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SMNTY Fiction: Terminus, Part 3 (Chapter 4) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is any and Samantha. I'm f the stuff.
0:07
Speaker 1: Won't ever told you protection if I hurt radio, and
0:18
Speaker 1: welcome back to Santy Fiction. It's been a while. It's
0:22
Speaker 1: been a while. We took a little hiatus, but we
0:26
Speaker 1: are back. This is a once a month thing generally
0:30
Speaker 1: that we do. It's ongoing right now. We're in the middle,
0:35
Speaker 1: we're in the third part of a trilogy, and we're
0:38
Speaker 1: in the final stretch. We are in the final stretch.
0:41
Speaker 1: Everyone Christina puts extra work into these. It makes them amazing,
0:48
Speaker 1: so as always, shout out to her, but also understand
0:51
Speaker 1: if this isn't your thing. Also, apologies because it has
0:55
Speaker 1: been a minute and I'm I would suggest going back
1:00
Speaker 1: to listen to the last episode, but I'm going to
1:02
Speaker 1: try to give you a really good recap. So content
1:08
Speaker 1: warning mentioned child endangerment, disease into the world type stuff.
1:14
Speaker 1: There's nothing too intense in this chapter, but just to
1:22
Speaker 1: say that will be there. Also disclaimer, I didn't know
1:27
Speaker 1: I was going to have to put into anything I've
1:29
Speaker 1: ever written. I have driven motorcycles before, but it's been
1:34
Speaker 1: a long time, so forgive me if I got some
1:39
Speaker 1: things wrong. That's very specific and funny. Yeah, I was
1:45
Speaker 1: reading good. I was like, I don't know, maybe that's right.
1:47
Speaker 1: I can't remember, but when I wrote it, I had
1:50
Speaker 1: ridden a motorcycle much more recently, so anyway, I also
1:55
Speaker 1: know it's not as easy as described, so please don't yell.
1:58
Speaker 1: Let me. Bella can do it. So can I. You know,
2:04
Speaker 1: I've been thinking, we haven't finished our we got to
2:07
Speaker 1: our twilight. We got to wrap it up. We have to. Also,
2:11
Speaker 1: I wrote this during Eno Rama, which is no longer
2:13
Speaker 1: a thing, and some of you have written in about it.
2:16
Speaker 1: It dissolved and sounds like it was a long time coming.
2:20
Speaker 1: People are trying to start up more local versions of it,
2:23
Speaker 1: so check into that if you're interested. But basically that
2:28
Speaker 1: for those who don't know, you would write a novel
2:31
Speaker 1: during the month of November. It didn't have to be great.
2:36
Speaker 1: And this is one of the things I wrote during
2:38
Speaker 1: that and I've only very lightly edited it because I
2:42
Speaker 1: wanted to see what I was going through when I
2:45
Speaker 1: was thinking during it. But all right, here's the recap.
2:50
Speaker 1: It has been a minute. So there is a disease
2:54
Speaker 1: called HSB five that has pretty much decimated the human population. Basically,
2:59
Speaker 1: it makes it hard for people to get pregnant. It's
3:02
Speaker 1: a sort of one and done situation. So the government,
3:05
Speaker 1: which is called the state in here, has set up
3:08
Speaker 1: these conception centers, which are the only legal place to
3:13
Speaker 1: try to have a baby. They work alongside the religious
3:16
Speaker 1: entity ARM, and if a baby is born, they decide
3:19
Speaker 1: where the baby goes. Our protagonist, Tilda, decides to run
3:23
Speaker 1: off with her child, Madison, who was produced illegally. For
3:28
Speaker 1: seven years, they evaded the enforcers searching for them, eventually
3:32
Speaker 1: encountering a resistance and learning that ARM was responsible for
3:36
Speaker 1: HSB five and that there had been a vaccine, but
3:39
Speaker 1: they destroyed all but one. Tilda and Madison go to
3:43
Speaker 1: the heart of the enemy in Washington, d C. To
3:46
Speaker 1: try to retrieve it, and it turns out that the
3:48
Speaker 1: founders of ARM are Madison's paternal grandparents and they've been
3:52
Speaker 1: saving the vaccine for him. He gets it, but then
3:55
Speaker 1: a skirmish ensues and Tilda is able to broadcast the
3:59
Speaker 1: truth over the brick gas system and escapes. They are
4:02
Speaker 1: then pursued not only by the state and the resistance,
4:06
Speaker 1: who wants Madison to make a cure, but also new
4:10
Speaker 1: enemies who seek to harm them Madison struggles with guilt
4:13
Speaker 1: over the vaccine. That pair are attacked by a militaristic
4:17
Speaker 1: group that severely injures Tilda and kidnaps Madison, and now
4:22
Speaker 1: she's desperately trying to heal and come up with a
4:25
Speaker 1: plan and find him rescue him. But it's looking pretty hopeless.
4:30
Speaker 1: She doesn't know where they are. She's still wounded. She
4:34
Speaker 1: took shelter in a church, and then she was interrupted
4:40
Speaker 1: by someone, and that's where we left off, So let
4:46
Speaker 1: us get into the fiction. Gasping, Tilda spun around so
5:03
Speaker 1: rapidly she teetered on the edge of losing her balance,
5:05
Speaker 1: reaching for the gun in her waistband, but missing widely
5:08
Speaker 1: as her pat got caught on the door with a thud.
5:11
Speaker 1: And she was going to infiltrate a military bass. It's
5:15
Speaker 1: all right. Tilda's eyes darted around wildly until they landed
5:19
Speaker 1: on the source of the voice, a man rising from
5:21
Speaker 1: a seat at one of the pews, situated from the pulpit,
5:24
Speaker 1: his hands outstretched to indicate that he meant no harm.
5:28
Speaker 1: I'm not going to hurt you, he assured her, as
5:30
Speaker 1: she fumbled behind her for her weapon, gulping great painful
5:34
Speaker 1: gasp of air. Do you remember me? Tilda shook her head,
5:39
Speaker 1: cursing herself for not checking the room when she'd entered,
5:42
Speaker 1: like she normally would. She hadn't heard anyone come in,
5:46
Speaker 1: because you were too busy crying, she thought angrily. Her
5:50
Speaker 1: fingers closed around the handgun and she tugged it free,
5:53
Speaker 1: bringing it around to point it at the man, her
5:55
Speaker 1: hands shaking so badly she could barely aim. Then eyes
6:00
Speaker 1: lowered to the gun and then rose back up to
6:02
Speaker 1: her face. Okay, you're armed, I'm not. Can we just
6:08
Speaker 1: talk for a second. Tilda said nothing, concentrating on slowing
6:14
Speaker 1: her breathing and keeping the gun steady, thinking despairingly of
6:18
Speaker 1: the car that was getting further and further away, the
6:21
Speaker 1: brief respite from hopelessness reciprocally diminishing. She could just shoot him,
6:27
Speaker 1: she thought, and then almost instantly recoiled as if he
6:31
Speaker 1: could see the callous laziness of her thought. Tilda imagined
6:35
Speaker 1: she could see fleeting disappointment on the man's face, but
6:38
Speaker 1: it quickly passed, or it may have been her projecting.
6:44
Speaker 1: My name's Merlin from the resistance we met. He stopped
6:50
Speaker 1: when recognition dawned on Tilda's face, his shoulders relaxing noticeably.
6:55
Speaker 1: I remember you, she whispered, hoarsely, her decular least with
7:00
Speaker 1: the muted shock of returning memories forgotten about, and recalled
7:04
Speaker 1: with dull surprise that you had forgotten them in the
7:06
Speaker 1: first place. You we met before, though she not composed
7:14
Speaker 1: a sentence but a jumbled mishmash of words. Merlin nodded encouragingly. Yes,
7:19
Speaker 1: the last time I saw you was in Chicago, right
7:21
Speaker 1: before he broke off, licking his lips before the bomb
7:26
Speaker 1: went off. Tilda supplied for him mentally, and it hung
7:29
Speaker 1: unset in space between them. She wondered how many people
7:33
Speaker 1: the Resistance had lost that day, how many friends of
7:36
Speaker 1: Merlin's had died. With some shame, she realized she hadn't
7:40
Speaker 1: spared them a second thought. Tilda's mouth opened to apologize,
7:44
Speaker 1: but she closed it, thinking that it would do no good.
7:49
Speaker 1: Merlin seemed to understand anyway. We thought you had died,
7:54
Speaker 1: he told her, and Tilda furrowed her brow. When we
7:58
Speaker 1: heard your voice over the broadcast, as he shook his
8:02
Speaker 1: head with wonderment, some people were angry. His voice faded
8:08
Speaker 1: to a droning background sound. Suddenly, Tilda became aware of
8:12
Speaker 1: the gun in her hand and almost dropped it, as
8:14
Speaker 1: though it was hot. That was the first time she
8:17
Speaker 1: shot someone, most likely killed him Chicago. An embarrassed flush
8:23
Speaker 1: rose to her cheeks, and she tightened her grip around
8:25
Speaker 1: the handle, her aim now unwavering. Merlin's face fell. I'm
8:31
Speaker 1: not here to hurt you, he reiterated softly. Then what
8:36
Speaker 1: are you here for, Tilda demanded, doing her best to
8:39
Speaker 1: assert some authority into her tone. Merlin observed her with
8:44
Speaker 1: bright brown eyes. For a moment, will you sit, he requested,
8:48
Speaker 1: simply gesturing to the pews. Tilda shook her head, breathing
8:52
Speaker 1: through her nose, her mind raising the implications of his presence.
8:56
Speaker 1: The resistance could come barging in at any moment, or
8:59
Speaker 1: they could be out side waiting for her. I understand,
9:04
Speaker 1: he said, not without some sadness, but I'm going to
9:07
Speaker 1: sit at least, and he did, perching on the edge
9:10
Speaker 1: of the pew and pivoting his body to face her.
9:14
Speaker 1: We heard about Madison, he started, and though this was
9:17
Speaker 1: said gently, til To experienced this as a punch to
9:20
Speaker 1: the gut, her heart plummeting into her stomach. The gun
9:24
Speaker 1: twitched in her hand, her shoulders and wrist aching from
9:27
Speaker 1: holding it upright, but she did not lower it. How
9:31
Speaker 1: she forced out. Merlin ran a hand through his hair,
9:35
Speaker 1: stopping when Tilda jerked at the motion. The people who
9:39
Speaker 1: took him and who I'm presuming did that to you,
9:44
Speaker 1: he gestured, with his chin at her face and bloody
9:46
Speaker 1: clothes contacted us about collecting the reward. Only they want much,
9:51
Speaker 1: much more than we can give. Tilda swallowed, taking in
9:56
Speaker 1: his every movement and facial tick, trying to derive any
9:59
Speaker 1: information about Madison from him. The fact that we're so
10:03
Speaker 1: desperate to get him back piked their interest. They know
10:07
Speaker 1: that they have us exactly where they want us, but
10:09
Speaker 1: they also know there must be something about him, something
10:12
Speaker 1: that makes him unique. He released a heavy breath and
10:17
Speaker 1: looked up at her. She took a reflexive step back,
10:20
Speaker 1: her pack brushing against the door. It doesn't take a
10:26
Speaker 1: genius to guess that he might be immune to HSV five,
10:30
Speaker 1: what with your broadcast about the existence of a vaccine
10:33
Speaker 1: and the resistance's desperation to find you. As if a
10:37
Speaker 1: frost was slowly making its way through her body, Tilda
10:40
Speaker 1: went unnervingly still hardly breathing. Who are they, she managed
10:48
Speaker 1: in a whisper. They're a faction of survivors that have
10:53
Speaker 1: been trying to form their own society, separate from the
10:55
Speaker 1: Conception centers. They have a complex just west of Christianburg.
11:02
Speaker 1: They're heavily armed and well. He broke off, and then
11:07
Speaker 1: continued delicately. Their viewed as quite radical and dangerous. They
11:13
Speaker 1: take members both willing and not. Tilda's knees trembled with weakness.
11:18
Speaker 1: The gun lowered fractionally as her tired brain rushed to
11:21
Speaker 1: process this. If they know are they think Madison is immune,
11:28
Speaker 1: she began, horror, nipping at her heels. They won't exchange him,
11:32
Speaker 1: no matter what we offer, Merlin said, with brutal simplicity.
11:37
Speaker 1: They'll try to find a way to synthesize the vaccine
11:40
Speaker 1: from his blood, and if they can't, they won't stop trying.
11:45
Speaker 1: They'll never let him go. They'd rather the world die
11:49
Speaker 1: than give him to another organization, effectively giving up their
11:52
Speaker 1: power to whoever they gave him to. He's not, Tilda started,
11:58
Speaker 1: her voice cracking. He's not some thing to be used
12:02
Speaker 1: or given. She tried again. He's a child, He's my child.
12:08
Speaker 1: Merlin watched her with sympathetic eyes. I know tears pricked
12:13
Speaker 1: at her eyes, but she blinked them back. You can
12:18
Speaker 1: take comfort in the fact that they'll want to keep
12:20
Speaker 1: him in the very best condition possible. At least they
12:24
Speaker 1: won't hurt him the way he said it. Was very
12:27
Speaker 1: aware that the words offered very little in the way
12:29
Speaker 1: of comfort until to derive no reassurance from them. An
12:33
Speaker 1: image of her child alone and scared at sterile white
12:36
Speaker 1: rooms rose to the forefront of her mind and refused
12:39
Speaker 1: to be uprooted or ignored. That still doesn't fully answer
12:44
Speaker 1: my question, she pointed out, What is the resistance doing here?
12:51
Speaker 1: We're here to confront them and take medicine back, he
12:54
Speaker 1: told her. This is our last stop before we move in.
12:57
Speaker 1: The higher ups are coordinating our plan of attack. Some
13:00
Speaker 1: of our members have been sent ahead to scout their location,
13:03
Speaker 1: the level of security. I'm on recon Officially, I'm out
13:08
Speaker 1: looking for supplies. Tilda noted his use of the word officially.
13:13
Speaker 1: She didn't have to ask the question for him to answer.
13:17
Speaker 1: But I've been looking for you, Tilda swallowed, glancing down
13:20
Speaker 1: at the gun in her hands, now aimed somewhere at
13:22
Speaker 1: the floor. She didn't have it in her heart to
13:25
Speaker 1: raise it again. Why. Of course, we've been looking for you,
13:31
Speaker 1: for both of you. But when the people who took
13:33
Speaker 1: Madison contacted us, we asked about you. They told us
13:37
Speaker 1: they left your body on the side of the road somewhere.
13:39
Speaker 1: He told her bluntly that they weren't sure if you
13:42
Speaker 1: were alive or dead. And another thought came to her then,
13:47
Speaker 1: demanding her immediate and complete attention. What if Madison thought
13:52
Speaker 1: she was dead? We knew where you were coming from
13:55
Speaker 1: thanks to your transmission and the general proximity of where
13:59
Speaker 1: Madison must have been taken in order for the radicals
14:01
Speaker 1: to have taken him, So we mapped out a few
14:04
Speaker 1: possible routes that you may have taken nearrowing it down
14:06
Speaker 1: to a handful of options. We sent out caravans searching
14:10
Speaker 1: for any sign of your body. One of the groups
14:14
Speaker 1: ran into some folks on horseback and asked them if
14:17
Speaker 1: they had seen you. They were reluctant at first, but
14:19
Speaker 1: when the situation was explained, one of them admitted that
14:22
Speaker 1: they had seen you, that you were heading west on
14:25
Speaker 1: horseback last they saw you. I'm told they were very
14:28
Speaker 1: worried about the two of you. By the way, Tilda
14:31
Speaker 1: dismiss this a detached anger that the groups she sheltered
14:34
Speaker 1: with had given up their location to their resistance. For
14:37
Speaker 1: all they knew. It could have been anyone, including the
14:39
Speaker 1: radicals that now had her son, or other groups like them.
14:44
Speaker 1: Merlin kept going. Now we knew which way you'd gone
14:48
Speaker 1: and by which road, so we called the other caravans
14:51
Speaker 1: in and launched a search and rescue of sorts. We
14:54
Speaker 1: found the carcass of a horse in the middle of
14:56
Speaker 1: the road yours. After a moment, Tilda nodded numbly, we
15:03
Speaker 1: thought so, so we searched the hillside and found signs
15:07
Speaker 1: that indicated someone had fallen down the side and was injured.
15:10
Speaker 1: There was blood on the leaves at the bottom. Merlin's
15:13
Speaker 1: eyes robed over hers, if searching for the injury that
15:16
Speaker 1: could have caused this, but nobody. And tracks traveling up
15:22
Speaker 1: the hillside back up to the road that matched your profile,
15:25
Speaker 1: we knew you must still be alive and would be
15:28
Speaker 1: heading in the direction you'd seen them leave with Madison,
15:31
Speaker 1: presuming you'd been conscious when they left. With shame, Tilda
15:37
Speaker 1: recalled her internal debate over whether or not she should
15:39
Speaker 1: pursue Madison, that perhaps his capture wasn't out for her.
15:43
Speaker 1: In light of the resistance's automatic assumption that she would
15:46
Speaker 1: go after her son, the shame was magnified even more.
15:50
Speaker 1: She hoped Merlin couldn't read it on her face. If
15:55
Speaker 1: he could, he gave no indication of it. Most of
15:58
Speaker 1: our party went forward, but one caravans stayed back looking
16:01
Speaker 1: for any sign of you. We stopped searched the small
16:04
Speaker 1: towns as thoroughly as possible on our tight schedule, but
16:09
Speaker 1: though there were a couple of things we thought might
16:11
Speaker 1: be a trace of you, we never found any concrete evidence.
16:15
Speaker 1: Since you were injured and on foot, I thought for
16:17
Speaker 1: sure we'd find you on that long stretch between Shawswell
16:20
Speaker 1: and here. But if you were there, we missed you.
16:24
Speaker 1: Tilda remembered the lights that had awoken her in the
16:26
Speaker 1: middle of the night. Merlin drew her attention back to him,
16:29
Speaker 1: red hues from the stained glass windows painted onto his face.
16:32
Speaker 1: As the sun sunk lower into the sky. We were
16:35
Speaker 1: ordered to give up on the search effort to find you,
16:38
Speaker 1: Madison was our mission priority. If we happened to find
16:42
Speaker 1: you along the way, great But I knew you must
16:45
Speaker 1: be here. If you'd headed in this direction at all,
16:48
Speaker 1: there was no way you could have gotten much further
16:50
Speaker 1: than this on foot, especially if you were hurt and
16:53
Speaker 1: without intel. I knew you couldn't be sure of which
16:55
Speaker 1: way to proceed, that you'd hole up somewhere and make
16:58
Speaker 1: a plan. So I put myself in your shoes, and
17:04
Speaker 1: first I went to the police station. He smiled, and
17:08
Speaker 1: lo and behold, the back door had recently been opened,
17:11
Speaker 1: a woman's shoe prints in the dust. But you weren't there.
17:17
Speaker 1: So I started walking, looking for a space nearby where
17:19
Speaker 1: you might stop. When I saw this church, he shrugged.
17:25
Speaker 1: I figured you'd be here. It's the last place i'd
17:27
Speaker 1: look normally apart from school. But I thought with Madison gone,
17:34
Speaker 1: He trailed off, leaving the impact of his absence on
17:37
Speaker 1: her left unsaid. A burning embarrassment took hold of her
17:42
Speaker 1: that she was apparently so predictable. If she had prided
17:45
Speaker 1: herself on one thing over the years, it was her
17:48
Speaker 1: ability to hide and remain undetected. Evidently that pride was misplaced.
17:55
Speaker 1: No one knows I'm here. No one knows that you're here,
17:59
Speaker 1: or that I was still looking for you, he told
18:01
Speaker 1: her evenly. She tried to guess at the reason why
18:04
Speaker 1: he'd continue to search her out, even though he'd been
18:07
Speaker 1: ordered not to and to do so without telling anyone,
18:09
Speaker 1: and could not tell anyone why. She asked, again, tired,
18:17
Speaker 1: why did you want to find me? Merlin watched her
18:21
Speaker 1: for a moment. It never sat well with me how
18:26
Speaker 1: you retreated when you were at our base, after everything
18:29
Speaker 1: you'd been through. I've always been sort of inspired by you,
18:34
Speaker 1: I guess, Tilda wrinkled her face in confusion at this.
18:40
Speaker 1: You gave up everything for your son, You managed to
18:43
Speaker 1: evade the best of the best while on the run
18:46
Speaker 1: with the child, and you chose to risk losing him
18:49
Speaker 1: to get him a vaccine. And after all that, when
18:52
Speaker 1: I heard your voice on the broadcast, you sort of
18:55
Speaker 1: became someone A lot of us looked up to the
19:00
Speaker 1: ones you hadn't pissed off by your refusal to return
19:03
Speaker 1: to the resistance, he flashed her or I smile. She
19:07
Speaker 1: did not have the willpower to return it. And then
19:12
Speaker 1: the radicals contacted us, told us you might be dead.
19:16
Speaker 1: I really really didn't want that to be the case.
19:19
Speaker 1: It surprised me how much I didn't want it to
19:21
Speaker 1: be the case, he admitted with the tired chuckle. I
19:25
Speaker 1: guess I'd never seen a mother and child interact like
19:27
Speaker 1: the two of you before. I was so obvious that
19:31
Speaker 1: you loved each other that you do anything to protect him.
19:36
Speaker 1: He shook his head, momentarily lost in his thoughts. Till
19:39
Speaker 1: didn't know how to handle this situation, more at a
19:41
Speaker 1: loss to his resence than when he had begun. When
19:45
Speaker 1: we found out you were alive and that you were
19:47
Speaker 1: carrying on on foot injured to reunite with your son,
19:52
Speaker 1: I wanted to help that. I guess I couldn't stop
19:56
Speaker 1: thinking about your kid alone with those people, and you've
20:00
Speaker 1: fighting against everything to get back to him, even though
20:03
Speaker 1: the odds were so heavily stacked against you. He favored
20:07
Speaker 1: her with an appraising look, then at her half lowered handgun,
20:11
Speaker 1: the butt of the shotgun protruding from her pack. You
20:15
Speaker 1: must know that you have almost no chance. You know
20:20
Speaker 1: that right Anger came to Tilda's rescue, and she heard
20:25
Speaker 1: herself say through the roaring in her ears, I'm not stupid,
20:30
Speaker 1: but I will do whatever I have to. I know
20:34
Speaker 1: you will, he said, quietly, his eyes coming to rest
20:38
Speaker 1: on the gun still in her hands. I want to
20:41
Speaker 1: help you, to give you a fighting chance. Tilda bit back,
20:45
Speaker 1: a tide of questions she still had. At this she
20:48
Speaker 1: frankly could care less on the finer points of why
20:51
Speaker 1: he wanted to help her at this juncture. She just
20:54
Speaker 1: wanted Madison back. And how do you intend to do that,
20:59
Speaker 1: she asked, taking the tiniest of steps forward information, he
21:04
Speaker 1: responded readily, like what she pushed, taking another step closer,
21:10
Speaker 1: like when the resistance is planning to attack, he offered,
21:15
Speaker 1: And your end goal is what exactly? A part of
21:19
Speaker 1: her was taken aback by the brazen nature of her question.
21:23
Speaker 1: For me and Madison to reunite and part ways from
21:26
Speaker 1: the resistance, Merlin hesitated. If that is your choice, he allowed,
21:34
Speaker 1: but I would try to persuade you to stay. The
21:38
Speaker 1: look on her face must have shown her opinion on that,
21:41
Speaker 1: He rushed to assert. Look, you have every right to
21:44
Speaker 1: be suspicious, and I honestly do believe that you'll come
21:47
Speaker 1: around on your own if we give you space and time.
21:51
Speaker 1: Tilda very much disagreed with that notion. But the human race,
21:56
Speaker 1: while it now has a surplus of space, does not
21:59
Speaker 1: have much in the way of time, he said, somberly.
22:03
Speaker 1: I didn't tell the others what I was doing, and
22:05
Speaker 1: I won't tell them that I spoke to you, because
22:07
Speaker 1: I don't want to force you to do anything, and
22:10
Speaker 1: I'll grant you they might not take your desire to
22:13
Speaker 1: part ways into consideration, not until they've created a working
22:17
Speaker 1: vaccine from Madison's bood. At least, she found his honesty
22:21
Speaker 1: both refreshing and disheartening. I'm betting on you, he said,
22:27
Speaker 1: simply to do the right thing, or as right as
22:30
Speaker 1: any avenue we have left to us in this shadow
22:33
Speaker 1: of what once was. He shrugged, and as is the
22:38
Speaker 1: nature of gambling, I might be wrong, but I do
22:41
Speaker 1: know above everything that you will do what you think
22:44
Speaker 1: is best for your sin so badly, Tilda wanted to
22:50
Speaker 1: believe him. You've got to trust someone sometime, right, he said,
22:55
Speaker 1: and Tilda responded, before she'd really thought about it, you've
22:59
Speaker 1: been speaking time, Mother Merlin nodded. Homesickness in an intense
23:06
Speaker 1: manner she hadn't experienced in a while, rose up inside
23:08
Speaker 1: her so powerful her throat momentarily closed off. I never
23:14
Speaker 1: asked for any of this, she heard her self murmur.
23:18
Speaker 1: Worlds away. Unflustered, Merlin replied, I know none of us did.
23:25
Speaker 1: Tilda looked at the gun in her hands, numb. She
23:29
Speaker 1: almost admitted everything then, about how she felt unworthy, about
23:33
Speaker 1: the doubt that plagued her decision to take Madison and
23:35
Speaker 1: her ability to care for him, but the words lodged
23:38
Speaker 1: in her throat. Merlin kept going, oblivious to the turmoil
23:43
Speaker 1: begging to release inside her. We're moving in tonight if
23:47
Speaker 1: our scouts get back without Intel influencing our plans. Otherwise,
23:51
Speaker 1: like I said, just west of Christianburg. You can't miss it.
23:54
Speaker 1: From what I understand, You're going to need to find
23:56
Speaker 1: a means of transport. It just so happens that I
23:59
Speaker 1: know where our working motorcycle is. He reached into his
24:03
Speaker 1: pockets and held up some keys for her inspection. You
24:07
Speaker 1: ever driven one before? Tilda shook her head, and Merlin snorted, yeah,
24:11
Speaker 1: me neither. But it should be simple enough. Right at
24:15
Speaker 1: the look on Tilda's face, he laughed, you'll figure it out.
24:18
Speaker 1: I'm sure. The plan as of now is to strike
24:21
Speaker 1: just before daybreak again, as long as we don't get
24:24
Speaker 1: any news of obstacles from the people we sent ahead.
24:27
Speaker 1: The radicals gave us a deadline. Right now, time is
24:30
Speaker 1: on our side, and hopefully we'll have the element of surprise.
24:35
Speaker 1: So you're suggesting I get there ahead of the resistance
24:38
Speaker 1: and use their attack as a distraction. Basically, Merlin concurred,
24:45
Speaker 1: and I see you have a few distractions of your own.
24:47
Speaker 1: He indicated her visible weapons. Tilda remembered her earlier breakdown
24:52
Speaker 1: about how useless they were in her hands, how powerless
24:55
Speaker 1: she was even when armed, and looked away. Thought about
25:00
Speaker 1: this for a moment. There these radicals, they're not going
25:05
Speaker 1: to leave Madison just because you're attacking the base. If anything,
25:09
Speaker 1: they'll use him as a shield. She managed to say
25:12
Speaker 1: this in a fairly matter of fact way, even though
25:14
Speaker 1: every cell in her body was screaming at the mere
25:17
Speaker 1: suggestion of it. Merlin inclined his head solemnly. Yes, but
25:23
Speaker 1: it's all I've got for you. It's a better shot
25:26
Speaker 1: than you going it alone. At least now you know
25:28
Speaker 1: what you're up against, and I can tell you the
25:32
Speaker 1: plan is not to go in guns blazing. Infiltration in
25:36
Speaker 1: a simple in and out would be ideal. You and
25:39
Speaker 1: I both know the odds of succeeding are slim. Yes,
25:44
Speaker 1: Tilda whispered, suddenly, feeling quite faint. She swayed on her feet.
25:49
Speaker 1: Oh god, are you all right, Merlin exclaimed, half rising
25:52
Speaker 1: from his seat. I'm sorry, I should have ast earlier.
25:57
Speaker 1: I'm fine, she said, wincing at the rest veinis in
26:00
Speaker 1: her own voice. You don't look fine, Merlin informed her seriously.
26:07
Speaker 1: The moment passed. Untilda straightened. I'm fine, she repeated firmly.
26:13
Speaker 1: Merlin did not look convinced. Maybe I should get you
26:17
Speaker 1: some help, No, Till denied immediately. Now where is this motorcycle?
26:25
Speaker 1: Merlin looked as if he wanted to argue, but at
26:27
Speaker 1: the mualous expression on Tilda's face, he backed down. Garage,
26:31
Speaker 1: he said, shortly two blocks west of the police station,
26:35
Speaker 1: black sleek looking thing. I tested it up, reved up
26:39
Speaker 1: like a dream, and you just happened to pawn this.
26:43
Speaker 1: Til to ask, dubiously, Well, I was on a supply run,
26:47
Speaker 1: Merlin reminded her, half jokingly. He tossed her the keys.
26:51
Speaker 1: Tilda caught them and slid them into her pocket, not
26:54
Speaker 1: relishing the fact that he would know where she was going.
26:57
Speaker 1: It could be a trap. The doubt must have been
27:00
Speaker 1: and obvious on her face, because Merlin hastened to reassert
27:03
Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell anyone. Hell, I won't even
27:06
Speaker 1: know myself if you take the damn thing. I'm just
27:08
Speaker 1: trying to do my part. I suppose if you do
27:13
Speaker 1: escape with your kid, then the resistance doesn't discover a vaccine.
27:18
Speaker 1: That's on me. I suppose for trusting you. Tilt his
27:24
Speaker 1: eyes straight to the statue of the man behind Merlin,
27:26
Speaker 1: hanging from the cross. I don't trust the Resistance. I know,
27:33
Speaker 1: I already said, I don't blame you. Madison wanted to
27:39
Speaker 1: go back, you know, she admitted, without really planning to,
27:44
Speaker 1: if he could help with a care I told him
27:47
Speaker 1: it wasn't safe. I understand, Merlin assured her calmly. I
27:55
Speaker 1: don't know. She blurted out what I'll do if I
28:00
Speaker 1: when I get him back. She corrected, I know that too,
28:07
Speaker 1: but I can tell you as I'm sure you know,
28:10
Speaker 1: the resistance will not stop looking. He'd be safer from
28:13
Speaker 1: groups like these with us. Tilda did not respond. Merlin
28:19
Speaker 1: stood slowly, watching Tilda as one might watch a cornered
28:22
Speaker 1: animal liable to strike. I've said my peace. I know
28:28
Speaker 1: you have no reason to trust me, but I promise you.
28:31
Speaker 1: I have no intention of telling anyone I saw you.
28:34
Speaker 1: There's no one waiting for you outside, and there will
28:36
Speaker 1: be no one waiting for you at that garage. I
28:39
Speaker 1: just wanted to give you the tools to get your
28:41
Speaker 1: sent back. Tilda wavered on the verge of thanking him,
28:47
Speaker 1: but refrained, still uncertain that this wasn't some elaborate trap.
28:51
Speaker 1: For an awkward moment, they watched each other. I still
28:56
Speaker 1: don't understand, Tilda confessed, helplessly. Why help me, because I
29:04
Speaker 1: have to believe there's still some good in this world,
29:07
Speaker 1: Merlin said flatly, or else was the point in saving it.
29:13
Speaker 1: He took a couple of steps forward. Will you let
29:17
Speaker 1: me leave? He gestured to her gun. After a moment,
29:21
Speaker 1: Tilda retreated from the door, allowing him passage. Merlin proceeded
29:25
Speaker 1: forward slowly, clearly doing his best not to spook her,
29:27
Speaker 1: but he paused with his hand on the door. Tilda's
29:31
Speaker 1: grip tightened instinctively on the gun, though she did not
29:34
Speaker 1: raise it. I hope to see you again some day,
29:38
Speaker 1: he said, quietly, not quite looking at her, and that
29:41
Speaker 1: whatever you choose to do, you and your son are safe.
29:46
Speaker 1: And then he pushed out the door. It swung shut
29:49
Speaker 1: with a soft clock behind him, and Tilda stood immobilized,
29:53
Speaker 1: her ears almost painfully tense, listening for any sound outside
29:57
Speaker 1: of betrayal, but there was none. She retraced her steps
30:01
Speaker 1: back down the hall and took the side door out,
30:04
Speaker 1: adrenaline drowning out the pain of her injuries as she
30:06
Speaker 1: darted behind the church and under an opening in the fence.
30:11
Speaker 1: Not stopping, she crossed one street and then another, laser
30:14
Speaker 1: focused on getting out of this place as soon as possible.
30:17
Speaker 1: Even if Merlin was telling the truth, there was still
30:21
Speaker 1: the possibility he'd been caught out, or he'd changed his mind,
30:24
Speaker 1: some one else might spot her. She wanted to put
30:27
Speaker 1: as much distance as possible between her and them as
30:29
Speaker 1: quickly as possible. She looked to her left and right
30:34
Speaker 1: for this garage once she'd gone two blocks and spotted
30:37
Speaker 1: a sign with the zooming black carnet that read Shining
30:40
Speaker 1: Garage and Auto Parts, and she jogged toward it, the
30:43
Speaker 1: shotgun bouncing heavily against her lower back and almost surely
30:46
Speaker 1: leaving a bruise. Tilda stayed alert as she ran towards it,
30:50
Speaker 1: looking for any sign of the trail. She turned into
30:53
Speaker 1: the parking lot, her eyes roving over cars and mopeds,
30:57
Speaker 1: but not locating any sleek butt motorcycle. Looking behind her,
31:01
Speaker 1: she ventured toward a set of metal garage doors, grasping
31:04
Speaker 1: the handle of the closest one and hoisting it up.
31:07
Speaker 1: Inside was a cement room outfitted with tool shelves and
31:10
Speaker 1: work spaces, and in the center was a black, shining motorcycle.
31:15
Speaker 1: Tilda glanced over her shoulder once again before slipping the
31:17
Speaker 1: door closed behind her, leaving a little bit of space
31:20
Speaker 1: at the bottom open to hopefully expedite her getaway should
31:22
Speaker 1: she need to make one. Like it was a beast
31:26
Speaker 1: that needed to be wrangled, She approached the bike, doing
31:28
Speaker 1: her best to control the reflexive panics she got at
31:31
Speaker 1: the thought of operating it. She fished the keys Merlin
31:35
Speaker 1: had given her out of her pocket, briefly wondering how
31:37
Speaker 1: in the world it could have been she made such
31:39
Speaker 1: an impression on him. They'd only seen each other a
31:42
Speaker 1: handful of times and had only spoken once. With a pang,
31:46
Speaker 1: she realized that he'd seen her mother, spoken to her
31:49
Speaker 1: more recently than Tilda herself had, and at length enough
31:52
Speaker 1: for her mother to espouse under her many words of wisdom.
31:57
Speaker 1: You've got to trust some one some time. Tilda ran
32:01
Speaker 1: her hands along the motorcycle's handles its switches. She crouched
32:05
Speaker 1: to take in the petals. Simple enough, she told herself, bracingly.
32:10
Speaker 1: A glance outside the garage windows confirmed that she had
32:13
Speaker 1: very little light left. There were both pros and cons
32:16
Speaker 1: till leaving before the sun had set. She decided, without
32:19
Speaker 1: giving it too much thought, that it was best to
32:21
Speaker 1: leave sooner rather than later, even if that did leave
32:23
Speaker 1: her more exposed. There wasn't much time before the light
32:27
Speaker 1: was gone, anyhow. After familiarizing herself at the bike, clumsily
32:31
Speaker 1: adjusting the seat, and giving herself a brief overview of
32:34
Speaker 1: how she supposed it worked, she consulted her map, hazarding
32:37
Speaker 1: a general guest to her location and determining her general
32:40
Speaker 1: path out of White Pine. Tilda took a deep breath.
32:44
Speaker 1: Eyeing the machine. She tested to make sure the key
32:47
Speaker 1: fit in the lock, something she should have done first,
32:49
Speaker 1: but was a forgiveabhole oversight because it slid home fatalistically.
32:53
Speaker 1: Tilda pulled open the garage door and quickly returned to
32:56
Speaker 1: the bike, snapping up the kickstand with her shoe and
32:58
Speaker 1: balancing on it as though it were a living thing.
33:01
Speaker 1: Girding herself, Tilda cranked the key, wincing as the engine
33:04
Speaker 1: at first sputtered loudly before waring to life with painful volume. Experimentally,
33:10
Speaker 1: Tilda pressed down on what her experience on a bike
33:12
Speaker 1: led her to believe would be the brakes. Sure enough,
33:15
Speaker 1: that engine quieted with something like a resigned devil may
33:19
Speaker 1: care attitude. Tilda lifted her feet off the ground and
33:21
Speaker 1: placed them on the pedals, her balance wavering dangerously, and
33:24
Speaker 1: she pressed down gently on what she presumed to be
33:26
Speaker 1: the gas. Sure Enough, the bike shot forward, and Tilda
33:31
Speaker 1: had to swerve to avoid a car, almost creaning into
33:34
Speaker 1: another car in the process. Instinct guided her and she
33:37
Speaker 1: righted herself, navigating out of the parking lot and stops
33:39
Speaker 1: and starts in a much confused path. She took her
33:43
Speaker 1: right on the road, hating that her hearing was impaired
33:45
Speaker 1: due to the low rumble of the engine. At the intersection,
33:48
Speaker 1: she stopped at the stop sign, looking both ways before
33:50
Speaker 1: she nearly laughed aloud. There was no one else on
33:53
Speaker 1: the road anymore, or bank stop signs. She flew past
33:57
Speaker 1: the next few intersections without stopping, gradually appiling more and
34:00
Speaker 1: more pressure to the acceleration, her hair whipping behind her.
34:32
Speaker 1: And that brings us to the end of this episode
34:37
Speaker 1: of Terminus Part three, which is called Finite. I love
34:43
Speaker 1: a good title. I have all these titles. We're getting
34:46
Speaker 1: close to the end, and I think it's got a
34:48
Speaker 1: pretty it's building up. Just something got boom. Yeah. I
34:53
Speaker 1: do have to say I'm not going to go into
34:56
Speaker 1: it in depth, but I've mentioned before a lot of times.
35:00
Speaker 1: When I go back over these, I'm like, oh, I
35:02
Speaker 1: know exactly where I was in this point in my life,
35:05
Speaker 1: at this point in my life. So I have ridden
35:11
Speaker 1: motorcycles before. I had. I owned one in China, and
35:18
Speaker 1: the first time I wrote it, I did it very
35:21
Speaker 1: recklessly and I crashed immediately and I have a scar
35:24
Speaker 1: from it. I was fine, it was okay, but I
35:29
Speaker 1: just to reiterate, I do know it doesn't work, like, yeah,
35:37
Speaker 1: that was my bad. But I did have somebody coaxing
35:41
Speaker 1: me on. He was like, you can do it, just
35:43
Speaker 1: do this, and I was like, okay, and no, no,
35:48
Speaker 1: absolutely no. The motorcycle is also a reference to Silent Hill,
35:54
Speaker 1: which is one of my favorite franchises. There is a
36:00
Speaker 1: whole thing in the first game where you have to
36:02
Speaker 1: you don't have to, but if you know what you're doing,
36:06
Speaker 1: if you can find a motorcycle, and it changes the
36:10
Speaker 1: ending of the game. So that was a reference as well.
36:17
Speaker 1: I know I mentioned it before, but Merlin, the character
36:20
Speaker 1: Merlin is based on someone I met in Australia who
36:23
Speaker 1: was very tech savvy and his name is Merlin. I
36:28
Speaker 1: was like, the coolest thing. But it was going back
36:36
Speaker 1: over this and their conversation was very fascinating to me
36:43
Speaker 1: because he's kind of basically like, I'm betting on you
36:46
Speaker 1: and I hope that you I hope that you do
36:50
Speaker 1: what I think is the right thing. But I'm going
36:53
Speaker 1: to give you these tools and I hope that you
36:58
Speaker 1: can save your son. So you shall see. Uh it
37:03
Speaker 1: is to be continued, I think. I mean we could
37:06
Speaker 1: have two chapters left. Oh that's coming, yeah yeah, yeah yeah,
37:13
Speaker 1: and then we'll move into something else. Yes, But I
37:17
Speaker 1: really hope that people are still interested. I have loved
37:22
Speaker 1: hearing from people who are and write in h so
37:26
Speaker 1: please keep that coming. You can email us at Hello
37:29
Speaker 1: at stuff Onnever Told You dot com. You can find
37:32
Speaker 1: us on Blue Guy at Moms podcast or on Instagram
37:34
Speaker 1: and TikTok at Stuff I've Never Told You. We're us
37:36
Speaker 1: on YouTube and we have a book you can get
37:39
Speaker 1: wherever you get your books. Thanks as always too our
37:42
Speaker 1: super producer Christina or executive pducer Maya and your contributor Joey.
37:45
Speaker 1: Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Stuff Never
37:48
Speaker 1: Told You is production of my Heart Radio. For more
37:50
Speaker 1: podcast from my Heart Radio, you can check out the
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