to die anyway. I would rather die in
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: control than spend my final hours filled with the worms.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: I joined Lamplight Station five years ago as a biologist.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: I'd spent most of my career examining samples of ancient
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: wildlife found frozen in ice. Seldom seen species were my specialty.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: I'd performed biological assessment work for government agencies before. It
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: was no surprise when the facility director, Dr. Jacoby, from
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Lamplight Station, called to offer me a job. What started
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: as a standard offer grew more strange by the moment.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Which government entity will I be working for, and what
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: is the nature of the research?
• 38:11
  Speaker 3: I asked.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: Lamplight is operated by NASA in Colorado, he replied. The
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: nature of the research is classified. I can have you
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: on a plane this evening and discuss the specifics after
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: you complete a few NDAs. I was on a plane
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: later that night. An SUV picked me up from my
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: hotel the following morning. As we drove, I asked the
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: driver to tell me about the station, but his answers
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: were sparse. After what seemed like an eternity of driving,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: we passed through multiple security gates and reached an unassuming
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: metal building. This is... Lamplight Station? I asked the driver. No, sir.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: That is the entrance. He responded. Please step inside.
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Dr.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Jacoby will take you down. I exited the car and
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: headed into the shed. Inside stood a bespeckled man with
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: hard eyes and thin hair. He feigned a smile and
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: extended his hand to shake mine.
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: Dr.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Malcolm Jacoby, he said. You must be Dr. Ethan Stafford. Please,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: follow me. I followed him to a plexiglass-covered elevator. He
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: scanned a keycard, opening the doors. We stopped. inside, and
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: he punched the only button on the panel. We began
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: to glide down. I waited for Dr. Jacoby to offer
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: information on the nature of the work, but he faced
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: away in silence. It wouldn't have been uncomfortable if the
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: descent hadn't taken nearly five minutes. My mind was swimming
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: as I considered how deep we must be going. Dr. Jacoby,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: I said, could you tell me about the nature of
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: this project? As a biologist, I'm not sure I have
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: much to offer NASA. It will be much easier to
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: show you, he responded. Some things defy conventional knowledge. The
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: elevator came to a stop. We stepped out into a
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: concrete tunnel covered in a maze of pipes and banded wires.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: A few people in white lab coats wandered down the
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: cross sections of corridors, staring at clipboards.
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: Dr.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: Jacoby beckoned me to follow him through the facility. After
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: winding through a labyrinth of twisting corridors, we arrived at
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: a decontamination chamber with a row of hazmat suits hanging
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: from the wall. Jacoby began to place one on and
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: requested I do the same. After we passed through a
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: cycle in the decontamination chamber, we entered a laboratory bustling
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: with half a dozen staff. There were dozens of plexiglass
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: cases lining the walls. In each, I could see a thin,
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: black shape resting at the bottom. Mr. Estrada, he said,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: please retrieve specimens one through five and move their containment
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: units to the center table. A man nodded to Jacoby
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: and retrieved the cases. Once I was able to see
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: that the things in the boxes looked like earthworms. Thick
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: and black, but very much like the most common species
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: I've seen. Sir, I'm not sure what help I will
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: be studying worms, I said. One of the worms wiggled lethargically.
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: They may appear to be worms, Dr. Stafford, he said.
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: But all 39 specimens in this room were removed from
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: the hull of the International Space Station. Over my years
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: at Lamplight, I did nothing but pour over 23 years'
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: worth of the videos and documentation logs on the worms.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: They were discovered on the hull of the ISS in
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: 1998 during a routine exterior maintenance trip. The crewmen initially
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: thought they were chunks of discharged waste, but on closer inspection,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: they realized they were looking at biological organisms. During a
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: supply run, they were returned to Earth, and Lamplight was
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: developed to study the first documented example of extraterrestrial life.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: The worms were kept in separate containment units They refuse
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: to consume any provided food or water. The specimens rarely move.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: They produce no waste. It is almost as though they
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: are in a constant state of hibernation, unless they were
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: placed within a foot of each other. When placed within
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: close proximity, they begin to move wildly, smashing into the
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: side of their case, trying to reach one another. Experiments
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: were performed where two of the worms were removed from
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: their case and placed together. They would instantly join together
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: and move in a tandem motion. As the experiments continued,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: researchers placed four worms in the same box. They would
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: cluster together, moving as a single unit. The more of
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: them they placed together, the more advanced movements they were
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: able to make together. At Dr. Jacobi's direction, all 39
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: worms were placed into a single box. They formed a
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: cluster and began to move as a solitary unit. When
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: the box was opened to separate them again, they formed
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: a net and wrapped around the face mask of the researcher.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: After ripping a hole in the mask, they entered the
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: body through their nostrils and ear canals. The infected researcher
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: became violent toward the other staff until subdued. After being
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: placed in restraints, they continued to struggle until they died
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: of exhaustion. Even after the infected worker ceased showing life signs,
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: the deceased corpse continued to move. While still restrained, an
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: autopsy was performed. The worms had grown and bonded into
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: a writhing black muscular system. Pale strands protruded from the
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: worms into the tissue and organs. Together, they formed a
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: parasite that could assume control of the human body, alive
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: or dead. Scattered throughout the body were numerous partially developed larvae.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: During the control process, the worms attempted to reproduce. The
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: final count after the undeveloped larvae were removed totaled 327.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: After watching the autopsy video, Dr. Jacoby took me to
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: his office and showed me a large red button on
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: the wall behind his desk. In the event of another infection,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: any available staff are to activate the self-destruction system. It
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: will destroy the entire facility. Though it hadn't been done
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: since that day, I put in place a rule that
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: no worms would be allowed in the proximity of another
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: while I remained on staff at Lamplight. My study of
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: the worms continued until this morning. I had the day off,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: so I decided to spend the day in Denver. Research
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: studies were put on hold when I was out of
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: the building, so I thought my absence would allow the
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: staff a bit of relaxation for themselves. I returned to
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: Lamplight in the early evening and made the long descent
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: down the shaft. When I exited the elevator, I was
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: surprised to see no security staff manning the check-in station.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: The halls were silent. As I turned the first corner,
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: I saw a leg jutting out from a dormitory door.
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: I approached cautiously. When I arrived, I looked around the
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: corner to see a grisly scene. One of the facility
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: personnel was face down on the floor in a red
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: pool of blood. I backed away in panic and looked
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: further into the dorm. Dozens of bodies lay scattered on
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: the floor. In a panic, I ran toward the containment lab.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: The closer I got, the more bodies I saw. I
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: wanted to scream, but I was too frightened that whoever
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: had done this would hear me and come for me next.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: Horror after horror awaited as I grew closer to the lab.
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: It was finally in view, and I could see a
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: man standing in the center of the lab through the
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: glass panel windows. Glasses hung from one of his ears,
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: and his thin wisps of hair stuck out wildly. He
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: twitched and convulsed as he gazed at the scattered and
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: broken containment units on the floor. It was Dr. Jacoby.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: I crept slowly toward the door. There was an emergency
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: door lock on the decontamination unit to stop anyone who
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: had been infected from leaving the containment lab. Dr. Jacoby
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: turned around just as I pushed the locking mechanism into place.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: The locks clicked.
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: Dr.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: Jacoby began to throw himself wildly against the plexiglass wall.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: He pounded ferociously against the glass and pressed his face
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: against it. Although his actions were those of a cornered animal,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: his facial expression was one of sorrow and remorse. I
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: thought I would have them back in their units before
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: you returned. He howled as his limbs bashed at the barrier.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Hit the button. I
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: started to back away, horrified. Jacoby wailed. writhing black tendrils
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: exposed in his mouth. I ran for the office. The
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: air is starting to get thin in here now. My
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: breathing is labored, and I'm starting to feel weak. My
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: mind is getting foggy. I better rest my eyes for
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: a second. I just need a little rest. You ever
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: been on a boat before, Lucas? Asked the burly man
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: on the pier. Dangerous work. A man's liable to go
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: over the side if he ain't careful. I ran my
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: hands through my mop of auburn hair. I had sent
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: in an application months before and told the captain I
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: had no experience on the water, but maybe he didn't
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: see that part. It had worried me at that moment
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: that I may be about to lose the job before
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: I even started. No, sir. I replied. I have no
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: experience on a boat. I know how to swim and
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: have spent time at the lakes back home, but nothing
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: like this. Captain Orange furrowed his brow as he looked
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: me over. It was hard to determine his age. All
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: of his hair had gone gray and his face was
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: lined with deep wrinkles. His body was a stout rack
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: of muscle. He was either in his later years or
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: life on the sea had worn him down My business
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: manager must not have looked over your application too well,
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: he said dismissively. Crabbing on the Bering Sea ain't a game.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: You young folks watch some damn show on the Discovery
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: Channel and think it's a quick payday. It ain't. Not
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: sure this is gonna be for you. I grabbed my
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: duffel bag from the wet concrete and turned to walk
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: back to the hotel. My mind raced between the disappointment
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: of rejection and the panic of having to pay for
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: a plane ticket home. My bank account was nearly drained,
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: and I would have to use my already maxed out
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: credit card. Hang on, he shouted. Be here at six
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: in the morning tomorrow. It's too damn late for me
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: to find a new deckhand, and you're just gonna have
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: to learn to be useful real quick. If you can't
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: keep up, crab ain't gonna be the only thing we
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: dump at the port. The old man turned and walked
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: back onto the deck of his boat before vanishing into
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: the wheelhouse. FV Weeping Widow rocked gently against the pier.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: I spent the first two hours of our trip to
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: the Bering Sea violently dumping my breakfast into the filthy
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: toilet just off the kitchen. Every time I retched, I
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: could hear the other deckhands howl with laughter outside. Captain
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: Orange had told the crew to hit their bunks for
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: a bit of rest before we reached the crabbing grounds.
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: But their laughter and jeers made it clear they had
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: no intention of heeding the advice. It seemed like all
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: of my stomach contents had successfully ejected when pounding began
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: to sound against the thin wooden door. All right, greenhorn,
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: one of the deckhands shouted. Time to get off your
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: ass and on your feet. We'll be dropping pots soon,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: and that herring won't hop in the bait bag. Let's move.
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: I could hear the sounds of their voices growing quiet
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: and the thuds of heavy boots heading up the steps
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: under the deck. Wiping my face on my sleeve, I
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: pushed myself onto my feet and walked out the door.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: The smell of beer and cigarette smoke nearly made my
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: seasick stomach turn again, but I managed to press the
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: urge back down. Pushing the bulkhead door open, I entered
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: the equipment room where the other hands were slipping into
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: their cold weather gear and waders. A big man who
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: I thought was named Jimmy shoved a bright orange bodysuit
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: into my hands and smacked me on the shoulder. I
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: looked at it in confusion. It was completely different from
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: the gear the other men were wearing. What's this? I
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: asked the man. It doesn't look like the same gear
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: the rest of you have. That's an immersion suit, son.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: He responded with mild annoyance. Captain told us you've never
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: been out to sea before and got no boat experience.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: Me and all the boys think you'll fall overboard, and
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: this is the only thing likely to save your rookie ass.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: The other man began to howl with laughter again. I
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: began to put on the enormous suit, unsure if it
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: was a joke or not. There was no other gear
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: in the room, so my options were limited. The others
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: began to file out of the bulkhead and onto the deck.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: After five minutes of struggling into the immersion gear, I
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: was finally ready to join them outside. Cutting wind and
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: water slapped my face as soon as I stepped onto
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: the deck. The other hands scurried from crab pots, cinching ropes,
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: and checking for holes. Jimmy stood beside an industrial grinder
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: and waved me over. Grab these bait bags, and we'll
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: start lining them up over at the pot launch, he said,
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: gesturing to a pile of mesh sacks filled to the
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: brim with ground fish. Gotta hurry if you want to
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: keep the job. I grabbed as many of the bait
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: bags as I could and began to clumsily waddle toward
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: the launcher at the side of the ship. The immersion
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: suit was unbelievably bulky and made it difficult to bend
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: my legs to walk. My feet slipped and shuffled as
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: I tried to find purchase on the wet deck boards.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: I had just finished dropping the first load of bait
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: bags when the boat grew silent. The engines had stopped.
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: There was no more hurried noise from the crew who
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: had been readying the crab pots to launch. An electric
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: sensation of fear jolted through my body in the sudden silence.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: I turned toward the deck to see all seven deckhands
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: surrounding me in a semicircle. Just as I was about
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: to speak, I heard the door from the wheelhouse open
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: and slam closed. Looking up, Captain Orange stood against the railing,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: hands clenched around the frigid metal, a grim look on
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: his face.
• 53:21
  Speaker 4: It ain't personal, Lucas, he shouted. We've got a tradition
• 53:25
  Speaker 4: here on the Weeping Widow. Every four or five years,
• 53:30
  Speaker 4: me and the boys sacrifice a man to the sea.
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: Keeps the rest of us safe. Superstitious?
• 53:37
  Speaker 4: Maybe.
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: But we ain't lost a man accidentally in 22 years.
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: That suit'll give you a few hours to get right
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: with whatever god you pray to. At first, I thought
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: it was a joke. But a few of the men
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: pulled work knives from their belts as they all walked
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: toward me. Captain Orange had already turned and walked back
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: into the wheelhouse, slamming the door behind him. The engines
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: roared to life and the boat jolted forward. Over the side,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: Jimmy said.
• 54:11
  Speaker 4: Or the boils will have to stab you a few
• 54:13
  Speaker 4: times to inspire you.
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: Please!
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: I screamed at the men as they slowly closed in
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: on me. Don't do this. Just take me back. I
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: won't tell anyone. They remained silent and continued forward. The
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: first man was in arm's reach and leaned in to
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: grab me. I swung my fist as hard as I
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: could and made contact with the side of his head.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: He stumbled back, shocked at the unexpected blow. As I
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: prepared myself to throw another blow, the others began to
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: move in faster. While I was distracted by the first man,
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: the others seized the opportunity to tackle me to the
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: railing of the ship. I thrashed violently and hit every
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: man within reach, but it was no good. I felt
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: two of them wrap their arms around my ankles and
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: lift me into the air. My hands clenched around the
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: metal railing and they tipped me over the side. Grip
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: still in place, I slammed against the hull of the
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: ship and looked up in horror. Seven crazed faces stared
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: down at me, smiling with sadistic glee. One of the
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: men began trying to pry my fingers from the rails,
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: but the sudden surge of adrenaline had increased my strength.
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: No matter how hard he pulled my fingers or slammed
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: his fist down, My grip wouldn't break. Then I saw
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: one of the men vanish. He returned moments later with
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: a hammer. Lifting the hammer above his head, he brought
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: it down on my left hand with a sickening crack.
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: White blurs of pain filled my eyes as I heard
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: this sickening crunch. My left hand spasmed in pain and
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: fell from the railing. The weight of my body strained
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: my right arm as I continued to hold onto the rail.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: My muscles burned with agony as I watched him lift
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: the hammer a second time. The second wave of pain
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: swept my body as the hammer made contact. My vision
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: went black. The splintered bones of my right hand gave way,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: and I fell to the churning sea below. My loss
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: of consciousness was momentary. I felt as though I slammed
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: against concrete as my body met with the rough waves below.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: The unimaginable cold encompassed my body almost instantly, and any
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: hope of drifting away to a peaceful death vanished. I
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: began to struggle against the waves and paddled my arms
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: to turn myself upright. Fresh bolts of pain erupted in
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: my hands and shot up my arms as I tried
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: to use them to right myself in the water. The
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: suit had kept me dry, but the bulk made it
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: nearly impossible to control my movements. Finally, I managed to
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: get myself onto my back and floated on top of
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: the choppy sea. Whitecap waves lapped and slammed against me,
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: filling my mouth with briny water and making it difficult
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: to breathe. As soon as I passed over the top
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: of a new wave, I would coast back down the
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: back and dip below the water before coming back up
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: and gasping for air. I could see the F.V. Weeping
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: Widow rocking gently on the waves, and the spotlight moved
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: into the distance. A man was standing at the back
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: of the boat, one arm propped on the railing and
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: the other waving merrily in my direction. It looked like
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: he lowered it to blow me a kiss.
• 57:25
  Speaker 4: Thank you, greenhorn, he shouted with glee. If my kids
• 57:29
  Speaker 4: knew what you sacrificed to keep their old man safe,
• 57:33
  Speaker 4: they'd thank you too.
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: Please. I shouted. I slipped under the water again. Come back.
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: Another white cap swelled over my head, filling my mouth
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: with salty water. Don't leave me. A larger wave pushed
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: me a few feet under. sending water into my lungs.
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: I can't. Please. The lights vanished over the rolling waves,
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: leaving me in the pitch dark. The water began to
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: calm a bit as the wake of the boat settled.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: My balance returned, and I began to float calmly in
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: the water. Stars burned brightly overhead. I had never been
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: this far away from a city to see them so clearly.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: They would have been beautiful in any other setting. There
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: in the Bering Sea, the stars would be the only
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: witnesses to my funeral. I drifted for hours. The immersion
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: suit had kept the worst of the cold at bay
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: for a while, but I had eventually started to feel
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: the icy daggers of the frigid water creep into my muscles.
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: I had given up on trying to swim. My body
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: ached and it hurt to move. Hopelessness had overtaken me,
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: and I simply waited to die. After letting go of
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: the fear and anxiety, I noticed I felt a bit better.
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: The water didn't seem to be as cold now. My
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: body aches were dissipating. I felt almost comfortable. Hypothermia. Late stage. probably.
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: It's no way to go. But by the time the
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: false warmth starts filling your body, you're almost thankful. I
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: had decided to close my eyes and rest and let
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: the ocean take me. When I heard something in the distance.
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: A rumbling sound. A ship's engines I opened my eyes
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: and scanned the area and in the distance I could
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: see a dim light. There was a ship passing to
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: my right. Too far away to see me. Too far
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: away to hear me scream. I rested my hands on
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: my chest as tears filled my eyes. My hands rested
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: on top of a hard, found piece of plastic. Confused,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: I fumbled at it with my bent and broken fingers.
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: until I felt a bump on the side. Pushing it in,
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: the night sky filled with obnoxious light. The damn suit
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: had a strobe. I had been out here for hours
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: and never checked the suit for any gear. There was
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: no telling how many ships might have passed close enough
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: to see it, but in my panic, I never checked.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: Bright flashes of light nearly blinded me as they radiated
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: in the night sky. I shielded my eyes with my
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: crippled hand, and turned my head toward the boat passing
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: me by. My mind was foggy, but I thought I
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: could see a spotlight burst to life on the deck.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: A thin beam of harsh light began to scan the
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: sea all around me. With great effort, I lifted my
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: arms in the air to wave, hoping the reflective tape
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: on the sides of the suit would catch their attention
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: as well. After a few moments, the spotlight fell on me,
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: and I had to shield my eyes completely, The light
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: remained on me for what felt like an eternity until
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: I could hear the deafening roar of the engine of
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: a ship nearby. Waves began to crash violently against me.
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: Once again, I struggled to keep my head above water
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: and breathe. This is the United States Coast Guard. A
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: resonating voice called from the ship's loudspeaker. We will dispatch
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: a rescue team to pull you aboard. A few moments later,
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: I was pulled into an inflatable boat. There were a
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: few men and women on board, talking into radios as
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: we sped back to the larger ship. The luminous spotlight
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: followed us the entire way. It was like a light
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: from heaven, carrying me back to safe harbors. I started
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: sobbing uncontrollably. A woman sitting next to me grabbed my
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: hand to comfort me. The pain was excruciating, but I
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: didn't bother telling her about my injuries. I was too
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: relieved to be on the side of another person that
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: the pain was worth the contact. I squeezed her hand
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: back as best as I could with my shattered fingers.
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: We pulled alongside the Coast Guard boat and four cables
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: dropped from a crane above. The rescue team started attaching
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: the clasps to the boat and in moments we were
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: lifted from the choppy sea. Tears flowed freely as we
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: drifted upward to the deck. As we lifted above the side,
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: the crane began to swing us onto the deck before
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: gently lowering the boat. A swarm of warmly dressed men
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: and women pulled me from the boat and put me
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: on a stretcher. They chattered back and forth about care
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: measures as my mind swam in the joy of my rescue.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: Hey there, big guy, one of the men said. Can
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: you tell me how you ended up in the drink
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: out there? You're a long way from land. Thrown overboard,
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: I said in a croaky voice. Grabbing boat, weeping widow,
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: crew tossed me overboard. The man's expression changed from professionally
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: friendly to concerned. Let me go grab the captain, he
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: said before vanishing through the rest of the crew. A
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: few moments later, a woman stood beside the stretcher as
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: the crew pulled me from my wetsuit and wrapped me
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: in blankets. The serious woman held a warm cup of
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: coffee to my lips and I drank deeply. Sir, can
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: you please tell me what happened on the FB Weeping Widow?
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: I told her how the crew had cornered me before
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: throwing me from the boat. She listened intently as I
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: explained to her how I had treaded water for hours
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: and how I had struggled to flag down their passing vessel.
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: She nodded and assured me that I would be safe.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: Her version of safe differed greatly from mine. I was
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: flown back to the mainland and my hands were treated
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: at a hospital in Anchorage. After my recovery, I was placed...
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: in an involuntary psychiatric hold for observation. The crew of
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: the FV Weeping Widow all reported to authorities that I
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: had become unstable after going out to sea. After running
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: a string of crab pots, the captain had given the
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: crew a few hours of rack time. While everyone was
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: in their bunk, I must have snuck to the equipment room,
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: put on the immersion suit and jumped overboard in an
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: elaborate suicide attempt. None of the crew faced charges and
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: the hospital eventually released me to fly home, broken and destitute.
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: I'll never be the same. Yet the FV Weeping Widow
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: still sails, as it always has. Every year they still
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: lose one sailor to the sea. Only I know the truth.
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 1: Is the recorder on? I don't see the red light.
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 3: Wait.
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, I see it now. Sorry, I'm just a little nervous. Look,
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: Bob always seemed like a decent enough guy. He was
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: a little quiet, sure, but very friendly. Working as an
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: accountant at an insurance company isn't the most exciting job
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: in the world and doesn't tend to attract the most
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: exciting people either. We didn't know him well enough, even
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: though he'd been there about a decade. His office was
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: pretty sterile. No picture of a wife or a husband.
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: for that matter. No pictures of children. He never shared
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: personal details about his life. Everyone in the office would
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: invite him to birthday parties or potlucks at lunch, but
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: he just stayed in his office. Ate at his desk
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: every day as far back as I can remember. A
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: bologna sandwich, a bottle of water, and half of a banana.
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: Never deviated from his routine. Seemed like a good enough guy, though. Mr.
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: Applegate manager. He was less pleasant. He was a micromanager
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: if I ever met one. No detail of a project
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: was too small for him to scrutinize. The guy would
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: rip you to shreds in a meeting for the smallest error.
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: Everyone walked on eggshells around him. I don't think anyone
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: deserved what happened to him though. During an afternoon meeting, Mr.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: Applegate was lecturing the staff about the importance of double
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: checking all financial documents for final submission. Our error percentage
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: on financial reports last month had increased from 1% to 1.5%.
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: In our favor, mind you. But that was beside the
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: point to Mr. Applegate. And who do we have to
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: thank for making us look like a cluster of morons
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: to the head office?
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 2: Mr.
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: Applegate asked us dramatically. Bob Brooks. Accountant extraordinaire. Stand up, Bob,
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: so we can give you a round of applause for
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: sending out the wrong numbers. Bob stood hesitantly as Mr.
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: Applegate clapped loudly. No one else joined him. We just
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: felt bad for Bob. We'd all taken our share of
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: insults over the years, but we'd never seen Mr. Applegate
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: go after Bob. Sometime in March, Mr. Applegate stopped showing
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: up to work. It was out of the blue. He
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: had worked there for over 20 years, and you could
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: set your watch by the time he walked in the
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: door each day. Things went on as usual for a
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: few days, but it became clear he wasn't coming back.
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: He ignored every phone call or email sent his way.
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: A rep from corporate stopped by at the end of
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: the week and called Bob into the conference room. The
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: rep had decided Bob would be our interim manager until
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: the position was filled. Most of us were indifferent. He
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: wasn't anyone's friend, but no one disliked him. To our surprise,
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: Bob was a fantastic manager. The office ran more smoothly
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 1: than ever. Productivity was up. We weren't being micromanaged. Bob
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: stayed in his office most of the day, unless he
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: needed something specific, which wasn't often. He took care of
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: the corporate side of things, and we took care of
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: the day-to-day operations. It was nice, really. At the end
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: of the last quarter, Bob surprised us with a big announcement.
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: According to the main office, he said quietly, our numbers
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: are the highest in the state. You have all done
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: excellent work. As a reward, we will have a barbecue
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: in the empty field beside the parking lot. I will
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: put a sign-up sheet on the break room door for
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: sides and drinks, but I'll bring the main course. With that,
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: he headed back to his office. The day of the
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: cookout arrived and we all met in the field at
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: the end of the day. A few of those folding
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: tables sat on the edge of the parking lot by
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: the field covered with food. You know, casseroles and dips,
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: things like that. There was Bob, standing behind the grill
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: cooking steak. and smiling happily to himself. We all ate
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: until we thought we'd be sick. I'll be damned if
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: that wasn't how it turned out. Anyway, the part you
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: wanted to know. We had just finished packing up from
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: the barbecue. Bob sat in front of me at the
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: exit onto the main road. I guess he didn't see
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: the car coming when he pulled out and the red
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: Jeep clipped the back of his van, knocking open the
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: back door and sending his white cooler crashing to the ground.
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: That's when I saw it. Couldn't tell exactly what it
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: was at first. There were some leftover steaks from the
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: cookout scattered on the road. I thought there were steaks anyway. Shit,
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: I feel sick thinking about it. That's when I saw
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: the hand sticking out of the cooler, Before I could
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: register what I was looking at, Bob peeled away in
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: his damaged van, leaving the cooler behind. I don't know
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: why the hell I got out and looked, but I did.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: Already told your officers my fingerprints would be on the
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: lid of the cooler. I lifted up the lid, and
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: that's when the arm rolled out. Inside were the rest
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: of the pieces of Mr. Applegate. The parts we didn't
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: eat at the cookout. I don't know why he did it.
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: Have you found him yet? I didn't want to be
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: a delivery man. Nobody chooses this life for themselves. Nobody
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: grows up with the dream planted in their mind that
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: they want to be the world's fastest pizza guy one day.
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: Driving around in a beat-up jalopy with the smell of
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: pepperoni in your nose. You know what sucks the most
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: about it? You know that smell of delicious, fresh-baked pizza
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: that makes your mouth water when you get a pie delivered?
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: When you're a delivery guy, you just get to sit
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: in that smell all day. And then you don't get
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: to eat the pizza. You just get to smell it
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: and let your mouth fill with saliva. Thinking about how
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: you wish you made more money so you could afford
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: to buy an extra large with all the toppings, garlic
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: bread crust, and a side of hot wings with blue
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: cheese dipping sauce for good measure. That's where I was
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: at mentally as I sat in my shitty car, my
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: battery slowly dying as I listened to the radio and
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: enjoyed the last little bit of light afforded by the headlamps.
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: Tow truck's gonna be here soon, I kept telling myself,
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: smelling the pizza in the back seat. Any minute, the
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: tow truck is gonna be here. I rolled down the
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: window and stuck my head out, craning my neck to
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: see into the distance behind me. The smell of the fresh,
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: autumn night air filled my nostrils and replaced the cheese
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: and hot baked dough and tomato sauce. At first, I
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: thought there was a pair of headlights, but then whatever
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: it was blinked out of existence and disappeared, like the
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: glowing eyes of some great cat. I rolled up the
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: window quickly, shivering from the cold draft as it filled
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: the car. The address was supposed to be right here.
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: I had actually been idling while I checked the directions
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: on my phone, The GPS confirmed that I was where
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: I was supposed to be, but there was no driveway,
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: just untouched forest surrounding the road as far as the
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: eye could see. Somehow, I had run out of gas,
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: despite my tank being half full. When I checked the time,
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: it was as if I had been daydreaming for hours,
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: like I had been in a trance while looking for
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: the address on my phone. The sun had gone down
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: at some point, and it was well past eleven at night,
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: the moon overhead glowing an eerie pumpkin orange. That was
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: when I had called the tow truck, but it seemed
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: as if they weren't coming. Confused and bewildered, I got
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: out of the car and looked around, wondering if they
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: had gotten lost. I pulled my phone out and hit
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: the redial button for the towing company, but this time
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: all I got was static, as if whoever had picked
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: up the phone was in a different dimension, separated from
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: me by a wall of entropy. The brush on the
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: other side of the road suddenly began to rustle and sway,
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: as if something were moving behind it, trying to stay
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: hidden but too large to manage that successfully. Hello? I
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: called out, hearing the quiver in my own voice and
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: wishing I sounded braver, wishing I were braver. Who's there?
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: Another sound came from behind me, and I spun around
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: to get back in the car, terrified of whatever was
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: stalking me so far out in the middle of this
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: night-black forest. but the car door slammed shut as I
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: bumped into it with my wide hips. Too many hours
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: of sitting and not enough sit-ups. Too many undeliverable pizzas
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: eaten in parking lots for half price. Too many years
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: of not taking care of myself taunted me as I
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: grabbed the door handle and tried to pull it open,
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: but found it locked. The keys, still inside, jammed into
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: the ignition slot, mocking me. The rustling sound came again,
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: and this time it was from behind another tree and
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: another Movements were heard on all sides as my eyes
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: darted back and forth from place to place, seeing huge,
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: hulking shadows hiding behind the trees all around. Who's there?
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: I nearly shrieked, my voice high and breaking. Stay back!
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 1: I've got a gun! I didn't have anything of the sort,
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: but it was the only thing which came to mind
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: that could potentially ward off threats of such size and
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: terrifying proportions. A shadow began to emerge from behind one
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: of the trees, and another came from behind me. I
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: heard their huge, lumbering footsteps coming closer, as their features
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: became discernible in the waning light of the moon. Their
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: faces were obscured by the shadows of tree limbs and
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: broken boughs above us, the half-bare branches shedding leaves like
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 1: dead tissue, falling all around. The warmth of one creature's
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: hot breath was in my face as I stood, petrified,
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: nowhere to run. My back was pressed up against the
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: cold steel of the car, the window glass squeaking against
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: my skin as I trembled with fear. sharp, long, hooked
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: and pointed teeth grated together as gray lips pulled back
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: into a grin. A mouth as wide as a windshield
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 1: opened up as if to devour me, its pointed tongue
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: salivating and dripping. And then it surprised me by speaking,
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: its voice a rumbling baritone, deep enough to shake my
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 1: teeth in their sockets.' Are you from Domino's?' it asked,
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: spraying me with fine droplets of spittle. The acid burn
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: of them sizzled on my cheeks.
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 3: I ordered eight large pizzas to this address.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: My hand was shaking badly as I hooked a thumb
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: towards the back seat. In there, I managed to stutter.
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: Locked by mistake. There was a heavy, deep-sounding sigh as
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: the creature was clearly annoyed by my amateur actions. But
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: instead of eating me as an alternative, he smashed the
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: window with his claw and reached inside. removing the boxes. Mmm,
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: a bit cold, the thing said, sounding irritated.
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 3: You look to be warm-blooded, though.
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: Your blood might make for an interesting marinara. A screeching
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: roar came from the woods, and the creature huffed and
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: let out a sigh. Yes, mother.
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 3: I suppose we should leave him alive. Otherwise, who will
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 3: deliver we out here?
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: He began to stalk back into the darkness of the forest.
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: leaving me behind in my soiled and warm wet pants.
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 3: It is so hard to find good help these days.
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 3: You really must bring back that 30-minute guarantee. We used
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 3: to get so much free pizza in this dimension.
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: What dimension? I called after the thing, looking around with
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: confusion at the forest of trees, whose branches now whipped
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: and coiled like angry snakes. How the hell was I
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: going to get home? I looked down. and saw a
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: $ 50 bill was laying at my feet, with the head
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: of a monster in place of President Grant.
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 3: Shit.
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: Not again. At least these guys tipped better than the
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: last place, though. Every time I found one of those
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 1: damned yellow sticky notes on my monitor, I knew it
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: would be a bad day. My secret admirer had that
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: effect on me. The notes started out kind of charming.
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: A few polite compliments about my clothing. A note about
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: how kind and gentle my personality was. Little XOXO signatures
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: at the bottom. Middle school crush style. It was a
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: bit of an ego boost, but I was happily married.
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 1: My wife Emily and I had a rough stretch a
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: few years back after I had an affair, but we
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 1: got things back on track. I thought of telling her
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: about the notes. but I didn't want to worry her.
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: The flirtatious post-its went into the trash and I moved
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: on with my day. I didn't give the first dozen
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: or so much thought until they began to threaten me.
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: The first note that left me with an unsettling feeling
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: showed up two months after the first one. Gone were
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: the free-flowing, delicate curves of the handwriting. Heavy grooves gouged
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: into the paper from the heavy block letters etched on
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: the surface. Why don't you answer me back? You could
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: leave a note for me on your computer. It seems
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: like you don't care. It's starting to make me angry.
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: XOXO At first, I laughed at off before wadding up
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 1: the note and tossing it in the trash. The idea
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: of leaving a note for my admirer was ridiculous. They
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 1: had never even mentioned wanting me to leave a reply before.
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: How the hell was I supposed to know my computer
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: monitor was like their own personal mailbox? Two days later
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: when I arrived to work, there were two notes attached
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: to my monitor. The first one was the angry message
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: from a few days before. It had been uncrumpled and
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: smoothed out. Underneath sat another note on clean, uncrinkled yellow paper.
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: You just wad up my messages and throw them in
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 1: the trash? What the hell is wrong with you? You
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: used to be something special to me, but now I
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: see you're just like every other guy I've met. I
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: was wrong about you. You're a piece of garbage. XOXO.
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: I felt a mixture of anger and relief at the note.
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: Whoever this woman was, she didn't know me well enough
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: to make judgment calls like that about me. At the
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: same time, it seemed like this could be the end
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: of the whole strange ordeal. That time, I put the
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: notes in my pocket and tossed them into a trash
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: can in the parking garage on my way home. Whoever
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: was leaving them They were checking the trash in my office.
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: With any luck, they would move on and get over
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: their fixation. No such luck. Only a few days later,
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: there was another sticky note on my monitor. This time
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: it was neon green. Had they written me so many
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: damn notes that their yellow pad had run out? My
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: throat tightened as I pulled it from the screen and read,
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: We all have our shortcomings, but I'm willing to forgive you.
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: Please stop throwing away my notes. These little moments mean
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: so much to me and it hurts to know you
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: don't feel the same. That's okay though. Your feelings for
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: me will change with time. If they don't, I may
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: have to hurt someone. XOXO I immediately took the note
• 1:20:56
  Speaker 1: to the HR office. One of the reps read it.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: Her eyebrows raised and her head held back in surprise.
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: She placed it down on her desk and pulled off
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: her reading glasses. How long has this been going on, Paul?
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: She asked me in a concerned tone. I'm not sure exactly,
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: I said, scratching my head. They've left a dozen notes.
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: Two dozen, maybe. Do we have security cameras on the floor? No,
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: she said, shaking her head. No cameras, I'm afraid. Too expensive.
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: Too expensive. Same reason they laid off the security officer
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: in the building. Post-COVID America isn't exactly thriving. She gave
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: me a look of sympathy and told me to tell
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: her if any more notes showed up on my computer.
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: I nodded and told her I would. We both silently
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: acknowledged that this was the first of many conversations on
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: the matter. Over the next few weeks, I made multiple
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: trips to the HR office to report the notes. They
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: rambled endlessly about how heartless I was, how angry I'd
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 1: made them, and the violent things they would do to
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: me if I didn't respond soon. It was becoming exhausting.
• 1:22:14
  Speaker 1: Last week when I arrived to work, there was a
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: hot pink sticky note on my computer monitor. I was
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 1: at a breaking point. The notes wouldn't stop. HR didn't
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: know who was leaving them, and my place of work
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: was doing nothing to put an end to this. At
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: that moment, I would have done anything to get it
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: to end. The note offered the option. I get it.
• 1:22:38
  Speaker 1: You're not interested. I'll back off. But only if you
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: meet me tonight. I'll be on the fifth level of
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: the parking garage near the stairwell exit. 8 p.m. Don't
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: be late. XOXO It was 7.58 p.m. when I stepped
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: out of the elevator onto the fifth floor of the
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: parking garage. My heart was racing and a cold sweat
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 1: ran down my back. From in front of the elevator,
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: I had a clear view of the stairwell door about
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: 200 feet away. No one was there, so I made
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: my way in that direction to see if I could
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: find them. Suddenly, a red ember glowed brightly in the
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: shadow cast by the door. Someone was smoking a cigarette
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: in the darkness. The muscles in my body tightened as
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: I willed myself forward. My admirer was there, standing in
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: the dark. Hello? I called out. A cloud of smoke
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: billowed from the shadow. It's Paul. You wanted to meet me?
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: A woman stepped out of the shadow and dropped the
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: cigarette to the ground, grinding it with her foot. She
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: held a gun in her left hand. It was my wife, Emily. Emily?
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: I questioned. What the hell are you doing? I left
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 1: the notes as a test. A few days a month
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: I stop in your office on my way to work
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: and leave notes. The cleaning crew thinks I work there,
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 1: I guess, she said, her face streaming with tears. I
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: thought after all the trouble we had from the affair,
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: you would tell me if someone was trying.
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 2: To steal you away from me again.
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: You, you left the notes? I stammered. What the hell
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: is wrong with you? I wanted to be sure you
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: wouldn't try to meet another woman again, she said, lifting
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 1: the gun toward me. But you did. Here you are,
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 1: trying to meet some easy score. Emily, you can't be serious,
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: I shouted. I came here to get this to stop.
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: Why are you doing this? I knew you would, she said,
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: but was cut off by the eruption of police sirens.
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: She looked toward the ramp at the flashing blue and
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: red lights. You called the police?
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 2: I nodded.
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: Of course I did! I exclaimed. I thought someone was
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: going to hurt me if... The thunder of the gunshot
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: was all I heard before the world went black. I
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: woke up in a hospital. My entire body ached. There
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: were thick white bandages wrapped around my midsection. A nurse
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: saw that I was conscious and ran to find the doctor.
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: A police officer was in a chair beside me. After
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: my physician entered the room they explained that my wife
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: had shot me in the abdomen and fled the scene.
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: A manhunt was underway but they hadn't located her yet.
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: A protective detail would remain with me at the hospital
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: until I was released. They never found her. That was
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: about five years ago. I've relocated since then. New state,
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: new job, new life. It's been relatively peaceful until recently.
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: You see Yesterday, I headed into the office a bit
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: before the sun came up. When I turned the light on,
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: there it was. A bright yellow sticky note on the
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 1: center of my computer monitor. I leaned over the railing
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: of the deck as our ship approached the infected coral.
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 1: Even from at the height of the research vessel, I
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: could see the blazing red algae cling to the reef
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: like a parasitic blanket. The color was a mix of
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: rust and blood. It stretched its limb lazily in the tide,
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: consuming the marine ecosystem. Even the salt water smelled strange here.
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 1: The ocean spray that drizzled on my cheek had an
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 1: odor more like foul vinegar. We'd gotten several reports of
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: wildlife acting strange in the area, most notably the dolphins
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: in particular. Their usual playful nature had turned aggressive. People
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: down the coast were being attacked by them like never before.
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: A man had even caught video evidence of a pod
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: slamming their bodies against the hull of a cruise ship
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: like battering rams until their brains ruptured from the repeated impact.
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: No one had seen anything like it. I wasn't sure
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: of the exact science behind the terrifying change in behaviors,
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: but I knew for sure it had something to do
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 1: with the invasive algae. We were here to study it,
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: to find its nature of origin and most importantly, to
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: eradicate it. Hey Ben, that's an ugly son of a bitch,
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: wouldn't you say? Kyle, the master diver, called from the bow.
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, she's ugly for sure. Looks angry, I replied.
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: Making everything else angry too, it seems. Reminds me of
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: my ex-wife, he chuckled. I don't know anything that could
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: be as bad as Sheila, I laughed. Isn't that the truth?
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 1: Give me five and I'll be ready to collect your sample.
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: Kyle scrambled to throw on his suit and diving gear
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: as I checked over my notes. I was betting on
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: the algae carrying some microorganisms that infected the brain, inflaming
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 1: the amygdala. But I needed some samples to study back
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: at the lab to be sure. All right, preparing to dive. Captain,
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: waiting on your approval, sir. Kyle sat on the edge
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: of the railing, ready to submerge. I gazed up at
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: the quartermaster. The broad shoulders of Captain Erickson engulfed the
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: young lad from behind. He reached out a massive fist
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: and gave the thumbs up. Kyle returned the gesture and
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: situated his goggles, then flipped backwards over the railing and
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: into the surf. The dive should have been textbook. ten
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: minutes in the deep and then out. Just enough to
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: fit a few samples in a sandwich bag, carved out
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: from his dive knife. Then a quick ascension before spilling
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: out onto the deck. But it had been half an hour,
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 1: with no communication from his mouthpiece. The captain had even
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: come down to the deck to pace the stern, He
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: should be up by now, I thought, chipping an indention
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: on the clipboard with my thumbnail. Finally, there was a
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: cry that crackled over the walkie relay system. We all
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: sprinted to the port side, desperate to locate the diver.
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: There was a blue expanse as far as I could
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: see with a hint of red death, but no Kyle.
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: I started to panic. What if he got tangled up?
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: What if he's trapped on the reef? I was about
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: to grab my own diving gear to follow in after
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: him before the cook. Jeremy shouted, There he is! Right
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: over there!
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 2: Look!
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: We followed his finger pointing off to the right side
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: of the reef. Yellow oxygen tanks bobbed over the surface
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: of the water. But he wasn't moving. The captain signaled
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: for man overboard operations, and the entire crew scrambled to
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: recover the diver. The quartermaster reversed the vessel as we
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: readied the nets and pulleys. Once we were close to Kyle,
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: a crane extended over the deck and dropped the net
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: into the dark waters. We shifted our course to the
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: left and drug the net until the diver was scooped inside.
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: The gears began to churn as he was lifted out
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 1: of the water and dropped back onto the ship. He
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: fell with a thud like a heap of mackerel on
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: the trusses. The men quickly uncovered him from the netting
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: and tore off his diving gear. He wasn't breathing. Pierre,
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: the medic, started chest compressions. The entire crew fell silent
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 1: as he pressed his palms on Kyle's chest in a
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: rhythm before lowering his mouth to breathe into his lungs.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: I feared the worst, after no reaction from Kyle after
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: four minutes of this. Had he died from such a
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: simple dive? It seemed so unbelievable. He was a Navy
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: diver that had undergone wartime operations, after all. Suddenly, he
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: spat water from his mouth and was overcome with a
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: coughing fit as he expelled the ocean from his lungs.
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: We all circled around him, and as soon as he
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: came to, we all broke out in a cheer. What
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: the hell happened? Captain Erickson silenced the celebration. I don't know,
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 1: Kyle replied as confused as anyone else. Try, Captain Erickson demanded.
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: I was swimming towards the reef when the algae seemed to, well,
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: it seemed to swarm me. It was as if it
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: were alive, a mind of its own. It wrapped around
• 1:31:19
  Speaker 1: me and slammed me against the coral. His eyes stared
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: off into the sky as he explained. Impossible, I whispered.
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 1: Did you get the sample? Erickson asked. Yes, I got it.
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: He held out a baggie of water. A red hunk
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 1: of algae swirled around inside the plastic barrier, as if
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: it were trying to escape. Good. The captain snatched it
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: from his hand and tossed it to me. I caught
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: the bag and watched as it swam inside. Algae shouldn't
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: behave this way. It's unlike anything I'd ever seen. That
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: enough for you to study, Doc? His large beard twitched
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: in agitation as his stern gaze met mine.
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir. That should be plenty, I replied.
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 2: Good.
• 1:32:05
  Speaker 1: Everybody back to business as usual. Let's get the hell
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: out of here and back to the port. The captain
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: sauntered back to his quarters as we all took back
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: to our positions and turned the research vessel around. It
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: was a four-hour trip back to St. Medina's Marine Research Laboratory,
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 1: and the sun was beginning to set. I placed the
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: sample in a secure chest until we reached the port.
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: The crimson tendril swimming this way and that way was
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: too unsettling. I didn't want to hold it any longer.
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: I ripped open a bag of chips for a snack,
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: just before a red strobing light spun in my cabin.
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: All hands on deck. All hands on deck. A robotic
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: voice repeated over the intercom. I rolled off my bunk
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: and threw on a t-shirt before storming through the hull
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: of the ship. It had only been an hour since
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: the dive. What on earth was going on? As I
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: ascended the stairs, I heard screaming. Shrill cries for help
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: reverberated through the steel passageway. What in God's name? I
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: murmured as I crested the deck. Jeremy, the cook, lay
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: spread on the deck. He was eviscerated. His bowels gathered
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: in a heap at his ankles as blood pooled in
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: a pond around his skull. Bile rose in my throat
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: as I fought the urge to vomit. I reached down
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: to check his pulse with my fingers on his throat. Nothing.
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: He was dead. I pushed the tears away from my
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: face and rushed towards the quartermaster. I could hear cries
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: for help from below in the living quarters as I
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: ascended the steps to the helm. When I burst through
• 1:33:33
  Speaker 1: the threshold, I saw two hands still gripping the wheel.
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: They were torn from their roots. Stephen, the quartermaster, sat
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 1: crumpled in the corner, his forearms a bloody ruin. His
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: abdomen was hollowed out like a butchered calf. A cavern
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 1: of meat and bone sat empty where organs and tissue
• 1:33:51
  Speaker 1: used to remain. His eyes were rolled into the back
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: of his head as if he were trying not to
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: see what was happening to him. The whites bulged in
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: their sockets as veins streaked across them. As I was
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: just about to scurry back down the stairs, the captain
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: rushed up them. He barreled through the passageway and slammed
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: the hatch behind him, nearly knocking me from my feet. Captain,
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 1: what the hell is going on? I cried. Kyle, he's
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 1: gone mad. It was the first time I'd ever seen
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: the captain show fear. He was normally so stoic, projecting
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 1: strength and confidence. It was extremely unsettling to see him
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 1: this way. What do you mean he's gone mad? I asked.
• 1:34:30
  Speaker 1: He wrapped thick fingers around my chin and turned my
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: face to look out the glass over the deck. Kyle,
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 1: the master diver, was hunched over in the moonlight, tearing
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 1: meat from bone from the pork hook. Blood spurted from
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: the body as he tore into the corpse like a hyena.
• 1:34:47
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, I whispered. I spun around and watched
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: as the captain rifled through a drawer. It has to
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 1: be the algae. It must have invaded his brain, just
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 1: like with the dolphins. What are we going to do?
• 1:34:59
  Speaker 1: For once in my life, I was at a loss
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: with no plan of action. We're going to kill him.
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: Captain Erickson pulled a large revolver from the desk and
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: spun the cylinder before cocking back the hammer. Okay, what
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: can I do? You're the bait. He grinned at me
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: as my heart sank into my stomach. Kyle had left
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: his meal of the cook splayed across the wooden boards
• 1:35:21
  Speaker 1: and vanished somewhere below. The screaming had stopped, but I
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 1: didn't think that was a good sign. I think that
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: meant everyone was already dead and there was no one
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: left to scream. I slapped the soles of my boots
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: across the hardwood and began to whistle. It was the
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 1: Marine Corps anthem that my grandfather had taught me as
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: a child. I paced the bow, stomping wildly as patriotism
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: escaped my lips as loudly as I could muster. I
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: was almost done with the song before I heard Kyle
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: scurry up the steel steps. He spilled out onto the
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: deck and paused, staring at me, hungrily. His eyes were bloodshot,
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: and a red fungus had erupted through the pores of
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 1: his skin. The algae had taken over and done the
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: same thing to him that it was doing to the
• 1:36:07
  Speaker 1: marine wildlife.
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 3: Hey, buddy.
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 1: You good? I asked, shakily. He just snarled and chomped
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 1: his teeth together like a wild beast. The crowns of
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: his molar snapped as he lowered himself to all fours
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: and arched his back, preparing to bounce. Come on, Kyle.
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: We're friends, remember? We both hate your ex-wife. I called out,
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: but it was of no use. Kyle was gone. Only
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: a monster remained, one consumed by the Red Death. He
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 1: rolled back on his heels before leaping through the air
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: like a jungle cat. I folded my arms over my
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: head as he soared towards me. There was no way
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: I'd be quick enough to evade the attack. Just as
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: he was about to collide with me, two shots rang
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: out from the other side of the deck. The bullet
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 1: struck Kyle from the side, causing him to falter and
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 1: fall to the deck with a loud smack. He screeched
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: and began to drag himself across the ship's surface despite
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 1: two large craters in his side. Captain Erickson strolled to
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 1: his side and placed a large boot on his neck.
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 1: Kyle chomped at his soul violently before the captain lowered
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: the revolver to hover an inch above his forehead. I'm
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 1: so sorry, lad, he whispered before pulling the trigger multiple times,
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: turning the master diver's head into a canoe of mush.
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: We both stood at the side of our old friend
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: for a while. I was numb, numb from what had happened,
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 1: almost as if I were in shock and denial. Finally,
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: the captain broke away to lean against the railing. He
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: peered into the sky of stars for a long while
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: before turning to face me. You still have the sample?
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: He asked. Yes, I stuttered. Good, then these men won't
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 1: die in vain. He turned back to face the endless ocean.
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't know why the algae had caused such violence,
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: how it was even possible, but I promised myself. the
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 1: sake of Kyle and the rest of the crew, that
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: I would find out. And when I did, I'd be
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: back to destroy it. The Red Death would die. It
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 1: would never do this again. Not if I had anything
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: to say about it. Thanks for watching. Be sure to
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 1: subscribe and smash that like button to get notified every
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: time I upload a new video. You can also check
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: out some more of my animated horror stories right here.