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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I'm welcome to Steffon

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Speaker 1: Never told you a predictive of iHeartRadio, and we're back

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Speaker 1: with our spinty fiction, which, as a reminder, is a

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Speaker 1: once a month thing that we do. Christina makes them amazing.

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Speaker 1: It's on going. The story has been ongoing for quite

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Speaker 1: a while now. We are in part two of a trilogy,

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Speaker 1: the Terminus Chilogy. This is technically called Big Things Start Small,

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Speaker 1: but that's my confuse people. So but I like reminding

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Speaker 1: you because I was fond of the Dame and this

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Speaker 1: is something that I wrote, I believe in twenty eleven

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Speaker 1: as part of National Novel Writing Month, as the sequel

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Speaker 1: that to the previous one I had written during twenty

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Speaker 1: ten National Novel Writing Months, which by the way, is

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Speaker 1: right when I got this job as an intern twenty ten.

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Speaker 1: And I don't edit them too much. I have to

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Speaker 1: say I did edit this chapter a bit just because it,

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Speaker 1: like I don't wanna it was intense. This chapter really

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Speaker 1: like goes up a notch in terms of what it's

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Speaker 1: been and I just didn't want to really disturb is

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Speaker 1: too strong a word, but I didn't want people to

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Speaker 1: be listening like, WHOA wait a minute. So I did

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Speaker 1: edit this chapter a little bit, and this is part

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Speaker 1: This is the second part of the last chapter. Because

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Speaker 1: my chapters are so long, too short, I never get

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Speaker 1: it right. But yeah, I will admit I edited this

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Speaker 1: one a little That being said, content warning for violence, disease,

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Speaker 1: threats of violence, violence against children, death, just the same

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Speaker 1: that is always there, but I would say it's actually

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Speaker 1: more explicit in this chapter. So that being said, Also

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Speaker 1: the recap, briefly, we've got this disease that's really killing

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Speaker 1: off the human population, and it has to do with pregnancy.

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Speaker 1: And there's this the government and the religious organization that's

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Speaker 1: controlling all aspects of getting pregnant and having children. Our

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Speaker 1: main character, Tilda, has run away with her son Madison,

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Speaker 1: has been illegally like on the run with her child,

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Speaker 1: has met a bunch of people along the way, including

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Speaker 1: a resistance that wasn't what she thought it would be,

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Speaker 1: and then has found out that the leaders of arm

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Speaker 1: the religious organization are her son's grandparents, his paternal grandparents,

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Speaker 1: and that they have basically made it impossible for anybody

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Speaker 1: to get the vaccine that does exist, but they did

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Speaker 1: give it to Madison. However, Tilda was able to escape

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Speaker 1: with him and brought cast out on their system what

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Speaker 1: they've done, and everybody's going to DC to fight, and

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Speaker 1: Tilda and Madison are running in the opposite direction, and

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Speaker 1: Madison is having these real questions of wait, what does

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Speaker 1: it mean I could help people? That? Could I help

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Speaker 1: other people make a vaccine? And Tilda's really wrestling with

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Speaker 1: wanting to protect her son and not trusting anybody with

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Speaker 1: the fact that yeah, maybe, So they're having big conversations

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Speaker 1: about that while they have nowhere really to go and

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Speaker 1: they don't really have any supplies, and bad weather's coming in.

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Speaker 1: They're on the run from a mysterious man on the

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Speaker 1: horse who they stole the horse, and horse's name is Scout.

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Speaker 1: Now they're making their way south, but something, it seems

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Speaker 1: like something or someone is following them. So that is

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Speaker 1: where we are. Let's get into it. At the sign

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Speaker 1: that read Roanoke eight miles, they could see it through

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Speaker 1: the gaps left by the pines and leafless trees. It

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Speaker 1: was nestled in a valley surrounded by purple mountains and

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Speaker 1: rolling foothills. On one of these hills was the Star,

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Speaker 1: composed of white metal and industrial lights, captioned in large

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Speaker 1: enough letters that they could read it. Once they approached

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Speaker 1: the outskirts world's largest man made star. Now, why in

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Speaker 1: the world would you want that? Czar? They veered away

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Speaker 1: from Roanoke and its giant star, even though it pained

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Speaker 1: Tilted to leave all of that civilization. But surely there

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Speaker 1: were people who still inhabited the city that was close

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Speaker 1: enough to be in the shadow of the capitol, an

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Speaker 1: electron and the first level of orbit around the nucleus,

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Speaker 1: and people needed to be avoided until they put a

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Speaker 1: much greater distance between them and DC. The road they

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Speaker 1: were on tracked alongside the border of Roanoke, following a

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Speaker 1: river on the outskirts that they could look across and

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Speaker 1: see into buildings and houses, gas stations, and schools. Tilda

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Speaker 1: didn't see any signs of life, but if there were

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Speaker 1: people living here, and there most likely were, they'd be

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Speaker 1: nearer to town center in a more fortified location. At least,

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Speaker 1: she hoped. She really didn't want to be seen passing

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Speaker 1: by much less on a horse. As the buildings became

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Speaker 1: less dense, the road curved to the right, taking them

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Speaker 1: in a more southwesterly direction, which suited Tilda. There were

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Speaker 1: signs for bigger interstate highways, but Tilda ignored them. That's

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Speaker 1: what the people journeying to the capital would take, at

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Speaker 1: least those knew to life on the road. They passed

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Speaker 1: another town called Salem, which Tilda assumed to be the

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Speaker 1: suburbs of Roanoke with how close together they were, and

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Speaker 1: then a couple of hours of nothing apart from a

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Speaker 1: single guy station along the road shuttered long before the

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Speaker 1: onset of HSV five. The rivers sneaked back their way

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Speaker 1: to be parallel with the road. Tilda kept an eye

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Speaker 1: on the bank until she found a break in the steep,

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Speaker 1: slippery mud and a slope that was easy to navigate,

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Speaker 1: and guided Scout down it, allowing her to take a

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Speaker 1: drink of slushy water. The entire time, Tilda keeping an

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Speaker 1: eye out for anything out of the ordinary. When Scout

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Speaker 1: had finished, Tilda directed her back onto the asphalt and

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Speaker 1: they resumed their trek. Tilda looked up at the sky

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Speaker 1: and couldn't help but think of that pocket watch ticking

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Speaker 1: away in her pouch. She wondered what time it was.

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Speaker 1: A large abandoned red train car in an empty field

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Speaker 1: appeared on their left across the river, Winding along the

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Speaker 1: road next to them through the dense forest of trees.

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Speaker 1: On the other side, Tilda could make out what appeared

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Speaker 1: to be a larger highway parallel to their smaller one,

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Speaker 1: which made Tilda nervous. A couple of times they passed people,

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Speaker 1: usually in small groups, that were seemingly too focused on

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Speaker 1: their destination to take notice of Tilda and Madison. At

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Speaker 1: one point, the two highways were so close together they

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Speaker 1: could have easily cut over to the other road, but

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Speaker 1: then they peeled apart again. After another hour or so,

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Speaker 1: four sixty led them into a small town called Lafayette.

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Speaker 1: While it was tiny, its emptiness made it seem vast.

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Speaker 1: The road took them right through the main square, passed

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Speaker 1: whitewashed antique shops, specialty stores, and petite restaurants, strings of

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Speaker 1: traffic lights sagging between iron lampposts. Tilda considered their options.

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Speaker 1: They could explore the houses for food, but that usually

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Speaker 1: took a while, and she didn't want to spend a

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Speaker 1: lot of time in one place, especially one still relatively

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Speaker 1: close to people. It would take some time to leave

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Speaker 1: the more populated eastern part of the country behind, though,

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Speaker 1: and they weren't really in a position to not take

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Speaker 1: a chance to find more supplies. A few blocks over

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Speaker 1: to their left, Tilda spotted a decently sized grocery store

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Speaker 1: called Big Owls and bright yellow letters. She navigated them

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Speaker 1: to it through blocks of empty stores and passed one

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Speaker 1: looming church sh of Gothic design into the parking lot

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Speaker 1: of Big Owls. Hopping down onto concrete outside the glass

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Speaker 1: doors and helping Madison down as well. She fastened scouts

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Speaker 1: reins to a bike rack outside, telling Madison that they

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Speaker 1: needed to be quick and that he needed to stay

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Speaker 1: close to her. The doors had been automatic, but without electricity,

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Speaker 1: they failed to slide open when Tilda and Madison approached them. Instead,

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Speaker 1: she pried them open aggravatingly slowly, just enough for the

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Speaker 1: two of them to slip through the gap. Big Owls

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Speaker 1: was shaped like a large rectangle, much wider than it

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Speaker 1: was long. Tilda went left down a row of shelves,

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Speaker 1: checking both sides as they made their way past rotten

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Speaker 1: produce and cheese and bread and bottles of wine. The

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Speaker 1: entire back wall of the store was dedicated to frozen foods,

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Speaker 1: so nothing useful there. The next aisle, Snacks and cereals,

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Speaker 1: yielded a couple of packages of pop tarts, some reasins,

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Speaker 1: snack bars, one hundred gallery packs of cookies and chips,

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Speaker 1: canned fruit, sun butter, dried banana chips, and some pumpkin seas,

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Speaker 1: which was more than they'd bagged at one place in

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Speaker 1: a long time, probably a place like the sof the

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Speaker 1: main highway, and with a tiny population. People had taken

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Speaker 1: what they could carry and that was it. The following

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Speaker 1: few aisles, Tilda picked up some canned vegetables and beans,

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Speaker 1: some more nuts, a couple of bottles of carbonated water

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Speaker 1: and juice, and some disposable toothbrushes. Her pack heavier than ever,

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Speaker 1: they checked behind the register, but all they found was

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Speaker 1: an overturned register and some stamps. All right, let's go,

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Speaker 1: She hoisted her pack for the upper shoulders, the cans

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Speaker 1: clanking together as they exited the store, Tilda having a

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Speaker 1: more difficult time maneuvering through the gap between the sliding

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Speaker 1: doors now that her pack was bigger. After wedging herself

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Speaker 1: through and back outdoor, she blinked rapidly, adjusting to the light.

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Speaker 1: After the dim grocery store and stopped short, hoping she

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Speaker 1: was hallucinating. Madison bumped into her and she felt him

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Speaker 1: go still behind her, there were two men standing in

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Speaker 1: the parking lot, only a couple of yards away. Both

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Speaker 1: of them were tall and large, wearing boots and jackets.

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Speaker 1: One of them had a rifle slung over his back,

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Speaker 1: a ball cap, and a graying beard. The other had

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Speaker 1: a pistol and a holster attached to his belt, and

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Speaker 1: brown hair and stubble on his face. Fine looking horse.

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Speaker 1: She got there, the man with the rifle called, and

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Speaker 1: what she could tell he thought was a non threatening voice.

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Speaker 1: Tilda didn't know what to say, so she just nodded,

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Speaker 1: wondering if they'd been following them, waiting for them to dismount.

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Speaker 1: She thought of the gun in her waistband, but there

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Speaker 1: was no way to get to it without drawing attention,

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Speaker 1: not to mention the obstacle presented by her now much

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Speaker 1: heavier pack. And look at that a little boy, he

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Speaker 1: continued in his gravely tone. He's yours, I reckon, he gestured,

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Speaker 1: vaguely to the sores on her face. She nodded again,

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Speaker 1: her eyes darting to the other man when he took

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Speaker 1: a step closer, bit young, ain't you The question flirted

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Speaker 1: the line of threatening. He was implying that he knew

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Speaker 1: they must be on the run. Tilda said, in the

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Speaker 1: calmest voice she could muster, I'm older than I look.

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Speaker 1: That drew a grating chuckle out of the man. His

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Speaker 1: partner inch closer and til to fault the urge to

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Speaker 1: inch back. What are you two doing out here by yourselves?

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Speaker 1: Tilda deemed not to answer, turning to look outright at

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Speaker 1: the man that was advancing on them. She wondered if

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Speaker 1: giving them Scott would be enough for them, but she

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Speaker 1: doubted it. Don't worry, We're not gonna hurt you, the

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Speaker 1: man with the rifle said, drawing her attention back to him.

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Speaker 1: Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Ellis and this is Jake. We've

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Speaker 1: got a bit of a proposition for you. Tilda waited,

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Speaker 1: preparing a bluff in her head about how they had

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Speaker 1: a big group to get back to, but she wanted

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Speaker 1: to see how much these two men knew about her

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Speaker 1: and Madison before she tried to pull it off. His

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Speaker 1: next words rendered that plan inert. We've been following you

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Speaker 1: for a while now, that's the look on our face.

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Speaker 1: He raised his hands, jostling the rifle hanging by the

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Speaker 1: strap on his shoulder a little bit, and back pedaled.

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Speaker 1: Nothing creepy. We just wanted to get a sense of

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Speaker 1: what kind of people you are and the way you

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Speaker 1: take care of that boy and that horse, He pointed

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Speaker 1: to each in turn, Especially when I know you must

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Speaker 1: not have much in the way of supplies. He gestured

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Speaker 1: to big owls behind them. Well, we can tell you're

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Speaker 1: good folks, and we'd like to offer you a place

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Speaker 1: to stay by all. Rose untiled his throat, her heart

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Speaker 1: twisted uncomfortably. We got a place not too far from here.

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Speaker 1: It used to be a campgrounds for kids to go

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Speaker 1: around and learn to build buyers and tie knots, but

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Speaker 1: we've turned it into a little village. We grow our

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Speaker 1: own food, We have some livestock. Everyone's got a house.

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Speaker 1: It's a nice little place. He looked at Madison. Be

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Speaker 1: a nice little place to grow up. Madison shifted further

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Speaker 1: behind Tilda. And it's safe too, Ellis as shure. Tilda

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Speaker 1: pretty well off the highways. We got a fence all around.

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Speaker 1: We've never had a problem with enforcers or marauders. Tilda

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Speaker 1: highly suspected they were part of a group of marauders.

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Speaker 1: We don't offer this lightly. We're a tight knit group.

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Speaker 1: We take care of each other like family, and we're

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Speaker 1: offering you a chance to be part of that. In

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Speaker 1: what she hoped was a nonchalant way. She sidled over

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Speaker 1: to Scout's reins and undid the knot in one quick motion.

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Speaker 1: Jake took several steps closer to them, his hand hovering

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Speaker 1: over his pistol. Tilda snapped her gaze up his Scout

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Speaker 1: stamped nervously a gunshot wild scare her off. Ellis shot

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Speaker 1: Jacob look. Tilda said, in a voice with minimal quaver.

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Speaker 1: We appreciate the offer, but we're not interested. Ellis gave

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Speaker 1: her a toothy smile, a predators smile, parading us something harmless.

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Speaker 1: Why not? The cold months are upon us. It would

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Speaker 1: surely be safer for you, for your son. We have

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Speaker 1: plenty of women. Get along just fine. You'll fit right in.

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Speaker 1: Tilda fought back a shudder at the phrasing. Jake covered near,

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Speaker 1: hawk eyed, ready to draw his weapon. We're not interested,

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Speaker 1: Tilda repeated firmly. We're meeting up with some people. Ellis's

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Speaker 1: eyes darkened there aren't any more people. He practically spat out,

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Speaker 1: You ain't meeting up with no one. Jake took another

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Speaker 1: step forward. Well you got a real nice setup, real nice,

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Speaker 1: Alice told her, his breath hard and steely. But we

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Speaker 1: don't have any kids. We don't have enough people, tilt,

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Speaker 1: his breath quickened. If we're going to survive past this generation,

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Speaker 1: if we want what built to continue, and we do,

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Speaker 1: he shured her darkly, we need more people, people like

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Speaker 1: your son, people who weren't infected with HSV five. Tilda

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Speaker 1: felt dizzy. Madison clutched at her pack behind her. Ellis

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Speaker 1: switched tracks once again, reiterating kindly, we'll take care of you.

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Speaker 1: You'll be happy and safe, thinking quickly til the volleyed back.

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Speaker 1: You say, enforcers have never been a problem, Else agreed, clearly,

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Speaker 1: thinking he'd almost want her over. Who do you think

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Speaker 1: we're running from? If you take us to your camp,

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Speaker 1: the enforcers will find you, believe me. Ellis shook his

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Speaker 1: head with his two wide smile marred with blackened teeth.

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Speaker 1: I don't believe you, you said yourself. I look too

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Speaker 1: young to have a child. She pointed out, her eyes

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Speaker 1: darting back and forth between Ellis and Jake. Well, guess what,

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Speaker 1: You're correct. They are looking for us, and they will

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Speaker 1: not stop. Ellis clearly didn't buy it, he said, unconcernedly,

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Speaker 1: that's a risk we'll have to take. I guess been

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Speaker 1: a long time since we've seen a kid out here.

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Speaker 1: He watched Tilda for a minute, keeping his gaze on

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Speaker 1: her as he informed her, Now, Jake here is going

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Speaker 1: to take your horse. He slung his rifle off his

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Speaker 1: shoulder and into his hands, aiming it at them. And

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Speaker 1: the two of you are going to walk in front

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Speaker 1: of me, nice and so sound good? Is this how

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Speaker 1: you treat family? Tilda asked derisively before she could stop herself,

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Speaker 1: but Ellis just smiled at her insolence. When they misbehave,

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Speaker 1: he indicated with the barrel of his gun for them

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Speaker 1: to step forward, as Jake grabbed scouts reins. Us gonna

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Speaker 1: move on. Daylight is wastin'. There's nothing out there for you.

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Speaker 1: Trust me, you'll be happier with us. Tilda barely heard him,

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Speaker 1: her mind whirring with possible escape plans. Ellice chuckled, apparently

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Speaker 1: taking glee and seeing her reduced to a helpless powerless state.

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Speaker 1: She took slow steps closer to Ellis, stalling her approach

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Speaker 1: to him until a plan would hopefully fall into place.

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Speaker 1: Madison gripped her jacket tightly. Ah let me see the lad,

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Speaker 1: Ellis cooed, in an awkward and creepy way that made

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Speaker 1: Tilda wonder if he'd ever seen a child in real life.

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Speaker 1: Possibly he hadn't. Tilda halted a mere foot or so away,

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Speaker 1: unsure of what Ellis wanted her to do. Come out,

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Speaker 1: let me get a look at you. Madison did not move,

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Speaker 1: instead huddling closer behind her. Something pushed her forward and

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Speaker 1: she choked, surprised, almost losing her footing. Madison screamed and

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Speaker 1: Tilda spun so quickly her spine cracked. Jake had Madison

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Speaker 1: by the arms and was lifting him off the ground,

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Speaker 1: holding him like he would a plank of wood, moving

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Speaker 1: him from out behind the safety of tilda scout watch.

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Speaker 1: Stamping her foot. Tilda didn't think, she just reacted a

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Speaker 1: lightning fast. Her hand was in her jean's pocket and

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Speaker 1: lashed around her hunting knife, the one she dishonestly promised

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Speaker 1: herself she intended to use only for hunting. She flipped

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Speaker 1: out the blade and lunch forward, bearing it into Jake's back.

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Speaker 1: It was harder than she thought. It pierced the skin easily,

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Speaker 1: but then it took some muscle to push it past bones, scraping.

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Speaker 1: Jake jerked as though shocked by an electric wire, a

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Speaker 1: throaty gasp escaping his lips. Madison fell to his butt

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Speaker 1: on the concrete and immediately began crab crawling away, his

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Speaker 1: eyes wide and horror, Jake Ellis called out as the

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Speaker 1: man collapsed to his knees. Tilda barely managed him to

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Speaker 1: keep a hold of her knife as it tore out

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Speaker 1: of his skin. The body that had been blocking Tilda's

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Speaker 1: view of Ellis fell from view, revealing the stark, gaunt

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Speaker 1: face of the grief stricken man as he stared down

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00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:01,160
Speaker 1: at the body of Jake, who was still alive and gasping.

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00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,200
Speaker 1: Elis's face quickly morphed from one of grief to one

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Speaker 1: of rage, and Tilda ran at him as he raised

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Speaker 1: the barrel of his rifle, tackling him to the hard

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Speaker 1: concrete before he could take aim. He shouted in surprise,

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Speaker 1: losing his grip on his weapon. It clattered to the

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Speaker 1: pavement and Tilda's grip almost dropped on her knife, but

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Speaker 1: she readjusted and prepared to drive it into Elis's chest,

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Speaker 1: but he caught her wrist. Dark eyes swirling with an

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Speaker 1: insane rage, Tilda struggled against him, but his holed around

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Speaker 1: her wrist, tight and painfully, forcing her to release her knife.

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Speaker 1: It dropped dully to the pavement with a cry of rage.

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Speaker 1: He grabbed her hair and yanked it to the side,

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Speaker 1: causing her to cry out in pain. He used the

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Speaker 1: momentum of her body jerking to the side to flip

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Speaker 1: her over onto her back and effectively reverse their positions

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Speaker 1: so that she was pressed into the cold asphalt as

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Speaker 1: he was straddling her waist with bruising force. She flailed

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Speaker 1: her legs and hit at his face, but he captured

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Speaker 1: her other wrist, locking it in one hand. Tilda struggled wildly,

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Speaker 1: thinking of men Madison and what they would do to him.

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00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:07,160
Speaker 1: Stupid Ellis spat out, closing his free hand around her throat.

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Speaker 1: We would have accepted you, We would have treated you

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Speaker 1: like one of our own, spots danced in front of

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Speaker 1: her eyes as she gasped ruthlessly for oxygen. He removed

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Speaker 1: his hand from her throat and hit her soundly in

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Speaker 1: the face. With a resounding smack. Tilda drew in a

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Speaker 1: tortured breath, not having time to think anything coherent before

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Speaker 1: she was hit again and again. I'm going to make

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00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,359
Speaker 1: you suffer, Elice promised. We're to make you beg The

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00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 1: pressure lessened suddenly, and Ellis shouted, falling forward on top

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Speaker 1: of her. Madison stood over him, gasping heavily, his face

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00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 1: dark with terror, the blue handle of the pocket knife

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00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 1: she'd given him earlier that day sticking out from Elis's

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00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,000
Speaker 1: lower back for a moment. Elis was reduced to a

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Speaker 1: primal animal sound as Tilda worked to shove him off,

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00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,280
Speaker 1: but he was a dead weight despite this and desperate

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00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,760
Speaker 1: in the side, and he gasped following off of her.

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00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,960
Speaker 1: Her hand darted around the asphalt like a spider until

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Speaker 1: she brushed it against the cold steel of the blade,

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00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,920
Speaker 1: and she closed her fingers around the handle. Ellis coughing,

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00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:14,639
Speaker 1: rolling back up to his knees and lunging forward towards

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00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,399
Speaker 1: Tilda again. She rammed her blade upward, bearing it in

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Speaker 1: his side. Ellis choked again, blood dribbling out of his mouth.

349
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,120
Speaker 1: The warm red liquid pooling in the valley of Tilda's neck.

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Speaker 1: She wrinkled her face in disgust and shoved him off

351
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Speaker 1: of her. He landed heavily on his back, arching off

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Speaker 1: the pavement with an airy streak. When the contact buried

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Speaker 1: the small knife Madison had planted between his kidneys even

354
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 1: deeper into his flesh. He flopped to his other side,

355
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,960
Speaker 1: curling in, and Tilda coughed rough one hand at her throat.

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00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,080
Speaker 1: She pushed herself up, her throat, burning as she drew

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Speaker 1: in wild breaths. The asphalt pressed into her knees as

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00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,400
Speaker 1: the world's great in and out around her, choking as

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00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,280
Speaker 1: she regained a life giving oxygen, while Ellis choked as

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00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,800
Speaker 1: life left him. Madison was on his knee's at her side,

361
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,040
Speaker 1: watching Ellis and Jake alternately, his eyes dancing with fear.

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00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 1: Tilda's gloves were wet with blood. Her fingers twitched. She

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00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: turned her head to watch Ellis's back, the heaving of

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Speaker 1: her chest easing her vision clearing, she couldn't tear her

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00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,520
Speaker 1: eyes from their rapid and uneven rise and fall of

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Speaker 1: Ellis's back. Frozen in decision, blood erupted out of his

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Speaker 1: wound with every pump of his heart, the beating growing

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00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,600
Speaker 1: more and more erratic and far apart. The knife she

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00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,679
Speaker 1: shoved into his side taunted her. Should she pull it

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00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:33,520
Speaker 1: out and stab him again, just to be on the

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Speaker 1: safe side, to speed up the process and grant him

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Speaker 1: some form of mercy. She couldn't use the gun for

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Speaker 1: fear of startling scout. She half glanced behind her and

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00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,480
Speaker 1: immediately jerked her head away when she caught the blank, dead,

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00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,919
Speaker 1: condemning gaze of Jake, but she could still feel his

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00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:56,120
Speaker 1: empty eyes boring into her. Ellis was muttering something incoherent

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00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,360
Speaker 1: under his breath. If he was right, and they from

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00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: a village not far from here, pretty soon someone would

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00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,160
Speaker 1: come looking for Ellis and Jake and find them dead.

380
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,320
Speaker 1: There was no way she and Madison could cover this up.

381
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 1: They'd be out for revenge. With jittery hand, she shakily

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00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,560
Speaker 1: grabbed the handle of her knife. Ellis shuddered, crying out.

383
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,399
Speaker 1: Madison whimpered. She pushed the blade back into its housing,

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00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,399
Speaker 1: promising to clean it later, and pulled out Madison's pocket knife.

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00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,919
Speaker 1: No reaction from Ellis. She retracted it and passed it

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00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: back to him. He took it mostly out of reflex, shocked,

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00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 1: the only emotion registering on his face, his eyes still

388
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,120
Speaker 1: glued to Ellis, who had gone quite still. She picked

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00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 1: up Ellis's rifle and shouldered it. Too afraid to search

390
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,280
Speaker 1: through his pockets for anything else, she pulled Madison to

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Speaker 1: his feet, words stuck behind clenched teeth. She stooped to

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00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: pick up Jake's handgun and stowed it in her pack

393
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,639
Speaker 1: side pocket. Scout shuffled anxiously as she approached, and Tilda

394
00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:59,680
Speaker 1: held out her hands. The horse steadied, and she practically

395
00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: threw Madison on the saddle and climbed up hastily after him,

396
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: barely seated before she snapped the reins, goading Scout out

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00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,120
Speaker 1: of Big Owl's parking lot and back onto the highway,

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00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:32,120
Speaker 1: pushing Scout to a slow gallop. And that brings us

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Speaker 1: to the end of this chapter. I hope everyone's okay. Also,

400
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 1: I apologize for the Southern accent that I did. It's

401
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,840
Speaker 1: such a trope and I had to grapple with this

402
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: when I was editing over it. I was like, this

403
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 1: is such the trope of kind of the creepy southern

404
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: backwoods man that's appearing and is trying to quote help

405
00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 1: you right, but definitely is not. And yeah, I this

406
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:12,440
Speaker 1: was a rough chapter in terms of Madison as a

407
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: child having to attack someone, try to kill someone to

408
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 1: save his mom. It was just really intense. And I

409
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:33,960
Speaker 1: think this is almost every apocalypse thing has this moment

410
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,840
Speaker 1: of you know, the child loses their innocence in some way,

411
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 1: and the fallout of that is going to going to

412
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:43,880
Speaker 1: come because in the first one it was he saw

413
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 1: Tilda kill someone, and now he's been involved, and so

414
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,480
Speaker 1: that is definitely going to be dealt with. Also, again,

415
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 1: the name games, I'm telling you, when I read this,

416
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:07,880
Speaker 1: I'm like, I know exactly who I was talking, and

417
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:09,800
Speaker 1: I do. I am somebody who looks up like meanings

418
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 1: of names and things like that. But yeah, I hope

419
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 1: I hope that this met the hype that I was

420
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 1: building up and or you're just okay and not too

421
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 1: stressed out by it because it was just it was

422
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,160
Speaker 1: kind of intense. But I also hope that you're enjoying

423
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 1: this because we do love doing this. Christina makes them amazing,

424
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 1: And if there's any suggestions in this realm of something

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Speaker 1: we could do like this, please let us know. You

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Speaker 1: can email us at Stephanie and momstuff atiheartmedia dot com.

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Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter at momstaff podcast, or

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Speaker 1: on Instagram and TikTok at stuff When Never Told You.

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Speaker 1: We also have a YouTube page you prefer like that.

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Speaker 1: We have a deep public, and we have a book

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Speaker 1: you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as

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Speaker 1: always too our super producer Christina, execut producer Maya, and

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Speaker 1: her contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening.

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Speaker 1: Stuff I Ever Told You is production of iHeart Radio.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, you can check

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Speaker 1: out the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where you

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows