1 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: It's it's spook all right, I didn't so if I'm 2 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: done for the day, taking taking the rest off by ament, 3 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: we sure do. Uh. So, you know, normally this is 4 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: a show about collapse, all that good stuff, YadA, YadA, YadA, 5 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: But fucking it's Halloween week. So we're we're we're we're 6 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: we're making sure all of our stuff has a little 7 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: bit of an extra spooky twist. It's like when you 8 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 1: you make a martini and you decide to actually put 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: vermuth inside it, as opposed to just kind of waving 10 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: it nearby. That's what we're doing this week, with spookiness 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: being the vermouth and mixing up our martini. Today is 12 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: Margaret Killjoy, Margaret Hello, Hello, I'm a famous mixologist, so 13 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: clearly this would be very good. Now Margaret today for 14 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: this very special episode of it could happen here on 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: Spooky Week. You have written us, well, you've written a 16 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: short story and you're going to read it and and 17 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,199 Speaker 1: and we're all gonna enjoy it. Is that is that accurate? Um? 18 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: I hope at least I can I can testify to 19 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: the first parts, and I hope for the last part. Excellent. 20 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 1: All right, Well, with without further ado, or with minimal 21 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: further ado. Let's uh, let's let's let's just you know, 22 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: with the with the stuff, with the stuff, Margaret, with 23 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: this stuff. Well this is great because this is actually 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: a short story that you start reading of. Oh ship, Yeah, 25 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: where's that link? You tested it to me, but I 26 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: don't have my phone on me. Okay, let me put 27 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: it in the chat here um based impressive, to say 28 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: the least, based in fiction pilled. Okay, I start reading 29 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: the italics. Yeah, it's the first A couple of paragraphs 30 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: of introduction, and your your interview. Me, all right, motherfucker's 31 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: let's get it started. The Northern Host, for all its lingering, 32 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: horror and misery, the wake of a war is rich 33 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: to reign for a folklorist like myself. More people report 34 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: more supernatural experiences during times of war than times of peace. 35 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: Some of my peers have argued the stress and shock 36 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: of battle leaves our brains more susceptible to mass delusion. 37 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: Others claim that the veil between worlds remains thin when 38 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: so many are passing from life to death. The Second 39 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: American Civil War has been no exception. Most famously, of course, 40 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: soldiers from each of the three armies present at the 41 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: fifteen day Siege of St. Louis reported a wailing man 42 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: who walked among the wounded, healing some and ending the 43 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: lives of others. On the Cascadian Front, rebel forces spoke 44 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: of black bears, who in effect stood central for their 45 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: guerrilla positions. During the White Army's occupation of Washington, d C. 46 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: Civilians and soldiers alike reported apparitions pouring out from the 47 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,959 Speaker 1: Pentagon Crater every new moon. Of all the various myths 48 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: and legends to spring up in the wake of the 49 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: recent conflict, however, I find myself most strongly drawn to 50 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: the stories of the Northern host. Never have I heard 51 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: a myth recounted in such detail by such a wide 52 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: variety of people. My favorite telling comes from Private Sarah 53 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: Dollar in the Battle of Ashville. This interview was recorded 54 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: in the spring of and lightly edited for clarity with 55 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: permission of the subject. Note that the subject refers to 56 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: the White Army by pejoratives throughout. These have been left 57 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: intact for the historical record. Could you introduce yourself and 58 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: tell me what you saw. Yeah, my my name is 59 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: Sarah Daher. I'm thirty one years old. I live in 60 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: Ashville and the Appalachian region of the United States of 61 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: America on stolen Cherokee Land. My u S military rank 62 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: was private. They may us all privates when they incorporated 63 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: the Irregulars into the Army, but I only served in 64 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: the Union to fight the White Army a year later. 65 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: I'm one of those crazy radicals who doesn't think the 66 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: reconfiguration goes far enough. I've never fired a gun in 67 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: my life before the Irregulars, and I hope I never 68 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: fired another one again. By temperament, I'm neither a lover 69 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: nor a fighter. I'm just your average trans girl who 70 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: likes cats and hates Nazis. I fought in three engagements 71 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: in Weaverville, Leicester, and Asheville. I think I killed two people. 72 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: One of them I know I killed him. I saw 73 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: him bleed out and I saw him taken away in 74 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: a black bag. The other person was a man I 75 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: shot in the thigh during the Battle of Asheville. I 76 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,919 Speaker 1: didn't know you could die from a bullet in the thigh, 77 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: but I've spent a lot of time looking at casualty records, 78 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: and someone who fit that man's general description died in 79 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: that battle from a bullet to the thigh. Does that 80 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: bother you? Yes, No, I don't know. I don't lose 81 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: sleep over it, but I think about it a lot. 82 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: I look at the docks on both of them. The 83 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: first guy was a true believer, a real blood and 84 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: soil type. It doesn't bother me that I mingled those 85 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: two things for him. The second man, though, I'm not 86 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: so sure, he signed up because his son signed up. 87 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: I don't have any kids myself, but I could see 88 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,919 Speaker 1: myself doing that. His son survived the war. Have you 89 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: been in contact with his son? Now? Funk? That guy 90 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: that kids a fucking Nazi and I don't know how 91 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: he talked his way out of the tribunals. Can you 92 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: tell me what you saw at the Battle of Asheville. 93 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: This was during the Fascist Spring Offensive last year, you know, 94 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: Hitler's birthday April. By that point, the White Army was 95 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: pretty much done, but they weren't about to go down 96 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: without doing some major symbolic damage. So there were about 97 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: forty of us, all irregulars, with our own commanders, no 98 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: army oversight. Morale was down. We felt pretty abandoned. Common 99 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: sentiment in the South I was on the street out 100 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: in front of the library, walking rounds. Downtown was half 101 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: rubble at that point. Only the library was standing because 102 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: symbols matter and all that bullsh ship, So that's where 103 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: we were making a stand. Neither side had artillery. Really 104 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: by that point, the brass had just commandeered even our 105 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: RPGs for the quote real fight. Air support wasn't coming, 106 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: not for them and not for us. Really, the Battle 107 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: of Ashville was was like nothing to the rest of 108 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: the world, and we knew it. So I was doing 109 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: the rounds thinking about my ship luck, thinking maybe I 110 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: was going to die, and how so many people had died, 111 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,679 Speaker 1: and what's another dead girl to add to the pile. 112 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: I was thinking about how at least this dead girl 113 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: is going to die surrounded by or in defensive books. 114 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: And then I heard dogs from around the side of 115 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: the building. One barked loud and near, the other sort 116 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: of distant and echoy. I went to check it out, 117 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: turned the corner and there was this naked guy. He 118 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: was pale as hell, tall, tattooed and scarred, and like 119 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: I said, he was naked as the sun. I stared 120 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: at him, he stared at me. I got so distracted 121 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: trying to figure him out that it took me a 122 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: moment to realize there were nine others behind him, or 123 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: maybe they weren't there at first. I don't know. Oh 124 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: most of them were men, mostly of the tall Norse 125 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: looking variety, but there was a Middle Eastern man and 126 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: three women, including one who by my read was Latin 127 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: X No dogs anywhere that I could see. The man 128 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: closest to me he asked me something in a language 129 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: I didn't know. I just kind of stared. He asked 130 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: me another question in another language. What I asked? Who 131 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: are you? Who are we fighting? He asked? His accent 132 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: was thick, and I couldn't place it for the life 133 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: of me. I mean, I know now, but I sure 134 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: as ship didn't know it then we I asked what 135 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: I was due back out front, because I was a 136 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: century doing the rounds and this sure needed reporting. But 137 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: what the hell was I going to tell? People? Who 138 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: are we fighting? Where are we You're in Asheville? Who 139 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: are you? Ah? The American conflict? The man said behind him. 140 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: Others nodded. Their movements were sloppy, dream like they were drunk. 141 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: I later realized one of them had dried blood running 142 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: down from her lip onto her not insubstantial. Ally, you're 143 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: fighting the nationalists, the first one said, we're here to 144 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: help you. Who are you, I asked this third time 145 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: he actually answered, my name is bell Gear. We are 146 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: the dead. We are the inn here from Valhalla. Every 147 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: day we are sent to a battle to fight, and 148 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: we die. The others behind him nodded, definitely drunk. Now, 149 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: I know there were good folks on our side who 150 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: were into European paganism, but you have to understand that 151 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: a lot more of the fashion were into that ship 152 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: than anybody else. If they hadn't been naked and drunk, 153 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: I might have mistaken them for the enemy and shot them. Valhalla, 154 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: I said, reciting the tiny bit I knew that's where 155 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: Vikings go if they die in battle, feast every day 156 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: and fight every night in Odin's hall until the end 157 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: of the world, where you like also fight and die. 158 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: But wolf eats the sun or something close enough. Bell 159 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: Gear said, I mean Odin only gets half the battle dead, 160 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: and Viking isn't a good name for us. But sure, 161 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: and you're here because we are to take arms alongside you, 162 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: fight your enemies and die Today am I going to 163 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,199 Speaker 1: die today? Only the seers and the gods know that. 164 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: I've been calling myself a witch half my life, but 165 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: honestly that was mostly because I like taro and astrology 166 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: and panagrams and ship I've never been someone who took 167 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: the supernatural all that seriously. But nothing in the world 168 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: made sense like it used to. Fascists had just been 169 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:28,559 Speaker 1: driven out of d C. Cascadia had not only succeeded, 170 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: but was in a civil war of its own now. 171 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: Mexico was gone and replaced by self governing states of 172 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: almost every stripe in the political rainbow. China had backed 173 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: white supremacists and other nationalist types in an American civil war, 174 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: and antigovernment leftists were fighting alongside weirdos like me in 175 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: the damn u s Army. I can't say those things 176 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: were as weird as naked dead don't call us vikings 177 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: talking to me in the street. But somehow all of 178 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: that was just comparably bizarre. Come let us arm ourselves 179 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: and fight together. You and I Belger said, So that's 180 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: how I'm the Northern host. Most people don't believe me, 181 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 1: assume it was just some kind of drunk wing nuts. 182 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: Maybe some irregulars I've never met before, but I saw 183 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: what I saw, and I believe it. The rest of 184 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: us who survived they saw it too, And how did 185 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: it go? Yeah? Pardon the battle? How did it go? 186 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: We got the iron here yard into irregular's garb and 187 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,240 Speaker 1: armed them. There were plenty of guns at that point 188 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: in the forgotten hellhole of front. Bullets not so much, 189 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,119 Speaker 1: but plenty of guns. They were all comfortable with firearms, 190 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: though one fellow groused about what he wouldn't do for 191 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: an axe and shield, and another said what we had 192 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: was fine, but monofilament web guns were better than any 193 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: combat shotgun. To hear them, tell it, funk it? Why 194 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: am I pretending like I don't believe them? I believe 195 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: them with every bit of my soul, and damn what 196 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: people think of me for it. The Northern Host fight 197 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: every night, and every night. They are in a different 198 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: time and place. Most battles in human history were in 199 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: the past, they said, which sounds optimistic, doesn't it, But 200 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: they said they fought in every century up to the 201 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: Nothing happen after the twenty four century. Ragnarok most likely 202 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: the end of the world, wolves eating the sun, and 203 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: the moon all that. They stood guard out with me 204 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: out front. Around midday we got hit with an e MP. 205 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: We knew that was coming. It didn't screw us up much. 206 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: We had a hardened phone in the basement, and all 207 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: our weapons operated just as well in dumb mode a 208 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,959 Speaker 1: smart mode, including our own e MPs. The White Army 209 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: showed up, maybe a hundred men, all men, that's their 210 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,199 Speaker 1: whole stick. They came in on motorcycles and a t 211 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: v s and horses more stick. Like a fucking folksy 212 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: they are. We hit them with the m e mp 213 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: s anyway level the field, took out the a t 214 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: v s, the bikes were retrofitted, no electric and a horse. 215 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: You can't impel horse. I don't know if there was 216 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: a skirmish in that war that didn't start with both 217 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: sides ritually knocking the other one back to basically the 218 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,599 Speaker 1: twentieth century. I think the tactical e MP is the 219 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: reason there's anything left of this country. We took a 220 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: few pot shots while they were still at range, but 221 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: we didn't have the AMMO to waste on anything else. 222 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: I don't think we'd at any damage. They took up 223 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:03,959 Speaker 1: position further up the hill and the ruins of the 224 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: old Basilica. Then we waited. We should have mined the church. 225 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,719 Speaker 1: That old thing was blown half to ship. Anyway, it 226 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: wouldn't have made the world any worse if we'd either 227 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: leveled it or hidden explosives throughout. But you know, ethical 228 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: war or whatever, don't mind churches. The other side leveled 229 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: every mosques, inn agogue and quote heretic church they got 230 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: their hands on, not to mention libraries and universities and 231 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: even the goddamn Statue of Liberty because they hate immigrants. 232 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: But we were supposed to be fighting a quote ethical war. 233 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: Those two words don't got nothing to do with one another, 234 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: and everyone knows it. So they hold up in the Basilica, 235 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: and we pulled back into the library and we had 236 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: one of those good old fashioned standoffs where people die 237 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: slowly from sniper fire and everything is awful. That's when 238 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: Laura got shot right in the head because we missed 239 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: a spot when we bulletproof the facade. She's dead. She 240 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: had natural red hair, but she always died at Redder 241 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 1: And her favorite show is by for the Vampire Slayer. 242 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: And she liked to drink water out of long stem glasses. 243 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,839 Speaker 1: She was I think she was thirty seven, way past 244 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: rafting age. She volunteered. It was her first engagement. She 245 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: was only there because she loved books, had plenty of 246 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: time to avoid looking at her corpse while she was 247 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: in there with us dead. Dwight was another one of 248 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: my friends in the unit, one of my favorite people, 249 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: hands down, total weirdo, and he was all obsessed with 250 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,839 Speaker 1: that Viking ship and Dark ages in general. Both his 251 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,080 Speaker 1: parents had come over from Sweden, though his dad was 252 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: originally from Nigeria. Dwight had one degree in medieval studies 253 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: in another African history, and I can't tell you how 254 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,719 Speaker 1: many times during basic he'd run down the details of 255 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: this or that ancient battle, whether in Europe or Africa. 256 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: If there were guns involved, he didn't care about it, 257 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: but if there were swords in armor or spears and shields, 258 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: he was all in. He started talking to the Vikings 259 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,439 Speaker 1: first thing. He was the first person to believe them, 260 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: to to really believe them, and his faith was contagious. 261 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: While we were pinned down, he asked them everything. Mostly 262 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: they were quiet, even taciturn, but there was one thing 263 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: they were very insistent on, and that I overheard them 264 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: talking about Nazis don't go to Valhalla. But why not? 265 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 1: Dwight asked, It takes two things to go to Valhalla. 266 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: The spokesperson said, you have to die in battle, and 267 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: you have to venerate Odin. A bunch of those fuckers 268 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: are Odiness, he said, no, they aren't. They're nationalist, fascists, 269 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,960 Speaker 1: racial separatists are all kinds of things, but they don't 270 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: venerate Odin. Whatever they think, What do you mean? They 271 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: only know one half of Odin. They know the masculine side, 272 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: the heterosexual side, the Christian side. They worship a bastardization 273 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: of our God, a bastardization first created by a nationalist 274 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: Christian eight hundred years ago that's only gotten further afield 275 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: since our Odin practices women's magic, the magic of these 276 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: sexually penetrated. We also worship female gods of war, and 277 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: male gods of the hearth, and gods who change their 278 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: gender when they're board. Nazis don't understand that any of it. 279 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: In life, we aided, sometimes traded. Other times we also 280 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: did all sorts of things that won't fit your modern sensibilities, 281 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: things that were I alive. You might kill me for 282 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: but we're not Nazis, and people who worship a Christian 283 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: version of our God most certainly do not go to Valhalla. 284 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: It was as if the man had used up every 285 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: word allotted to him for the day, because I don't 286 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 1: believe one of them spoke again before the battle began 287 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: in earnest And how long was that another hour? Maybe 288 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: the sun was still right overhead when the White Army 289 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: rushed us. It was a bullshit move, rushing us one 290 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: part over confidence in one part desperation. If you can 291 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: imagine that they knew they were losing the war at 292 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: that point, but they had us more than two to one, 293 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: and we all know that KKK commanders don't give two 294 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: ships about the lives of their men. That's when I 295 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: put a bullet on a man's leg while he was 296 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: in the street running. It was a good shot. He 297 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: was running, and I led the target and everything. I've 298 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: been aiming for center body mass, but but still at 299 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: least a hundred yards against a moving target. I was 300 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: proud of that shot at the time on a technical level, 301 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: even if I'm not sure I'm proud of it any 302 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: more now that I know the man's name. We expected 303 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: the charge. What we didn't expect was the ordinance that 304 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: knocked the reinforced front off its hinges. But that happened, 305 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: and almost all the fighting happened right there on the 306 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: first floor among the empty shelves. The whole thing felt 307 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: like it lasted half an hour. I've looked it up since. 308 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: From the time of the first blast at the time 309 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: the last shot was fired, we're talking about three minutes. 310 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: In twelve seconds, we thought they were going to pour 311 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: in through the door after they blew at the funk off. 312 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: So James got in there with our one functioning automatic 313 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: and he took at least ten of the fash down 314 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: with him before someone got him in the neck. It 315 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 1: was a faint and they blew a hole in the 316 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: side of the building while well that was going on, 317 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: and that's where they got in close quarters combat. As 318 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: a whole different beast, a worse one, maybe maybe a 319 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: better one. I go back on forth on that sometimes 320 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: instead of sleeping, I think about the pros and cons 321 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: of various types of absolute are Is it better to 322 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,520 Speaker 1: see your death coming or to get picked off without 323 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: knowing it. I would have thought the Vikings would expend 324 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,480 Speaker 1: themselves right off I mean Vikings. They were starting to 325 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: sober up by that point, but still they'd been drinking, 326 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: and they were already dead, and they were doomed to die. 327 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: But they were smarter than that. Never risked themselves unnecessarily. 328 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: Your next assumption of a comrade you know is doomed 329 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,919 Speaker 1: is that they'll sacrifice themselves to save others. None of 330 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: that either. They knew they were the best trained soldiers 331 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,120 Speaker 1: on the field, and that in order for us to win, 332 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: they had to be in the fight as long as 333 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 1: they could. They were smart like that. Assholes like that. 334 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 1: I stationed myself in the back. I fancy myself more 335 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: of a sniper than the assault sort, so I watched 336 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: the whole thing go down. I also only hit three 337 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,959 Speaker 1: targets out of a hundred and seventeen bullets I fired, 338 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: But that's another story. I watched us win. We took 339 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: casualties of fifty half of those were k I A. 340 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: But we defeated a force twice our strength. I watched 341 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: the in hangar bayonet in and shoot them, and I 342 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 1: saw one of the Viking women break a man's face 343 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: apart with her fists. Soon after, a bullet found her 344 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: heart and she collapsed with a smile on her lips. 345 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: She disappeared like literally she phased out of existence, being 346 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: me up Scotty. We pushed them back onto the pavement, 347 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,160 Speaker 1: And when I say we, I'm honestly not being fair 348 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: because I didn't do much of it myself. We had 349 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: them scattered and running, most of them. Dwight was out there, 350 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: waving a pistol in one hand and swinging a wooden 351 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: stock rifle like a club in the other. A Viking 352 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: with a shotgun stood beside him. I think the same 353 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: fashy little ship killed them both, maybe in the same 354 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: three round burst. I tagged the fashion in his belly, 355 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: and his friends helped him get away, and the remaining 356 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 1: Nazis ran. He survived his wound. Why do we have 357 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: so much information about the war? Does it do me 358 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,159 Speaker 1: any good to know who I killed and who I didn't? 359 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: And Dwight. Dwight lay alone in the concrete, face down. 360 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,959 Speaker 1: There wasn't much blood, but he was dead. Two ravens 361 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: sat atop him, one on each shoulder. I've never seen 362 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: a raven in Asheville in my life, not before, not since. 363 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 1: There were two of them, as big as people say 364 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: those things are. They barked, and they sounded like dogs. 365 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: One was loud, like it was right where I was. 366 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: The other was distant, echoing. Then they flew away, directly 367 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: up and towards the sun, and I tried to watch 368 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: to see where they went, but you can't look directly 369 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: at the sun like that. I looked back down and 370 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: Dwight was gone. Okay, so his body was still there, 371 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: but there was there was something about him that was gone, 372 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: and I don't know how to tell you what it was. 373 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: That that was that we won sort of. They didn't 374 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: storm the library, which I guess means we won. But 375 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: sometimes I think I'd burn every single book in that place. 376 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: It would bring back Lord or Dwight or any of 377 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: the rest of my friends. The war was over at 378 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: that point, even if we didn't know it yet. So 379 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: what did they die for? I guess for symbols. Maybe 380 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: symbols matter that much. I don't know. I deserted after that, 381 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,439 Speaker 1: half the survivors of the Battle of Asheville less than 382 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,120 Speaker 1: a week later up in Pittsburgh, and I suppose I'd 383 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: be dead if I had gone, And it probably makes 384 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:07,919 Speaker 1: me a coward that I didn't It's not that I 385 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,439 Speaker 1: was afraid of dying. It's that I was afraid of 386 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,400 Speaker 1: dying in battle because I believe in Odin Now it's 387 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: hard not to believe in a god without venerating him. 388 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: I don't want to go to Valhalla. I don't want 389 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,880 Speaker 1: to fight ever again, let alone every night. I don't 390 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: want to serve with the iron and yard at the 391 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: twilight of the gods sometime in the century. If I 392 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: don't want to do that, then I don't want to 393 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: die in battle. Dwight, though I expect he's happy. I 394 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: expect he dies every day with a smile on his 395 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: lips and meat and his belly. He won't have to 396 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: fight alongside the monsters of the human race either, because, 397 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: as I learned in Nashville, Nazis don't go to Valhalla. 398 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: All right, that was awesome, markret thing you Yeah, thanks. 399 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: D'll put a bunch of applause noise here because translating 400 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: over yeah and and and and uh an air horn 401 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: stick an, I don't think the air horn is going 402 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: to be that as no Garrison air horn show. Thank you, 403 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: thank you, Garrison. Margaret Um, how long ago did you 404 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:34,359 Speaker 1: write that? I wrote that I believe in two seventeen May. 405 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well it's not gotten less relevant. Yeah, man, 406 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: I uh, there's definitely some times where I've I've wished 407 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 1: for a platoon of vikings uh to deal with some ship. 408 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: Yeah uh, well this has been it could happen here, 409 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: and this has been spooky week. You enjoyed this scary 410 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: story that's also relevant to our theme of collapse. Margaret, 411 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: you want to tell the people where they can find you. Yeah, 412 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: I'm on Twitter at Magpie kill Joy. I'm on Instagram 413 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: at Margaret kill Joy. I'm on Patreon at patreon dot 414 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 1: com slash Margaret Killjoy, where this story and many other 415 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: stories are available for anyone who sponsors me at a 416 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: dollar a month. Then if you make less money than 417 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: I do, then just message me and I'll give you 418 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: all my ship for free. And I have an upcome 419 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: because you've asked me to plug things, and I'm definitely 420 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: just gonna go ahead and plug things. Um. I have 421 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: a book coming out from a K Press. It's a 422 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,719 Speaker 1: reissue of my anarchist utopian book, A Country of Ghosts. 423 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:40,200 Speaker 1: If you like my very I like writing war stories, 424 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,640 Speaker 1: but I specifically like writing war stories that are actually sad. 425 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: And how about how war is horrible? Um, and so 426 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: A Country of Ghosts is such a book and this 427 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 1: story will eventually I'm excited to say I just signed 428 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,959 Speaker 1: the contract for a k Press is going to put 429 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: out a short story anthology of mine which will include 430 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: this story. Yeah, that sounds incredibly rad Yes, great publisher. Yeah, 431 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: not biased at all in that. No, no, no, nor 432 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,680 Speaker 1: towards stories of the Second American Civil War with superior 433 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 1: I've been introduced to just today. Um, all right, we'll 434 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: check out Margaret's book Parentheses. S uh and and um, 435 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 1: check out this show when it comes back someday one day. 436 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: You'll never know when, but you'll hear a whisper on 437 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: the wind, and there will be or it will be 438 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: the next weekday after one of those. It could happen 439 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:47,680 Speaker 1: here as a production of cool Zone Media or more 440 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: podcasts from cool Zone Media. Visit our website cool zone 441 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: media dot com, or check us out on the I 442 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 443 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,440 Speaker 1: You can find sources for It could Happen here, updated 444 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,920 Speaker 1: monthly at cool zone media dot com slash sources. Thanks 445 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: for listening