WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion: Part One 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:06.400 All Zone Media. Hey everyone, it is it could happen 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:11.399 here a podcast about things falling apart, about a little 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.440 thing we like to call the crumbles, which is more 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:16.239 or less the state of affairs we're all living in 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.599 right now. You know, hottest year on record, you know, 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:25.640 unprecedented wildfires, smoke blanketing half the country, all that good jazz. 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.880 It gets one in the mood for stories and not 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:35.280 necessarily you know, happy stories, but not necessarily sad ones either. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.240 You know, this is normally a daily news podcast focused 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.560 on collapse and things falling apart, but here at cool 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.320 Zone Media, a lot of us are big fans of fiction, 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:52.559 particularly speculative science fiction, often with a dystopian bent to it. 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.480 I've written a book in that theme. And then Margaret Kiljoy, 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.840 host of cool People who did cool stuff, and one 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.000 of one of our favorite people is an author of 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:09.280 numerous short stories, novels, novellas, all focusing on kind of 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:17.399 at least elements of the feeling of collapse. And so Margaret, 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:19.360 you know, you came to us a while ago. Andre, 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:21.080 like you know it would be neat, is starting a 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.319 literary magazine that's focused on the same kind of stuff 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.000 that we cover from a news basis in our daily 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:32.960 show because basically fiction is has collapsed as a way 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.800 for people to make a living, but somehow we have not. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.520 So we're trying to sneak our way into paying people 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.120 for writing fiction. And that'll work as long as you 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.399 people listen. Margaret, that's that's what I got for an intro? 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.040 How was that? Is that what you hoped for? Right? For? 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.640 No, that's good. That puts it more clearly than I would. 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:54.360 That's good. 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:58.560 We're taking over Sundays because there really wasn't anything to 0:01:58.600 --> 0:01:59.960 take over because there wasn't anything. 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:02.760 We weren't doing any Sunday content. Yeah, that's right. Now 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:04.480 it's really a daily show bitches. 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.600 Yeah, because no one there is no no one goes 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:11.080 to church anymore. But we suddenly still have Sunday free, 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.680 and so we figured we can sneak into Sundays. 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.840 Yeah. Are we saying that this is church for you 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.160 now that we are your God? Yes? Essentially? 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.200 Yeah? Why not? Yeah, this story does have things that 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:27.200 are like gods in it. 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:31.359 Yeah. 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:34.320 Well, the first thing that we're going to do, the 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:38.640 first several episodes are going to be one of my novellas. 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:41.480 The general format is going to be that I'm going 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.880 to have authors on to read me stories. But I 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.519 thought that I would start with one of my own 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.600 and bring Robert on to read Robert a story. 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:51.560 I love stories. 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:55.000 The first story that we're going to read is a 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.079 novella that I wrote called The Lamble Slaughter of the Lion. 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.960 It was originally published by tour dot com and you 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:06.800 can read it in paper form if you want, or 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:08.800 you can listen to it here. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:14.480 Margaret, what separates legally a novel from a novella. 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.959 It's a length thing. It's a novellas are short novels. 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:28.040 It goes flash fiction, short story, novelette, novella, novel, and honestly, 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.320 usually people just use the word counts of various awards 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:35.960 in order to determine the categorization of these things. 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:37.680 That makes sense. 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:39.800 And from that point of view, oh, I don't have 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:41.200 it in front of me, but I think a novella 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:43.560 starts at about seventeen thousand words and runs up to 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.920 about forty thousand words and then novel takes over. And 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:47.800 this is at least I think for the Hugo Awards, 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.800 which this is not a winner of, but it is 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:56.520 the categorization that people use. I like writing avellas I 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:59.520 write short by default anyway, And I don't know whether 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.920 it's undiagnosed ADHD or what. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:07.720 I think it's just a matter of skill because and 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:09.960 here's the thing, a lot of people who aren't in 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.880 the viz may know, it's harder to write good short 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.440 fiction than good long fiction. At least that's my opinion, 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.880 as it's the same reason why one of the things 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.599 that was neat for a while about Twitter, It hasn't 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.440 been this way for a minute, but back when there 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:26.720 was an actual cap on how much you could post, 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:28.720 there was a degree to which. One of the reasons 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.080 writers liked it a lot, especially joke writers, is it 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.839 kind of forced brevity, and like brevity is the soul 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.720 of wit, you know. That's the thing. I don't know. 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.480 It's silly to actually say like that short novels are 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.120 harder than long novels, But as a general rule, I 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.320 think the most impactful fiction I read tends to be 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.560 short fiction, even though I prefer long fiction because it 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.960 gives me something to do with my time. But like 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.800 when I think about stuff that's like hit me, like 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.679 in the gut, real hard. It's usually been short fiction. 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.159 Yeah, no, that makes sense to me. I remember in 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.359 high school someone told me the like cliche that every 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.720 novelist is a failed short story writer, and every short 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:12.520 story writer is a failed poet. Yeah, and so I 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.240 guess by that standards, I'm a failed poet. But don't worry. 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:19.640 I'm not subjecting you to that. I'm only subjecting you 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:20.279 to my fiction. 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.800 That's right, that's right. I will subject you guys to 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:29.239 my poetry one of these days. But uh no, I won't. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:34.160 I didn't have a joke there. I was thinking I 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:36.800 was the figure in one, but it turns out I 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.000 don't have one. So let's just do the story, all right. 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.000 So this book is called The Lamble Slaughter the Lion. 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.359 It's the first book in the Danielle Kine series, which 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.080 currently only has two books in it. But we'll see 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:55.839 about me trying to solve that chapter one. Sometimes you 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.280 have to pull a knife. It's not a good thing. 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.680 I don't enjoy it. Some times you've just got to 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:02.120 get a knife in your hands and make it clear 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:05.400 which way the stabby end is pointing. Let me out here, 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.600 I'd said, before the knife got involved. It hadn't been 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.760 a question. Men always assumed that declarative statements like that 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.440 are questions. This is a ghost town, he said. I 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.040 hadn't caught his name. He'd been nice enough to pick 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.120 me up pitch hiking in the middle of nowhere, Iowa, 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.400 but he wasn't nice enough to let me out where 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.920 I wanted. That's all right, I said, just let me out. 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.720 There'll be someplace better, a wal Mart or something. I'll 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.400 let you out there. Let me out here. I can't 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:34.919 just let you out in the middle of nowhere, not 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.240 by yourself. It isn't safe, he said it without a 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:42.160 trace of irony. He locked the doors. That's when the 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:45.360 knife got involved. I slid it out from my Jean's pocket, 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.880 clicked it open. Pulling a knife means going double or nothing. 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:50.880 I was either going to get out of the situation 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:54.320 or the situation was about to get a lot worse. Jesus, 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:58.560 he said. He pulled over. I unlocked my door, grabbed 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.560 my pack, and hit the gravel before he came to 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:04.640 a complete stop. Fucking bitch. I flipped off his car 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.120 as he drove away, But at least he was driving away. 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:09.720 The worst of it was he'd probably thought he was 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.200 just taking care of me, that he was a nice guy. 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.920 I hoped bad things were going to happen to him, 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.840 and soon ten years of putting up with shit like 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.280 that from drivers, it was getting old. Hell, at twenty eight, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.040 I was getting old. Ten years ago, I'd talked to 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:27.800 drivers about anything and loved them for it. I loved 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.040 the nice ones for their kindness. I love the crazies 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.320 for their stories. And sure I hated the racist pieces 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.679 of shit, but if nothing else, I got to feel 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:37.400 like I had the pulse of this racist piece of 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.720 shit country. But a decade is an awful long time, 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:42.960 and whatever shine I'd found on the shit that his 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.840 hitchhiking had long since faded. Still it got me where 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.520 I wanted to go. The town's welcome sign had been 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.600 painted over. Don't know what it used to say, but now, 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:59.960 in clean, stenciled letters, it said Freedom, Iowa City Limits, unincorporated, 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.360 an entire town, abandoned by a dead economy and occupied 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:08.360 by squatters and activists and anarchists. It was the last 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.240 place Clay had lived, the last place he'd spent much 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.440 time before he'd found his way west, and his hand 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.080 had shown his razor the way to his throat. No 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:20.200 warning signs, no cries for help. I had a lot 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.720 of questions. If there were answers, I might find them 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:26.520 in Freedom, Iowa. I shouldered my pack and clipped the 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:30.040 waistbelt shut. It had been Clay's pack. I had his 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.720 suicide note folded up in the smallest pocket. The road 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.400 into town was two lanes that led away from the highway, 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.840 paved with pale patched asphalt. The trees beside it climbed 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:43.600 toward the sky, and I walked in the double yellow 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.800 with something of a spring to my step. After a 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:48.960 hundred yards and a couple turns, when the trees were 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:50.960 getting thick enough to cast the whole of the road 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:54.520 into shadow, I saw a deer on the shoulder ahead, 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:59.000 rooting at something on the pavement. The beast was crimson red, 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.880 blood red. I didn't even know deer came in that color. 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.360 I crossed to the far side of the street so 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.880 I wouldn't disturb him, but I couldn't help staring. A 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.200 rabbit was dead on the ground beneath him, its belly up, 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:17.200 its rib cage splayed open. The deer looked up at me, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.480 then his red muzzle dripping red blood. On the right 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.280 side of his head, he bore an antler. On the 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.720 left side of his head, he bore two Jesus. I said, 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.920 I kept walking, because what else do you do? He 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:34.880 watched me until I was around the next bend, and 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.600 I couldn't help feeling his gaze on my back. The 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.880 only sounds in the air were birds and the faint 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:42.960 white noise of a nearby river, and wild flowers were 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:47.200 in bloom on the forest floor. Another quarter mile and 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.600 I stepped out of the woods and saw the town 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.240 on the far bank of a small, slow moving river. 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.240 Half a hundred houses were set into the hillside along 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.960 a single winding street. A few old cars were part 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:02.839 along the curb and in driveways, but I couldn't get 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:04.960 a gauge on whether they were in use or abandoned. 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.840 A two lane bridge spanned the river. Clay had talked 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.800 about the place like it was paradise. I crossed over, 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.319 pausing to look down over the guard rail at the 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.199 water thirty feet below as it tumbled and tore its 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.880 way over river rock. Just at the other end of 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.240 the bridge, a boarded up gas station was covered in 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.480 street art as good as any I'd seen in Oakland. 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.360 It was a quarter mile farther up the hill to 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.880 the first houses, and most were overgrown, more than a 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:37.720 few with caved in roofs. Others looked haphazardly maintained. I 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.360 walked into town, but I didn't see any signs of life, 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.480 no smoke or lights or motion. No one was out 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.760 on the street or sitting on their porches. Maybe everyone 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:51.160 had left when Clay had. Maybe the water was poisoned 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:52.640 the same as it seemed to be in half of 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:56.680 Middle America, and singing shit like that fucked up mutated 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.480 deer with three antlers made everyone realize it wasn't safe 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:03.440 to stick around. The first five or six houses I 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.920 passed were split levels set into the hill. Welded rebar 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:11.200 statues populated one front lawn, a three antler deer amongst 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.439 other woodland and farmyard animals. Even the statue seemed to 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.839 bore into me with its stare, and the damn thing 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:22.440 didn't even have eyes. The next house, alone on its block, 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.360 was an old colonial. It was handsome, its wood siding 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:30.040 painted dark. Its circular attic window is an eye, casting 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:31.800 its longing gaze out over the river. 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:32.719 And Iowa. 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.840 I walked up the cement steps to a large wooden 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:38.400 patio on the side of the house and peered in 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:42.000 through the sliding door. But it was darker inside than outside, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.280 and I only saw my own straggly short hair reflected 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:49.040 and a silhouette in the glass. I sat down on 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.560 the porch chair and leaned back to ponder the empty 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:56.040 town and my lack of luck. I had no idea 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:58.600 how to find what I wanted to find. I had 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.000 come here because I needed motion. Without motion, there was 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:06.160 nothing without motion, I was probably as dead as clay. 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:09.760 I kicked back in the chair, put my feet up 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.000 on the table, and looked out over the town. I'd 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.160 make it my kingdom for the day, I decided, and 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.320 hit the road again tomorrow. I had canned food enough 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.760 to see me through at least three meals, and if 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:22.800 I got desperate, I had a jar of peanut butter 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.200 somewhere in my bag that would keep me alive for days. 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.520 I took out my phone and headphones, put on black metal, 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.360 and dozed off. I like the tiny little dreams I 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.680 get when I sleep. In the afternoon that day, I 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.960 was a very young goblin riding this bronosaurus like thing, 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.480 and I was in love with a human boy, and 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:45.600 I was afraid he'd find out I was a goblin. 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.280 When I'm awake, I'm happy sometimes, but I don't know 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.120 that I'm ever as happy awake as I am when 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:55.000 I'm dreaming. Awake, I've got all this nostalgia, this feeling 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.000 that I'm separated from something I can smell but can't touch. 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.640 I get these sudden, un arable realizations that I should 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.000 have been more present during all those moments in my life, 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.080 that I should have taken the time to be like, 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.360 oh shit, man, this is my life and it's fucking awesome. 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:13.920 Sometimes dreaming I just swim in the joy and the 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:18.199 intensity and the nowness of life. Late in the afternoon, 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:22.080 I heard rustling and opened my eyes. Halfway on the 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.400 railing in front of me, a rabbit cleaned its paws. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.400 I watched it, drowsy. It turned toward me, and its 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.840 chest was a raw red wound, its rib cage and 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:38.080 organs gone. It smelled like death and blood, and I 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.559 don't usually smell much in my dreams. It hopped away, 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.800 and I presumed it a nightmare and fell back asleep. 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.400 Get your feet off the table. What I asked, startled awake, 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.680 ripping out my earbuds. Can't have dirty boots on the table, 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:57.480 he said. I got my feet back on the porch 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.719 and turned around. A gangly, handsome fellow was looking at 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.800 me with a brown fist on his hip and a 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:06.280 weird sort of smile hovering on his face. His septum 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.920 was pierced. One side of his head was shaved. The 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.040 rest of his hair was thick black curls. His short 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.720 dress was clean, faded black, stitched up in a few 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:19.120 places with dental floss. He was heavily tattooed, mostly black. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:24.200 Work Behind him, the sliding glass door was open. Obviously 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.280 I hadn't heard him walk out. And who are you, 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:32.760 he asked Danielle, I said. He was looking me over, 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:34.760 his head cocked to the side, trying to make up 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.400 his mind about something. I uh, I didn't know anyone 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:42.680 lived here. I told him, well, he said, someone does. 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:44.960 There's at least four or five spots left if you 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:46.880 want your own place, more than that too, if you 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.680 know how to patch a roof. He stared at me 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.600 as I tried to process this information. Oh, you're new, 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:58.640 like new, new, like don't know anything new. I just 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.200 got here, I said, I was thinking maybe there wasn't 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:05.440 anyone left. I'm vulture. He said, what pronouns do you prefer? 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:11.160 She I said, I use He told me. I nodded, well, Danielle. 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.800 I came outside because there was a strange woman sleeping 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:17.280 on her porch. Everyone else there inside wondering who the 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:22.080 hell you are. He started drumming his fingers on his chin. Wade, 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:26.440 what's your last name, Cain. It wasn't my legal name, 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.600 but it was my punk name. You're Danny Kine. His 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.720 whole body loosened up and a smile exploded across his face. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.440 I had rather Danielle than Danny, I said. I hadn't 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.840 let anyone but Clay called me Danny. In years, Clay 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:43.120 talked about you. I don't know. Maybe every day, come inside, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:47.120 eat with us, Welcome to town. There's a kind of 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.880 hospitality found amongst squatters and punks that I'll never stop appreciating. 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:53.880 When there's not enough to go around, that's when people share. 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.320 As far as I can tell, it's part of why 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.200 us poor get taken advantage of so much. So I 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:01.200 met a tattooed man in a ghost town, and I 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:05.240 followed him into his house because he knew someone I knew. Sure, 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:07.520 I had to give it some thought, but it felt 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.360 a hole of a lot safer than getting in a 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:13.600 car with a stranger. Outside. The house was rustic and 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:18.600 kind of pretty. Inside it was astounding. I've spent plenty 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.920 of times in squats in the US, and I thought 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.440 I knew what to expect most squats. They range from 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.120 people who, honest to God, piss in the fucking corner, 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:32.120 to kind of normal but pretty messy, to artists obviously 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.120 live here. Jesus Christ, why is there a life size 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.600 hippo made from styrofoam in the living room? But that 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.960 house was something else. It was clean, for one thing, 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.520 and every wall was painted gray, black or copper. Every 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.240 fixture was gold or copper, even if half of them 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:53.000 were spray painted that way. Mirrors were everywhere, letting daylight 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:54.320 reach into the corners. 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:54.440 Of the house. 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.640 While two full sized couches sat empty, The three people 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:00.560 in the living room were crammed onto a love seat, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.080 lounging atop one another in the way that punks and 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.920 puppies do. A man and a woman sat next to 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.119 one another while another woman lay across them, tattooing the 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:11.600 back of the man's neck by hand with needle, thread 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:16.040 and ink. May I present to you, Danielle, Vulture said, grandly, 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:20.760 gesturing the Danny Kane. Danielle now though just walked into 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:25.080 town for her very first time. Well damn, the tattoo recipient, said, 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.719 Miss Kane herself. That's Thursday and Doomsday. Sitting down proper, 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.960 Vulture said, by way of introductions, we call them the 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:37.160 days Freedom. Iowa's only power couple. Come on, do the thing. 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:40.679 He clapped his hands giddy. I don't want to. The 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.879 woman said, we gotta do it, the man said. He 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.280 wrangled his arms free from underneath a tattooist, then held 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:51.240 out his fists hands together. He had the word Thursday 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:55.080 tattooed on his knuckles, black against his brown skin. The 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.119 woman's sighed, then held out her pale hands, palms down 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.360 in the same fontday Today's tattoo, but clearly more faded 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:09.000 was the word doomsday. And this is Brynn, Vulture said. Brynn. 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.800 The tattooist looked up at me with pale, gray eyes. 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.080 An inch thick black line was tattooed from the bangs 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.840 of her hair line to the bridge for nose, which 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.840 where it met her glasses formed a hypnotizing geometry. She 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.400 had the same military style belt I did, the same 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.080 extendable baton worn in its holster on one side and 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.119 pepper spray on the other that I did. Both weapons 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.840 are better than a knife for self defense. Knives are 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.080 only good for threatening, not for fighting. Pepper spray can 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.360 actually disable someone. Baton can beat someone near to death 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:43.240 without cutting them. Her eyes met. I try not to 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.400 read too much into things like that, but her eyes met. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.720 After a brief moment, she went back to tattooing. Thursday, 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.040 so it brings you to this shitty little corner of 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.040 the world, Bryn asked, without diverting her attention from her work. 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.280 It's not shitty, Thursday said. Don't talk. Your neck moves 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:03.960 when you talk. It's kinda shitty. Doomsday said, by the 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.560 look on his face, not talking was probably one of 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:11.320 Thursday's least favorite things. All done, Bryn announced, she put 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:13.600 the needle down next to the vial of ink on 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:16.639 a rag on the coffee table and turned Thursday around 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.360 so everyone could see. On the back of his neck 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:23.040 was a stylized deer's head, three antlers sprouting from its 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:27.520 crown and running up towards his hairline. I was about 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.520 to ask about it, but a sudden fear shut my mouth. 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.840 There was something more to freedom than I knew, and 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:35.680 as much as I wanted to feel right at home, 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:40.280 I didn't. Vulture complimented Brynn on her work and Thursday 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:42.840 on his taste, then took a photo of the tattoo 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.000 with his phone. Vulture, you want to help me get 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.480 started on dinner, Brinne asked. Thursday started clearing up the 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:52.560 tattoo equipment. As soon as I find the right filter 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:56.919 and post this, I can help. I said. I like cooking, 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.919 so I followed Brynn to the kitchen to dinner, happy 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:02.800 to see if making food he get my mind off 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:06.280 the worries that raced through me. Vulture straggled behind us, 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.600 tapping and swiping at his phone. You definitely don't have 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:12.840 to help cook, Brynn said, I'd enjoy it, I said, 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.439 I loved cooking for groups, hated cooking for myself. If 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.840 it's just me, I'll eat fucking protein bars for dinner. 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.120 Brynn turned on the lights. A series of bright LEDs 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:25.760 wired into a wooden strip screwed into the ceiling. Where 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:29.360 do you get power, I asked solar, Vulture said, still 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:31.960 staring at his phone. Don't use it for much, just 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.800 some lights in our phones. He set his phone down 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.280 on the counter and started rooting through a produce basket, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.240 procuring an onion, which he set in front of me. 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:42.640 I started dicing it as Brynn ran outside to turn 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.399 on the propane for the stove. Where do you get 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:50.480 the gas, I asked, We of Valter demurd We buy 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:53.080 it at Walmart, only place to get pretty much anything 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.040 within a two hour drive. I almost asked them where 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:58.359 they got the money, but I figured I knew the answer. 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:02.880 Some combination of crime, seasonal labor, and working remote same 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.359 as the rest of us travelers. And the water, I asked, 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:09.520 used a water key? Just turn the city water back on? 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.560 He said, you can buy basically anything on the internet. 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:16.320 Got a ship to someone in Chicago. Vulture at this 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:18.720 grand way of gesturing with every word he spoke and 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.280 bewing everything around us with meaning. Brynn came back in 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.840 whistling and swept up the diced onion into a frying pan. 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.560 She was taller than me, muscled, and handsome as hell. 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:32.679 In any other circumstance, i'd probably be in love with 0:21:32.720 --> 0:21:36.000 both of them already. Instead, they were a mystery to me, 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:39.679 a mystery I am to solve for Clay's sake and 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:44.560 for my own. The Water's not like fucked up or something, though, 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:48.919 No way, the water's great, Vulture said. I opened my 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:52.120 mouth to ask about the mutated deer, but shouting from 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:55.159 the street cut me off. Brynn set down the spoon, 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:58.400 Vulture set down his knife, and we all met each 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:02.480 other's eyes. The shower was soon a scream. We ran 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:10.480 for the door. Chapter two. I'm gonna do two chapters today. 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:12.480 Everyone is listening. You're gonna get to hear the first 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:15.399 two chapters today. That's man, that's how much I love you. 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:20.480 Yay. Yeah. I read both of these a while ago, 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:24.199