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

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this Sandy and Samantha, and welcome to stuff. I
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: never told your prediction of iHeart radio and yes, so
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: welcome to another edition of spind Fiction, which is a
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: once the once the month, once a month series, any series.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: While I'm questioning myself a lot at the beginning, right here,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: um where where we read fiction and it might be
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: slightly more sound produced depending on what we're reading. Um.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: It is an ongoing segment, and currently we are in
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: a continuing fiction called Terminus the Depopulation Event. So if
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: you're not caught up on that, this is chapter two,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I think, but it's the third one because there's a
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: prologue which makes sense of course. So yeah, I check
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: those out if you haven't checked them out. Also, if
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: this is not your thing, it's once a month. I
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: like to throw that in because I have friends who
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: specifically don't like that kind of thing. I'm not saying
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: as if like you suck for not liking this. I
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: just know it. I knew it. I knew Samantha you're
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: back there again. I'll let her do it. But I
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: know I'm saying, if you're not liking it, you suck.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Oh I thought you were carrying out against me. No, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: I'm supporting you, saying if you don't like this, you suck. Okay,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: all right now, all right, we're on the same page.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. I will say I recently, I
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: think in one of the first renditions of this, you
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and I discussed like sharing our writing and how scary
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: that can be. I did recently share it with some people.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I've actually only shared it with two people before this
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: before like the podcast, because I'm thinking we could bring
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: in some voices and stuff. I think that would be fun,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: like even in this one. I think it was too
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: late to do it, but I was I was looking
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: at having a little casting sheet, a wish list, bringing
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: some people in. I gotta get you, Samantha. I've got
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: two people I'm thinking for you. Okay, great, Okay. Do
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: I get to play the dog? You did seriously think
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: I was asking you to play a dog earlier. I
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: believe it. I hope supporting you in every way, and
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I will be a dog that is the kind of
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: wonderful friend and supportive person that you are. Thank you.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: So this is gonna be a bit shorter. I was
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: going through this because again I wrote this in twenty time,
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  Speaker 1: I realized that the chapters are very uneven in length,
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  Speaker 1: and I could go in and change it, I guess,
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  Speaker 1: but usually they end at a place that Okay, that's
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: a good ending, just leave it there. Um, But that
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: means that this one is shorter, and I did want
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: to put a trigger warning at the top. If you
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: have missed the last ones you don't want to go
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: back for whatever reason, you're like, no, I'm starting with
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  Speaker 1: this one. That's what it is. Um, this is a
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: pretty I like to say, this is the worst time
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: to be doing this, except some people seem to like me,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: actually find catharsis through things that are similar to trauma
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: traumatic experience as you've gone through. So this story is
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: an end of the world story. It's about a virus.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: It's a sex space virus. UM. There's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: issues around motherhood, bodily autonomy, the government taking away people's
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: right to choose UM, and basically controlling their bodies. So yeah,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: a lot of that stuff is stuff that we're dealing
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: with now. So I don't really get it. If you're like, Nope,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: not today, that makes sense to me. Essentially, there's been
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: a lot of like travel and introspection on the main character,
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  Speaker 1: Tilda's behalf on did she do the right thing in
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  Speaker 1: taking her son Madison, and feeling like she's inadequate and
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: that she is more of an older sister than his mother,
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  Speaker 1: and hiding from the enforcers, trying to find a place
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  Speaker 1: safe and warm, and trying to find food, all that stuff.
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  Speaker 1: So there will also be discussion around hunger um if
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  Speaker 1: that that is a trigger for you as well. So alright,
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  Speaker 1: with all of those disclaimers aside, let us get into
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  Speaker 1: the fiction portion. Tilda drent dark, shadowy dreams of specters
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and cold needles and screaming. Her sores peeled away her
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  Speaker 1: skin as she was chased by tireless pursuers shouting obscenities
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  Speaker 1: that her, calling her horrible names, and then dogs barking
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  Speaker 1: ever close her, barking, barking, barking. She jerked awake, heart pounding.
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  Speaker 1: Madison murmured sleepily from her arms. The dogs were real.
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  Speaker 1: There was barking in the distance. Before she could process
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  Speaker 1: this and what could mean, the sound of voices overrode
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  Speaker 1: everything else. Her heart nearly stopped at the spike of adrenaline.
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  Speaker 1: Mm hmm, she whispered, in Madison's ear, pulling him closer.
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  Speaker 1: She propped herself up as much as she could, trying
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  Speaker 1: to get a glimpse at the windshield. Her eyes felt
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  Speaker 1: too wide, her ears strained in an attempt to figure
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  Speaker 1: out how many were speaking and how close they were.
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  Speaker 1: Madison shifted, trying to sit up, but Tilda held him down. No,
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  Speaker 1: stay there, Okay, stay still and be quiet. Her whispered
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  Speaker 1: commands had more effect due to the quivering of her arms.
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  Speaker 1: Madison realized the seriousness of the situation, the gravity of
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  Speaker 1: it evident in her shaking. Two men outside the fence
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  Speaker 1: getting closer. She couldn't yet pick out any words, not
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  Speaker 1: enough to tell if they were enforcers. The barking had
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  Speaker 1: faded away, granting Tilda the tiniest liver of really dogs
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: would have sniffed them out immediately. It must have been
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  Speaker 1: a wild dog, perhaps barking as the men passed, Drawing
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  Speaker 1: tilt awake before the intruders could get too close. In
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  Speaker 1: her dream, the barking chased her, but this had been
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  Speaker 1: more of a warning. The sound of grating metal had
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  Speaker 1: Madison tensing in her hold. She drew a sharp breath,
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  Speaker 1: Debating different escape options, different pathways, but she could not
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  Speaker 1: see the end of any of them, could not foresee
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  Speaker 1: any one of them leading to success. She could hear
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: gravel crunching, could catch snatches of sentences graveyard. There's no
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  Speaker 1: one here. I'm telling you, there's somewhere across the river
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  Speaker 1: in Cleo Springs, if they're here at all, or miss
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  Speaker 1: out to check. The second voice was softer, sharper. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: dead already, anyone considered that. The second man replied, but
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  Speaker 1: Tilda couldn't make it out quick care anyway. Madison put
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  Speaker 1: his hands over his mouth, shaking himself. Now she shoosed
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  Speaker 1: him again. Probably dead, and good riddance. They're not dead.
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  Speaker 1: The men were close. A light danced by the windshield.
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  Speaker 1: Madison shuddered fearfully. Don't, Tilda breathed. She could see faint
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  Speaker 1: silhouettes now drawing closer. Con it's cold as out here.
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  Speaker 1: Shut up. The other man commanded authority, like tempered steel
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  Speaker 1: in his voice. Tilda's spine tingled with fear. An onslought
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  Speaker 1: of images of what they do to her and to
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  Speaker 1: Madison if they were caught, overwhelmed her senses. One of
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  Speaker 1: the men leveled his light at one of the cars
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  Speaker 1: in front of them, giving it a cursory inspection. Close
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  Speaker 1: your eyes, Tilda whispered, gently, turning Madison's face into the
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  Speaker 1: black upholstery. She pressed her cheek into his hair, half hidden,
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  Speaker 1: one eye darting wildly, taking in the two men. As
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  Speaker 1: they moved closer, all of her muscles tensed. They approached silently,
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  Speaker 1: both tall, outfitted in shades of black enforcers. The light
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  Speaker 1: hovered over the car in front of theirs. Tilda turned
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  Speaker 1: her face into medicine's soft hair to hide her pale
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  Speaker 1: skin from the light. The light passed over them, she
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: could see it through her eyelids. She'd fight, she promised herself,
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  Speaker 1: tooth and nail, but it wouldn't be enough. Both mother
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  Speaker 1: and child stopped breathing. The light darted away and back again,
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  Speaker 1: and in the distance, a dog howled. The light danced
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  Speaker 1: at the area just above Tilda's feet. Does that sound
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  Speaker 1: like it's getting closer to you? The question was steady, carefully,
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  Speaker 1: So are you frightened? The quieter and more controlled of
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  Speaker 1: the two scoffed disdainfully. A quick and vehement denial sprung
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  Speaker 1: to the other man's lips. No, but it would have
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  Speaker 1: scared our targets right, I'm telling you they're not here.
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  Speaker 1: The town isn't that far away. They would have kept going,
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  Speaker 1: but his partner interrupted, others are searching the town. We
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  Speaker 1: are searching here the handle, Tilda realized with the frantic clarity,
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  Speaker 1: if they look at the handle, they'll see where my
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  Speaker 1: hands mushed away the dust. She opened her eyes, long
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  Speaker 1: ceasing and anticipation of being discovered, of shouting, of never
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  Speaker 1: seeing medicine again. But the light shifted away, illuminating the
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  Speaker 1: car behind them. Tilda didn't move. Her muscles were so
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: tense she wasn't confident she'd be able to in ordered medicine.
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  Speaker 1: The enforcers continued to snipe at each other, but their
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  Speaker 1: bickering grew further and further away. Exhaling a shaky breath,
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  Speaker 1: Tilda went limp, all the strength draining from her body.
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  Speaker 1: Answer those questions pounding at her brain demanding her attention,
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  Speaker 1: but the chemical cocktail of her terror made it impossible
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  Speaker 1: to focus on anything but trying to breathe properly, to
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  Speaker 1: not collapse in on herself. In her arms, Madison took
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  Speaker 1: panicky breasts, his small frame trembling automatically Tilda lifted a
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  Speaker 1: wobbly hand and carted her fingers clumsily through the hair
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  Speaker 1: not concealed by his hood. She felt him begin to
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  Speaker 1: relax at her shaky efforts to provide comfort, eyes fuddling clothed.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: How many random events led to where they were, things
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  Speaker 1: seemingly inconsequential, stretching out and touching all around them, contracting
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  Speaker 1: and expanding time and lives and everything. A barking dog,
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  Speaker 1: a sound echoing across the fabric of existence. Tilda and
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  Speaker 1: Madison were spared, two lives, still there because of something
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  Speaker 1: so small, history, brick by brick, and every action. Tilda
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  Speaker 1: late a week, unable to calm, wanting the sun to come,
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  Speaker 1: but dreading it at the same time. Where would they go?
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  Speaker 1: The town was close, according to the two men, but
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  Speaker 1: the enforcers were there, searching, watching for who. She couldn't
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  Speaker 1: be sure, but something in her gut told her it
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  Speaker 1: was for her and her son. Either way, they were
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: still fugitives, but they desperately needed supplies. They couldn't go back.
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  Speaker 1: There was nothing to go back to, not with next
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  Speaker 1: to nothing. Straying into the woods would be too dangerous,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: bordering on suicidal, not ideal, But what choice do we have?
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  Speaker 1: The mantra held equal parts hysteria and desperate resignation. Unless
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  Speaker 1: she could think of another option, they'd have to go,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: though her mind wrestled with it until the Cicada's lulled
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  Speaker 1: in the twilight before dawn. She'd known deep down at
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: the very start there was no alternate solution. Denying it
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  Speaker 1: didn't help, but accepting it meant accepting that she was trapped,
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  Speaker 1: that she'd have to sneak into the town place sun
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: in danger to keep them both alive. It was a
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  Speaker 1: hell of a conundrum once you'd have to deal with
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  Speaker 1: like it or not. In the morning, her stomach grumbled,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: cramping painfully. Addison huddled in her arms. Cold sunlight broke
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  Speaker 1: over the horizon, slowly spilling cool light over the junkyard,
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  Speaker 1: the skeletons of cars casting long, menacing shadows. Tilda didn't
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  Speaker 1: blink for a long time, staring at the black seat
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  Speaker 1: in front of her is. The line of light steadily
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: rose until it reached the ceiling, bringing with it no warmth,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: only dread and hard decisions. A new day had begun,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: and that brings us to the end of Terminus Chapter two.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: And so look for chapter three next month. Um, we
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: we're moving right along, as they say, and I hope
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that I hope that you enjoyed it. As I said,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: this is a shorter This was a shorter chapter and
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: hopefully builds up some of the tension of what Tilda
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: is facing and what she is running from, um in
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: more of a a visual way, because she's there's sort
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: of the ongoing mental issues that she's running from, but
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: also the real world ones that are related, that are related.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Oh gosh, there's so much I want to talk about,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: but it comes later. But I would love if anybody
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: has any theories and what's about to happen, because this
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: is kind kind of it is a vulnerable thing for me.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I'm also sort of accepted. I'm happy to share it,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: I guess, even though I know it's not perfect, and
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: even though I know it has issues, it's something that
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I love writing fiction, I love audio fiction. I love
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: hearing what Christina does with it. So in a lot
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: of ways, this is very indulgent, but hopefully you are
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: enjoying it as well. So thanks as always for listening.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Thanks to you Samantha for the continued support. Yes, thanks
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: to Christina for being amazing and making these happen. And yeah,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: if there is anything in the fiction realm that is
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: in the public domain that you would like for us
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: to read, because I think we could. I would love
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: to do some branching out sometimes some special episodes. Um,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: I've been thinking about like fan fiction. I know we've
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: talked about that before, but that could be really fun.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Please send those suggestions our way. You can email as
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: a stuff and your mom stuff and I heart me
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: dot com. You can find us on Twitter at months
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: of podcast or Instagram and stuff I've never told you. Thanks.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: It's always to our super producer, Christina. Thank you, Christina,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. Stephaner told you the
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: protection to iHeart Radio. For more podcast from I Heart Radio,
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: you can check out the iHeart Radio Apple podcast or
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.