WEBVTT - Epilogue

0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:08.720
<v Speaker 1>Epilogue. Manny stumbled out of Ayisha's house at around seven

0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:12.039
<v Speaker 1>p m. It was still bright outside. The scorching boil

0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.120
<v Speaker 1>of the day had faded a bit into more of

0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.840
<v Speaker 1>a humid simmer. The normal stark, blinding blue of Texan

0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.680
<v Speaker 1>September had been replaced by the oily gray white of

0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.120
<v Speaker 1>cloud cover. It looked and felt like a storm front

0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.120
<v Speaker 1>was moving in. He took a few steps forward just

0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.520
<v Speaker 1>to get away from the door. The meeting had gone awfully.

0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:33.160
<v Speaker 1>There had never really been any chance of it going well.

0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.640
<v Speaker 1>Of course, Manny had opted to be as blunt and

0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.680
<v Speaker 1>honest as possible. He'd told her that Oscar had been

0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:42.120
<v Speaker 1>captured and executed by the Heavenly Kingdom. He left out

0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:44.200
<v Speaker 1>that Rowland had mercy killed him, as he had left

0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:46.879
<v Speaker 1>out his own little stint in the Kingdom's militia. It

0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:51.240
<v Speaker 1>would have taken too long to explain. She'd reacted with rage.

0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.280
<v Speaker 1>Ayisha had hit him a few times. She'd screamed at

0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.280
<v Speaker 1>him off and on for more than an hour, in

0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:59.880
<v Speaker 1>between bouts of collapsing into his chest and sobbing. If

0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.480
<v Speaker 1>who hadn't talked him into this fucking job, he'd still

0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:06.200
<v Speaker 1>be alive, she'd spat at him. Manny hadn't argued in

0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.679
<v Speaker 1>his defense. Ayisha had been right. After all, there was

0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.360
<v Speaker 1>nothing for him to do but endure her rage, soak

0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.080
<v Speaker 1>up her pain, and transfer tens of thousands of am

0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:18.800
<v Speaker 1>fed dollars into her bank account. Before the bodies at

0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:21.160
<v Speaker 1>rock Creak had gone cold, Manny had made up his

0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.360
<v Speaker 1>mind to hand Ayisha every penny he'd saved. Schofucker, Mike,

0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:27.480
<v Speaker 1>and Topaz had assured him that the cash would be

0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.560
<v Speaker 1>all but useless in his new life on the road

0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.280
<v Speaker 1>with rolling fuck, and more than that it was the

0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.399
<v Speaker 1>right thing to do. He couldn't bring oscar back, he

0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.600
<v Speaker 1>couldn't make anything okay, But the money he'd saved would

0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:41.280
<v Speaker 1>mean Ayisha had one less worry In the immediate wake

0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.760
<v Speaker 1>of the tragedy. He stepped off her porch and tried

0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.080
<v Speaker 1>not to focus too much on the muffled sounds of

0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.840
<v Speaker 1>her howling cries behind him. Ahead, parked across the street

0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:53.880
<v Speaker 1>was an old beat to ship jeep Wrangler. It had

0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.680
<v Speaker 1>no doors, no top, and tuley black elk sat in

0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.400
<v Speaker 1>the driver's seat, legs propped up on the dash, and

0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:02.200
<v Speaker 1>a Fats Gar bleating smoke into the air around her.

0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.040
<v Speaker 1>She glanced up as he approached and favored him with

0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.600
<v Speaker 1>a lopsided grin. Hey kid, how'd it go. Tullie had

0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.360
<v Speaker 1>seemed less than friendly on their initial meeting. Given the circumstances,

0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:15.920
<v Speaker 1>Manny couldn't blame her. She'd warmed up to him in

0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:17.920
<v Speaker 1>the two days since the battle and had thanked him

0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.240
<v Speaker 1>repeatedly for saving her and Rick. Manny had tried to

0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:24.200
<v Speaker 1>brush off her praise, but she'd ignored his every effort.

0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.200
<v Speaker 1>When it came time to take his last trip into Austin,

0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.519
<v Speaker 1>she'd volunteered to drive. Her mods were all minor enough

0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.280
<v Speaker 1>that she was still legal inside the city and went

0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:37.280
<v Speaker 1>the way it went. He replied, she's fucked up about it,

0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:41.239
<v Speaker 1>and she hates me, probably always will. Manny hopped into

0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.560
<v Speaker 1>the driver's seat and looked around for a seat belt,

0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:47.000
<v Speaker 1>before remembering that Tullie's jeep had none. He settled back

0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.359
<v Speaker 1>into the seat and looked over to her. The woman

0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.000
<v Speaker 1>took two more deep puffs of her cigar, then put

0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.560
<v Speaker 1>the nub out on the side of her vehicle. She exhaled, belched,

0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:58.320
<v Speaker 1>and then fixed him with a weary smile that it

0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:02.720
<v Speaker 1>then Manny had already visited his father. It hadn't taken long.

0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:05.320
<v Speaker 1>The old man was happy to see him alive, proud

0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.720
<v Speaker 1>of what he'd done, and livid that he planned to

0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.959
<v Speaker 1>flee Texas to live with a bunch of weirdos and

0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.920
<v Speaker 1>a moving city. He hadn't fought Manny on the matter,

0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.280
<v Speaker 1>though life in Austin didn't exactly promise a bright future

0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:21.520
<v Speaker 1>for anyone. The city's defense forces had counterattacked the Martyrs

0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:23.720
<v Speaker 1>coming up from Lake Houston at the same time as

0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.160
<v Speaker 1>Rolling Fuck and Roland had made their stand. That battle

0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.520
<v Speaker 1>hadn't been as one sided, but the Martyrs had been

0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.799
<v Speaker 1>pushed back. Rumor had at the SDF forces around Lake

0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:36.200
<v Speaker 1>Houston were sallying out, sending gunboats with pocket artillery into

0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.720
<v Speaker 1>the flooded parts of the city to shell Kingdom forces

0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.320
<v Speaker 1>in the suburbs. The Heavenly Kingdom had withdrawn from Waco.

0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.760
<v Speaker 1>They'd probably pull back from around Houston soon, but they

0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.760
<v Speaker 1>still held Dallas, Galveston, and hundreds of miles of territory. Besides.

0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:53.320
<v Speaker 1>Word was the Canadians and Californians were sending in more

0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.600
<v Speaker 1>military advisers. The Choctaw and the Navajo were sending in

0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.720
<v Speaker 1>special Forces. The u c S had recoiled at all

0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.440
<v Speaker 1>this or an intervention. They were threatening to send in

0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:06.280
<v Speaker 1>ground troops to protect the faithful. Texas would not stop

0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:11.240
<v Speaker 1>bleeding anytime soon. Yeah, that's it, he told Tullie. Austin's

0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:15.240
<v Speaker 1>got nothing else for me? Now good. She reached over

0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.880
<v Speaker 1>and squeezed his shoulder. One look at her eyes told

0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.040
<v Speaker 1>Manny she'd been crying while he'd been inside with Ayesha.

0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.960
<v Speaker 1>It was odd, but he appreciated her grief. She hadn't

0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.760
<v Speaker 1>said anything about Marigold, but the fact that she was

0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.479
<v Speaker 1>clearly racked with pain and guilt too made his own

0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:33.320
<v Speaker 1>burden easier to bear. Tullie popped the jeep and to drive,

0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.400
<v Speaker 1>and together they rolled forward and out of the subdivision

0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.279
<v Speaker 1>where Oscar had lived and Ayisha still did without really

0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.680
<v Speaker 1>thinking about it. Manny opened the glove compartment. His time

0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:45.640
<v Speaker 1>with Rolling Funck had taught him that there had to

0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.520
<v Speaker 1>be drugs squirreled away somewhere inside. He was right. A

0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.679
<v Speaker 1>full clear plastic hip flask sat next to a ziplock

0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.200
<v Speaker 1>bag filled with blunts. Many grabbed the flask and fished

0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.919
<v Speaker 1>out one of the blunts. You got a light, he

0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.400
<v Speaker 1>asked to Lee snorted in laughter, the kind of fucking

0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.680
<v Speaker 1>question is that? Of course, I got a light. She

0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.120
<v Speaker 1>handed it over. He lit the blunt, hit it and

0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.360
<v Speaker 1>passed it off to her, and then unscrewed the top

0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.919
<v Speaker 1>of the flask and pounded back a shot. You're learning,

0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.360
<v Speaker 1>Tullie told him as she took a sharp right turn

0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:21.520
<v Speaker 1>onto South Congress Avenue. Learning what Learning that the world's

0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.440
<v Speaker 1>too fucked to take on with a clear head. She

0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.160
<v Speaker 1>passed the blunt back. Manny took it and handed off

0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:31.240
<v Speaker 1>the flask. When I first came to rolling fuck, she started,

0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:33.560
<v Speaker 1>I didn't get why of room was so damned wasted

0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.240
<v Speaker 1>All the time I'd been an activist back in Albuquerque.

0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.360
<v Speaker 1>You know, I thought having a clear head would help

0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.440
<v Speaker 1>me fight. She laughed, took a deep belt of liquor,

0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.520
<v Speaker 1>and then continued. It turned out my clear head and

0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.839
<v Speaker 1>my hard work didn't stop home from going to ship.

0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:50.120
<v Speaker 1>After a couple of weeks with Marigold, Topaz and Mike,

0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:55.080
<v Speaker 1>I realized something. What Manny asked already kind of sure

0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.240
<v Speaker 1>he knew the answer. The world's gonna be, more or

0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:01.039
<v Speaker 1>less exactly is fucked up. Man. I are serious, I

0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.599
<v Speaker 1>take it so I might as well enjoy the ship show.

0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.400
<v Speaker 1>Manny nodded. He gulped down more of the liquor, took

0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:09.919
<v Speaker 1>another hit from the blunt, and stared off into the sun,

0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.200
<v Speaker 1>which had started to set over the Colorado River. It

0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.760
<v Speaker 1>was a beautiful day. He thought. It was fitting that

0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.680
<v Speaker 1>this would be his last day in the city of

0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.280
<v Speaker 1>his birth. It was like Austin had dressed up to

0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.479
<v Speaker 1>say goodbye to him. I never really thought I could

0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.920
<v Speaker 1>fix the world, Manny said, But I thought I might

0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:27.839
<v Speaker 1>be able to fix my own life, you know, be

0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:32.080
<v Speaker 1>clever enough, good enough to escape to somewhere better. Yeah,

0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.680
<v Speaker 1>Tually grinned. Did you give up on that or did

0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.680
<v Speaker 1>you decide Rolling Fuck is somewhere better? I don't know,

0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.560
<v Speaker 1>Manny said, but it's definitely somewhere different. I think right now,

0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:47.159
<v Speaker 1>that's enough. Rolling Funck had moved south since the battle

0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:51.120
<v Speaker 1>to Georgetown. Tually pulled onto Highway thirty five, waved her

0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.760
<v Speaker 1>way through a handful of checkpoints and to rass until

0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:56.640
<v Speaker 1>they reached the outskirts of the camp. By then, the

0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.599
<v Speaker 1>flask was long empty and the blunt burnt down. That

0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.040
<v Speaker 1>was mine. Though Manny was a bit of a lightweight,

0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.159
<v Speaker 1>and he felt pretty wasted. As they pulled up to

0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.839
<v Speaker 1>the Greater Station, Skullfucker, Mike and Topaz were waiting for them.

0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.880
<v Speaker 1>Welcome home, pal, Mike told him and wrapped him in

0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.440
<v Speaker 1>a rib crushing embrace. Topaz kissed his cheek and smiled

0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:18.360
<v Speaker 1>at him. It didn't reach her eyes. She was still

0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.320
<v Speaker 1>fucked up. He knew over Marigold's death and over whatever

0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.160
<v Speaker 1>had happened with Roland. So was Manny. For that matter,

0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.320
<v Speaker 1>Roland's brain had read it within about an hour of

0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.120
<v Speaker 1>his injury. Manny had expected things to go back to

0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.080
<v Speaker 1>normal then, or as normal as Roland ever was, But

0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.480
<v Speaker 1>the post human had been left with no clear memories

0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.600
<v Speaker 1>of Manny, Sasha, or anything that had happened inside the

0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.200
<v Speaker 1>Heavenly Kingdom. He remembered Mike's name, and he talked frequently

0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.880
<v Speaker 1>about a shack on the top of some mountain in Arizona,

0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:50.360
<v Speaker 1>but that was it. Manny tried not to dwell on it. Together, he, Mike, Topaz,

0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.360
<v Speaker 1>and Tulli started to walk towards the enormous modified backer

0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.400
<v Speaker 1>at the heart of Rolling Fuck. Mike put a hand

0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.720
<v Speaker 1>on Manny's shoulder and squeezed. Got some bad news for you, Bud,

0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:05.440
<v Speaker 1>what Manny asked, hyper vigilance, spiking anxiety into his brain.

0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.440
<v Speaker 1>Sasha left, said Topaz, her voice as gentle as it

0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:13.200
<v Speaker 1>ever got what he asked, where back to the mfant

0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.680
<v Speaker 1>or No? Mike replied, she went with Jim and that

0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.600
<v Speaker 1>stupid aircraft of his. I think he offered her a job.

0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.120
<v Speaker 1>Is that bad? Manny asked. He wasn't sure how to feel.

0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.560
<v Speaker 1>He'd wanted to get to know her better. He'd also

0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.360
<v Speaker 1>gotten the distinct impression she wouldn't be happy in rolling.

0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:34.079
<v Speaker 1>Fuck depends on your perspective. Topaz said, Jim can give

0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.080
<v Speaker 1>her a lot of the things she might need right now.

0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.120
<v Speaker 1>He's also the worst person on earth. She paused for

0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:43.800
<v Speaker 1>a moment and then reconsidered, Okay, second worst. You're talking

0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:48.200
<v Speaker 1>about Roland, Manny asked, fuck you, She replied, kids got

0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.679
<v Speaker 1>a right to talk about him. Topes. Mike said they

0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.400
<v Speaker 1>went through a nightmare together, Yeah, Topaz said, looking up

0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.920
<v Speaker 1>at Manny, And now he's left you alone with the

0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.520
<v Speaker 1>ship you did together while he wanders off into the

0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.920
<v Speaker 1>desert to get wrecked, hasn't he? Roland had, in fact

0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.960
<v Speaker 1>started his walk to Arizona about a day ago laden

0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.040
<v Speaker 1>down with several backpacks full of pain killers. In Silas Syben,

0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:11.880
<v Speaker 1>he hadn't bothered to say goodbye, but then again he

0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.760
<v Speaker 1>hadn't remembered Manny at all. He can't help it. Manny

0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.200
<v Speaker 1>told her he'd been thinking about this a lot. Roland

0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:21.240
<v Speaker 1>warned me before he went out there. He told me

0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.960
<v Speaker 1>he couldn't handle the guilt, the killing. He made it

0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.280
<v Speaker 1>clear how much it fucked him up, and I still

0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:30.560
<v Speaker 1>asked him to go anyway. Sure Topez said, her voice

0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.560
<v Speaker 1>icy and sharp. And you don't have guilt over anything

0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:35.880
<v Speaker 1>that happened out there. You think Mike and I don't

0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:40.120
<v Speaker 1>have blood on our hands. Schoolfucker, Mike, Mike gently insisted.

0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:44.600
<v Speaker 1>We spent years fighting alongside Rowland. Topaz continued, We shed

0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.679
<v Speaker 1>a lot of blood together. He told us he'd always

0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.319
<v Speaker 1>be there to help us deal with whatever came after,

0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:53.800
<v Speaker 1>and then one day he was gone. Mike said, in

0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.240
<v Speaker 1>a dull, haunted tone. He left us, just like he

0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.720
<v Speaker 1>left you. The big man shook his head as if

0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.600
<v Speaker 1>to ro out the darkness inside. I don't hold it

0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:06.360
<v Speaker 1>against him, it's just how he is. Fuck that, Topaz

0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:08.280
<v Speaker 1>pat He doesn't get to do that and not be

0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.160
<v Speaker 1>a son of a bitch. The rest of us have

0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.520
<v Speaker 1>to live with our consciences. He takes a bullet train

0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:16.760
<v Speaker 1>to Forgetsville, and that's fine. It's not fine, Mike said,

0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.120
<v Speaker 1>but it is Rowland. We have to take him as

0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:22.560
<v Speaker 1>he is. You do. Maybe I'm happy cutting the fucker

0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.120
<v Speaker 1>out of my life. You do well to do the same, Manny,

0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.199
<v Speaker 1>when he comes back next time. You think there will

0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:32.160
<v Speaker 1>be a next time, Manny asked, Of course, all right,

0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.840
<v Speaker 1>cut the ship, Tulie said, as they reached the lift

0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.280
<v Speaker 1>that would lead them up to the main roller. Man

0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.440
<v Speaker 1>he's here for good. Now. We've all got plenty to

0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.200
<v Speaker 1>sniffle over, but it's time to properly welcome this dumbass

0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:46.040
<v Speaker 1>to the city. What's that look like, Manny asked. Who

0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.280
<v Speaker 1>probably takes him? M dum a, Mike said, and I

0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.560
<v Speaker 1>got a couple dozen pounds of dynamite. Topaz added, explosives

0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.240
<v Speaker 1>are stupid fun when you're rolling. We can toss him

0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.600
<v Speaker 1>while we do donuts in the jeep, Tulie said, I'll

0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.640
<v Speaker 1>crack open a case of whippets, will make a night

0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.960
<v Speaker 1>of it. Schofucker. Mike squeezed Manny into a bear hug

0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Topez joined, and after a few seconds, so did Tully.

0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.440
<v Speaker 1>This is gonna be the best party of your life,

0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.400
<v Speaker 1>he said, at least till whatever we do tomorrow.