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SMNTY Fiction: Terminus (Chapter 6) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I'm not going to
0:07
Speaker 1: stuff I've never told you protection iHeart radio and welcome
0:19
Speaker 1: to another edition of Smindy Fiction. Yes, yes, yes, yes,
0:26
Speaker 1: um as always easier or once a month, so if
0:28
Speaker 1: it's not your thing, which I totally get, uh, you
0:31
Speaker 1: can skip it. Also, this is ongoing. We're currently in
0:35
Speaker 1: a continuing story. We are on a chapter six. I
0:39
Speaker 1: believe I do this every time. UM. But yeah, it's
0:42
Speaker 1: a continuing story, so you'll definitely want to go back
0:46
Speaker 1: and listen to the chapters before this because we're getting
0:50
Speaker 1: into some of the action now. I think there's been
0:52
Speaker 1: a lot of build up, but now we're getting into that.
0:55
Speaker 1: As I said before on these um, this was a
1:00
Speaker 1: part of my first time doing National Novel Writing Month. UM,
1:05
Speaker 1: so it's not I don't really edit it. Uh. And
1:09
Speaker 1: this was in so it's kind of it's just kind
1:11
Speaker 1: of interesting to see what I was thinking about writing
1:13
Speaker 1: about back then. Um. And we did because we just
1:17
Speaker 1: got out of November. I know it's like the end
1:18
Speaker 1: of December when you hear this, but our recording schedule
1:20
Speaker 1: as bonkers, So we did just get out of November,
1:24
Speaker 1: and I've loved hearing. We asked some of you if
1:26
Speaker 1: you did Nanaimo right in, and I got some great
1:29
Speaker 1: facts because I I had been like, oh, I think
1:30
Speaker 1: people might be cheating. Um, but people people wrote in
1:34
Speaker 1: and they corrected me and and told me about their stories.
1:36
Speaker 1: Keep that up because we love we love hearing about
1:39
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. Um. And I'm just curious. I
1:42
Speaker 1: love this idea, Nanta. I'm also interesting because it's kind
1:45
Speaker 1: of like some people do plan it. Don't get me wrong,
1:48
Speaker 1: but if you're like me and you're just like write something,
1:50
Speaker 1: it's just what is going on in your mind. It's
1:52
Speaker 1: kind of like a psyche, like a look into your sky.
1:57
Speaker 1: It is. But I would love to see like people
1:58
Speaker 1: have done, like rom comms or or I don't know,
2:02
Speaker 1: I would. I would just very much appreciate you letting
2:05
Speaker 1: us know. Also, as always, thanks to the people who
2:08
Speaker 1: have already written in two and thanks to Christina who
2:12
Speaker 1: makes these happen, and for the people have written in
2:14
Speaker 1: and recognized that Christina is the amazing person who makes
2:17
Speaker 1: these happen. We do appreciate that as well. But also,
2:21
Speaker 1: as I always say in these, this is one of
2:22
Speaker 1: those things where I also get if this is totally
2:25
Speaker 1: the worst time for this to come out for you
2:27
Speaker 1: because the content warning I have here a little bit
2:31
Speaker 1: of like aftermath of gun violence in this chapter, illness,
2:35
Speaker 1: threat of violence and child separation, hunger, cood language, um,
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Speaker 1: child danger, heavy child danger, infertility, stigma around sex and illness,
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Speaker 1: stigma around infertility, lack of agency around your body. Uh.
2:48
Speaker 1: This chapter has some able is um or internalized able
2:53
Speaker 1: ism ideas as well. So if you're hearing that and
2:57
Speaker 1: you haven't heard the rest of them, be like, what
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Speaker 1: is this? Yeah, here's the quicker recap. So the global
3:06
Speaker 1: population has been decimated by this virus that causes infertility. UM.
3:13
Speaker 1: The government, along with a religious organization called arm A
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Speaker 1: r M. It determines where, like when a child is
3:20
Speaker 1: actually born, where that child will go. UM. That's determined
3:24
Speaker 1: by the Board of Better Parenting as well. And so
3:27
Speaker 1: Tilda has her child and is unwilling to be separated
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Speaker 1: from him, her child, Madicine. So she ran away from
3:34
Speaker 1: these conception centers and government centers and they've been on
3:37
Speaker 1: the run for seven years. Uh. And it's winter, winter
3:41
Speaker 1: is coming. Oh, Madison has this cough that is very concerning.
3:45
Speaker 1: Their goals aren't good. Their supplies aren't good. Like nothing's
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Speaker 1: looking good. Uh. And then they were finally cornered by
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Speaker 1: these enforcers who worked for the government, who have been
3:55
Speaker 1: searching for what they call Priority number one case, which
3:59
Speaker 1: is Tilda and her son. And Tilda and Madison narrowly
4:04
Speaker 1: escape the enforcers. Uh. And Tilda is shot in the
4:08
Speaker 1: leg as they steal a car. And that is where
4:11
Speaker 1: we are. So it's not good. I mean a lot
4:14
Speaker 1: of bad things are happening. Or Tilda put her through
4:18
Speaker 1: some things. I did put Tilda through some things, And
4:20
Speaker 1: to be honest, it's not gonna get a lot better
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Speaker 1: very soon. But on that very cheerful note, and let
4:28
Speaker 1: us get into the story. Tilda took a moment to
4:33
Speaker 1: evaluate the situation. They couldn't stay in this car for long.
4:37
Speaker 1: It would draw too much attention. Blood poured from the
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Speaker 1: hole in her left calf. It shook uncontrollably, simultaneously hot
4:44
Speaker 1: and cold. It hurt, but not nearly as much as
4:47
Speaker 1: it should adrenaline network. But it would fade eventually, probably
4:51
Speaker 1: sooner rather than later. And then what their whole world
4:55
Speaker 1: consisted of walking, of being mobile? How could they carry
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Speaker 1: on with her leg injured. She didn't know how to
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Speaker 1: properly heal a bullet wound. The damage would most likely
5:04
Speaker 1: be permanent. She cut that thought off before it could
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Speaker 1: fully form, horrified at the prospect of it and what
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Speaker 1: it would mean. Ringing filled her ears. Her uneven gulpen
5:14
Speaker 1: gasp muted. Oh, yes, they were in trouble. Tilta took
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Speaker 1: her eyes off the road for a moment to study Madison.
5:21
Speaker 1: Apart from being pale, shaken and sick, he looked otherwise
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Speaker 1: all right. He stared at her, eyes round and gleaming.
5:28
Speaker 1: His lip trembled. Directing her eyes back to the asphalt,
5:31
Speaker 1: she asked, you are right, baby, no answer. She could
5:37
Speaker 1: feel his gaze unwavering and heavy. Did you hear me,
5:41
Speaker 1: she prodded. His ears must be buzzing too, He sniffled,
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Speaker 1: you're bleeding. An odd tingling was slowly spreading through her,
5:51
Speaker 1: leaving in its wake a more disturbing numbness. It's fine,
5:55
Speaker 1: she deflected, and if not for the tremor in her voice,
5:57
Speaker 1: it might have passed for normal. Madison, intelligent and perceptive,
6:02
Speaker 1: saw right through the lie. The tears collected at the
6:06
Speaker 1: corners of his eyes spilled over. She took a gasping breath,
6:09
Speaker 1: stomach clenching as the first heart wrenching sob broke free.
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Speaker 1: It's okay, we'll be fine. We just a wave of
6:19
Speaker 1: pain flared up her leg and she broke off for
6:21
Speaker 1: a moment. Swallowing, she picked back up, stars in her eyes.
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Speaker 1: Just gotta get to town and then get some bandages
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Speaker 1: on it and get you use some medicine and we'll
6:33
Speaker 1: be fine. Towns don't fix everything, madisone hiccuped Tilda would
6:40
Speaker 1: have laughed at the situation. Wasn't so severe. His bawling
6:44
Speaker 1: turned into a fit of coughs. No, they don't, she agreed.
6:49
Speaker 1: But it's all we've got. And I'm so sorry for that,
6:52
Speaker 1: she thought, but didn't say. Just try and on, calm
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Speaker 1: down and we'll be there soon. Mass And curled up
7:01
Speaker 1: in the seat, watching her as if she disappear, if
7:03
Speaker 1: he looked away, and his gaze could pin her. There.
7:06
Speaker 1: Outside their window was a tableau of yellow and blue
7:09
Speaker 1: smudging into each other like broad brushstrokes. It gave Tilda
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Speaker 1: the odd and impression that they were in a painting,
7:15
Speaker 1: always moving but going nowhere. Time faded in and out
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Speaker 1: every blink seeming disproportionately long. Tilda kept catching herself forgetting
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Speaker 1: to breathe, and would suck in a whistling gasp that
7:26
Speaker 1: somehow made her feel more oxygen deprived. Blurry road signs
7:30
Speaker 1: cropped up more and more frequently, but she couldn't make
7:32
Speaker 1: them out. When she started to ask Madisone to read
7:35
Speaker 1: them to her, she found her tongue too dry to
7:37
Speaker 1: speak properly. Chastising herself for her weakness, she blinked until
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Speaker 1: the letters crystallized. Topeka eleven miles. Time to ditch the car,
7:47
Speaker 1: she decided grimly. The idea sent a thrill of terror
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Speaker 1: up her spine. It would draw too much attention. Possibly
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Speaker 1: it was even equipped with a tracking device. They'd have
7:56
Speaker 1: to take their chances, and to pick up as much
8:01
Speaker 1: as she tried to refuse herself the luxury of the thought,
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Speaker 1: she kept wondering what would happen to Madison if she died.
8:06
Speaker 1: It might be only a leg wound, but blood loss
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Speaker 1: could be deadly, not to mention infection, and there was
8:11
Speaker 1: the possibility she would be left unable to walk. What
8:14
Speaker 1: would they do then wait for the enforcers to catch
8:17
Speaker 1: up with them. They'd have to find a place to
8:20
Speaker 1: hide so she could recover, so they could both recover,
8:22
Speaker 1: she admitted, as Madison coughed. The longer they stayed, the
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Speaker 1: greater the chance the enforcers were discovered them. But there
8:28
Speaker 1: was always the chance, however slim, that they'd give up
8:31
Speaker 1: move on. She could hope, even though there was only
8:34
Speaker 1: the ragged edge she had to keep going. Tilda flipped
8:38
Speaker 1: on the turn signal, as ridiculous as it was, taking
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Speaker 1: the first exit for Topeka. Rows and rows of houses
8:44
Speaker 1: sprung up on either side of them, all of them
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Speaker 1: fading and similar and average in every way. Tilda assessed
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Speaker 1: their surroundings through billery vision, searching for a place to
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Speaker 1: ditch the car. As she weaved slowly and evenly down
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Speaker 1: the road, looking for a parking garage or a lot,
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Speaker 1: or any air where a car would not draw attention,
9:03
Speaker 1: a huge red arrow caught her eye. She fought against
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Speaker 1: the haze encroaching upon her, stringing together enormous, dull yellow letters,
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Speaker 1: one at a time, car wash. She mouthed the words silently,
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Speaker 1: her foggy brain gripping to the car and car wash
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Speaker 1: like a lifeboat. Wosily and without conscious decision, she followed
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Speaker 1: the arrow of a slight incline and navigated the car
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Speaker 1: into what appeared to be a garage. The hanging strips
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Speaker 1: of cloth a dark portal that obscured the vehicle from view.
9:30
Speaker 1: She powered the car down and pulled the keys out
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Speaker 1: of the ignition. They slipped from her fingers and jingled
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Speaker 1: to the floor and Tiltal's world tilted dangerously when she'd
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Speaker 1: bent over to retrieve them. It took her several sitting
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Speaker 1: breasts before she was able to pull herself upright and
9:44
Speaker 1: deposit the keys into her carrier bag. Nauseated, she fumbled
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Speaker 1: with the handle, falling out of the car and scraping
9:50
Speaker 1: her knees on the concrete. Using the side mirror for leverage,
9:54
Speaker 1: she heaved herself to her feet, doing her best to
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Speaker 1: ignore the red and black stand covering most of her
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Speaker 1: left calf, who's slowly a distress cry sliced through her
10:03
Speaker 1: blood loss induced apathy. She turned towards it, masson, eyes
10:07
Speaker 1: huge and hands clapped over. His mouth gaped at her.
10:10
Speaker 1: Clearing her throat, she tested her left legs ability to
10:13
Speaker 1: hold her weight. It wobbled warningly, but held Tilda knew
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Speaker 1: it wouldn't last for long. She limped over towards medicine,
10:21
Speaker 1: dismayed and irrationally stung when he took the tiniest step
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Speaker 1: back as she approached with her hand held out for him.
10:27
Speaker 1: But then he rushed to her side, crying quietly, wrapping
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Speaker 1: an arm around her waist to do what he could
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Speaker 1: to help her. He murmured comfortingly to her. Untilda felt
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Speaker 1: her love for him swell, a temporary remedy for the pain.
10:38
Speaker 1: Her steps became sure as they exited through the back
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Speaker 1: of the car rush and started down a residential street.
10:44
Speaker 1: They walked for several minutes and unnatural silence pressing against
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Speaker 1: Tilda's ear drums. She couldn't tell if there was no
10:50
Speaker 1: sound or if her body had diverted all energy from
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Speaker 1: hearing to her throbbing leg. She didn't know where they
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Speaker 1: were going. All she knew was she had to keep going.
11:00
Speaker 1: With every step, she waged a battle, the world increasingly
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Speaker 1: small as it was consumed with agony. Her vision tunneled
11:07
Speaker 1: and she dropped heavily to her knees. So great was
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Speaker 1: the pain in her legs she barely felt the pebbles
11:11
Speaker 1: digging and cutting into her skin. Madison sobbed loudly, attempting
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Speaker 1: to pull her to her feet. Tilda's body was unresponsive.
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Speaker 1: Her effort to stand failed. Miserably. She started to crawl, floored,
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Speaker 1: feeling the color drained from her face. Her only thought
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Speaker 1: was to keep going, to get Madison to safety before
11:29
Speaker 1: she passed out. His crying was distant in her ears.
11:35
Speaker 1: She saw a movement at the corner of her eye.
11:38
Speaker 1: She turned her head sluggishly to the left of look,
11:40
Speaker 1: collapsing on her right side. The world spun sickeningly. Small
11:45
Speaker 1: hands tugged at her, trying to pull her up. Tilda
11:48
Speaker 1: thought she heard a woman far away as Madisone's weeping
11:51
Speaker 1: faded in and out, sharpening and blurring, and everything drifted
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Speaker 1: from her, leaving her in darkness. M It was March.
12:07
Speaker 1: Madison was four years old. They've been on the run
12:10
Speaker 1: for almost three years. Tilda thought it would be easier
12:14
Speaker 1: now that Madison could walk on his own and keep
12:16
Speaker 1: up with her fairly well, and it was in most ways.
12:20
Speaker 1: His natural inquisitive nature made him prone to start and
12:23
Speaker 1: stop and wander and pick up things, which Tilda adored
12:26
Speaker 1: in him, but it certainly presented some challenges to a
12:29
Speaker 1: life on the run. Now it was night, the full
12:35
Speaker 1: moon shrouded by clouds, silver rays of light shining through
12:38
Speaker 1: and dotting the landscape. Two enforcers had spotted them. They
12:43
Speaker 1: always seemed to come in a pair. Tilda, exhausted, saw
12:47
Speaker 1: them on the road ahead, too late. They were heading
12:50
Speaker 1: towards them. Tilda scooped Madison up, tearing off into the
12:54
Speaker 1: woods and tumbling into a ditch in her hurry. She
12:56
Speaker 1: shot back up and ran as fast as she could
12:58
Speaker 1: lift her legs, dodging trees and jumping over roots, the
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Speaker 1: soggy leaves catching at her feet, but she ran, her
13:05
Speaker 1: lungs burning and her heart pounding wildly. Soon her legs
13:09
Speaker 1: would collapse under the strain. Raised roots snagged her foot,
13:13
Speaker 1: sending her crashing into the forest floor, Panting harshly, the
13:16
Speaker 1: beginnings of despair starting to take hold. She pulled herself
13:19
Speaker 1: up to her knees when she caught sight of an overhang,
13:22
Speaker 1: almost completely obscured by leaves, moss, and hanging roots. With
13:27
Speaker 1: Madison still in her arms, she crawled over as quietly
13:29
Speaker 1: as she could, trying to disturb the leaves as little
13:32
Speaker 1: as possible. She could hear the loud footsteps of the
13:35
Speaker 1: enforcers getting closer. The space underneath the overhang was small.
13:40
Speaker 1: They had to slide underneath it, Tilda curling up to
13:42
Speaker 1: keep her feet from view. They lay in the dark,
13:45
Speaker 1: damp space, wet leaves clinging to them, doing their best
13:48
Speaker 1: to breathe quietly. Madison, too young to understand, wasn't scared.
13:55
Speaker 1: It was more of a game to him. He didn't
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Speaker 1: have to ask. He knew that they didn't want to caught,
14:01
Speaker 1: but he knew it in the way of a game
14:02
Speaker 1: of hide and seek, the danger not yet real to him.
14:05
Speaker 1: Tilda draped an arm around him, willing him to be
14:08
Speaker 1: still and silent. The footsteps of the enforcers slowed just
14:12
Speaker 1: outside their hiding space. Please, Tilda beg silently, please. A
14:19
Speaker 1: mouse poked his head out of a small hole in
14:21
Speaker 1: the dirt near their heads, brown fur lighter than the
14:24
Speaker 1: leaves around it, ears swiveling and tiny nose twitching out.
14:28
Speaker 1: It crawled, paying no heed to the humans hiding near it.
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Speaker 1: Madison opened his mouth. Untilda clapped her hand over it,
14:34
Speaker 1: muffling his exclamation. He jumped, startled, but did not react.
14:38
Speaker 1: Beyond that, the enforcers, now about ten feet away, paused,
14:42
Speaker 1: listening before continuing their search in the area in front
14:45
Speaker 1: of the overhanging, but gradually they moved away from it.
14:50
Speaker 1: Turning slowly, Madison freed himself from the hand over his mouth,
14:53
Speaker 1: I serious, leaning to whisper n Tilda's ear. Mouse. Tilda
15:00
Speaker 1: didn't comprehend it, first, watching the enforcers as their footsteps faded,
15:04
Speaker 1: but then Madison pointed at the creature working his way
15:07
Speaker 1: through the leaves, stopping to dig in the dirt. Incredulous,
15:11
Speaker 1: she half grinned, nodding but gesturing for him to be quiet.
15:15
Speaker 1: He smiled, focusing his avid attention on the road. They
15:20
Speaker 1: remained hidden long after the mouse and the enforcers had gone,
15:23
Speaker 1: until Madison fixed her with a gaze of pure boredom.
15:26
Speaker 1: Fidgeting carefully, the two emerged out of their nature provided
15:30
Speaker 1: hiding space, like two creatures birth from Earth itself. Without thought,
15:34
Speaker 1: she pulled Madison to a fierce embrace, laughing and crying
15:37
Speaker 1: hysterically into his neck. He allowed it, surprised and confused,
15:42
Speaker 1: mouse he'd whispered, she loved him more than anything. Sometimes
15:48
Speaker 1: in her worry and doubt she lost track of that.
15:50
Speaker 1: She took it for granted, but she do anything to
15:53
Speaker 1: protect him and would fight for him as long as
15:55
Speaker 1: she could. For that one night in the cold and
15:58
Speaker 1: dreary dark of March, she was glory, sleep at peace
16:00
Speaker 1: with her decision to take Madison. Tilda lifted the now
16:04
Speaker 1: drowsy child and walked away from the enforcers and out
16:07
Speaker 1: of the forest. And that brings us to the end
16:30
Speaker 1: of this chapter of Terminus, and it's still looking pretty grim.
16:35
Speaker 1: I did have I kind of just wanted to mention
16:39
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff I write. And I don't think
16:41
Speaker 1: this is just me. I think everybody does this, but
16:42
Speaker 1: I'm such a huge nerd. I put references in there,
16:45
Speaker 1: and they're they're like the most like you know, you
16:48
Speaker 1: really have to know deep cut references. So it's not
16:51
Speaker 1: like you're reading it like, oh, she's talking about Star Wars.
16:53
Speaker 1: I mean that Jimmy World one was pretty on point.
16:55
Speaker 1: But other than that, But this chapter I was reading
16:57
Speaker 1: and I was like, I know exactly what horror movie
16:59
Speaker 1: I'm talking about, even though I haven't seen it in
17:02
Speaker 1: quite a long time. But and I know this is
17:05
Speaker 1: going to sound like a completely random question. Samantha, what
17:11
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on automatic car washes. I like them. Yeah,
17:14
Speaker 1: I didn't go through one until I was an adult
17:18
Speaker 1: because and when I say adult out of college, because
17:20
Speaker 1: we didn't have any of those at n l J.
17:23
Speaker 1: We had the self wash and it didn't pop up
17:26
Speaker 1: like it has now. And even now, I think they're
17:28
Speaker 1: more in the suburban areas and they are like metro
17:31
Speaker 1: areas because you can get hand washes and like custom washes,
17:34
Speaker 1: but those are expensive. But the automatic car washes, like
17:37
Speaker 1: it was rare. So but I'm a fan because I'm like, yeah,
17:41
Speaker 1: five dollars rints off my rints off my car, thank you.
17:44
Speaker 1: That's nice. See I am terrified of them. Why I
17:48
Speaker 1: bring it up. Yeah, I'm really scared of them. I
17:50
Speaker 1: was as a kid too, but they're They're featured in
17:52
Speaker 1: a lot of horror movies. Um, it's a big like
17:55
Speaker 1: jump scare moment if you don't know what's happening in
17:58
Speaker 1: the car wash because it's like everything is moving, it's
18:00
Speaker 1: dark and like all that stuff. So that's where the
18:04
Speaker 1: car wash thing counture. I haven't. I was just funny
18:08
Speaker 1: when I was going back over reading it because I
18:10
Speaker 1: haven't read this in a while, I was like, oh, yeah,
18:13
Speaker 1: I remember I'm afraid of car washes. Yes, yeah, well
18:17
Speaker 1: hopefully hopefully this has been I come down from that
18:21
Speaker 1: pretty tense chapter. It was. It was going back over it.
18:25
Speaker 1: I had a lot of moments of like, wow, this
18:27
Speaker 1: is really I mean, it's Graham, but also this whole
18:31
Speaker 1: idea of like what what would you do if you've
18:33
Speaker 1: been shot and you can't walk? And and that's where
18:36
Speaker 1: I was like, this kind of able us. Like the
18:37
Speaker 1: way I was describing it, like oh, she's she might
18:40
Speaker 1: as well be dead, but it is it's such a
18:42
Speaker 1: grim like you don't have medicine and the like infection
18:48
Speaker 1: sets in and that could be it. But it was
18:50
Speaker 1: just something I was kind of like, huh, okay, that's
18:52
Speaker 1: it's good to know. I'm glad I've made I've broke
18:54
Speaker 1: this's been growth. Recognize that you gotta you gotta note
18:57
Speaker 1: the past and then moving on. But yeah, as always,
19:01
Speaker 1: we love doing these. We hope that you enjoyed listening
19:04
Speaker 1: listening to them. Uh, and it'll be back next month
19:08
Speaker 1: and you'll see what happens. Yes, if you have any
19:14
Speaker 1: theories or any as we always say, anything in the
19:17
Speaker 1: public domain that we could do to take like a
19:20
Speaker 1: little mini Breit because we do love doing these. They're
19:21
Speaker 1: really fun. Please I'll let us know. You can email
19:24
Speaker 1: us a stuff in your mom Stuff at ihart mea
19:26
Speaker 1: dot com. You can find us on Twitter at mom
19:27
Speaker 1: Stuff podcast or Instagram and Stuff I Ever Told You.
19:29
Speaker 1: Thanks as always to our super producer Christina magic Maker Yes,
19:34
Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening Stuff I Never Told
19:36
Speaker 1: The Protection by heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
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