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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to step

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Speaker 1: I never told you protection of I Heart Radio and

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Speaker 1: this time Boss Smith d Fiction, which is a once

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Speaker 1: a month the thing that we do. So it's not

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Speaker 1: your thing. I totally get it. It is continuing, so

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Speaker 1: we are on. I believe chapter five. I can never

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Speaker 1: I always get confused because there's a prologue and then yeah,

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Speaker 1: so who knows, but not a chapter. Annie, I would

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Speaker 1: love to know if anybody's doing uh Nana raimo. I'm

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Speaker 1: getting all the updates and I'm like, no, yeah, if

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Speaker 1: you if you don't know which I mentioned it before

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Speaker 1: on here, that's National Novel Writing Month, where you try

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Speaker 1: to write a sixty thousand word novel in a month.

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Speaker 1: And I learned people cheat, Samantha. And maybe I'm being

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Speaker 1: naive and innocent, but I was like, people cheat, Oh

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Speaker 1: my god, people will pick up their old works. Oh

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Speaker 1: my gosh. I didn't know that. Well, I don't really care,

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Speaker 1: but I was legitimately shocked. To be fair me, I like,

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Speaker 1: I I tried. I told you to get very far

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Speaker 1: in mine? What what was it? The staff? Was it?

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Speaker 1: Like the inspiration was gone? It was the timing? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: all of those things, and I am a procrastinator to

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Speaker 1: the max. But like the story, I had a beginning

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Speaker 1: and an end and then like so the build up

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Speaker 1: was good, and then I got caught up in the middle,

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Speaker 1: like what happens here? And then I changed some things

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Speaker 1: and then I was like, oh no, so yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: well I'm always interested. I had a friend who we

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Speaker 1: did it together. The first time, which is, by the way,

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Speaker 1: where this story comes from, was my first time doing

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Speaker 1: a oramo um. And it's gonna become especially obviously in

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Speaker 1: the middle because I had the same problem and I

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Speaker 1: will when we get to those chapters. I'll talk about it,

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Speaker 1: because I think it's pretty clear. I was just trying

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Speaker 1: to write something get done. But I would do two

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Speaker 1: thousand words a day. That was my strategy. She did

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Speaker 1: hers in like the last week. Yeah, I find that fascinating,

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Speaker 1: like those kind of different strategies. But yeah, as this

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Speaker 1: comes out, it's November, so some of you might be scrambling,

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Speaker 1: but I would love to hear you. Yeah, I experience yes,

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Speaker 1: please please be please um. And thanks to everybody who

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Speaker 1: has written in about enjoying these because it is kind

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Speaker 1: of a I enjoyed doing it um, and as I've said,

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Speaker 1: I didn't really edit these too much, so I know

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Speaker 1: they've got their their issues, but I do enjoy doing it.

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Speaker 1: We love fiction here, um, but it is kind of

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Speaker 1: like a vulnerable and scary like what if everyone I hate?

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Speaker 1: Oh gosh. So I really do appreciate who all those

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Speaker 1: who have taken the time to write it and say

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Speaker 1: that you like it, even if it's just like, oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: I like it, that's that's great. Thank you. So content

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Speaker 1: warning this one for this one, gun violence, illness, threat

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Speaker 1: of violence and child separation, hunger, crude language, child danger,

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Speaker 1: discussions around infertility, stigma around sex and illness, lack of

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Speaker 1: agency around your body. So if you haven't heard any

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Speaker 1: of that, you're listening to that like, wow, this seems

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Speaker 1: poorly time for what's going on right now. I know,

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Speaker 1: I know, um, right on time. As I've said, I

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Speaker 1: think some people it's like how Contagion was like the

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Speaker 1: top streaming movie during the early pandemic. I think for

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Speaker 1: some people it helps you process. Other people it really doesn't.

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Speaker 1: And I understand that escape sometimes you need to know

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Speaker 1: all of it, yes, exactly. Uh So this one is

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Speaker 1: a bit of a longer fiction part, so not too

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Speaker 1: much to say. I'm going to give a quick recap

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Speaker 1: for what's happened. So, the global population has been decimated

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Speaker 1: by a virus. Government, along with a religious organization called

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Speaker 1: arm A r M, determines where the rare child that

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Speaker 1: is born will go. Unwilling to be separated from her child,

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Speaker 1: um Tilda escaped with her child, Madison, and they have

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Speaker 1: been on the run for six years. Winter approaches and

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Speaker 1: Madison has a worrying cough. Their clothes are thin and

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Speaker 1: their supplies are dwindling. Her heroes found a supermarket with

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Speaker 1: some supplies, but were surprised by enforcers or enforcers of

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Speaker 1: the government who have been searching for priority number one

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Speaker 1: Tilda and her son, Madison. So let's get into it.

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Speaker 1: Enforcers stood arms crossed waiting. Tilda's toes ramped into the

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Speaker 1: front of her shoes as she jerked to stop, almost

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Speaker 1: crashing to her knees. Madison creened to the asphalt, but

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Speaker 1: almost instantaneously searched back to his feet with a tiny

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Speaker 1: whimper of fear. Tilda turned on her heels to take

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Speaker 1: off back the way they came, but the other enforcer

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Speaker 1: had arrived blocking their way. He smiled serenely, and Tilda's

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Speaker 1: knees almost gave out from underneath her. Her neck cricked

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Speaker 1: as she whipped her head around to the other approaching

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Speaker 1: behind them. Madison wrapped his arms tightly around her middle,

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Speaker 1: watching the man in front of them with wide eyes.

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Speaker 1: Should we call it in? The one from behind her asked,

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Speaker 1: a pale man, bald, tall, broad, shiny, pink sores decorating

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Speaker 1: his face. Tilda thought she could hear excitement lurking in

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Speaker 1: his low voice. The other, an olive skinned man with

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Speaker 1: whitish raised bumps on his face, dark hair, more lean

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Speaker 1: and build, smirked at her wildly darting eyes. Her only

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Speaker 1: thought escape The signal out here is too weak. We'll

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Speaker 1: call it in when we get closer to d see.

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Speaker 1: He fixed his eyes on Tilda. Tilda, noan, you are

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Speaker 1: under arrest for the kidnapping of a child. A half

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Speaker 1: hearted protest rose to Madison's lips, the tiniest bane of despair.

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Speaker 1: The enforcers dark eyes rested on the child, intense, almost hungrily,

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Speaker 1: taking him in. Tilda hugged him closer, a disconnected hopelessness

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Speaker 1: settling over her like a veil. The enforcers stepped forward

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Speaker 1: to take him, but Madison turned his head and screamed

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Speaker 1: into her side. The man paused, perplexed, his outstretched hand

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Speaker 1: closed into a fist, his jaw ticked. A deep voice

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Speaker 1: from behind them growled move. He shoved her shoulder blade,

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Speaker 1: propelling them forward so that they were pincered between the

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Speaker 1: two men. Their grim procession led them deeper into the

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Speaker 1: dead town. They passed empty streets and broken windows, shattered

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Speaker 1: street lamps and molding mannekins, body parts twisted hanging out

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Speaker 1: of shop displays. The air was still, but Tilda imagine

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Speaker 1: she could hear the muted echo of howl and whispering

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Speaker 1: up the deserted streets as they headed into the center

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Speaker 1: of Cleo Springs, a thousand voices silently screaming as their

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Speaker 1: hopes their futures were extinguished. Madison started to weep silently

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Speaker 1: years seeping into tilt his jacket, she stroked his hair.

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Speaker 1: Half a dozen escape plans spring up in her head,

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Speaker 1: and dying just as quickly. She'd failed. For six years,

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Speaker 1: she'd put off the inevitable, but she had failed. The

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Speaker 1: enforcers would take Madison from her, place him with government

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Speaker 1: approved parents and send him to arms sponsored schools to

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Speaker 1: teach him fear and shame and self loathing until the

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Speaker 1: If they didn't Expete outright, she'd brought in prison or

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Speaker 1: be left to starve. But that didn't scare her as

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Speaker 1: much as the thought of never seeing Madison again. Resolved

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Speaker 1: took cold inside her, bolstered by the quiet crying into

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Speaker 1: her side, the talisman against the fear. What about the others?

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Speaker 1: Where are they? The enforcer behind them questioned around The

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Speaker 1: gruff voice in front of them answered, some of them

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Speaker 1: went back to survey the road, and the rest stationed

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Speaker 1: outside of town. Shouldn't we tell them? Searches over. The

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Speaker 1: other glanced over his shoulder at Tilda. She could see

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Speaker 1: the holster and the platinum handle of his government issued

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Speaker 1: firearm around his waist. No, Tilda thought she could detect

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Speaker 1: a dark humor in his response. Let them sit in

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Speaker 1: place for a bit. We don't need any of them

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Speaker 1: trying to take credit for capturing these two. The others snorted,

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Speaker 1: before addressing Tilda mockingly. I have to say I was

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Speaker 1: expecting more theatrics from a priority number one case. Something

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Speaker 1: more are dramatic, Please be as entertaining as you like.

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Speaker 1: Tilda ignored him, eyes sliding from side to side, searching

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Speaker 1: for something, for anything, anyway out. The man continued, of course,

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Speaker 1: it's only fair that I warn you. We have been

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Speaker 1: authorized to kill you if you cause any trouble. Madison

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Speaker 1: stopped loudly At that. Tilda soothed him with murmured reassurances,

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Speaker 1: the roots of anger starting to take hold, not the whole,

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Speaker 1: of course him. We want alive. We went to harm

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Speaker 1: a hair on his pretty little head. Far from being

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Speaker 1: comfort did, Madison wailed even louder. The enforcer laughed, while

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Speaker 1: the dark haired one leading the way tossed a look

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Speaker 1: over his shoulder, expression half wary and half amused. Tilda

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Speaker 1: suppose the crying of child was a rare thing these days.

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Speaker 1: She wondered if it was a sound these men had

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Speaker 1: ever heard before. A battered black car came into the

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Speaker 1: parked at the corner of what once had been the

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Speaker 1: bustling town square. Now it almost resembled a scale model

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Speaker 1: of an extinct civilization, a way of life that felt

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Speaker 1: quaint and indulgent as it lumbered towards obscurity. A rough

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Speaker 1: beast shuffling unknowingly towards his end. The enforcer glanced around,

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Speaker 1: opening the back passenger door. Get in, he issued coldly.

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Speaker 1: Tilda paused, the look on her face one of a

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Speaker 1: trapped animal about to bolt. The other enforcer moved to

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Speaker 1: stand directly behind her, watching to see what she would do. Slowly,

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Speaker 1: she approached the car, Madison offering the barest resistance at

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Speaker 1: her side. Although he'd never been in a working one before,

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Speaker 1: he knew what getting in would mean. With gent little hands,

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Speaker 1: the enforcers observing her almost scientifically, she guided him into

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Speaker 1: the back seat, his tiny fingers still twisted into the

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Speaker 1: fabric of her shirt. Unwilling to let go, she climbed

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Speaker 1: inside after him, the enforcers slamming the door behind her.

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Speaker 1: A click signaled the lock, engaging automatically. Madison immediately crawled

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Speaker 1: into her lap, circling his arms around her neck. Tilta

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Speaker 1: took inventory of the back seat, searching for something, but

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Speaker 1: there wasn't anything. The enforcer slid into the front seats

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Speaker 1: on either side, dark haired on the right, while the

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Speaker 1: hairless one got behind the driver's seat. The car eased

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Speaker 1: away from the curve, the engine quiet. The last time

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Speaker 1: Tilda had been in a working vehicle, she had been

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Speaker 1: with her parents. She blinked, her eyes, burning gazed, drawn

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Speaker 1: to the child in her lap. They drove in silence,

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Speaker 1: Madison shuddering in her grasp. Shining hazel eyes swept over

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Speaker 1: the overgrown fields of grain and planes of wild prairie grass.

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Speaker 1: Purple clouds collided with gray and a pale blue sky

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Speaker 1: as they passed desolate wind farms and the rubble of

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Speaker 1: collapsed solitary barns, and still tilta formulated possible escape plans,

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Speaker 1: discarding most of them as impractical or flat out impossible.

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Speaker 1: But the longer they drove, the more her desperation grew.

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Speaker 1: Soon there would be worn enforcers and no chance. Madison

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Speaker 1: coughed roughly. The dark haired enforcer glanced over his shoulder.

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Speaker 1: He's sick. While his question was not one of concern,

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Speaker 1: his tone was quite serious. Tilda stroked Madisone's hair and

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Speaker 1: rubbed his back, not responding, only barely managing to suppress

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Speaker 1: the panic. Murmuring wildly the lower depths of her subconscious,

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Speaker 1: The driver drawled condescendingly. Mother of the year. Here has

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Speaker 1: some out in the cold, wearing rags on a diet

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Speaker 1: of peanut butter and crackers. I'm surprised he's still alive

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Speaker 1: at all, Madison coughed again, flinging up his arm and

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Speaker 1: muffling the sound with his elbow. Have you given him

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Speaker 1: any medication? The patronizing way in which he asked the

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Speaker 1: question rankled, but also succeeded in making Tilda feel small.

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Speaker 1: She shook her head, not trusting her voice. He exhaled sharply.

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Speaker 1: Stop in the next town, should be Wichita. We can

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Speaker 1: get him something there. His partner disparaged, can't it wait

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Speaker 1: till we get within radio range? Is probably just a

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Speaker 1: cold I am not taking that chance. The other returned formally,

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Speaker 1: side and frustration. If that dumb bitch would hay the

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Speaker 1: other cut in angrily shut up. A tense silence fell.

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Speaker 1: Signs for Wichita started to pop up on the side

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Speaker 1: of the road. Tilta's thoughts outpaced her understanding of them.

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Speaker 1: Stopping could be an opportunity for them to slip away,

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Speaker 1: But how far could they get now? They still needed supplies.

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Speaker 1: For what must have been the hundredth time, she cursed

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Speaker 1: herself for forgetting their packs, all because of a broadcast

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Speaker 1: The Witchita skyline came into view, shrouded by heavy grain clouds.

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Speaker 1: The car emerged onto the exit and to the right.

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Speaker 1: Cities always appeared more apocalyptic in the scale of their

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Speaker 1: destruction than towns, the devastation more visible, the denser population

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Speaker 1: feeding off each other's hopelessness, fostering it until it could

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Speaker 1: not have been contained, and exploded outward, fragments of life,

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Speaker 1: destroying the civilization they built that would stand along after

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Speaker 1: its creators had faded to dust. They traveled a few

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Speaker 1: miles before spotting a relatively untouched pharmacy. The enforcer guided

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Speaker 1: the car into the parking lot of the stained white building.

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Speaker 1: Let's hope the place hasn't been looted, the driver and

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Speaker 1: toned caustically under his breath. Parking right in front of

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Speaker 1: the door, the two men share to look. You want

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Speaker 1: to run in? I don't know what to get, The

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Speaker 1: olive skinned man admitted lowly. Do you cold medicine? The

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Speaker 1: other one snarked yes, but for a child. He hissed

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Speaker 1: under his breath. This stumped his partner. Momentarily, he huffed,

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Speaker 1: We'll just break a pill in a half. The other

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Speaker 1: sky often a flurry of hissed communication passed between them. Fine,

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Speaker 1: the bald man ground out, will take the woman in

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Speaker 1: with us and leave me with a hysterical child, the

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Speaker 1: other questioned, and disbelief while I'm not staying with him.

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Speaker 1: Fresh tears rolled down Madison's cheeks. Tilda watched, frozen, horrified

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Speaker 1: at the idea of being separated. The pale one stated, simply,

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Speaker 1: I think it'd be easier if we killed the girl.

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Speaker 1: Madison trembled all over at that declaration. Untilda held him

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Speaker 1: to her tightly, the air snagged in the back of

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Speaker 1: her throat. No, the other refuted vehemently, you read the

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Speaker 1: file only as a last resort. A furious staring contest ensued.

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Speaker 1: All right, Cabald and pale One snapped with a sort

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Speaker 1: of jeering humor. Let's all go in one big, happy family.

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Speaker 1: He searched out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

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Speaker 1: He jerked the handle of the passenger door opposite his prisoners,

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Speaker 1: gesturing with his gun for them to get out. Madison

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Speaker 1: refused to relinquish his hold, so Tilda awkwardly maneuvered them

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Speaker 1: from the are, leaning away from the enforcer to put

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Speaker 1: as much distance as possible between them. She couldn't help

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Speaker 1: but notice he'd left the keys in the ignition, averting

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Speaker 1: her eyes before he caught her. Observing this and realizing

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Speaker 1: his mistake, she took wary steps toward the entrance, the

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Speaker 1: other enforcers striving to stand in front of her. The

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Speaker 1: glass pane doors had long been shattered, powdery crushed glass

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Speaker 1: crunched beneath their feet. Inside was dark. Some shelves have toppled,

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Speaker 1: contents spilled to the floor, the only thing holding them

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Speaker 1: up the wall or shelf opposite. A gun jabbed in

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Speaker 1: her back, pushing her towards the rose of cough medicine.

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Speaker 1: Are we expecting her to know what to get? He sneered,

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Speaker 1: I'm assuming this isn't the first time he's gotten sick,

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Speaker 1: the other pointed out, exasperated, and she's young. She probably

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Speaker 1: remembers what her mother got for her muteness. Muttering was

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Speaker 1: the only response. As they turned down the row of

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Speaker 1: cough medicines. The shelving on the right was tilted precariously,

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Speaker 1: leaning onto its counterpart on the left until they met

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Speaker 1: at the far end, an inverted b much had been plundered,

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Speaker 1: multi cardboard boxes littering the floor and shells. All that

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Speaker 1: was left was shoved to the back. What if he

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Speaker 1: doesn't how cold? If it's something more serious, the dark

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Speaker 1: haired man spoke up, voicing concern that had been lingering

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Speaker 1: in the back of Tilda's mind. This is just a

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Speaker 1: quick fix, this partner said, tossing a box aside. To

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Speaker 1: make sure things don't escally, we can get improper health

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Speaker 1: guarantee see. Tilda knelt down tentatively examining the bottom shelf.

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Speaker 1: The enforcers allowed at, studying her intently for a moment.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to put you down for a minute. Okay,

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Speaker 1: she whispered shakily in Madison's ear, a watery plan forming

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Speaker 1: in her mind. Madison protest of the low mule, drawing

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Speaker 1: the attention of the enforcers. It's gonna be okay, she whispered,

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Speaker 1: with the most confident she could simmon. Remember elephant, elephant

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Speaker 1: will be all right. Madison released her reluctantly, twisting his

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Speaker 1: fingers together, sniffling, red rimmed eyes brimming with tears, Tilda

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Speaker 1: glanced furtively over her shoulder. The enforcers had moved closer

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Speaker 1: to where the two rows met, not paying much attention

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Speaker 1: to their prisoners. Although Tilda was sure she made a

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Speaker 1: move to stand or to make a run for it,

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Speaker 1: they'd have their guns trained on her in an instant,

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Speaker 1: and what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. She reached

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Speaker 1: the back of the shelf, where she noticed a rusty

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Speaker 1: metal bar held in by loose screws supporting the structure

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Speaker 1: and keeping it from crashing into the other shelves. Tilda

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Speaker 1: closed her hand around it, tugging at it experimentally. It

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Speaker 1: gave a bit squeaking, breath catching. She shot a look

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Speaker 1: at the two men tossing aside empty containers and sorting

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Speaker 1: through what little roomained, complaining about her and coffinescence and

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Speaker 1: confusing tiny print. Wrapping both hands around the cold metal,

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Speaker 1: bracing herself, Tilta took a deep breath and yanked the bar,

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Speaker 1: pulled free with a metallic, groaning shriek. She grabbed Madison

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Speaker 1: around the middle and slid them from underneath the collapsing

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Speaker 1: shelf as it smashing to the enforcers, knocking them into

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Speaker 1: the other unit. Jerking Madison to his feet, she broke

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Speaker 1: into a run, pulling him behind her. Bang something fiery

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Speaker 1: rip through her midcalf in the reflection of one of

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Speaker 1: the still standing windows, she could see a gun leveled

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Speaker 1: close to the floor, the enforcer holding it, struggling to

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Speaker 1: keep it steady while he tried to wriggle free from

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Speaker 1: the metal on top of him. Tilda's knee turned in,

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Speaker 1: almost collapsing entirely, fire eating up her leg, but adrenaline

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Speaker 1: kept her on her feet, and she almost ripped the

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Speaker 1: car door off its hinges, opening it, lifting Madison unceremoniously

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Speaker 1: and depositing him in the passenger seat. She hit her

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Speaker 1: hip on the steering wheel with bruising force, but it

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Speaker 1: did nothing to slow her tilta could see movement inside

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Speaker 1: the pharmacy. She twisted the key so hard it bit

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Speaker 1: into her hand, and for a second she thought it

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Speaker 1: might break off. In the ignition, the car cranked, revving

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Speaker 1: as she flooded the engine. Her feet fumbled at the petals,

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Speaker 1: and she hadn't driven in years. Her parents had been

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Speaker 1: in the early stages of teaching her when she discovered

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Speaker 1: she was pregnant, but her body was on autopilot, to

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Speaker 1: the point where she almost felt like a spectator trapped

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Speaker 1: in her own skin. Her foot jammed down the brake

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Speaker 1: as she threw the car and drive her toes and

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Speaker 1: near detached slivers, shoe catching for a mill of second.

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Speaker 1: As she switched to the accelerator, a bullet tore into

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Speaker 1: the side of the cars that peeled away until they

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Speaker 1: screamed at Madison to get down. Metals shrieking as she

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Speaker 1: careened over the curb, and her wides were about of

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Speaker 1: the parking lot back end, fish tailing as she clumsily corrected.

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Speaker 1: For a brief moment, she worried that she was in

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Speaker 1: the wrong lane. She almost laughed aloud and what might

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Speaker 1: have been hysteria. It's not like there were other cars

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Speaker 1: on the road toory about, she thought, though debris was

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Speaker 1: a real problem. She tore down the exit, almost veering

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Speaker 1: off the road in her haste. Tilda forced her foot

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Speaker 1: to relax in the car to slow, scolding herself fiercely.

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Speaker 1: Her reckless driving could have hurt Madison, killed him. Even

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Speaker 1: they were away from the enforcers for now. At least,

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Speaker 1: if she got them killed, it would have all been

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Speaker 1: for nothing. They were going north. Tilda decided inwardly to

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Speaker 1: keep heading this way until she saw a sign for

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Speaker 1: a highway heading west. She wanted to put as much

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Speaker 1: distance as she could between her and Madison and the enforcers.

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Speaker 1: It's okay, now, mouse, climb back up into the seat.

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Speaker 1: Was that wobbly, breathy sound her voice? Madison obeyed, moved.

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Speaker 1: It's uncoordinated. A wet cough reminded her of what they

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Speaker 1: still faced. Put your seatbelt on, she rasped. Took several

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Speaker 1: tries before Madison could get it to click. There was

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Speaker 1: something surreal, bordering on apocalyptic, about driving away from danger

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Speaker 1: on a disused road, one that once must have been

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Speaker 1: cogged with cars. She felt that they were the last

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Speaker 1: two people on Earth, and they were fleeing a cresting

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Speaker 1: wave of destruction explosion, wiping out everything behind them and

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Speaker 1: leaving nothingness in its wake. If she looked behind her now,

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Speaker 1: would there be anything there or just a swallowing darkness.

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Speaker 1: The end finally come for them, and that brings us

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Speaker 1: to the end of this chapter. Be at four R

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Speaker 1: five or six of Terminus of Terminus. I hope that

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Speaker 1: you enjoyed it, and yes, it is continuing, so there

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Speaker 1: will be more. I love to hear theories people have

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Speaker 1: sit in. That's great. This also included more action scenes

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Speaker 1: and I am not great at writing action scenes. Do

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Speaker 1: you have where they seeing Samantham where you're just like,

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Speaker 1: this is not my skill set. I can't write. So

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Speaker 1: I'm better at character build up than actions, so I'm

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Speaker 1: more My books are more characterized around that conversations. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm not good at action, and I'm definitely not good,

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Speaker 1: as we've discussed before, at any love like sex seed.

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Speaker 1: I can do the like flirting, but I cannot do sex.

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Speaker 1: I'm plushing just thinking about it. I wish you could

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Speaker 1: go back any good pace some of our euphemisms in

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Speaker 1: oh no, oh no, I have written sex scenes. I

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Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know if I'll ever published any

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Speaker 1: of those, but you know, maybe one day on spent

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Speaker 1: tea one day. But yeah, I'm enjoying doing this. I'm

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Speaker 1: enjoining hearing from all of you, and it's going to continue.

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Speaker 1: This is, like I said, it's part one of a trilogy.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if we'll do the whole thing, but

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Speaker 1: we'll see in the meantime. Yes, please right in. If

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Speaker 1: you did Nano Ramo, or if you just do your

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Speaker 1: thoughts about writing in general, you would love to hear it.

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Speaker 1: You can emails at Steffania mom stuff at I Hurt

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Speaker 1: mea dot com. You can find us on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: moms the Podcast or Instagram at stuff I Never Told You.

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Speaker 1: Thanks as always to our super producer, Christina Queen of Audio.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, she makes these happen all of you, um

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Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. Stefinitely never told You.

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Speaker 1: Protection I Hiart Radio. For more podcast in my Heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: you can check out the Heart Radio ap Apple podcast

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Speaker 1: already listen to your favorite shows