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

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. Welcome to stuff I've
0:07
Speaker 1: never told your production of iHeartRadio, and welcome to another
0:20
Speaker 1: edition of a Sminty fiction. As always, this is a
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Speaker 1: once a month thing that we do. It is ongoing,
0:28
Speaker 1: so we're technically in the second part of a trilogy,
0:33
Speaker 1: and all of them are multi chaptered. You can listen
0:36
Speaker 1: to whatever you want, but I suspect you'll be confused
0:39
Speaker 1: if you haven't listen to those other things. Yes, and
0:44
Speaker 1: once again, as I've talked about before, this chapter is
0:49
Speaker 1: split in two because it was just too long. It
0:54
Speaker 1: definitely was meant to go together, though, so if you
0:57
Speaker 1: are listening, you're like, oh, that was sort of now ending.
1:02
Speaker 1: The next part is already recorded and on the way,
1:06
Speaker 1: and it's a doomzy I have to say, we're getting
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Speaker 1: to like the action section. Yeah, the ending I've been
1:15
Speaker 1: teasing that is pretty good. I like it. A lot
1:20
Speaker 1: of you probably won't because it is a cliffigger mother rah.
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Speaker 1: As I said, we'll just move right into the third part.
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Speaker 1: You won't have to wait that long. But yes, this
1:29
Speaker 1: is something that I wrote. I believe this one is
1:31
Speaker 1: in twenty eleven. I wrote it as part of National
1:34
Speaker 1: Novel Writing Month, and it was a direct sequel to
1:39
Speaker 1: the last one. I'm calling it Terminus Part two for simplicity,
1:44
Speaker 1: but the original name is Big Things Start Small. So
1:50
Speaker 1: CW content warning, violence, disease, threats of violence, violence, storage children. Yes, yes,
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Speaker 1: I don't think anything's too in depth, but just put
2:05
Speaker 1: that out there. This is a very like apocalyptic dystopian story.
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Speaker 1: And I get if that's not your thing right now,
2:12
Speaker 1: but if somehow you're like me where it gives you
2:15
Speaker 1: some relief during dark times, then welcome, welcome, all right,
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Speaker 1: So quick recap. Humanity is dying out because of a
2:25
Speaker 1: disease that has impacted pregnancy and how people get pregnant,
2:30
Speaker 1: and that led in the United States to the collapse
2:33
Speaker 1: of the government and the forming of a new government
2:35
Speaker 1: called the State that is ran alongside a very very
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Speaker 1: conservative religious organization called arm and they control all aspects
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Speaker 1: of pregnancy, including who you can be with and where
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Speaker 1: a child will go if a child is born. Our
2:53
Speaker 1: main character, Tilda, got pregnant outside of a conception center
2:58
Speaker 1: illegally and escaped with her son. Madison. Has been on
3:03
Speaker 1: the run for about eight years at this point from
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Speaker 1: the government and It turns out that the leaders of
3:10
Speaker 1: ARM are Madison's grandparents, and they destroyed the vaccine because
3:16
Speaker 1: they think that humanity is getting punished for their sins, essentially,
3:21
Speaker 1: but they kept one and gave it to Madison. Tilda
3:26
Speaker 1: has escaped and broadcast out to the resistance that there
3:32
Speaker 1: is a vaccine and everybody's lying to you. Essentially, they're
3:36
Speaker 1: on the run. There's a mysterious man on the horse. I've
3:38
Speaker 1: been hinting at him for a long time. The winter
3:43
Speaker 1: is coming, their supplies are depleted, and they're just trying
3:47
Speaker 1: to find their way away from DC, which is where
3:51
Speaker 1: everyone is going, because that's where they heard the vaccine was.
3:56
Speaker 1: But yes, they are currently trying to find their way
4:01
Speaker 1: away from the man on the horse, although they did
4:03
Speaker 1: steal his horse, So now I guess he's just a man,
4:07
Speaker 1: a man without a horse. He's a man looking for
4:09
Speaker 1: his horse. He's a man looking for his horse. Well,
4:14
Speaker 1: that is where we are. Let's get into it. Reluctantly,
4:31
Speaker 1: Tilda shouldered her backpack on and untied Scout's reins from
4:35
Speaker 1: the pipe. Madison climbed up without a word from Tilda,
4:38
Speaker 1: and Tilda followed after him, her arms still weak, She
4:41
Speaker 1: directed the scout out from under the gas station, awning,
4:44
Speaker 1: and back out onto the road. Madison settled back against
4:48
Speaker 1: her torso in a way that indicated he intended to nap,
4:51
Speaker 1: which suited Tilda just fine. The more he slept, the
4:55
Speaker 1: less energy he'd need in the form of food, The
4:57
Speaker 1: less he'd be reminded about how he was still there
5:00
Speaker 1: even though he'd just drank, the less he'd worry. The
5:04
Speaker 1: more Tilda thought about the questions, the more Tilda realized
5:08
Speaker 1: how deeply he thought about things, how deeply he felt things,
5:12
Speaker 1: how much he worried about Mark, who had betrayed them,
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Speaker 1: about the man on the horse who had been tracking
5:17
Speaker 1: them for who knows what about Darla, who would have
5:20
Speaker 1: happily separated them and seen Tilda rot about all those
5:24
Speaker 1: people heading to DC in hopes of a vaccine following
5:28
Speaker 1: in Tilda's footsteps. Tilda had always assumed she was the
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Speaker 1: worrier of the two, but the more she tumbled it
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Speaker 1: around in her head, the more she thought that Madison
5:38
Speaker 1: must entertain more worries than she'd thought. A sign revealed
5:43
Speaker 1: that they were on four sixty West, a relatively flat,
5:46
Speaker 1: straight slab of worn asphalt, the paint chipped away. They
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Speaker 1: passed a dead animal on the side of the road.
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Speaker 1: Tilda suspected it was a coyote. Crows squawked angrily as
5:58
Speaker 1: they passed by, giving the carcass a wide berth. Tilda's
6:01
Speaker 1: stomach roiled, Madison's head lulled forward. Tilda would place a
6:06
Speaker 1: hand on his head and gently guide it back to
6:08
Speaker 1: her shoulder, where it would almost immediately droop forward again.
6:12
Speaker 1: Pine trees lined the side of the road, bandguards to concrete. Still,
6:17
Speaker 1: they didn't pass anyone. As the afternoon waned on, Madison
6:21
Speaker 1: stirred against her as she began looking for somewhere they
6:24
Speaker 1: could stay the night. Darkness fell so early as the
6:28
Speaker 1: winter fast approached, a specter growing in strength, eating warmth
6:32
Speaker 1: and light. The air grew steadily colder. Most of the
6:36
Speaker 1: exits they passed looked quite barren, no buildings in sight.
6:40
Speaker 1: Most likely these were exits to campgrounds or connectors to
6:43
Speaker 1: other roads that led to more civilization. They were very
6:47
Speaker 1: far from everything. Madison began shivering against her The breeze
6:52
Speaker 1: cut through their clothes, slicing cold, whistling in her ears,
6:56
Speaker 1: whipping her hair across her face. The mantra of war,
7:00
Speaker 1: what are we going to do again again? At a
7:03
Speaker 1: steady cadence, they came upon an exit that slaked downward
7:07
Speaker 1: in between the trees. Tilda could see a clustering of
7:10
Speaker 1: wooden houses with thatched roofs. The light grade as they
7:14
Speaker 1: followed the exit downward a ramp that descended parallel to
7:17
Speaker 1: the main road. When they reached the intersection at the
7:20
Speaker 1: end of the exit, Tilda veered to right, and then
7:22
Speaker 1: the first the left. The grouping of cabins ash colored
7:27
Speaker 1: or in a fenced in enclosure. There was a lake
7:30
Speaker 1: behind the houses and the complex itself, separated by a
7:32
Speaker 1: stone bridge. On the left was a barn like structure,
7:36
Speaker 1: an open wooden frame. Tilda guided Scout to the cabin
7:39
Speaker 1: furthest from the exit. It was shuttered, the windows boarded up,
7:43
Speaker 1: making it impossible to see inside. For the first time
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Speaker 1: in a long time. Tilta word that someone might be inside,
7:50
Speaker 1: still living, ready to defend their property, meager though it
7:54
Speaker 1: may be, with their life. She clumsily dismounted from Scout,
7:58
Speaker 1: instructing Madison to wait for her on Scout's back in
8:01
Speaker 1: case they needed to make a quick getaway. While she
8:03
Speaker 1: checked out the cabin. The door swung open, easily, creepily silent.
8:10
Speaker 1: The air felt heavy. Inside was swallowing darkness, with only
8:14
Speaker 1: stripes of light coming through the slots of wood over
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Speaker 1: the windows. There stood some rickety barren furniture. It was
8:22
Speaker 1: one story, with an arched roof interspersed with thick beams
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Speaker 1: avoid There was a plain kitchen, small and square, a
8:29
Speaker 1: combined dining and living area, a closet with rough and
8:33
Speaker 1: brightly colored moth eaten blankets, and a bedroom with a
8:36
Speaker 1: squat queen bed and a chest of drawers. Attached to
8:40
Speaker 1: it was another tiny closet and a bathroom. There was
8:44
Speaker 1: no back door. Tilda re emerged outside. The wind had
8:49
Speaker 1: picked up considerably, snow flirring around Madison and Scout, who
8:54
Speaker 1: was pawing the ground nervously tilted to a quick survey
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Speaker 1: of the house and found no generator to be expected.
9:01
Speaker 1: She still could barely believe they'd found a working, still
9:04
Speaker 1: fueled up one at the last cabin they crashed in.
9:07
Speaker 1: She circled around the other side of the house to
9:09
Speaker 1: be sure, but found nothing of use. A blast of
9:13
Speaker 1: wind nearly knocked her off her feet as she rounded
9:15
Speaker 1: the corner. Scout shuffled a bit to the side, and
9:17
Speaker 1: Madison pressed himself against her neck to minimize the chance
9:20
Speaker 1: of getting blown off his feet. Hopefully this wind was
9:24
Speaker 1: that and nothing more. They didn't need another snow storm
9:27
Speaker 1: on top of everything else. Tilda grabbed Madison around the waist,
9:32
Speaker 1: waiting for him to steady himself before gesturing for him
9:34
Speaker 1: to go inside. He yelled over the gale, what about Scout?
9:39
Speaker 1: Tilda wavered. They couldn't leave Scout out here. The cold
9:43
Speaker 1: was too biting, the wind too strong. There was what
9:47
Speaker 1: looked like a barn, but it was on the opposite
9:48
Speaker 1: side of the pasture, while not too far. Tilda would
9:51
Speaker 1: like to have Scout closer by in case they needed
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Speaker 1: to make a quick getaway, and she didn't fancy drapesing
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Speaker 1: over there in the weather. Did horses stay in houses?
10:03
Speaker 1: This one did, apparently. Inside, Tilda shouted, She'll stay with us.
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Speaker 1: Madison nodded, not wasting another second, and pounding up the
10:13
Speaker 1: stairs and inside the door, vanishing within the darkness of
10:16
Speaker 1: the house. Tilda negotiated a reluctant Scout up the stairs
10:19
Speaker 1: and through the doorway, releasing the reins and forcing the
10:22
Speaker 1: door shut behind them and toombing them in darkness. Tilda
10:26
Speaker 1: twisted the lock, but it still wouldn't slide home. She
10:29
Speaker 1: jiggled the door in the frame, braced her hip against it,
10:32
Speaker 1: until finally it clicked into place. It was very nearly
10:36
Speaker 1: pitch black, with only the last stregs of light shining
10:39
Speaker 1: meekly through the boarded up windows. The Scout remained unmoved
10:43
Speaker 1: to watching Tilda. Tilda gripped the reins and led her
10:46
Speaker 1: into the living area, which was bare save for a
10:49
Speaker 1: square dining table with four chairs and an oval red rug.
10:53
Speaker 1: Once Tilda let go of the reins, Scout lowered herself
10:56
Speaker 1: to her knees. Tilda spotted two candles on the fire
11:00
Speaker 1: placed mantle on the far left of the room. She
11:02
Speaker 1: stepped around Scout to fetch them, placing their tarnished gold
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Speaker 1: candlelabras on the dining table and setting her pack down
11:09
Speaker 1: in one of the chairs. She then zipped the front
11:12
Speaker 1: pocket and dug around until she located her matches with
11:15
Speaker 1: her teeth. She tugged off her gloves to better grip
11:18
Speaker 1: the box and the match, and struck it along the side.
11:23
Speaker 1: It flared till life, but almost immediately extinguished. Tilda held
11:27
Speaker 1: the wick of the candle up to the match, where
11:29
Speaker 1: it oh so slowly caught, and then did the same
11:32
Speaker 1: for the other one. Orange light flickered along the barren
11:36
Speaker 1: wooden paneling, offering meager luminance. Tilda replaced her gloves and
11:41
Speaker 1: held out her hand for Madison, who rushed to grasp it.
11:45
Speaker 1: They crept into the kitchen, hold this please. Tilda passed
11:50
Speaker 1: the candle to Madison, who took it with a careful reverence.
11:53
Speaker 1: Tilda opened the refrigerator, but it was absolutely empty. She
11:57
Speaker 1: shut it, turning her attention to the cabinets. Nothing not
12:01
Speaker 1: a pot, ort, pan, cup, mug, bowl, plate, nothing. With
12:06
Speaker 1: growing concern, Tilda checked under the sink. Nothing. The wind
12:13
Speaker 1: howled outside, follow me. Together they explored the closet, finding
12:18
Speaker 1: only the blanket Tilda had discovered earlier, and a broom
12:22
Speaker 1: a couple more candles, which Tilda gathered into her hands.
12:26
Speaker 1: There was nothing in the bedroom apart from the bed,
12:28
Speaker 1: not even artwork or a bible, as Tilda had grown
12:31
Speaker 1: accustomed to finding. The bathroom yielded a thread worn towel,
12:36
Speaker 1: at washcloth, a comb. This house was empty. She turned
12:42
Speaker 1: to look at Madison, his face illuminated with dancing orange
12:45
Speaker 1: and yellow, watching her solemnly. We'll sleep in the breadroom
12:49
Speaker 1: to night. Scouts already found a place. What if she
12:53
Speaker 1: gets cold, Madison whispered, the light flickering with his breath.
12:57
Speaker 1: We'll give her that blanket we found in the closet.
13:00
Speaker 1: Tilda reopened the closet door and pulled out the scratchy blanket.
13:03
Speaker 1: She could see why. It was one of the few
13:05
Speaker 1: things that whoever occupied this space before them had left.
13:10
Speaker 1: Madison followed her a morbid specter. As she draped the
13:13
Speaker 1: blanket around Scouted. She glanced again at the boarded up windows.
13:17
Speaker 1: It did not bode well that someone had clearly tried
13:20
Speaker 1: to make a last stand here and had to board
13:22
Speaker 1: up their windows against marauders or something of that nature,
13:26
Speaker 1: and then had packed up and left the place entirely.
13:30
Speaker 1: Tilda could only speculate if it had to do with
13:32
Speaker 1: the lack of resources or something more sinister. The candle
13:36
Speaker 1: they'd left on the table shivered. Tilda took a seat
13:39
Speaker 1: in one of their rickety chairs it creaked under her weight,
13:42
Speaker 1: and scanned what she could see of the darkness outside.
13:45
Speaker 1: But she couldn't make anything out, just the dark shapes
13:48
Speaker 1: of tree branches bending and swaying in the wind. Madison
13:53
Speaker 1: took a seat opposite her, his legs dangling above the floor,
13:56
Speaker 1: and he placed his candle carefully in front of him,
13:59
Speaker 1: his face swathed and shadow. Tilda pulled out two short
14:03
Speaker 1: bottles of water and some peanuts and pretzels as an
14:06
Speaker 1: offering for dinner. They crunched away, Tilda trying to summon
14:10
Speaker 1: any information she had on marauders. Things had surely gotten
14:14
Speaker 1: more desperate in the seven years since she escaped with Madison.
14:18
Speaker 1: Her parents had protected her from most of the news
14:20
Speaker 1: broadcast about them while she was growing up, though next
14:22
Speaker 1: to none of them occurred in cities with Conception centers,
14:26
Speaker 1: including her hometown of Atlanta and d C. But she
14:31
Speaker 1: did remember the ring of land around Conception centers being
14:34
Speaker 1: particularly rife with them, especially DC, since most of the
14:38
Speaker 1: resources were focused there, robbing those traveling to and from
14:42
Speaker 1: the city had a higher probability of yielding something useful
14:46
Speaker 1: than those out wandering the roads. In the Midwest, they
14:49
Speaker 1: were even known to hold up trains and vehicles. Tilda
14:54
Speaker 1: had always been far more concerned with enforcers in the
14:57
Speaker 1: state and arm to give marauders much thought. As far
15:00
Speaker 1: as she knew, they never encountered any not in a
15:02
Speaker 1: pack anyway, A couple of stragglers, roadside thieves, but not
15:07
Speaker 1: the roving group that planned train robberies. She couldn't imagine
15:11
Speaker 1: they'd be out there, she thought, the pretzel like dust
15:14
Speaker 1: in her mouth. But then again, they were relatively close
15:17
Speaker 1: to d C. The voice in her head reminded her,
15:21
Speaker 1: perhaps they'd moved on. Whatever had happened here most likely
15:24
Speaker 1: had happened years ago. If the dust was anything to
15:27
Speaker 1: go by, and it could be nothing. Maybe there was
15:31
Speaker 1: no food. Maybe the previous residents had decided to give
15:34
Speaker 1: a city a chance. After all, she was reading too
15:37
Speaker 1: much from boarded up windows, that's all. Nevertheless, she doubted
15:43
Speaker 1: she'd be getting much sleep tonight once their meal was done,
15:47
Speaker 1: but not with it their hunger were they ever going
15:50
Speaker 1: to be truly satiated. Tilda had it back on her
15:54
Speaker 1: pack and took both the candles. Madison huddled in the
15:57
Speaker 1: ring of light forming like a bubble around her. As
16:00
Speaker 1: they made their grim procession back to the bedroom. The
16:04
Speaker 1: house shuddered around them with another gust of wind. Tilda
16:09
Speaker 1: set a candle on each bedside nightstand and sat on
16:11
Speaker 1: the edge of the mattress to rest off her boots.
16:14
Speaker 1: She could hear Madison doing the same beside her. Tilda
16:17
Speaker 1: wriggled and stretched her toes that were starting to feel
16:20
Speaker 1: like webbed, wrinkled, deformed parasites attached to her feet. She
16:25
Speaker 1: just wanted them to feel like toes again. She hand
16:28
Speaker 1: zipped her out her jacket and hung it on the door,
16:31
Speaker 1: and switched out her socks, handing a fresh pair to
16:33
Speaker 1: Madison as well, Doing her best not to draw Madison's
16:37
Speaker 1: attention to it. She took the gun from her waistband
16:40
Speaker 1: and placed it on the nightstand table, putting a good
16:42
Speaker 1: distance between it and the candle, just in case. She
16:45
Speaker 1: checked earlier, making sure it was fully loaded. She hoped
16:49
Speaker 1: with everything she was she wouldn't have to use it,
16:51
Speaker 1: but she knew better than to not take precautions. Everything
16:55
Speaker 1: else she left on, pulling back the starchy blanket and
16:58
Speaker 1: bedsheets and wriggling beneath them back on the hard mattress,
17:02
Speaker 1: her eyes closed, automatically exhausted, even if her mind was
17:05
Speaker 1: an electric wire of dull fear, the kind that plaques
17:09
Speaker 1: you so persistently, you almost forget it's there. Madison climbed
17:14
Speaker 1: under the covers after her, pressing himself against her side.
17:17
Speaker 1: The wind howled and whistled outside, till to swore she
17:21
Speaker 1: could hear the cold of it. She fell into a
17:24
Speaker 1: half sleep of poorly formed images blown away and re
17:27
Speaker 1: formed with the sounds of wind, worry that was almost
17:31
Speaker 1: a corporeal presence, whispering, a shadow darker than darkness, corroding
17:36
Speaker 1: her nerves. The dim light of the candles danced against
17:40
Speaker 1: her lids, hankering her to the edge of wakefulness. She
17:46
Speaker 1: felt trapped just beneath the surface of consciousness. She was
17:50
Speaker 1: flat on her back like a corpse, unable to move.
17:54
Speaker 1: Her blood thundered in her ears. The blankets somehow remained cold,
17:58
Speaker 1: resistant to her body heat. Madison was huddled against her
18:04
Speaker 1: The candles faded and flickered out. She finally relinquished her
18:08
Speaker 1: hold on consciousness. When she next became aware, she was
18:15
Speaker 1: staring at weathered wood in a way that made it
18:17
Speaker 1: impossible to know how long she'd been awake, and staring
18:20
Speaker 1: aimlessly at it. She blinked. Her eyes were dry. The
18:26
Speaker 1: wind had died down, The room was simulate till it
18:30
Speaker 1: exhaled fuzzy. Her whole body was stiff. When she twisted
18:34
Speaker 1: her neck to face the ceiling, it criacked. It was
18:38
Speaker 1: disconcerting to have no idea what time it was, to
18:41
Speaker 1: feel like you'd got no sleep, even though you'd just
18:44
Speaker 1: woken up from who knows how long a stretch of unconsciousness.
18:48
Speaker 1: She blinked again, remembering a vague dream she'd had that
18:51
Speaker 1: when she woke and made to leave this cabin, she'd
18:55
Speaker 1: opened the door to a shrieking nothingness, as if everything
18:58
Speaker 1: had been eroded away by the howling winds, just dirt
19:02
Speaker 1: like ash as far as the eye could see. Are
19:06
Speaker 1: you awake? Came a soft voice in her ear. With effort,
19:11
Speaker 1: Tilda turned her head again to face Madison, who was
19:13
Speaker 1: curled up on his side, watching her with wide eyes.
19:17
Speaker 1: How long have you been awake? She returned as an answer.
19:21
Speaker 1: Madison shrugged, biting his lip his stomic growled. Tilda pushed
19:27
Speaker 1: herself up into a sitting position, scrubbing her face a beat.
19:32
Speaker 1: She heard a snort of breath from Scout in the
19:34
Speaker 1: living area. Then she swung her legs over the edge
19:37
Speaker 1: and out from beneath the blankets, the wooden floor cold,
19:40
Speaker 1: even through the fabric of her socks bracing She heaved
19:44
Speaker 1: herself up to her feet, slid the gun back into
19:47
Speaker 1: its place in her waistband, in clothes that felt like
19:50
Speaker 1: they'd molded to her body as a second skin, and
19:52
Speaker 1: collected her jacket, boots, and backpack, carrying them down the
19:56
Speaker 1: hall and depositing them next to the chair. She collapsed
19:59
Speaker 1: into her body, sore. Scout was in the same position
20:03
Speaker 1: she'd been in when Tilda had last seen her. Judging
20:07
Speaker 1: by the light filtering through the boards, it was on
20:09
Speaker 1: the cusp of mid morning, the latest they slept in
20:13
Speaker 1: a while, which figured given their restless night. Tilda retrieved
20:16
Speaker 1: the customary two bottles of water and a pack of
20:19
Speaker 1: pop tarts, which they split blueberry flavored. The refrain of
20:23
Speaker 1: fear had picked up, not missing a beat. It made
20:26
Speaker 1: her not want to finish eating her pop tart, her
20:28
Speaker 1: churning stomach overpowering the hunger. She gazed through the gaps
20:32
Speaker 1: between the wood watching, looking for some sign that would
20:36
Speaker 1: confirm the crescendo of anxiety rising with each beat of
20:39
Speaker 1: her heart, Anticipating what Madison's first question would be Tilda
20:43
Speaker 1: cleared her throat and said, we'll check the barn before
20:46
Speaker 1: we leave. There may be something there for Scout to
20:49
Speaker 1: eat besides the grass. Madison nodded, and they began the
20:53
Speaker 1: process of cold proofing themselves as much as possible, relayering
20:57
Speaker 1: and zipping and buttoning and tying. The mele of horse,
21:00
Speaker 1: combined with the stuffy air in the room, made Tilda
21:02
Speaker 1: a little lightheaded. As they geared up, Scout, probably sensing
21:07
Speaker 1: they were about to leave by all the movement, hoisted
21:09
Speaker 1: herself up, with her hind legs out of place, standing
21:12
Speaker 1: next to the fireplace, Ready, Tilda asked, wiggling her fingers
21:16
Speaker 1: in her gloves, prepared to set out and leave this
21:19
Speaker 1: place behind them, Madison nodded quickly, apparently as eager as
21:23
Speaker 1: she was. While this place had offered shelter, it had
21:26
Speaker 1: not offered a sense of safety. Taking a breath, the
21:29
Speaker 1: image in her dreams flashing in her mind's eye unwanted,
21:34
Speaker 1: Tilda swung open the door, practically sagging in relief at
21:37
Speaker 1: the side of the trees and cabins and a whole
21:39
Speaker 1: wide world of not nothing. But it was short lived.
21:44
Speaker 1: She spun on her heels to fetch Scout's reins, but
21:46
Speaker 1: Madison had beaten her to it. The straps of leather
21:49
Speaker 1: clutched in a small fist. Tilda gave her son a
21:52
Speaker 1: smile and stepped into the cold and down icy stairs.
21:56
Speaker 1: Scout's hoofs pounded behind her. Tilda crossed her adjusting to
22:01
Speaker 1: the cold from relative warmth was always the most difficult part,
22:05
Speaker 1: and forged a horizontal path across the field, stopping next
22:08
Speaker 1: to the stone bridge to allow Scout to lap up
22:11
Speaker 1: some of the freshly unfrozen stream water. Feeling incredibly exposed
22:15
Speaker 1: in the whiteness of the snow and the openness of
22:17
Speaker 1: the field, Tilda's scanned assessed her neck, swiveling her eyes,
22:22
Speaker 1: darting this way and that. When Scout was satisfied, Tilda
22:27
Speaker 1: took the reins and led her across the stone bridge,
22:30
Speaker 1: Madison not far behind, traversing the rest of the distance
22:33
Speaker 1: to the barn. Inside were massive wooden beams and basic stables.
22:38
Speaker 1: Against one wall were tools hung by tool racks and hooks,
22:42
Speaker 1: and a pitchfork. Tilda released her hold on the reins
22:46
Speaker 1: and peaked in the stables, finding nothing but buckets and troughs.
22:51
Speaker 1: A pair of discarded stirrups and a horse crop, nothing
22:54
Speaker 1: of use. She turned her attention to a wooden tool
22:58
Speaker 1: bench jutting from the wall. Up at her there was
23:01
Speaker 1: what looked to be a large metal fishing hook on
23:03
Speaker 1: the table. Inspecting under the table revealed nothing, as well,
23:09
Speaker 1: I found something. Madison's decoration caused Tilda to shoot up,
23:13
Speaker 1: banging her head into the table with the thunk, Stars
23:16
Speaker 1: blinked in and out of existence in front of her.
23:18
Speaker 1: Fireworks of light concurrent with the throbbing pain. She hissed,
23:22
Speaker 1: rubbing the spot and straightening much more carefully. She turned
23:26
Speaker 1: to face him. He was biting his lip guiltily. What
23:31
Speaker 1: is it? Mouse? He held out a leather satchel that
23:34
Speaker 1: was tied underneath a scout's saddle by a cord. Tilda
23:38
Speaker 1: furrowed her brow. They'd been riding Scout for several days
23:42
Speaker 1: now and she hadn't noticed that. Where'd you find it?
23:46
Speaker 1: She took the back from him, turned it over in
23:48
Speaker 1: her hands. It was under the saddle. Tilda loosened the pouch,
23:53
Speaker 1: opening it. Inside was a hefty amount of pellets horse food.
23:58
Speaker 1: Tilda assumed. A thrill of anticipation shot through her. What
24:03
Speaker 1: if there was another one, hold out your hands. Madison
24:07
Speaker 1: cupped his hands dutifully, and she filled them with pellets. Confused,
24:11
Speaker 1: he looked up at her. It's food for Scout. Go
24:14
Speaker 1: feed her. Let her eat from your hand. She'll come
24:18
Speaker 1: to you. Madison bounced around to Scout's front, offering out
24:22
Speaker 1: his hands. The horse immediately started eating, somehow, taking what
24:27
Speaker 1: appeared to be only a few pellets at a time.
24:29
Speaker 1: Tilda had worried she'd eat them all in one massive chump.
24:34
Speaker 1: Tilda pulled the strings of the pouch tot and re
24:37
Speaker 1: secured it under Scout's saddle, investigating underneath as she did so.
24:41
Speaker 1: Finding nothing else, she turned her attention to the other
24:43
Speaker 1: side of the saddle, finding a smaller pouch with enthusiastic fingers,
24:48
Speaker 1: she opened it and reached inside, pulling out a lighter,
24:51
Speaker 1: a pocket knife, and a golden pocket watch. Tilda stared
24:55
Speaker 1: at it, wondering why the man on the horse would
24:57
Speaker 1: have had this time, had no real mis anymore apart
25:01
Speaker 1: from how many hours of daylight lefts how many more
25:04
Speaker 1: days of winter and it was still ticking. It had
25:08
Speaker 1: been such a long time since she'd read Roman numerals,
25:10
Speaker 1: much less a clock face that it took Tilda a
25:13
Speaker 1: minute to discern the time eight forty seven. Tilda ran
25:18
Speaker 1: her fingers along the side, pushing in the knob at
25:20
Speaker 1: the top. It opened with a click, the clock face
25:23
Speaker 1: detaching from its back. Tilda used her thumb to swing
25:26
Speaker 1: it open, revealing a tarnished golden inside a locket, an
25:31
Speaker 1: empty one. She looked over at Madison, his face shining
25:35
Speaker 1: as he watched Scout nibble her mystery horse pellets. She
25:39
Speaker 1: snapped the locket shut, slipping it back into the pouch
25:41
Speaker 1: and closing it along with the lighter. Again. She wondered
25:45
Speaker 1: about the horse's previous owner. Why would he have this?
25:48
Speaker 1: Was it possible that he'd stole them Scout, who had
25:51
Speaker 1: had an owner who called her by a different name,
25:54
Speaker 1: and this locket belonged to that person, Or going back
25:57
Speaker 1: even further, Scout could have passed hands multiple time. Horses
26:01
Speaker 1: were extremely valuable out in the wilderness that was much
26:03
Speaker 1: of the abandoned former United States these days. Tilda regarded
26:07
Speaker 1: Scout warily, fully appreciating for the first time not only
26:11
Speaker 1: the situation she'd left the previous owner in, but also
26:15
Speaker 1: what a target it made them. Yet she didn't think
26:18
Speaker 1: they'd be better off without Scout, especially not with the
26:20
Speaker 1: winters so rapidly descending on them. All done, she asked,
26:26
Speaker 1: and Madison hummed affirmatively, clapping his hands together to get
26:29
Speaker 1: rid of the crumbs. I want to give you this.
26:33
Speaker 1: She held out, the plastic encased pocket knife. What is it,
26:38
Speaker 1: Madison inquired, It's a knife. He looked at her, waiting
26:42
Speaker 1: for the punchline. Tilda chuckled. See this button on the side,
26:48
Speaker 1: She indicated with her gloved finger. You slide it up
26:51
Speaker 1: and swished to clack. The knife swung out in a
26:53
Speaker 1: quarter circle. Madison gasped, eyes wide. It was decently sized,
26:59
Speaker 1: a little long, then Tilda's pointer finger. Then you just
27:03
Speaker 1: slide it back in place, carefully so you don't cut yourself. Click.
27:08
Speaker 1: The blade returned to his plastic sheath. Madison took it
27:13
Speaker 1: from her cautiously, Why, he asked, holding the knife in
27:18
Speaker 1: his hands like an offering, just in case, try it
27:23
Speaker 1: out nervously. Madison pushed the button and slid it forward.
27:28
Speaker 1: The blade arcd out. Madison watched wide eyed. Tilda told
27:32
Speaker 1: him to snap it back into place, and he complied slowly,
27:35
Speaker 1: his gloved hands quivering. Don't use it unless I tell
27:38
Speaker 1: you to keep it in your jacket pocket. He obeyed.
27:44
Speaker 1: It won't pop out and stab me, will it, No,
27:48
Speaker 1: Tilda assured him. Now, come on, let's get going. It
27:52
Speaker 1: was almost nine after all. She helped Madison up onto
27:56
Speaker 1: Scouts back and then followed suit, pulling hard right on
28:00
Speaker 1: the rains. They returned the way. They came up the
28:02
Speaker 1: icy ramp and back into the highway. Heading west. It
28:06
Speaker 1: was yet another and a long line of cloudy days.
28:11
Speaker 1: These clouds were pillowy, like tufts of cotton, all connected
28:14
Speaker 1: and blocking out the sun. They passed a couple more exits,
28:17
Speaker 1: none of them looking promising in terms of food or
28:20
Speaker 1: water or shelter. Most everything she could see from the
28:23
Speaker 1: highway it looked ransacked, whether by nature or humans. As
28:28
Speaker 1: a rule, she didn't venture too far down roads. I
28:30
Speaker 1: add no sign there would be anything of value down them.
28:33
Speaker 1: Barring extreme circumstances, she didn't wander. In other words, she
28:39
Speaker 1: didn't explore. They didn't have the resources to take the risk.
28:43
Speaker 1: Sometimes you could get a good gauge of an exit
28:46
Speaker 1: by the signs depicting the lodging, restaurant and gas options.
28:50
Speaker 1: Even when you couldn't see these things from the main
28:52
Speaker 1: road if the signs were still legible. But most of
28:55
Speaker 1: the signs they were passing today just had a heading
28:58
Speaker 1: with no options underneath. Not that the sign had been
29:01
Speaker 1: stripped away by weather, but that there had never been
29:04
Speaker 1: anything other than the heading in the first place, not
29:07
Speaker 1: for the first time till to wish she had a map.
29:10
Speaker 1: It probably wouldn't do her a whole lot of good,
29:12
Speaker 1: but at least she could check if the road she
29:14
Speaker 1: was taking lead anywhere connected to anything. Madison jolted against
29:18
Speaker 1: her immediately. She was on highlert. What she demanded, half
29:23
Speaker 1: reaching back for a pistol, her eyes searching the tree line,
29:26
Speaker 1: the asphalt ahead of them. Nothing. I just thought it
29:32
Speaker 1: was nothing. His stuttering response did not calm her fears.
29:37
Speaker 1: She scammed the trees again, looking for anything moving against
29:40
Speaker 1: the white, snowy backdrop between dark tree trunks. Jerkily, she
29:45
Speaker 1: retook scouts reins. The horse snorted till to push her
29:50
Speaker 1: into a quick trot unnerved. The day warmed as it
29:54
Speaker 1: progressed the warmest it had been in a while. Signs
29:57
Speaker 1: began popping up, semiregularly, announcing their increased proximity to a
30:01
Speaker 1: city called Roanoke. Tilda debated with herself about venturing into
30:05
Speaker 1: the city, but decided against it. They were still too
30:09
Speaker 1: close to DC. Maybe if they passed a promising exit
30:14
Speaker 1: on the outskirts. Maybe. And that brings us to the
30:38
Speaker 1: end of this chapter. I hope that you enjoyed it.
30:42
Speaker 1: And again I've talked about this before. It is very
30:45
Speaker 1: comical to me rereading these because I just remember so
30:49
Speaker 1: clearly where I was when I wrote it right, and
30:53
Speaker 1: I once again was fascinated with directions. I can tell oh,
31:00
Speaker 1: I was looking up the maps. I was like worried
31:03
Speaker 1: about getting it right or wrong. And a part of
31:06
Speaker 1: this is, interestingly, as the Fallout TV show has become
31:12
Speaker 1: really popular. I was playing Fallout at this time and
31:15
Speaker 1: they in one of their games, they have the map
31:19
Speaker 1: of Washington, DC and it's accurate, and I used that map.
31:25
Speaker 1: The part of this is Fallout at bast even though
31:28
Speaker 1: it still scraps the Last of Us to me funny
31:30
Speaker 1: the Last of Us hadn't come out yet, but very
31:32
Speaker 1: similar in a lot of ways. Also, the names. I'm
31:36
Speaker 1: just so amused by the names I use because I
31:41
Speaker 1: know exactly who I was thinking about what I write them.
31:45
Speaker 1: But in this chatter like things like Roanoke come up,
31:48
Speaker 1: which clearly, if you're someone like me who is big
31:52
Speaker 1: into horror, you've heard the story of Roanoke, Like, oh yeah, yeah,
31:56
Speaker 1: a bunch of things like that. I will say a teaser.
32:01
Speaker 1: We don't normally do teasers, but in the next chapter.
32:05
Speaker 1: The next chapter is pretty intense. It's got that action. Okay,
32:09
Speaker 1: it's got some some things happening, things were happening, but
32:13
Speaker 1: you'll have to wait a month to find out, which
32:19
Speaker 1: I know some people cannot stand, but I like the anticipation.
32:24
Speaker 1: All right, well, listeners, I hope that you enjoyed it.
32:26
Speaker 1: As always here shout out to Christina who makes these
32:30
Speaker 1: amazing amazing. We do enjoy doing these. So if there's
32:34
Speaker 1: anything like this that you would like us to try,
32:36
Speaker 1: please send us a suggestion. You can email us. Its
32:39
Speaker 1: Stephanie mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can find
32:42
Speaker 1: us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, or on Instagram
32:44
Speaker 1: and TikTok at stuff I Never told you. We are
32:46
Speaker 1: also on YouTube, and we have a Tapeltic store, and
32:49
Speaker 1: we have a book you can get wherever you get
32:51
Speaker 1: your books. Thanks, it's always too, our super producer Christina
32:54
Speaker 1: are excited to Pruser Meyer and our contributor Joey. Thank
32:57
Speaker 1: you and thanks to you for listening. Steffan never told
32:59
Speaker 1: me his books of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from
33:01
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, you can check out the Heart Radio
33:02
Speaker 1: Apple podcast wherever you listen to your favorite shows