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SMNTY Fiction: Terminus, Part 2 (Chapter 6.1) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I'm welcome to Steffon
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Never told you a predictive of iHeartRadio, and we're back
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: with our spinty fiction, which, as a reminder, is a
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: once a month thing that we do. Christina makes them amazing.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: It's on going. The story has been ongoing for quite
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: a while now. We are in part two of a trilogy,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the Terminus Chilogy. This is technically called Big Things Start Small,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: but that's my confuse people. So but I like reminding
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: you because I was fond of the Dame and this
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: is something that I wrote, I believe in twenty eleven
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: as part of National Novel Writing Month, as the sequel
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: that to the previous one I had written during twenty
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: ten National Novel Writing Months, which by the way, is
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: right when I got this job as an intern twenty ten.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: And I don't edit them too much. I have to
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: say I did edit this chapter a bit just because it,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: like I don't wanna it was intense. This chapter really
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: like goes up a notch in terms of what it's
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: been and I just didn't want to really disturb is
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: too strong a word, but I didn't want people to
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: be listening like, WHOA wait a minute. So I did
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: edit this chapter a little bit, and this is part
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: This is the second part of the last chapter. Because
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: my chapters are so long, too short, I never get
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: it right. But yeah, I will admit I edited this
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: one a little That being said, content warning for violence, disease,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: threats of violence, violence against children, death, just the same
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: that is always there, but I would say it's actually
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: more explicit in this chapter. So that being said, Also
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the recap, briefly, we've got this disease that's really killing
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: off the human population, and it has to do with pregnancy.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: And there's this the government and the religious organization that's
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: controlling all aspects of getting pregnant and having children. Our
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: main character, Tilda, has run away with her son Madison,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: has been illegally like on the run with her child,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: has met a bunch of people along the way, including
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: a resistance that wasn't what she thought it would be,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: and then has found out that the leaders of arm
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the religious organization are her son's grandparents, his paternal grandparents,
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  Speaker 1: and that they have basically made it impossible for anybody
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to get the vaccine that does exist, but they did
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: give it to Madison. However, Tilda was able to escape
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: with him and brought cast out on their system what
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: they've done, and everybody's going to DC to fight, and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Tilda and Madison are running in the opposite direction, and
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Madison is having these real questions of wait, what does
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: it mean I could help people? That? Could I help
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: other people make a vaccine? And Tilda's really wrestling with
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: wanting to protect her son and not trusting anybody with
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: the fact that yeah, maybe, So they're having big conversations
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: about that while they have nowhere really to go and
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: they don't really have any supplies, and bad weather's coming in.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: They're on the run from a mysterious man on the
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: horse who they stole the horse, and horse's name is Scout.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Now they're making their way south, but something, it seems
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: like something or someone is following them. So that is
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: where we are. Let's get into it. At the sign
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: that read Roanoke eight miles, they could see it through
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: the gaps left by the pines and leafless trees. It
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: was nestled in a valley surrounded by purple mountains and
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: rolling foothills. On one of these hills was the Star,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: composed of white metal and industrial lights, captioned in large
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: enough letters that they could read it. Once they approached
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: the outskirts world's largest man made star. Now, why in
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: the world would you want that? Czar? They veered away
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: from Roanoke and its giant star, even though it pained
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Tilted to leave all of that civilization. But surely there
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: were people who still inhabited the city that was close
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: enough to be in the shadow of the capitol, an
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: electron and the first level of orbit around the nucleus,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and people needed to be avoided until they put a
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: much greater distance between them and DC. The road they
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: were on tracked alongside the border of Roanoke, following a
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: river on the outskirts that they could look across and
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: see into buildings and houses, gas stations, and schools. Tilda
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: didn't see any signs of life, but if there were
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: people living here, and there most likely were, they'd be
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: nearer to town center in a more fortified location. At least,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: she hoped. She really didn't want to be seen passing
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: by much less on a horse. As the buildings became
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: less dense, the road curved to the right, taking them
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: in a more southwesterly direction, which suited Tilda. There were
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: signs for bigger interstate highways, but Tilda ignored them. That's
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: what the people journeying to the capital would take, at
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: least those knew to life on the road. They passed
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: another town called Salem, which Tilda assumed to be the
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: suburbs of Roanoke with how close together they were, and
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: then a couple of hours of nothing apart from a
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: single guy station along the road shuttered long before the
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: onset of HSV five. The rivers sneaked back their way
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: to be parallel with the road. Tilda kept an eye
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: on the bank until she found a break in the steep,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: slippery mud and a slope that was easy to navigate,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: and guided Scout down it, allowing her to take a
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: drink of slushy water. The entire time, Tilda keeping an
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: eye out for anything out of the ordinary. When Scout
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: had finished, Tilda directed her back onto the asphalt and
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: they resumed their trek. Tilda looked up at the sky
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: and couldn't help but think of that pocket watch ticking
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: away in her pouch. She wondered what time it was.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: A large abandoned red train car in an empty field
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: appeared on their left across the river, Winding along the
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: road next to them through the dense forest of trees.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: On the other side, Tilda could make out what appeared
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: to be a larger highway parallel to their smaller one,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: which made Tilda nervous. A couple of times they passed people,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: usually in small groups, that were seemingly too focused on
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: their destination to take notice of Tilda and Madison. At
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: one point, the two highways were so close together they
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: could have easily cut over to the other road, but
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: then they peeled apart again. After another hour or so,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: four sixty led them into a small town called Lafayette.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: While it was tiny, its emptiness made it seem vast.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: The road took them right through the main square, passed
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: whitewashed antique shops, specialty stores, and petite restaurants, strings of
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: traffic lights sagging between iron lampposts. Tilda considered their options.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: They could explore the houses for food, but that usually
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: took a while, and she didn't want to spend a
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: lot of time in one place, especially one still relatively
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: close to people. It would take some time to leave
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: the more populated eastern part of the country behind, though,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: and they weren't really in a position to not take
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: a chance to find more supplies. A few blocks over
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: to their left, Tilda spotted a decently sized grocery store
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: called Big Owls and bright yellow letters. She navigated them
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: to it through blocks of empty stores and passed one
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: looming church sh of Gothic design into the parking lot
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: of Big Owls. Hopping down onto concrete outside the glass
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: doors and helping Madison down as well. She fastened scouts
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: reins to a bike rack outside, telling Madison that they
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: needed to be quick and that he needed to stay
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: close to her. The doors had been automatic, but without electricity,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: they failed to slide open when Tilda and Madison approached them. Instead,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: she pried them open aggravatingly slowly, just enough for the
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: two of them to slip through the gap. Big Owls
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: was shaped like a large rectangle, much wider than it
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: was long. Tilda went left down a row of shelves,
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: checking both sides as they made their way past rotten
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: produce and cheese and bread and bottles of wine. The
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: entire back wall of the store was dedicated to frozen foods,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: so nothing useful there. The next aisle, Snacks and cereals,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: yielded a couple of packages of pop tarts, some reasins,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: snack bars, one hundred gallery packs of cookies and chips,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: canned fruit, sun butter, dried banana chips, and some pumpkin seas,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: which was more than they'd bagged at one place in
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: a long time, probably a place like the sof the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: main highway, and with a tiny population. People had taken
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: what they could carry and that was it. The following
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: few aisles, Tilda picked up some canned vegetables and beans,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: some more nuts, a couple of bottles of carbonated water
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: and juice, and some disposable toothbrushes. Her pack heavier than ever,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: they checked behind the register, but all they found was
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: an overturned register and some stamps. All right, let's go,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: She hoisted her pack for the upper shoulders, the cans
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: clanking together as they exited the store, Tilda having a
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: more difficult time maneuvering through the gap between the sliding
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: doors now that her pack was bigger. After wedging herself
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: through and back outdoor, she blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: After the dim grocery store and stopped short, hoping she
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: was hallucinating. Madison bumped into her and she felt him
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: go still behind her, there were two men standing in
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: the parking lot, only a couple of yards away. Both
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: of them were tall and large, wearing boots and jackets.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: One of them had a rifle slung over his back,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: a ball cap, and a graying beard. The other had
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: a pistol and a holster attached to his belt, and
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: brown hair and stubble on his face. Fine looking horse.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: She got there, the man with the rifle called, and
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: what she could tell he thought was a non threatening voice.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Tilda didn't know what to say, so she just nodded,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: wondering if they'd been following them, waiting for them to dismount.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: She thought of the gun in her waistband, but there
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: was no way to get to it without drawing attention,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: not to mention the obstacle presented by her now much
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: heavier pack. And look at that a little boy, he
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: continued in his gravely tone. He's yours, I reckon, he gestured,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: vaguely to the sores on her face. She nodded again,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: her eyes darting to the other man when he took
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: a step closer, bit young, ain't you The question flirted
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: the line of threatening. He was implying that he knew
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: they must be on the run. Tilda said, in the
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: calmest voice she could muster, I'm older than I look.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: That drew a grating chuckle out of the man. His
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: partner inch closer and til to fault the urge to
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: inch back. What are you two doing out here by yourselves?
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Tilda deemed not to answer, turning to look outright at
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: the man that was advancing on them. She wondered if
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: giving them Scott would be enough for them, but she
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: doubted it. Don't worry, We're not gonna hurt you, the
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: man with the rifle said, drawing her attention back to him.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Ellis and this is Jake. We've
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: got a bit of a proposition for you. Tilda waited,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: preparing a bluff in her head about how they had
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: a big group to get back to, but she wanted
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: to see how much these two men knew about her
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and Madison before she tried to pull it off. His
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: next words rendered that plan inert. We've been following you
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: for a while now, that's the look on our face.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: He raised his hands, jostling the rifle hanging by the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: strap on his shoulder a little bit, and back pedaled.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Nothing creepy. We just wanted to get a sense of
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: what kind of people you are and the way you
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: take care of that boy and that horse, He pointed
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: to each in turn, Especially when I know you must
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: not have much in the way of supplies. He gestured
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: to big owls behind them. Well, we can tell you're
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: good folks, and we'd like to offer you a place
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: to stay by all. Rose untiled his throat, her heart
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: twisted uncomfortably. We got a place not too far from here.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: It used to be a campgrounds for kids to go
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: around and learn to build buyers and tie knots, but
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: we've turned it into a little village. We grow our
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: own food, We have some livestock. Everyone's got a house.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: It's a nice little place. He looked at Madison. Be
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: a nice little place to grow up. Madison shifted further
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: behind Tilda. And it's safe too, Ellis as shure. Tilda
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: pretty well off the highways. We got a fence all around.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: We've never had a problem with enforcers or marauders. Tilda
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: highly suspected they were part of a group of marauders.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: We don't offer this lightly. We're a tight knit group.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: We take care of each other like family, and we're
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: offering you a chance to be part of that. In
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: what she hoped was a nonchalant way. She sidled over
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: to Scout's reins and undid the knot in one quick motion.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Jake took several steps closer to them, his hand hovering
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: over his pistol. Tilda snapped her gaze up his Scout
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: stamped nervously a gunshot wild scare her off. Ellis shot
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Jacob look. Tilda said, in a voice with minimal quaver.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: We appreciate the offer, but we're not interested. Ellis gave
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: her a toothy smile, a predators smile, parading us something harmless.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Why not? The cold months are upon us. It would
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: surely be safer for you, for your son. We have
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: plenty of women. Get along just fine. You'll fit right in.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Tilda fought back a shudder at the phrasing. Jake covered near,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: hawk eyed, ready to draw his weapon. We're not interested,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Tilda repeated firmly. We're meeting up with some people. Ellis's
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: eyes darkened there aren't any more people. He practically spat out,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: You ain't meeting up with no one. Jake took another
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: step forward. Well you got a real nice setup, real nice,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Alice told her, his breath hard and steely. But we
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: don't have any kids. We don't have enough people, tilt,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: his breath quickened. If we're going to survive past this generation,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: if we want what built to continue, and we do,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: he shured her darkly, we need more people, people like
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: your son, people who weren't infected with HSV five. Tilda
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: felt dizzy. Madison clutched at her pack behind her. Ellis
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: switched tracks once again, reiterating kindly, we'll take care of you.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: You'll be happy and safe, thinking quickly til the volleyed back.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: You say, enforcers have never been a problem, Else agreed, clearly,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: thinking he'd almost want her over. Who do you think
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: we're running from? If you take us to your camp,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: the enforcers will find you, believe me. Ellis shook his
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: head with his two wide smile marred with blackened teeth.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: I don't believe you, you said yourself. I look too
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: young to have a child. She pointed out, her eyes
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: darting back and forth between Ellis and Jake. Well, guess what,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: You're correct. They are looking for us, and they will
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: not stop. Ellis clearly didn't buy it, he said, unconcernedly,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: that's a risk we'll have to take. I guess been
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: a long time since we've seen a kid out here.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: He watched Tilda for a minute, keeping his gaze on
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: her as he informed her, Now, Jake here is going
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: to take your horse. He slung his rifle off his
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: shoulder and into his hands, aiming it at them. And
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: the two of you are going to walk in front
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: of me, nice and so sound good? Is this how
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: you treat family? Tilda asked derisively before she could stop herself,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: but Ellis just smiled at her insolence. When they misbehave,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: he indicated with the barrel of his gun for them
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: to step forward, as Jake grabbed scouts reins. Us gonna
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: move on. Daylight is wastin'. There's nothing out there for you.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Trust me, you'll be happier with us. Tilda barely heard him,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: her mind whirring with possible escape plans. Ellice chuckled, apparently
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: taking glee and seeing her reduced to a helpless powerless state.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: She took slow steps closer to Ellis, stalling her approach
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: to him until a plan would hopefully fall into place.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Madison gripped her jacket tightly. Ah let me see the lad,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Ellis cooed, in an awkward and creepy way that made
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: Tilda wonder if he'd ever seen a child in real life.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Possibly he hadn't. Tilda halted a mere foot or so away,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: unsure of what Ellis wanted her to do. Come out,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: let me get a look at you. Madison did not move,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: instead huddling closer behind her. Something pushed her forward and
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: she choked, surprised, almost losing her footing. Madison screamed and
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Tilda spun so quickly her spine cracked. Jake had Madison
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: by the arms and was lifting him off the ground,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: holding him like he would a plank of wood, moving
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: him from out behind the safety of tilda scout watch.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Stamping her foot. Tilda didn't think, she just reacted a
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: lightning fast. Her hand was in her jean's pocket and
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: lashed around her hunting knife, the one she dishonestly promised
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: herself she intended to use only for hunting. She flipped
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: out the blade and lunch forward, bearing it into Jake's back.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: It was harder than she thought. It pierced the skin easily,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: but then it took some muscle to push it past bones, scraping.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: Jake jerked as though shocked by an electric wire, a
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: throaty gasp escaping his lips. Madison fell to his butt
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: on the concrete and immediately began crab crawling away, his
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: eyes wide and horror, Jake Ellis called out as the
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: man collapsed to his knees. Tilda barely managed him to
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: keep a hold of her knife as it tore out
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: of his skin. The body that had been blocking Tilda's
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: view of Ellis fell from view, revealing the stark, gaunt
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: face of the grief stricken man as he stared down
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: at the body of Jake, who was still alive and gasping.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Elis's face quickly morphed from one of grief to one
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: of rage, and Tilda ran at him as he raised
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: the barrel of his rifle, tackling him to the hard
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: concrete before he could take aim. He shouted in surprise,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: losing his grip on his weapon. It clattered to the
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: pavement and Tilda's grip almost dropped on her knife, but
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: she readjusted and prepared to drive it into Elis's chest,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: but he caught her wrist. Dark eyes swirling with an
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: insane rage, Tilda struggled against him, but his holed around
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: her wrist, tight and painfully, forcing her to release her knife.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: It dropped dully to the pavement with a cry of rage.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: He grabbed her hair and yanked it to the side,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: causing her to cry out in pain. He used the
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: momentum of her body jerking to the side to flip
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: her over onto her back and effectively reverse their positions
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: so that she was pressed into the cold asphalt as
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: he was straddling her waist with bruising force. She flailed
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: her legs and hit at his face, but he captured
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: her other wrist, locking it in one hand. Tilda struggled wildly,
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: thinking of men Madison and what they would do to him.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Stupid Ellis spat out, closing his free hand around her throat.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: We would have accepted you, We would have treated you
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: like one of our own, spots danced in front of
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: her eyes as she gasped ruthlessly for oxygen. He removed
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: his hand from her throat and hit her soundly in
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the face. With a resounding smack. Tilda drew in a
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: tortured breath, not having time to think anything coherent before
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: she was hit again and again. I'm going to make
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: you suffer, Elice promised. We're to make you beg The
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: pressure lessened suddenly, and Ellis shouted, falling forward on top
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: of her. Madison stood over him, gasping heavily, his face
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: dark with terror, the blue handle of the pocket knife
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: she'd given him earlier that day sticking out from Elis's
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: lower back for a moment. Elis was reduced to a
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: primal animal sound as Tilda worked to shove him off,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: but he was a dead weight despite this and desperate
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: in the side, and he gasped following off of her.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Her hand darted around the asphalt like a spider until
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: she brushed it against the cold steel of the blade,
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: and she closed her fingers around the handle. Ellis coughing,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: rolling back up to his knees and lunging forward towards
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Tilda again. She rammed her blade upward, bearing it in
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: his side. Ellis choked again, blood dribbling out of his mouth.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: The warm red liquid pooling in the valley of Tilda's neck.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: She wrinkled her face in disgust and shoved him off
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: of her. He landed heavily on his back, arching off
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the pavement with an airy streak. When the contact buried
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: the small knife Madison had planted between his kidneys even
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: deeper into his flesh. He flopped to his other side,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: curling in, and Tilda coughed rough one hand at her throat.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: She pushed herself up, her throat, burning as she drew
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: in wild breaths. The asphalt pressed into her knees as
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: the world's great in and out around her, choking as
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: she regained a life giving oxygen, while Ellis choked as
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: life left him. Madison was on his knee's at her side,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: watching Ellis and Jake alternately, his eyes dancing with fear.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Tilda's gloves were wet with blood. Her fingers twitched. She
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: turned her head to watch Ellis's back, the heaving of
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: her chest easing her vision clearing, she couldn't tear her
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: eyes from their rapid and uneven rise and fall of
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Ellis's back. Frozen in decision, blood erupted out of his
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: wound with every pump of his heart, the beating growing
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: more and more erratic and far apart. The knife she
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: shoved into his side taunted her. Should she pull it
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: out and stab him again, just to be on the
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: safe side, to speed up the process and grant him
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: some form of mercy. She couldn't use the gun for
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: fear of startling scout. She half glanced behind her and
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: immediately jerked her head away when she caught the blank, dead,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: condemning gaze of Jake, but she could still feel his
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: empty eyes boring into her. Ellis was muttering something incoherent
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: under his breath. If he was right, and they from
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: a village not far from here, pretty soon someone would
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: come looking for Ellis and Jake and find them dead.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: There was no way she and Madison could cover this up.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: They'd be out for revenge. With jittery hand, she shakily
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: grabbed the handle of her knife. Ellis shuddered, crying out.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Madison whimpered. She pushed the blade back into its housing,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: promising to clean it later, and pulled out Madison's pocket knife.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: No reaction from Ellis. She retracted it and passed it
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: back to him. He took it mostly out of reflex, shocked,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the only emotion registering on his face, his eyes still
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: glued to Ellis, who had gone quite still. She picked
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: up Ellis's rifle and shouldered it. Too afraid to search
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: through his pockets for anything else, she pulled Madison to
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: his feet, words stuck behind clenched teeth. She stooped to
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: pick up Jake's handgun and stowed it in her pack
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: side pocket. Scout shuffled anxiously as she approached, and Tilda
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: held out her hands. The horse steadied, and she practically
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: threw Madison on the saddle and climbed up hastily after him,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: barely seated before she snapped the reins, goading Scout out
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: of Big Owl's parking lot and back onto the highway,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: pushing Scout to a slow gallop. And that brings us
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: to the end of this chapter. I hope everyone's okay. Also,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: I apologize for the Southern accent that I did. It's
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: such a trope and I had to grapple with this
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: when I was editing over it. I was like, this
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: is such the trope of kind of the creepy southern
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: backwoods man that's appearing and is trying to quote help
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: you right, but definitely is not. And yeah, I this
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: was a rough chapter in terms of Madison as a
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: child having to attack someone, try to kill someone to
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: save his mom. It was just really intense. And I
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: think this is almost every apocalypse thing has this moment
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: of you know, the child loses their innocence in some way,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and the fallout of that is going to going to
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: come because in the first one it was he saw
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Tilda kill someone, and now he's been involved, and so
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: that is definitely going to be dealt with. Also, again,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: the name games, I'm telling you, when I read this,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I know exactly who I was talking, and
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I do. I am somebody who looks up like meanings
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: of names and things like that. But yeah, I hope
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: I hope that this met the hype that I was
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: building up and or you're just okay and not too
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: stressed out by it because it was just it was
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: kind of intense. But I also hope that you're enjoying
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: this because we do love doing this. Christina makes them amazing,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: And if there's any suggestions in this realm of something
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: we could do like this, please let us know. You
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: can email us at Stephanie and momstuff atiheartmedia dot com.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter at momstaff podcast, or
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: on Instagram and TikTok at stuff When Never Told You.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: We also have a YouTube page you prefer like that.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: We have a deep public, and we have a book
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: always too our super producer Christina, execut producer Maya, and
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: her contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Stuff I Ever Told You is production of iHeart Radio.
• 27:06
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• 27:07
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• 27:09
  Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows