1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Full Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 2: Welcome to It Could Happen Here Book Club. I'm Robert Evans. 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 2: This is a podcast about things falling apart, and this 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 2: is our special weekend edition of It Could Happen Here, 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 2: where Margaret Killjoy and myself sit down and read a story. Well, 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 2: Margaret reads the story at this point, I am listening 7 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 2: to it. Presumably the format we'll switch up at some point, 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 2: but right now, Margaret, how are we? I'm excited for 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 2: part three of the first Daniel Kine book. Are you 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 2: excited to give it to me? 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 3: I am excited to give it to you, Robert. And 12 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 3: you know, when we switch up the format, you'll just 13 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 3: make up a story as we go, well, like at 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 3: the stop in the middle of the chapter, and then 15 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 3: you just make up what happens. Yeah, I guess that's 16 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 3: just called Dungeons and Dragons. Actually, oh yeah, we could 17 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 3: call it Dungeons and Dragons. I was just gonna read 18 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 3: from one of my Thomas Pension books because no one 19 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 3: else is act no one's no one has actually ever 20 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 3: finished one, so it'll it'll be as if I'm I'm 21 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 3: just making up a story. I admit I've never finished 22 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 3: a Thomas Bench no. 23 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 2: No, of course not why there's things to do in 24 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 2: the world. Markret you gotta finish at Thomas Pinsion book. 25 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 3: As I get older, I have more interest in, like 26 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 3: finally sitting down and reading War and Peace and all 27 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 3: that shit. 28 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 2: But I just keep looking at my copy of Alan 29 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 2: Moore's Jerusalem and going one day. 30 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 3: One day exactly, that'll be like when we're finally and 31 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 3: we'll do the book club version, will be like a 32 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 3: book club presents War and Peace followed by Jerusalem followed 33 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 3: by infinite jest. 34 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, finally. Or we'll get Jamie loftus On for 35 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 2: that one. She loves reading infinitsh jest. 36 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 3: Or we'll read novella's by I once ran my I 37 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 3: won't tell people I once ran one of my books through. 38 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 3: What grade level is this adult book that I wrote? 39 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. 40 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 3: And I was very proud to say that one of 41 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 3: my books was written at a fifth or sixth grade 42 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 3: reading level. 43 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 2: Oh you need baby, I did all my real important 44 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 2: reading by the time I was six. 45 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 3: Great. 46 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 2: I've actually been I'm friends with this baby now, so 47 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 2: I've been reading some uh Doctor Seuss with her, and man, 48 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 2: those are good books. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, there's a 49 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 2: lot of the human human condition contained with an hop 50 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 2: on pop. I hadn't realized. 51 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 3: Once you move up to shel Silverstein m oh now, yeah, 52 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 3: directly from there to Danielle Kine. 53 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 2: That's right, the Shell Silverstein of Vaguely Lovecrafty and Horror, 54 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 2: the action Punk. 55 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 3: I'd say Shell silver wrote that Scooby Doo. I don't know. 56 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 3: I I gave up on asterisk punk. 57 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 2: Yeah. I uh, that's that's the next AI generated thing 58 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 2: I would like to see Shelf Silverstein's Scooby do. 59 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 3: So where we last left our heroes, We're starting with 60 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 3: chapter five. Everyone else will have just heard, presumably like 61 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 3: a week ago, chapter four, but we haven't heard it 62 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 3: in a moment because there was a break between recordings. 63 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 3: And so Daniel Caine is showed up to a town. 64 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 3: There's a three antler deer that's goring people, and some 65 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 3: people in the town love it, and some people in 66 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 3: the town hate it, and the town is gearing up 67 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 3: for some conflict. Chapter five, My second night in Freedom 68 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 3: began more somberly than my first. It was well after 69 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 3: dark by the time Vulture showed up with potatoes and 70 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 3: onions and spring greens to be cooked before heading back 71 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 3: to the lookout rock. The days in Brn were in 72 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 3: the living room working through plans, which left me alone 73 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 3: to cook. I was happy to spend some time in 74 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 3: the kitchen. It had been a long time since I've 75 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 3: been surrounded by people living the way I wanted to live, 76 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 3: and I was almost able to convince myself that things 77 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 3: were going to be fine. I've got a long history 78 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 3: of scraping together little moments of peace in the midst 79 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 3: of hardship, and cooking is a great way to do that. 80 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 3: I cubed the potatoes, and, alongside lots of garlic and oil, 81 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 3: set them in a pan in the oven. I went 82 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 3: through their spice rack and realized half of what they 83 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,239 Speaker 3: had had been grown, dried, and chopped here in town. 84 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 3: I let myself get lost in the smell of fresh 85 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 3: and dried herbs. The Brussels sprouts were from the food bank, 86 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 3: but were going to taste amazing regardless. I cut them up, 87 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:32,919 Speaker 3: drizzled them with oil and salt, put them in the 88 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 3: second tray. I've made fancier meals in my life, but 89 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 3: it still felt good. I set the old fashioned kitchen 90 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 3: timer and went to join everyone else. You can't figure 91 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 3: it out, Brune asked, she was pacing. She didn't strike 92 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 3: me as the typoo worried much, but she was worried. 93 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 3: Even Doomsday looked paler than usual. She leaned back in 94 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 3: her easy chair, feigning nonchalance, but her teacup trembled in 95 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 3: her hand. I didn't leave the ritual. I was blindfolded. 96 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 3: I've spent and all day pouring over my books and 97 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:06,239 Speaker 3: there's nothing there. Nothing, nothing about dismissing a spirit, Brene asked, 98 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 3: Or nothing about you, Lyxi. Nothing. Thursday was standing statuesque 99 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 3: at his partner's side. There was certainly more to their 100 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 3: relationship than him trying his hardest to guard her. I 101 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 3: was sure, but times call for us to fulfill certain roles. 102 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 3: Will Rebecca know how, Burne asked. I don't think so, 103 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 3: Doomsday said. Vulture went to warn her last night, and 104 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 3: how did he put it? She's gone paranoid. Jet fuel 105 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 3: can't melt steel beams. Level paranoid made him show her 106 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 3: his ribs, Vulture said, And I agree that you only 107 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 3: get that kind of paranoid when you've just got no 108 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 3: agency at all, when you wish you had control over 109 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 3: your life, but you just don't. She and Clay planned 110 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 3: the ritual together. I don't know that either of them 111 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 3: wouldn't know how to do it alone. What are our options, 112 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 3: Bern asked, If we leave town take Rebecca with us, 113 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 3: will it come after us? Thursday asked it probably can't, 114 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 3: Doomsday said, but it's a moot point. I won't leave 115 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 3: without cleaning up my own mess. Rebecca's place is warded, too, 116 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 3: Thursday asked, Eulyxie can't get her if you and Rebecca 117 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 3: stay inside, what's it going to do? Nothing? Attack the 118 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 3: people close to you. I have no idea, Doomsday said. 119 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 3: She set down her tee untouched, then pulled her feet 120 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 3: up onto the chair and hugged her knees. Where are 121 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 3: Clay's notebooks? I asked? People turned to me, realizing for 122 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 3: the first time I was in the room. The only 123 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 3: thing he liked more than the sound of his own 124 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,799 Speaker 3: voice was the sight of his own handwriting, I said. 125 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 3: When he died, he didn't have any of his journals 126 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,559 Speaker 3: on him. They lived with Anchor for a while. Brynn said. 127 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 3: They broke up last winter, and Clay took it kind 128 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 3: of badly. No one knows what they were fighting about 129 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 3: though for a year and a half they were inseparable. 130 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 3: Then a week of quarreling and it was over. They 131 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 3: were fighting about Ulixe. Doomsday said anchor, worshiped it as 132 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 3: it was, didn't need to know anything more about it. 133 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 3: Clay wanted to understand it, so he moved into the 134 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 3: basement of that gas station down by the bridge where 135 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 3: it lives. He moved in with it. I asked, Doomsday nodded, 136 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 3: So if Clay left notebooks, they'd be there. Doomsday nodded. 137 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 3: We have to go get them, bring them to Rebecca. 138 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 3: Doomsday was lost in thought. Slowly she nodded the dear thing. 139 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 3: I said, it's only up during the day, right, powerless 140 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 3: at night. 141 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: I'll go. 142 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 3: Now, when you know you're going to do something anyway, 143 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 3: it's better not to overthink it. Definitely better not to 144 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 3: let your mind linger on the cost benefit analysis. But 145 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 3: going to find his notebooks got me closer to solving 146 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 3: both my problems all at once. I could find out 147 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 3: what happened to Clay, and I could help this Rebecca person. 148 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 3: Dismiss Youlxy and hope Doomsday wasn't going to summon something worse, 149 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 3: something that lived up to her name. I'll take you, 150 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 3: Brynn said, I'll lend you my gun in case the 151 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 3: ghouls are out, Doomsday said. She crossed the room and 152 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 3: went up the stairs. I didn't want the rules to 153 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 3: be out, neither of we have to do this. Thursday said, yeah, 154 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 3: we do, Brynn said. Doomsday came down the stairs two 155 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 3: at a time, her hand on the banister. It's gone, 156 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 3: she said, my gun's gone. Anyone else would have asked 157 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 3: Thursday if he'd put it away the night before, But 158 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 3: Doomsday didn't even entertain the possibility that our partner would 159 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 3: have handled the fire army responsibly. Eric, Brynn said during 160 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 3: the funeral. Now, Doomsday said, we saw him the entire time, 161 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 3: except maybe the ten minutes we stepped away. He stayed 162 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 3: there the whole time. I said, Eric, wouldn't know we 163 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 3: had a gun, wouldn't know where it would be. He's 164 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 3: never in the house, Kestrol, I said, wasn't it at 165 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 3: the funeral the whole time too? Thursday asked, I knew 166 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 3: I was the most likely third suspect, and what I 167 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 3: was about to tell them wasn't gonna help. No, I said, 168 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 3: Kestrel wasn't there. At the end, I told them about 169 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 3: meeting Eric, about our conversation in the park, about how 170 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,439 Speaker 3: Kestrel showed up late. He'd had plenty of time to 171 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 3: steal the gun. It's not nice to wrap people out 172 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 3: like that, but it's also not nice to steal people's guns. 173 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 3: Doom Thursday said, can we keep you away from the windows? 174 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 3: Maybe take Brinn's room. He climbed up on the couch 175 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 3: to lock the window. Likely there were bars ready to 176 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 3: go over the doors. There's not a squatter alive who 177 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 3: hasn't been through their house and analyzed all the ways 178 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 3: the police might break in. Hell, usually we've already broken 179 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 3: in once ourselves. Thursday left to secure the house against 180 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 3: human intruders, and Doomsday made her way, defeated up the stairs. 181 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 3: Brenn and I stood in the living room, facing one another, 182 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,559 Speaker 3: getting ready to head into the night. The kitchen timer 183 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 3: went off, dinner was ready, no one was in the 184 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 3: mood to enjoy it. We walked down the middle of 185 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 3: the street and I was calmer than I thought i'd be, 186 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 3: probably because I had a plan. I had something I 187 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 3: was going to do. I wore my pack emptied, but 188 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 3: for some essentials we had no idea how many books 189 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 3: we'd be trying to bring with us, so the extra 190 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 3: storage was important. It had been dark for hours, and 191 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 3: I scanned the power lines with those creepy ghoul birds. 192 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 3: Either they weren't there or I couldn't see them. What 193 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 3: I did see were torches below us, coming up from 194 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 3: the river. People were walking with torches. I counted a 195 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 3: dozen specks of flame dancing through the night. Brynn saw 196 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:19,000 Speaker 3: them too, mourners, she said, people celebrating Eulyxe. What it's 197 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,679 Speaker 3: a tradition, Brynn said, any other night, it wouldn't be 198 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 3: something sinister. Hell, two days ago, I would have been 199 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 3: with them. But tonight it can't be good. She led 200 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,680 Speaker 3: the way off the street through a front yard sculpture 201 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 3: garden of rusted reebar animals Eulyxe and as ghouls I 202 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 3: recognize now. We took shelter in an ivy covered roofless 203 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 3: house and peered back out at the street through what 204 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 3: was left of a window and what was left of 205 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,959 Speaker 3: a kitchen. The torches came around the bend. Nine adults 206 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 3: and three children bore them, each with a homemade animal mask. 207 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 3: Goats and geese, sparrows and sheep. One of the figures 208 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 3: stood head and shoulders above the crowd. They marched past 209 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,679 Speaker 3: us in silence. When they turned the next bend in 210 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 3: the road, we left our shelter and started back down 211 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 3: the hill. The basement door, I learned, was just off 212 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 3: the river, near the base of the bridge. We scrambled 213 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 3: down a steep path, then hopped from rock to rock 214 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 3: along the edge of the water. The trees were thick 215 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,719 Speaker 3: down here. The gibbus moon cast enough light that we 216 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 3: could make our way without turning on our headlamps. A 217 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 3: breeze brought the earthy smell of the forest, and the 218 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 3: river was a white noise that drowned out all other 219 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 3: ambient sound. What's in it for you, Berne asked, as 220 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,960 Speaker 3: she clambered over a fallen tree. Why aren't you skipping town? 221 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 3: For some of the last months of Clay's life, he'd 222 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 3: walked this path every morning and night. You know there's 223 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 3: a part of me that hates this place, I asked. 224 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 3: It was rhetorical, of course, and brendan answer, I'm too 225 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:53,239 Speaker 3: stubborn to give up traveling. Clay wasn't that same stubbornness 226 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 3: is going to carry me through I came here to 227 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 3: find out what happened to him. I'm going to I 228 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 3: clambered over a fallen log, the bar digging into my hands. 229 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 3: And also, this is clearly the most important reason. Could 230 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 3: you imagine just leaving now, never learning what's going to happen? 231 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:11,439 Speaker 3: The fear of missing out would rip my heart out 232 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 3: of my chest as surely as that deer. Brynn laughed. 233 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 3: I like when she laughed. We continued on along the water, 234 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 3: and I heard the dry heave of gold animals. I 235 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 3: never would have expected that would be a sound I'd 236 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 3: come to recognize. We crouched low, peered into the woods. 237 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 3: We're almost there, Brynn said. She pointed. The base of 238 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 3: the gas station went all the way down to the water, 239 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 3: and a chain link fence stood between us and the 240 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:45,839 Speaker 3: door with a simple unlocked gate. When I focused, I 241 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 3: could just make out a dozen silhouettes between us and 242 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 3: where we wanted to go. Goats and geese, squirrels and 243 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 3: sheep in all respects, but for their lack of organs 244 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 3: and ribs. They acted like every barnyard animal I'd ever met, 245 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 3: annoying and fully aware of the sorrow and emptiness of 246 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 3: their captive lives. They're awake, I said, Should we go 247 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 3: around in through the front. Bryn shook her head. The 248 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 3: trap door to the basement is welded shut. Should we, 249 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 3: I don't know herd them somewhere, get them away from 250 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 3: the door. Bryn, still crouching, flicked open her extendable baton. 251 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 3: I sighed, then extended mine. The weight felt good in 252 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 3: my hand. Most days, a baton made me think I 253 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 3: could take on the world. That night, though I wasn't 254 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 3: so sure it was going to be enough. I wouldn't 255 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 3: fight a single living goat by choice, let alone an 256 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 3: undead one with all its friends. Brynn stood back up 257 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 3: straight and walked right toward our destination. Always afraid, never 258 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 3: a coward, I mumbled to myself. My blood started racing. 259 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 3: I stood up, tightened all the straps of my pack, 260 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 3: and followed. Animal eyes turned toward us with mute curiosity, 261 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 3: which turned to malice as we had to rush past them. 262 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 3: A silent mess of geese got underfoot and lunged for 263 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 3: my hands. I started swinging. It was an animal abuse. 264 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:11,199 Speaker 3: They were dead already. Some of the ones I hit 265 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 3: didn't get up again. Brynn was almost to the gate. 266 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 3: When the goat ran at me, someone or something had 267 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 3: sheared off the beast's horns, presumably before Eulixie had stolen 268 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 3: the creature's rib cage. Not an easy life, or on 269 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 3: life or whatever. I pulled back and swung from the 270 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 3: hip like a one handed batter and hit the goat 271 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 3: in the skull with all my strength. I must have 272 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 3: grown up watching too many zombie movies. Hitting that thing's 273 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 3: skull was like hitting a bowlder, and I probably hurt 274 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 3: my hand more than I hurt the goat. Still, the 275 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 3: blow seemed to have stopped its charge. It was still 276 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 3: in my way. It tried to bleat, but it had 277 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 3: no lungs. I heard a low rumble, like distant thunder, 278 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 3: and turned in time to see a demon bull crash 279 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 3: out of the trees and barrel toward us. Oh fuck, 280 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 3: I said, or Brynn said. I started thrashing at the 281 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 3: dumb goat in front of me with the baton. It 282 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 3: bit my hand and I dropped the weapon. I dove 283 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 3: over it, but my backpack destroyed my attempts at a 284 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 3: smooth acrobatic roll, and I landed on my back. Brynn 285 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 3: helped me to my feet and we were through the gate. 286 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 3: I swung it shut, dropped the latch, and was knocked 287 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 3: off my feet as the bowl slammed into the chain length. 288 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 3: The fence post bent to a forty five degree angle, 289 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 3: and the beast backed up to charge again. I got 290 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 3: up again, clutching my bleeding right hand, and we stumbled 291 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 3: in through the open door to the basement and slammed 292 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 3: it behind us. As though that pitch dark room offered 293 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 3: us safety, we switched on our head lamps. It was 294 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 3: a single, large room, like any basement in any shitty 295 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 3: house anywhere. A water heater and a furnace and pipe 296 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 3: stood out from one wall, and a box spring and 297 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 3: mattress lay on the floor in the near corner, with 298 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 3: simple gray sheets and a pile of ratty old comforters. 299 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 3: A milk crate served as a bedside table, and a 300 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 3: short stack of books stood atop against the far wall. 301 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 3: A blood red deer with three antlers lay sleeping upon 302 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 3: a knee high pile of rib bones. As soon as 303 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 3: my head lamp flashed across Eulyxe, I put my hand 304 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 3: over my light, but the demon didn't stir. With the 305 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 3: sun below the horizon, he likely couldn't move at all. 306 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 3: The bile rose in my throat. The bones Eulyxes slept 307 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 3: on weren't the pale white of long dead, sun bleached corpses. 308 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 3: They were gray and yellow and gristly. Some of them, 309 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 3: I surmised were human. Let me see your hand, Brynn said, 310 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 3: you're hurt. It's fine, I said. I hadn't really looked 311 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 3: to tell if that was true, but I didn't want 312 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 3: to look, not until I was somewhere safe. It wasn't 313 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 3: bleeding horrendously. I wrapped my wounded hand with the bandana 314 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 3: from my back pocket, tight enough to keep pressure on 315 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 3: the bite. Don't want you turning into a wear goat 316 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 3: or something. Though Brynn laughed, it was a nervous laugh, 317 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 3: probably because, well, I don't think either of us knew 318 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 3: for certain if that was an actual possibility. It'll be fine, 319 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 3: I whispered. I went to the books beside Clay's bed 320 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 3: while Brent stood watch. There was a copy of twenty 321 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:12,360 Speaker 3: thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the copy I had given him. 322 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:16,919 Speaker 3: I opened the front page, saw my own handwriting, Clay, 323 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 3: maybe you'll get as much out of this as I 324 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 3: did under it. He'd written back, Danielle, I think at 325 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 3: the end of it, you're more nemo than I. It 326 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 3: took all my presence of mind not to drop the book. 327 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 3: Had he known I would come hunting after his ghost 328 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 3: and end up looking through his bedside reading. More likely, 329 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 3: he'd just written a note absent mindedly for Fox's sake. 330 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 3: What did I know about the world anymore? The next 331 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,400 Speaker 3: book was history, something about the Kronstat Rebellion, obscure Russian history, 332 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 3: when the Bolsheviks decided to kill all the anarchist sailors. 333 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 3: I flipped through it. No notes to me, but here 334 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 3: and there he'd highlighted passages. Last a spiral bound notebook, 335 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 3: the first couple pages were filled with some college kid's 336 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 3: English literature notes. A decade back, Clay had shown me 337 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 3: that trick Punk's Christmas, he called it. When the school 338 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,560 Speaker 3: year ended, college kids threw out everything from unopened food 339 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 3: to art supplies, to furniture, to computers to well, obviously notebooks. 340 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 3: Head on over to the dumpsters, pick up anything you need. 341 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 3: After the wrote transcription of some boring lecture in a 342 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 3: stranger's hand. However, I saw a page with Clay's handwriting 343 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,880 Speaker 3: on it. I threw the books into my backpack. From 344 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 3: outside the open door, I heard birds, dawn, shit. Brenn 345 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:35,920 Speaker 3: and I had the same thought at the same time, 346 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 3: and we grabbed one another and bolted across the room 347 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 3: to crouch behind the furnace. A row of small windows 348 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 3: lined the top of one wall. The first hint of 349 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 3: color and light came through them a moment later, and 350 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 3: Eulix stirred. The sheer, unrid reality of the situation took 351 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 3: off the worst of my anxiety. Brynn held my good 352 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 3: hands so tight it hurt almost as bad as the 353 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 3: one the goat had bitten. And we watched you, Lixey 354 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 3: rise to face the day for all the world. He 355 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 3: moved like a regular deer, graceful but nervous. If he 356 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,959 Speaker 3: knew we were there, he made no sign. Instead, he 357 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 3: headed for the door and was gone. We crouched in 358 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,239 Speaker 3: the encroaching dawn, our hands locked together, are breathing as 359 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 3: quiet as we could make it, for full two minutes 360 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 3: before we left to find Rebecca's tree house. A squatter's 361 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 3: life is ruled by darkness, breaking into buildings, digging through trash, 362 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 3: even just sneaking up onto rooftops to see the city. 363 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,639 Speaker 3: All those things are easier and safer to do after dark. 364 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 3: But the sun was up as we marched along and 365 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 3: then away from the river the day before summer solstice. 366 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 3: It was going to be up for a long while. Still, 367 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,479 Speaker 3: I trained my eyes on the woods for movement. Walking 368 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 3: in the forest, you don't see most of the animals 369 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 3: only once I saw something. Something in the branches above us. 370 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 3: Could have been a squirrel or a bird. Hell could 371 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 3: have been a mountain lion. Better a living mountain lion 372 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 3: than an undead squirrel. After twenty minutes along the river bank, 373 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 3: it was an hour's high cup to a ravine. There 374 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 3: was another way to Rebecca's place, a path that ran 375 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:16,640 Speaker 3: up over the top of the hill, but it would 376 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 3: have taken us through town. We needed to get Clay's 377 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 3: notes to Rebecca so she could figure out how to 378 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 3: perform the ritual, and we couldn't risk running into Ulixe 379 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 3: or Eric. Brynn led us unerringly with a compass and 380 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:32,640 Speaker 3: a laminated US Geographical Survey map. Having a destination Rebecca's 381 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 3: treehouse and an idea of how to get there where 382 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 3: about all I had to prop up my waning courage 383 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 3: While we walked, I let myself wonder more about Eric 384 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 3: and Kestrel. They said doomsday and the rest they were 385 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 3: going to summon something worse. I'd play it by ear, 386 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:50,679 Speaker 3: I decided, listen to Rebecca, decide how much to trust her. 387 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 3: We stopped only once to pick at the previous night's 388 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 3: dinner from tupperware. Brynn had a few bottles of cold 389 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 3: coffee and caffeine did its best to replace the adrenaline 390 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 3: that have been slowly draining out of my system since 391 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 3: we left the basement. I love coffee, she said, smiling. 392 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 3: I know it's been all to say. I know I'm addicted. 393 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,160 Speaker 3: I know everyone loves it. I don't care. There's only 394 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 3: a small handful of things in this world that make 395 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 3: me happy, and coffee is one of them. What's another, 396 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:22,159 Speaker 3: I asked. We're both slightly delirious. She thought about it 397 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 3: for a while. Shit like feeling useful or not paying rent, right, 398 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 3: But I'll stick with weaknesses romance novels. I fucking love 399 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 3: trashy romance. The straighter the better, the worse the politics, 400 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,959 Speaker 3: the better. I'll just eat that shit up. That's awesome, 401 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 3: I said, your turn, she said. We capped, the coffee 402 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 3: started back up the ravine. I want to say horizons 403 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 3: because as often as not, the chance to get over 404 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 3: the closest one is what gets me up in the morning. 405 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 3: But you told me about romance novels, so I'll do 406 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 3: you one better. Fan fiction, erotic, queer fan fiction. I 407 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 3: don't even care what fandom. Give me someone getting on 408 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 3: with a werewolf, of a seahorse, unicorn, whatever, and I'll 409 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 3: be happy. Really, I read it on my phone. I said, 410 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 3: you know I'm gonna have to make fun of you 411 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 3: about this, right, you won't be the first one. I said, 412 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 3: I'm gonna make fun of you about it, but I 413 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 3: still want you to read it aloud to me as 414 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 3: soon as we get back to phone signal. I promised. God. 415 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 3: My wiring was all kinds of fucked up for the 416 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 3: rest of the hike, going crazy from lack of sleep. 417 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 3: I was happier than I'd been in months. The treehouse 418 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 3: was a beautiful little witch shack, held a full thirty 419 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 3: feet aloft between four narrow pines. Its siding had been 420 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 3: blowtorched to black during the finishing process, and there was 421 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 3: one porch on the side of the house and another 422 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 3: on the roof. The windows were mixed matched and erratically placed. 423 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 3: A rope and wood ladder dangled down, inviting us up. 424 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 3: A black stovepipe thrust out and up from the side 425 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 3: and on the east slope of the hill like that, 426 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 3: I knew it got a full view of Dawn in 427 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 3: love Rebecca. Bryn had her tattooed hands up of her 428 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 3: mouth to project her voice. Rebecca, maybe she's in town, 429 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 3: I asked, after a few fruitless minutes, you heard vulture. 430 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 3: She's not going anywhere for a while. There's a wardstone 431 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 3: there keeps you Lisie out. Brynn pointed to a single 432 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 3: white stone about the size of my head. A circle 433 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 3: suddenly etched onto its face. Not sure why the ladder 434 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,640 Speaker 3: is down. Though she tested the ladder, it held her weight, 435 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 3: so she made her way up. I followed. The house 436 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 3: was even more gorgeous up close. Rebecca had done an 437 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 3: amazing job, down to details like filigree carved into the 438 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 3: doorframe and an oreboris painted on the door. Brynn knocked. 439 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 3: No answer, Rebecca, she shouted, I don't think she's here, 440 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,680 Speaker 3: I said, pointing to a padlock that held the door shut. Shit, 441 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 3: Brynn said, stomping her foot on the porch and shaking 442 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 3: the trees we were attached to. She went to the 443 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 3: nearest window, peered in. She fell trembling. If it weren't 444 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 3: for the railing, she might have fallen off the porch. 445 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 3: I looked. The sun lit the floor in big squares 446 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 3: where it came through the windows, and in one of 447 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 3: those squares was a dead woman. She lay on her side, 448 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 3: with her eyes open, her mouth open. She was so small, 449 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 3: almost childlike, but I could see in the lines in 450 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 3: her face she had lived at least a decade longer 451 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 3: than me. I knew the hard way that when faced 452 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 3: of the corpse, it's up to the person who didn't 453 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 3: know the now dead person to handle things. Clay had 454 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 3: done it for me once when we found agnes O Deed. 455 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 3: I'd done it for him a year later, when it 456 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 3: had been Sammy with his guts on the wrong side 457 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 3: of a knife wound. Can you pick the lock, Britt asked. 458 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 3: Clay always said you were good at shit like that, probably, 459 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 3: I said. I pulled a screwdriver from my pack, a 460 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 3: large Philip's head with a rubber grip. I took my 461 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,959 Speaker 3: shirt off, wrapped it around my good hand and jabbed 462 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 3: at the corner of the window to break the glass. 463 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 3: It broke with that strange thud that surprises me every time, 464 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 3: nothing like the sound you hear in movies. You've got 465 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,199 Speaker 3: to break glass against glass to get a noise like that. 466 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 3: I reached through and unlocked the window, opened it stepped inside. 467 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 3: Brynn came in directly after. Some people respond to crisis 468 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,919 Speaker 3: by shutting down or running. Some people respond to crisis emotionally, 469 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 3: which is probably the healthiest way. Myself, I handled crisis 470 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 3: by shoving fear and sadness and worry down as far 471 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 3: into my gut as I could. It's never nice, and 472 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,959 Speaker 3: all that nasty shit comes up as trauma later, but 473 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 3: the practice has kept me alive. Brynn, she was made 474 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 3: of the same stuff as me, maybe sterner. She went 475 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,360 Speaker 3: directly to the corpse started searching her friend for wounds. 476 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 3: They weren't hard to find. Four bullet holes marked her 477 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 3: sleeveless white blouse. All were on her torso, two on 478 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 3: her chest, one near her hip, one in between. You 479 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:56,920 Speaker 3: know anything about forensics, Brynn asked, No, I said, neither 480 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 3: do I, But I know enough about shooting to tell 481 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 3: you that that's a pretty fuck off bad shot grouping. 482 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 3: While Brin saw to Rebecca, I scoured the rest of 483 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 3: the one room shack. A mattress lay on the floor 484 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,199 Speaker 3: in the corner. A bookshelf was filled to overfull with 485 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 3: dried and tinctured herbs and jars and dropper bottles, plantain 486 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 3: and ragwart and fever few, plus flowers and leaves I 487 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 3: couldn't recognize, hung drying from line stretched across the space. 488 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 3: The wood burning stove was cold since it was June, 489 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,680 Speaker 3: that didn't tell me much. An antique desk, the only 490 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 3: piece of furniture in the room not handbuilt from scrap lumber, 491 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 3: took up most of one wall. Under a bank of windows. 492 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 3: A ladder led to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Something 493 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 3: like a dozen well carved wooden figurines of deer littered 494 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,119 Speaker 3: the desktop, each no larger than my palm. They were 495 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 3: stained blood red. A piece of cardboard dripped from a 496 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 3: case of beer served as a cutting mat and a 497 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 3: staining mat. It looked like with silhouettes of dark stain 498 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 3: and gathered chips of wood. The carving tools themselves were 499 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 3: scattered all over the floor. Rebecca's corpse was close to 500 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 3: where I stood. My mind wouldn't forget that fact for 501 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 3: long enough to concentrate on anything else. Bullet holes pierced 502 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 3: the plywood along the back wall. The bullets went out 503 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 3: the back, I said, running my finger along the splintered wood. 504 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 3: Who the fuck, Brynn said Eric. I said, we don't 505 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 3: know that. Yeah, we do, I said, who the hell else? Kestrel, maybe, 506 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 3: but I bet it was Eric. Brynn closed Rebecca's eyes, 507 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 3: then kept searching the body. She has a knife in 508 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 3: her hand, carving knife. Tears welled up, catching me by surprise. 509 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 3: Here was a woman cut down by a man afraid 510 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 3: of her power. She'd fought back knife versus gun. I 511 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 3: never got to meet her, I said, I've got the 512 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 3: feeling I really missed out. Yeah, Brynn said, I want 513 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 3: to kill him. I said, it was true, a simple thing, 514 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 3: a clear epiphany. I wanted to kill Eric for killing 515 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 3: this woman, even though it could have been Kestrel. I 516 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,280 Speaker 3: wanted to kill Eric for killing her. Eulxe might do 517 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 3: it for you, Brynn said, imagine his thinking. I said, 518 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 3: he's got to have thought this through. Killing Rebecca means 519 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 3: saving Eulyxe means he's doomed himself to being killed by Eulixe. 520 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 3: Imagine being so sure of the righteousness of your cause 521 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 3: you're willing to sacrifice your own ideals to achieve them. 522 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 3: Every politician ever, Brynn said, every authoritarian communist. He killed 523 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 3: her in cold blood. I said, I couldn't think straight 524 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,919 Speaker 3: killed her. She came up and wrapped her arms around me, 525 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 3: and I buried my head into her chest, and my 526 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 3: anger turned into something like sorrow. I cried, standing over 527 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 3: the body of her friend. She supported me. We've got 528 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 3: to get back, I said, pulling away. I stepped out 529 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 3: of the treehouse. The air outside was fresh, cleansing. Bryn 530 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 3: joined me, and I went to the latter and looked down. 531 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 3: Eulyxe stood silent, staring up at us from the ground. 532 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 3: There was a hammock on the porch. On the roof, 533 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 3: thick cotton rope held our weight, and our feet dangled 534 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 3: over the edge, like we were teenagers on a date 535 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,840 Speaker 3: instead of squatters hiding from a demon in a corpse. 536 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,719 Speaker 3: I can't stay there all day, I said. I had 537 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 3: a friend in town about six months back. You know 538 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 3: how you think you know somebody and then they just 539 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 3: do something awful, beat their partner, abuse someone something like that. Yeah, 540 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 3: I said, so this guy I lived with, my friend Greg. 541 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 3: I liked him all right. He was friendly, hard working, 542 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 3: really polite. His partner Sam, no one liked her. She 543 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 3: used to throw shit fits at general assembly, horde booze 544 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,720 Speaker 3: from the everything for everyone, that kind of thing. She 545 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 3: worked hard too, I guess, but I don't know. She 546 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 3: just rubbed everyone the wrong way. She and Greg had 547 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,479 Speaker 3: been together maybe three months, when one night they were 548 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 3: drunk and he raped her. I don't know if he 549 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 3: thought he raped her, but that never really matters. She 550 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,200 Speaker 3: didn't want to have sex with him that night, and 551 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 3: he did it anyway. Yeah, it doesn't really matter what 552 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 3: he thinks about that. The next day, the very next day, 553 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 3: before she's even told anyone, Greg walks outside her house 554 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 3: and there's Ulxe just standing on the porch, just looking 555 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 3: at him. He goes to the fuck back inside, and 556 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 3: he waits elixes out there, not moving until sunset. The 557 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 3: rest of us come and go, But that fucking deer 558 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 3: was just waiting for and watching him. What happened as 559 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 3: soon as night fell, Sam drove him up to Minneapolis, 560 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 3: kicked him out of the car and said if she 561 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 3: ever saw him again, she'd kill him herself. I whistled. 562 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 3: Moral of the story is that Ulixie most definitely can 563 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 3: stay there all day. We're not predators, I said, no. 564 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 3: But we're hunting for a way to dismiss it, aren't we. 565 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 3: I can see why you all kind of like having 566 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 3: it around, though, with a story like that, I'm not 567 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 3: going to tell you it hasn't been nice, Bryn said, 568 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 3: up until the point when it wasn't. I'm always so 569 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 3: quick to resort to violence, I said, I'm not ashamed 570 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 3: of that. I think it's necessary sometimes, but damn, it'd 571 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 3: be nice to be able to just quit violence cold Turkey, 572 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 3: let a spell take care of it for me. There's 573 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 3: no magic bullet, though, Brynn said, never was, never will be. 574 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 3: I agreed. It should have been a beautiful day. It 575 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 3: was warm enough that the breeze felt good, but not 576 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 3: hot enough to be uncomfortable. Fuck, I said, how are 577 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 3: we going to dismiss it now? I guess that's up 578 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 3: to doomsday. 579 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:14,959 Speaker 2: Yeah. 580 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 3: We were halfway up to the canopy and I could 581 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 3: see the forest, in the river, in the prairie in 582 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 3: the distance. More herbs hung drying all around us, and 583 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 3: their scents combined to be just short of overwhelming. More important, 584 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 3: Brynn sat next to me, all worked up to sweating 585 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 3: from everything, and her smell was overwhelming. She had her 586 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 3: arm around the small of my waist, mine was around 587 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 3: her back. Let me see your hand, she said, No, 588 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 3: it's fine. The bandana was still wrapped tight around the wound. 589 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 3: My palm's still hurt, but I wasn't ready to look 590 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 3: at it. There was an awful lot of shit going 591 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 3: on just then that I wasn't ready to let myself 592 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 3: think too much about God. I wish you'd showed up 593 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 3: like a month ago or something. Brynn said, what do 594 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 3: you mean. It'd be nice to get to know you proper, 595 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:01,720 Speaker 3: Bryn said, instead of like this. Oh you don't like 596 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 3: demon hunting with me? I asked. Brynn giggled. I looked 597 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 3: at her, and she must have gotten self conscious about giggling, 598 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 3: because she started giggling harder, covering her face and laughing. 599 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 3: She fell onto her side in the hammock, and I 600 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 3: had my arms around her and I started laughing too. 601 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 3: What a fucking day, I said, What a fucking day? 602 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,479 Speaker 3: She agreed. We both fell asleep like that, curled up 603 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 3: on the hammock. I dreamt about jail. A few hours later, 604 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 3: I broke out of dream jail by waking up, but 605 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 3: I was still trapped. I peered over the edge of 606 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 3: the treehouse roof and Elixie peered right back at me. 607 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 3: The bowl was beside him. That woke me up all 608 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 3: the way, and I looked to the trees around me. 609 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 3: Squirrels and birds all on dead, sat silent on the branches, 610 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 3: not ten feet from my head, all staring at me 611 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 3: with their glossy eyes like as not. They'd been there 612 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 3: for hours already, and they didn't seem to want to attack, 613 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 3: just watch, just bore into me. Bryn was snoring, her 614 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:05,640 Speaker 3: head crane back. I trusted her. I realized everything around 615 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,239 Speaker 3: me was terrifying and none of it made sense, but 616 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 3: Brinn seemed to accept it, and I was learning to 617 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 3: accept her. Freedom ran on trust. I needed to trust someone. 618 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 3: I flipped through Clay's notebook, his handwriting only grace. Twelve pages. 619 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 3: On each he'd written the same single line, The only 620 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 3: way out is through the last page had another line 621 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 3: underneath the first. What hand dare sees the fire. He'd 622 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 3: always been saying shit like that. When you needed advice, 623 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:40,280 Speaker 3: he was always there saying something needlessly cryptic but reasonably wise. 624 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 3: I wish he'd listened to his own advice, though, I 625 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 3: wish he'd kept going. I wish he'd found his way 626 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 3: through Sitting there then, with the sun dappled through the 627 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 3: leaves and the needles of the forest, I tried to 628 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 3: piece out what had happened to him at his funeral. 629 00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 3: I thought he'd given up because there wasn't any future 630 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 3: in writing the Rails. But that wasn't it. It couldn't 631 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 3: be it. That was me seeing more of me and 632 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 3: him than there really was. Motherfucker had spent fifteen years 633 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,240 Speaker 3: looking for the hobo utopia the Big Rock Candy Mountain, 634 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,640 Speaker 3: until he just gave up and made the place. Then 635 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:18,080 Speaker 3: he defended it with the witchcraft he knew. Then he'd 636 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 3: run away. Then he'd done Eulix's work all on his 637 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 3: own and ended his own life. Why. Maybe because he'd 638 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 3: been exiled from Paradise by a beast of his own making. 639 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,240 Speaker 3: Maybe because he decided freedom was home and he couldn't 640 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 3: come back. That's what having a home will do to you. 641 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 3: Maybe I dropped the notebook onto the hammock. Brynn woke up. 642 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:43,200 Speaker 3: The only way out is through, I said, pardon, I 643 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 3: should brin the pages. We did all this and we've 644 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 3: got nothing, nothing from Clay, nothing from Rebecca, and we 645 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 3: can't get home to warn anyone there's a killer on 646 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 3: the loose. That's funny, Brynn said, that's not the quote. Quote. 647 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 3: He says the best way out is always through. And 648 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 3: I agree to that, or in so far is that 649 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,879 Speaker 3: I can see no way out but through. It's from 650 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 3: a Robert Frost poem, A Servant to Servants. It's a 651 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,480 Speaker 3: true statement, I guess, I said, But doesn't do us 652 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 3: any good. He got the other one closer. What the 653 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 3: hand dare? Seize the fire? The Tiger by William Blake? 654 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,319 Speaker 3: That line mean anything to you, I asked, Hell, it 655 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 3: means even less to me than the Robert Frost. Clay 656 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 3: moved into the gas station because he was studying Eulixie right, 657 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 3: trying to learn how to dismiss it. Yeah, and the 658 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:34,360 Speaker 3: only thing he wrote down, I said, And all that 659 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:40,440 Speaker 3: time was some misquoted poetry. I guess here, come downstairs 660 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,520 Speaker 3: with me. I went to the hatch in the roof, 661 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,280 Speaker 3: opened it and climbed down the ladder. The house stank 662 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,360 Speaker 3: of death, leaving us gagging, and I opened all the 663 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 3: windows that could be opened. We tried our best not 664 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:53,600 Speaker 3: to stare at the dead woman on the floor for 665 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,240 Speaker 3: a few hours more. We just had to keep ourselves 666 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,760 Speaker 3: from thinking too hard about her. These, I said, pointing 667 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 3: to the twelve deer figurines on the desk, What do 668 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 3: you make of these? She was obsessed, Brent said, half 669 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,520 Speaker 3: the town is obsessed. Though she held up her hand 670 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 3: showing me her eulixe tattoo. I picked up one of 671 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 3: the red figures and on a whim, lined it up 672 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 3: to the dark outlines of stain on the cardboard that 673 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 3: marked word had been painted. I did the same with 674 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 3: the rest, a sort of simple jigsaw puzzle. They formed 675 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 3: a circle, each facing clockwise. The figure at one o'clock 676 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 3: was on its side, and the figure at twelve stood 677 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:34,520 Speaker 3: over it, its mouth down by the other's ribs, like 678 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 3: it was killing it, like it was eating its heart. 679 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,919 Speaker 3: I don't know what it means, I said, I don't 680 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 3: think it's a coincidence, though Clay writing twelve pages and 681 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:49,440 Speaker 3: Rebecca carving twelve figurines. Now, I don't suppose it is, oh, 682 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,920 Speaker 3: I said, twelve pages, twelve figures, twelve months, Solstice to solstice. 683 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,560 Speaker 3: It's just telling us that her only chance is tomorrow, 684 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:02,400 Speaker 3: which we already knew, which we already knew. She agreed, hooray. 685 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:05,160 Speaker 3: But what are they gonna do? 686 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:12,400 Speaker 2: Robert Evans, Well, I don't know, Margaret, but you, being 687 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:16,800 Speaker 2: my friend who always has a cryptic response to everything 688 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,239 Speaker 2: anyone says, I'm excited to find out. 689 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,840 Speaker 3: Yeah. When I first started writing these two characters is 690 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 3: a very long time ago. I've been writing Clay and 691 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,480 Speaker 3: Daniel Kine for like, just since I was like twenty, 692 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:36,520 Speaker 3: and Clay was always the guy standing there with cryptic 693 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,040 Speaker 3: things to say. I think I'm just trying to grow 694 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 3: into him. What are you say? 695 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:42,680 Speaker 2: I do? Like that. One of the through lines here 696 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 2: is you've got there's both like a lot of focus 697 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:49,000 Speaker 2: on how careful these punk kids are with their guns 698 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 2: and how not careful they are with magic, which yeah, 699 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 2: I enjoy. Like one of them is the very like 700 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,920 Speaker 2: because the harm and the danger is incredibly clear with 701 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 2: a gun, Right, You've got like an end and the 702 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 2: thing comes out of the end and you want to 703 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,200 Speaker 2: be real careful that nothing is in front of that 704 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 2: end that you don't want things through, whereas the magic 705 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 2: is much much less unclear and how it functions in 706 00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 2: some ways, and so it leads to this kind of 707 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:20,160 Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe recklessness on behalf of the protagonists. 708 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:25,160 Speaker 3: Oh that is interesting. I no, that makes sense to me. 709 00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:29,719 Speaker 3: And it's a kind of like, you know, like maybe 710 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 3: by the time there's ten of these books, they'll be 711 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 3: like going around and teaching magic safety classes. Yeah. 712 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,120 Speaker 2: Well, it's also it's interesting just because there's also a 713 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 2: very I mean a very punk attitude towards it. Like 714 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 2: I think about the ways in which, like a lot 715 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,960 Speaker 2: of the older anarchist punks that I know treat the police, 716 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:54,359 Speaker 2: the kind of like the great care and sort of 717 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,600 Speaker 2: like wariness with which they treat the police, and then 718 00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 2: the recklessness with which they treat something like a train totally. 719 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,040 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, Oh, better be careful there's police around. 720 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,880 Speaker 2: Be real, like I'm gonna hop on this moving beast. 721 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:10,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, and if you get scared, just drink some whiskey 722 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:11,640 Speaker 3: and that'll help you jump on. 723 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:13,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, that'll get you straight. 724 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:14,239 Speaker 1: God. 725 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:18,320 Speaker 3: I like definitely I always had two rules about train hopping. 726 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,400 Speaker 3: You don't hop on while it's moving, and you always 727 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,960 Speaker 3: hop on sober until the one day when the only 728 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:25,600 Speaker 3: way to get out of Milwaukee was to hop on 729 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 3: a moving train. And so I was scared. So we 730 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,799 Speaker 3: all drank whiskey in order to get unscared. Don't do 731 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:33,520 Speaker 3: what I did. 732 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:34,479 Speaker 1: It was bad. 733 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:37,440 Speaker 3: I almost saw my friend get sucked under the wheels, 734 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:41,880 Speaker 3: and someone, the kid who was showing us the hopout spot, 735 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,640 Speaker 3: like pulled her back away from the fucking wheels. 736 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:45,680 Speaker 1: Now. 737 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,279 Speaker 2: I did an interview that has always stuck with me 738 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:49,960 Speaker 2: when I was at Cracked for an article with this 739 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:53,360 Speaker 2: young woman in a Boulder who was doing train hopping 740 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,920 Speaker 2: on the college campus and went just timed it badly 741 00:39:56,920 --> 00:39:59,840 Speaker 2: and lost both their legs. Yeah. The older punk she 742 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:03,880 Speaker 2: was jumping with was a former Army medic and tourniqueted 743 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,160 Speaker 2: her legs like on the spot. Is the only reason 744 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:08,680 Speaker 2: she didn't die. Yeah, and then got blamed. He like 745 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:10,920 Speaker 2: got blamed because he was the older one, yeah, like 746 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:12,799 Speaker 2: inciting her to jump, and she was like, well, no, 747 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,359 Speaker 2: I was. Everyone did this, all of the dumb kids. 748 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,879 Speaker 2: We all did train hopping. He's he didn't get me killed. 749 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 2: He's the only reason I didn't die. Yeah, but yeah. 750 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:25,640 Speaker 3: If you're listening, don't jump on moving trains, and. 751 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:29,000 Speaker 2: Don't jump on moving trains, do it sober. But also 752 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:30,879 Speaker 2: do be careful with your guns too. 753 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:34,920 Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, totally and magic probably if that's real. I 754 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:35,319 Speaker 3: don't know. 755 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:37,040 Speaker 2: Oh, I was going to advise people to be real 756 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:37,759 Speaker 2: reckless with that shit. 757 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:40,399 Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, yeah, you know, yeah, what could go wrong? 758 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,560 Speaker 2: Yeah? Well all right, Margaret, Well that's uh, that's this 759 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:46,280 Speaker 2: episode in the in the can. 760 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:51,239 Speaker 3: Ye see you all next Sunday for another episode of 761 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,879 Speaker 3: cool Zone book clothes right with the vocal Friday. That's 762 00:40:55,880 --> 00:41:04,520 Speaker 3: an important part of them. Yeah, yeah, I'm. 763 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,520 Speaker 1: It could Happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 764 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,280 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 765 00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 1: cool Zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 766 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:13,040 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 767 00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:15,520 Speaker 1: You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated 768 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:19,640 Speaker 1: monthly at Coolzonmedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.