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[Assistant] Memorization is definitely something he's good at. I mean, he's a doctor. He spent so many hours on hard chairs at coffee shops that he started getting calluses on his tailbone. Like, that's how much he studied for med school.


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[Assistant] The conference or summit, Canadian, uhm, DeMille.


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[Assistant] But at this stage in the game, it's nothing but pressure. We all want to win.


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[Assistant] And when you're feeling that, crazy things happen.


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[Assistant] Ro-do-ku-mi-ai. Gah-gah-gu. Academy.


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[Assistant] We're doing this. I feel awful for taking so long.


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[Assistant] We're on our way to an emu farm. Oh, it looks like something coloring eggs. Anthony, you like doing art. We can do these spots. Which one do you want to do?


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[Assistant] James, just get started because you're gonna have to like let it dry a bit. I'm a little worried about James. He's having a bad day. We came here to win. Failure's not an option at this point.


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[Assistant] I'm like pretty happy with mine, I just have a few more details to add. How you doing? Purple, purple. How do you make purple? Red and blue.


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[Assistant] Morning, the last team to check in may be eliminated. Let's go! I'm definitely anticipating like, not hearing good news. I'm trying to stay positive.


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[Assistant] We're going to the mat. We're going to turn left on Route de Porte. When you're in last place and this far behind, it's hard not to feel like you're out. It was a tough day.


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[Assistant] Uhm, yeaah. There's some challenges today.


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[Assistant] You know, with the speech challenge, it was a really tough day today. Is it hard to watch a loved one struggle like that, Anthony? It was definitely hard.


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[Assistant] This raise has been a memory for a lifetime. It's definitely reaffirmed how


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[Assistant] I'm supposed to go with him too. You are?


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[Assistant] Guan Yin said I would be forgiven if I helped protect the Tang Monk.


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[Assistant] I'm hungry too. When are we going to eat lunch?


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[Assistant] We just ate breakfast. How can you be hungry again?


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[Assistant] Okay, I don't know how to do the sprig ones now. You take this flat brush, right? Straight line, then you go sprig, sprig, sprig. Really easy. The backside of Joey's wasn't completely finished, so we had to come back and add more details to it. Perfect. Check please!


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[Assistant] Both of these represent a shop in Bay St. Paul and we need to deliver both of them to one of the shops. See, I saw your building. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, right here. This is it. Hello. Hello.


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[Assistant] We're looking for the Maritime Museum. We are on our way to see John. I am feeling the pressure. It's not far.


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[Assistant] You just took it. Are you kidding me? How can you live with yourself? You're such a cheater.


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[Assistant] But now I can't be bothered to stop and put a record on. Seventeen. That's how many cans of black beans I have left.


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[Assistant] I write it down on the yellow legal pad on my knee, crossing out the number 19 from last week. I do this every Monday morning, count the food I have, and watch the numbers slowly dwindle. It was maddening at first, but now it's almost meditative. Eight cans of corn. I cross out the number 9 on the sheet, and write the new number to the right of it.


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[Assistant] There are maybe two more weeks before I run out of space and need to start a new sheet.


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[Assistant] And this time, it will all be in my handwriting, not my mom's. Pasta sauce.


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[Assistant] It's written in her barely decipherable scrawl.


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[Assistant] And then her perfect numbers, zeros slashed and sevens with a line through the middle so there's no misunderstanding, before her writing stops and mine takes over.


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[Assistant] I don't need to count the jars of pasta sauce because I didn't make any pasta last week.


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[Assistant] So I leave the number 11 there and continue on down. But something stops me. A sound outside, like leaves crunching. I jump up and look out the kitchen window. The world outside is gray and cold.


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[Assistant] While the wood burning stove behind me keeps the kitchen nice and warm.


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[Assistant] The back deck is covered in leaves, but there aren't any animals or people to be seen. The trees are still bare.


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[Assistant] The spring buds not ready to come back from the harsh winter just yet. You're hearing things again. I tell the silence of the kitchen. I talk to myself a lot now.


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[Assistant] It used to make me think I was going insane, but now it might be the only thing keeping me from going insane.


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[Assistant] Last week I swore I heard someone walking across the gravel drive out front, but by the time I psyched myself up to look, no one was there. Just the thought of the crunching gravel creates the sound in my mind.


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[Assistant] This time, unmistakably coming from the front of the house. But it's not real, I'm making it up again.


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[Assistant] Or it's an animal, but it's way too much rustling to be a squirrel or a fox.


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[Assistant] Usually all it takes is a quick reminder that yes, I am alone and there's no one out here before the sound goes away. But this time, it doesn't. It sounds strange though. There's no one, two pattern of footsteps.


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[Assistant] Instead, it's a lopsided crunch of gravel and a short, quiet click.


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[Assistant] Then the first step on the front porch creaks.


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[Assistant] My heart leaps and sweat gathers at the nape of my neck. I hold my breath and my body burns with fear. But I can't move. There's a grunt and a thump from outside. The second step. It's definitely a person out there.


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[Assistant] Finally, I break free of my paralysis, running for the living room.


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[Assistant] I have no idea when the last time I even went out the front door was. Probably a few weeks back. Before I heard the noises the last time. Outside, there's another thump.


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[Assistant] As whoever is there loudly reaches the third step.


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[Assistant] The rifle leans up against the wall by the front coat closet. I grab it and put my back to the wall across from the front door.


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[Assistant] The rifle might not even be loaded, but I don't have the time to check. It should be, I haven't used it after all. The front door. Shit. I have no clue if it's locked, or if it would matter.


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[Assistant] This isn't made up. It's not me jumping at shadows in silence. The doorknob turns. It's not locked.


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[Assistant] There's someone out there, and now they're coming in here. The door swings open, and I take aim.


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[Assistant] When he burst in, I flinched and almost shot him right there. But I couldn't. My finger wouldn't move.


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[Assistant] It was right on the trigger, but it was like my hand was numb.


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[Assistant] Even when he told me he wasn't leaving and I'd have to kill him, I couldn't.


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[Assistant] Just like the deer I could never shoot when my mom tried to show me how to hunt.


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[Assistant] Like the animal traps that sit in the garage, unused. And it's like the purple face of my mother.


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[Assistant] The burst blood vessels in her horrified eyes, and the raspy breath, the sick, and the smell, and Andrew is screaming in agony on the floor. Maybe I did something wrong.


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[Assistant] He could be allergic to the antibiotics or the local anesthetic and he's having a cardiac episode or whatever happens when people are allergic to those things. That's not in my mom's notebook. Oh God, I just killed someone. Or it could be a trick.


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[Assistant] He could be faking it, calling out to whoever is outside waiting for him, waiting to take this place from us. No, from me. Because I'm all that's left. But this doesn't sound like a trick. He sounds like he's in pure agony. I drop down to the floor next to him. What hurts? I shout over him. Can you tell me what's wrong?


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[Assistant] Tears stream down his red face. He's pulled his leg up, holding it by his thigh. There's no more blood on his wounds, but... Oh no. I move around his leg and put my hands on his knee.


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[Assistant] He flinches and grabs one of my wrists, managing to grunt out. No, don't! Okay, okay. I put my hands up.


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[Assistant] But let's try to get you on the couch, just hold your leg out straight and don't let it hit anything. He does as I say, and I slip my arms under his to lift him up.


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[Assistant] The smell of dirt, sweat, and body odor stab at my nostrils.


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[Assistant] I managed to carry him to the couch in the living room and he lowers his right leg carefully, letting out several quick breaths. You okay? I ask, but it sounds stupid. Of course he's not. He opens his eyes and gives a fake smile. Stunning.


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[Assistant] The pages look like nonsense because my mind won't quiet itself. I can't do this. It's all way too much. What is that? Andrew's voice snaps me from my thoughts. A book. He sounds fascinated. Oh, we don't have these. What do you call them? Boops up north?


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[Assistant] I give him a frown because there's no way I'm letting him have a smile off that awful joke. Right, he says. I'm the one with the busted leg. Kay, I'll shut up now.


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[Assistant] It's a notebook. My mom was a doctor and this is the notebook she started writing after everything, when things got bad. She wrote it for you, he says.


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[Assistant] His eyes are focused on me and they look sad, because he knows that she wrote it thinking she wouldn't survive the superflu, which she was right about. Yes, I bring my attention back to the book.


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[Assistant] When it got bad in the city, when the hospital became overwhelmed, and the shipments of medicines stopped, and they realized no one was surviving the flu.


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[Assistant] She started grabbing supplies. Everyone did. The doctors, nurses, custodial staff. And it wasn't long before...


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[Assistant] I trail off because he knows what happened. The refrigerated trucks for the bodies.


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[Assistant] The mass unmarked graves that couldn't be dug or filled fast enough.


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[Assistant] And no one in power doing anything to help or stop it. They just kept trying to force everyone to go about life as usual. To get back to the idea of normal.


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[Assistant] Spanish Flu, Hong Kong Flu, Ebola, HIV, and AIDS, Swine Flu, and more recently, COVID.


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[Assistant] All the diseases the news used to compare this virus to when NOTHING was like this.


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[Assistant] They thought civilization would be fine because it was before. The world gave us warnings, but they went unheeded at the cost of everything.


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[Assistant] Here, we didn't even try a mandatory quarantine like the Netherlands, or a lockdown like in France and Spain.


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[Assistant] Everyone was full on live free or die in America. And so they did. I decide to change the subject. I think your leg might be broken, but, but what? I broke my arm when I was ten. It was bent at a weird angle and his leg doesn't look like that. Swollen, yes. Bruised, absolutely.


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[Assistant] But I didn't notice any bumps that would indicate the bone snapped. Though he did step in a bear trap.


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[Assistant] I flipped to the front of the book where my mother wrote the acronym R-I-C-E.


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[Assistant] Rest, ice, compression, elevation. Rest, ice, and elevation he could do.


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[Assistant] But the ace bandages are out in the shed with some other supplies, so compression might have to wait.


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[Assistant] The sun's going down. You okay to stay put until tomorrow?


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[Assistant] No, Jamie, shut up. He can't stay here. He's a stranger who could kill me and take everything. Andrew's face lights up. On this comfy couch? Hell yeah. Then his smile drops. Why are you helping me, Jameson? Do no harm. It was my mother's catchall for being nice to people. And now I can picture her giving me that


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[Assistant] Jamison, what did I tell you? Look, I'm helping him because it's the right thing to do. Although the world's different now.


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[Assistant] The right thing to do might change from person to person.


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[Assistant] Andrew's right thing might be to kill me while my back is turned. I guess I just hope you'd do the same for me. His eyes drop away from mine, so maybe he wouldn't. Then something comes to me. Oh, hold on.


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[Assistant] Andrew jumps, his attention returning to me, but I'm already out of the room, heading down the hall toward the linen closet.


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[Assistant] I move the sheet so I can see the safe I hid on the back of the top shelf, where even my five foot eight mother couldn't reach it. And enter the code.


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[Assistant] The first thing I see when the door swings open is the dark outline of the handgun that makes me so nervous.


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[Assistant] I push it aside and take out the large orange pill bottle.


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[Assistant] Back in the living room, I shake out two pills and hold them out to Andrew.


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[Assistant] What are these? He asks, taking them from me and holding them in his palm. Painkillers. The good ones. Andrew looks back to the hallway. Why weren't they with your other supplies?


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[Assistant] Because my mom tore the house apart looking for them when the vomiting started. She knew what was coming.


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[Assistant] Take as many of the painkillers as we could stomach and drift off to sleep. But I kept thinking.


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[Assistant] What would happen if we were different from the other victims of the superflu? Immune or just lucky?


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[Assistant] They were saying a virus this deadly could mutate to become less lethal as infection went on. I didn't want her to give up and I didn't want to be alone. So I hid them in the tank of the toilet first.


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[Assistant] It was a sick kind of irony that she was throwing up so close to them for so long.


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[Assistant] All the way up until she couldn't get out of bed. Then I put them in the safe.


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[Assistant] I tell Andrew a lie because he doesn't need to know everything that happened before he came here. My mom kept them there. Probably doctor training or something. I'll get you some water and ice for your leg. I head into the kitchen.


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[Assistant] Cutting through the dining room and picking up the empty glass I gave him. But he calls out. It's okay, Jameson. I can dry swallow them.


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[Assistant] Great. So he can choke to death on the horse pills and I'll have to carry another dead body out to the fire pit.


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[Assistant] Having him here is giving me something to do other than count my food and worry about hunting.


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[Assistant] When I get to the living room, the pills are gone, but I still hand him the glass and a towel and a two gallon size Ziploc bag of ice. He looks at the water, then places it on the coffee table.


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[Assistant] I tell him to wrap the bag in the towel and lay his leg on top. He winces as he does so, but doesn't howl in pain.


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[Assistant] I should probably make some dinner. You're supposed to take those with food. I'll get you some sweats to put on too. Jameson, wait. I turn back and he is leaning up on his elbows. He motions his head toward the door. Can you grab my pack for me? I pick up the backpack and bring it over to him, letting him search through it. He pulls out some dirty clothes and sets them in his lap.


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[Assistant] Along with a pack of Band-Aids, a dirty toothbrush, toothpaste, a small Nalgene of water, and a lighter. Here we go. He takes out three cans one by one and hands them over to me.


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[Assistant] Garbanzo beans, olives, and vegetable soup. No, this is your food. You keep it.


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[Assistant] You help me, I help you. And since I don't have medical training, this is what you get. Oh, and these.


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[Assistant] He reaches back in and I realize that must be where his gun is. My heart leaps into my throat but my hands are full. He handed over the cans to distract me so I couldn't fight back. Instead, he pulls out three books and holds them out to me.


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[Assistant] I set the cans on the back of the couch and look at the books.


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[Assistant] The first cover is worn and has an old cruise ship on the front. It's called


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[Assistant] The Voyage Out, and it's by Virginia Woolf. I've heard of her, but not the book.


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[Assistant] The next book in the stack is The Shining by Stephen King.


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[Assistant] This one I've heard of. Saw the movie, never read the book. And finally...


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[Assistant] There's a worn, spiral-bound road atlas. Food and stories, I say. Isn't that all you need?


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[Assistant] I finish making dinner, just a soup with canned vegetables, and bring it out to him. We sit in silence as we eat.


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[Assistant] As I eat, Andrew hasn't taken a bite yet. He locks eyes with me. Hot, he says, blowing on the bowl. Sorry. Don't be, he says. This'll be the first hot meal I've had in a while.


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[Assistant] You said it's well water, but aren't hot water heaters natural gas? There's no gas lines out here, everything's electric. We used to come out for holidays.


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[Assistant] A bad thunderstorm in the summer could knock out the power for days. A snowstorm in the winter might do the same.


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[Assistant] Driving three hours here a few times only to discover we didn't have power was enough to give my mom a personal vendetta against nature. Andrew laughs and blows on a spoonful of soup.


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[Assistant] So, she spent a shitload to change the roof tiles to solar, and there's a battery backup that stores excess power.


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[Assistant] Like she had some intuition that the world would eventually be wiped out by a plague and we'd have to survive out here on our own. That's why she taught me how to hunt, or tried to teach me how to hunt. Before the superflu, coming out here felt like another home, an annex of what we had in Philly.


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[Assistant] Coming out here this final time felt different.


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[Assistant] As if because we were leaving our home in Philly forever, it severed the connection to this place. And now, this place is just that. A place. It feels wrong.


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[Assistant] Three hours, Andrew says, and eats a spoonful of soup. Where was that from? Philadelphia. Where were you from? Connecticut. You walked all the way down here from Connecticut?


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[Assistant] He nods and looks back at the soup as if he isn't sure he wants to eat anymore. But then he does and says, Winter was really bad up there, so the first nice day in January I left. You said you were alone for five months. It's March. I did, you are correct.


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[Assistant] There's something in his voice that makes it sound as if there's more to the story, but I let him leave it there. We finish dinner in silence.


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[Assistant] He still looks uncomfortable, so I ask how his leg is as I take the bowl from him. He looks at it, bites his lip, then looks up at me. I'm gonna be honest with you, Jameson, I- He pauses and reaches under the cushions of the sofa. Shit, did he hide a gun while I was in the kitchen? He holds out two pills. Didn't take the pills you gave me. You, why not?


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[Assistant] Because I thought you were trying to kill me? I glanced down at the bowls in my hands. Is that why you wouldn't eat the soup at first?


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[Assistant] He scrunches up his face like a kid who just got caught in a lie. Kinda, yeah. I can't help but smile. I almost laugh. Almost.


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[Assistant] You do remember that time about two hours ago when I held a gun on you, right? I could have killed you then. Even though that's a lie, he doesn't know I couldn't do it.


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[Assistant] I've never been able to pull the trigger when it's facing a living creature. Paper targets are fine, but anything with a heartbeat. I promise not to kill you if you promise not to kill me, I offer. Andrew picks up the glass of water. Best deal I've made all apocalypse. Then he downs the pills. I smile and head into the kitchen to clean the dishes.


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[Assistant] When I get back to the living room, the sun has gone down.


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[Assistant] I light two candles and set them out on the side tables next to the couch and chair. Andrew's barely awake. When I ask if he's okay, he gives me a grunt. Maybe the pain meds were a good idea.


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[Assistant] I call out to him quietly, but he's fully passed out now. I reach for the Virginia Wolf book.


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[Assistant] And I'm flipping through it when something falls out onto my lap. It's a thin piece of paper, ripped from what looks like a handwritten address book. It reads, Mark and Diane Foster, 4322 Laper Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their phone number's listed as well, but that isn't much use now. I watch Andrews sleep, wondering why he would have something from an address book. My mother had one, but she never even used it. Most people used their phones to store that info.


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[Assistant] I put the piece of paper on the table closer to him so he'll see it when he wakes. I open the book one more time and begin to read.


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[Assistant] Once Andrew's leg is freshly wrapped, I help him up onto his good leg and hold the crutch out to him.


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[Assistant] I'll try to find you a real crutch when I go into town on a supply run. But for now, this will help you get around a bit.


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[Assistant] Fabulous, I'm thrilled to be serving you tiny-tim realness. He says it with what sounds like a hint of frustration, and my eyebrows jump up. I'm sorry, he says.


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[Assistant] It's great, I mean, I really appreciate you helping me.


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[Assistant] It hasn't even been a full day, but having him here gives me something to do.


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[Assistant] Something to distract me from the silence and the memories and the fear. It also doesn't hurt to have someone to talk to. Just by being here, Andrew helps me in a way I didn't think I needed. Come on, I say, let's get some breakfast going.


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[Assistant] I help into the kitchen and sit him down at one of the tall bistro chairs in the corner.


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[Assistant] He sits on the edge and his leg sticks out toward the stove.


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[Assistant] Which is still hot from the logs I threw on earlier this morning.


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[Assistant] Andrew picks up one of the old newspapers I use as kindling to start the fire.


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[Assistant] You won't find much in there. It's from early August before my mom and I came out here, and it's filled with shortened obits and rumors about the NIH creating a possible vaccine. Andrew gives the paper a long look, humming.


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[Assistant] Yes, I'll have the scrambled eggs topped with cheese and Heinz ketchup, turkey bacon, and a side of whole wheat toast with the house-made almond butter. And a glass of orange juice, please. Smiling, he hands the newspaper back to me.


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[Assistant] I hide my own smile and throw the newspaper back on the pile. Canned baked beans and a pop tart it is. You have pop tarts?


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[Assistant] I open a cabinet and pull down one of the boxes I nabbed from a store in town several months back. Skip the beans, I'll eat the whole box. He holds out his hands, grasping for it like a toddler. You need to up your protein intake to help you heal.


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[Assistant] It's a little hard to find good protein sources in the apocalypse, Jamie.


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[Assistant] I open the freezer and show him the stores of meat from the fall. What is that? Andrew asks me. Dear, I take one of the small packages and move it to the fridge. I'll make a chili with it tonight for dinner. You can hunt? My mom taught me. Technically, it's not a lie because she did teach me.


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[Assistant] There's enough meat left to sustain us for a little over eight weeks. Any longer than that and I'll have to go hunting.


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[Assistant] The idea gives me anxiety deep in my gut.


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[Assistant] But if it's between starving to death and killing an animal, I'll kill the animal.


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[Assistant] I wasn't a vegetarian before the apocalypse, so it shouldn't be a problem now. That's a lie.


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[Assistant] Ending a life yourself is different from buying a pound of meat wrapped in plastic from Whole Foods.


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[Assistant] Perhaps on another supply run I'll find a restaurant with solar panels that powers a walk-in freezer stocked with meat for years. Yeah, we're gonna starve to death.


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[Assistant] Maybe I could show Andrew how to hunt when he gets better. Tell him what to do and he can be the one to pull that trigger.


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[Assistant] I throw some beans in a pot on the stove and place a pack of pop tarts on the counter.


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[Assistant] It's gone quiet and I don't like the silence that much so I make small talk while I stir. You left Connecticut and where were you going?


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[Assistant] I remember the address in Alexandria that fell out of his book. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him bristle slightly. You haven't heard? He asks. Heard.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I got here in late August, so if it happened after that, then no? You know about the Netherlands and the UK's quarantine, right? I nod.


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[Assistant] Italy picked up after, using their experience with Covid to try to get ahead of the superflu. And Germany followed suit.


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[Assistant] Apparently it worked. Their numbers dropped off and where it is they're sending help.


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[Assistant] And there's graffiti everywhere. It says DCA 610. What's that mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't know at first, but apparently it's the airport code for Reagan National Airport outside DC. And 6-10 is June 10th, the date the new EU is supposed to arrive.


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[Assistant] So, Alexandria must be a stop along the way, or just a random bookmark and it means nothing.


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[Assistant] If it's the EU coming, wouldn't it mean October 6th? He sighs loudly behind me.


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[Assistant] It's Americans spraying the graffiti, Jamie.


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[Assistant] I turned to look at him, trying to figure out if this is all a joke. You really think someone's coming?


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[Assistant] He shrugs and when he finally speaks again he sounds defensive. Better than doing nothing. It's the end of the world. Do you have another place to be?


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[Assistant] Is that why you decided to walk through the wilderness and get caught in a bear trap?


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[Assistant] I meant it as a joke, but it still sounds like I'm scolding him. For a moment, he looks like he's about to yell at me, but when he speaks, his voice is even, calm.


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[Assistant] I got off the main road because there is nothing better out there. Nothing has gotten better. You've been here for how long? You don't know what it's like out there. I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. People out there aren't like you. Maybe I tried to get off the road so I didn't have to keep. He lets out a frustrated sigh and looks away. Can we change the subject? Yeah, sorry. I stir the beans.


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[Assistant] Do you want any more pain meds? He doesn't answer at first, then says, yes. As I leave the kitchen, he adds quietly, please. I don't know what happened to him to make him leave the road, but whatever it was, he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. So I'll leave it at that.


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[Assistant] It's none of my business. He's stuck here till he heals, and then he's gone, back on the road.


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[Assistant] Then I can come up with other ways to distract myself from the memories and nightmares.


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[Assistant] I return to the kitchen and pass the pills to Andrew, adding in two antibiotics and hand him a glass of water.


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[Assistant] He downs them and remains quiet while I continue to reheat the beans.


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[Assistant] I see the wood piled in the bucket next to the stove is low. Only three more split logs left.


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[Assistant] The silence in the room is awkward, and this is the perfect excuse to leave. I have to get some more wood. As soon as I say it, I expect him to make a dirty joke. But all he says is, okay. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed.


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[Assistant] When I step outside onto the small deck off the dining room, the air is thick with fog.


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[Assistant] The deck shines with dampness, which means the wood will be damp too. I'm glad I came out for it now. This way it has some time to dry off in the house. I make my way across the wet grass to the shed.


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[Assistant] The wood is still piled high and in two rows along the entire length of the eleven foot long shed.


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[Assistant] I undo one of the bungee cords that keeps the blue tarp across the wood.


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[Assistant] We didn't chop trees down for it. This was all a mistake purchase from over a year ago.


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[Assistant] The winter before the superflu, my mom ordered four cords of wood.


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[Assistant] Not realizing a cord was 128 cubic feet of wood. It used to surround the entire shed, but now I'm down to this final couple of rows. I pull up part of the tarp to grab a few split logs.


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[Assistant] When I reach down to grab the bungee cord from the grass to re-secure the tarp, I stop. There in the grass next to the bungee cord are four cigarette butts.


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[Assistant] I swallow hard and look up at the trees surrounding our yard. The fog is still and lifeless.


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[Assistant] I listen, trying to ignore the thump of blood in my ears, trying to hear a twig snap, or shuffling feet, or even the rough exhale of smoky breath. But there's nothing. No birds. All of them probably dead from the superflu. No insects. No people. My gaze drops back to the cigarette butts.


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[Assistant] Whoever left them must be long gone, but they were here long enough to smoke four, and they knew enough to hide behind the shed.


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[Assistant] Maybe they saw me through the kitchen window and decided to leave. My chest tightens. Maybe Andrew was lying, and he wasn't alone after all.


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[Assistant] I gather the wood and head for the back door again, watching for movement from the trees or the side of the house. My senses are on high alert.


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[Assistant] I push the sliding glass door open with the back of my hand and use my back to slide it shut behind me.


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[Assistant] Andrew is perched on his good leg, stirring the beans, his other leg out to the side and just barely resting on the ground. He turns and gives me an arched eyebrow.


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[Assistant] I thought you'd gotten lost in the fog and I'd have to eat this whole box of Pop-Tarts by myself. This joking eases a bit of the tension in my chest.


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[Assistant] If he were with someone, I would think he'd be more worried about them and less making jokes about Pop Tarts. And...


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[Assistant] They wouldn't let him go into a strange house by himself while he was injured.


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[Assistant] Poor you, I say, dropping the wood into the metal pail by the stove. You can sit back down, I'll take over from here. He hops, carefully, back to his seat.


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[Assistant] The beans are bubbling, so I put two Pop Tarts in the toaster and continue to stir, thinking about the cigarette butts out in the yard.


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[Assistant] Having Andrew in my house is odd, but in a good way.


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[Assistant] He's been here a little over a week and we've kind of just slipped into this strange domesticity. It's like he's been here far longer.


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[Assistant] Honestly, I think it's because he reminds me of my friend Wes.


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[Assistant] Not that they're similar in any way, they especially have different senses of humor.


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[Assistant] Andrew is sarcastic and deadpan, while Wes loves telling the corniest jokes.


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[Assistant] Though, when Andrew does make a corny joke, it's fun to react the same way I did with Wes.


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[Assistant] There's still something about Andrew that feels familiar, like we've been friends since we were kids. Because that's what we are now. Friends.


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[Assistant] That's not the main reason I'm here. It's getting warmer and I wanted to find seeds to plant in the backyard. But, thought I'd look around while I was here.


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[Assistant] I feel a little bad having to leave him alone back at the cabin, but I figured it would be nice to give him some alone time.


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[Assistant] The swelling in his leg has gone down, but I can see the winces and pained faces he makes. He never slows down. It's like he's refusing to let himself rest.


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[Assistant] I might be wrong, but it seems like he's eager to leave.


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[Assistant] And trying to learn to deal with the pain so he can get out sooner.


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[Assistant] I tried to give him some pills before I left, but he refused because they were making him constipated last week. And now I know why it seems like we've been friends forever.


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[Assistant] Because Andrew can't help but say everything on his mind. Even the TMI stuff. I smirk as an idea comes to me.


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[Assistant] I leave the indoor garden area, the seeds rustling against their paper pouches in my backpack, and head for the plumbing aisle.


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[Assistant] I find the plungers and my smile grows.


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[Assistant] He'll definitely feign offense while thinking it's the dumbest, funniest thing.


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[Assistant] A combo of Andrew's humor and Wes's, sarcastic and corny.


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[Assistant] Now I just have to decide if I go for the cheapest one, $2.99 in pre-pandemic prices, or the most expensive, $17.99.


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[Assistant] But before I can even begin to weigh the humorous pros and cons,


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[Assistant] The sound of crunching glass shakes me from my thoughts. Then voices, hushed but clear.


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[Assistant] I get low and run in the opposite direction down the aisle and around a disheveled end cap. The new people's voices echo through the store, but I can't hear what they're saying.


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[Assistant] I should have told him about the cigarette butts, that there was someone nearby.


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[Assistant] But every day when I went out for more firewood, I would count the butts. Always four.


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[Assistant] I assumed whoever it was had been there and left long ago. Maybe they wanted an empty house and left when they realized it wasn't.


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[Assistant] But now I'm starting to think there are more survivors in the area than I originally thought. There are at least two people talking.


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[Assistant] I can't count their footsteps, but two is already outnumbering me and that's enough to make my hands tremble as I pull on the backpack. Hey, Howie!


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[Assistant] The voice makes me jump because it's not one of the two whispering. This one is just a few aisles over from me. Over here! The voices shift and begin to sound closer.


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[Assistant] I raise the gun slightly, ready to shoot if I have to. My chest tightens and it becomes hard to breathe.


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[Assistant] The pounding in my ears blocks out the sound of their footsteps. I scan the empty dark aisles


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[Assistant] The paint section is to my left, behind me is lumber, but all the wood is gone and the aisles are bare.


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[Assistant] There's a brief shuffling sound of plastic and the clang of metal against the floor that makes me almost jump out of my skin. They're in the next aisle.


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[Assistant] I catch the tail end of a conversation from farther away. It's a woman. More unfortifying than this. We can't do both? A man asks. Apparently not. She sounds annoyed. And closer. They're a couple of aisles down. And they're heading toward me.


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[Assistant] Her voice is lower, like the closer she gets to the plumbing aisle the less she wants the first guy to hear. We need to do something.


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[Assistant] The winter probably kept people in, but they might start out searching now that the weather's warming up.


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[Assistant] Chat also says we have a small window to get the irrigation set up if we want to get the crops we need.


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[Assistant] We can't have a hundred people walking around with watering cans all day. A hundred people? Her voice holds a warning. Howie? Howie replies in the same tone. Raven? They stop walking just feet away from me, about to turn up the plumbing aisle. Yes, there's more people out there, but we need food. Raven jumps in. I'm not saying we don't.


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[Assistant] But we need to be able to protect what we have. Or we get our numbers up, have people join us.


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[Assistant] But they won't if we can't feed them, or ourselves. Raven sighs like she's not convinced.


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[Assistant] We already voted. You were the one who wanted everyone's input. Raven chuckles. Yeah, and look how that bit me in the ass.


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[Assistant] Today would be cool, folks. The first guy calls from down the aisle. It sounds like he's straining, plastic clacking together. Cool it, Jack, we're coming, Howie says, turning up the aisle. Trying to throw your back out, Raven asks. I'm not trying to be on the trench digging team, Jack says. Besides, you were the one who left the kid out of the truck. He's a better shot than Raven, Howie says as he grunts and picks something up.


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[Assistant] Raven and Howie argue about one of their crew being a better marksman while they lift what sounds like PVC pipes.


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[Assistant] When they take the first load out to their truck and their voices are barely audible, I make a run for the back of the store.


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[Assistant] I don't want to wait for them to get back and decide on what else they might need to grab.


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[Assistant] Especially when two of them are apparently ready to shoot anyone who comes by.


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[Assistant] A small crack of daylight filters through the jam of the back door.


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[Assistant] I reach out in the dark and feel for the handle, expecting it to be locked.


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[Assistant] But the door opens easily, squealing on rusty hinges. I flinch as my eyes adjust to the bright sunlight.


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[Assistant] The lock looks like it's been pried off with a crowbar, the door bent and broken from the outside.


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[Assistant] I pull over a broken cinder block and prop it up against the door so it doesn't close.


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[Assistant] Then take one last look inside the darkened hardware store. For a moment I think about the people in there. They must live close by. They're growing food too.


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[Assistant] They have plans and votes and, from the sounds of things, leaders.


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[Assistant] But they also have guns and they expect to have to use them.


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[Assistant] They even have a kid at the front of the Home Depot guarding their truck because he's a better shot than the others. The idea makes me nauseous.


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[Assistant] I can hear Raven and Jack talking from the front of the store, so I turn and duck into the trees behind the shopping center, glancing around quickly and watching for movement.


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[Assistant] Even once I reach the highway on the other side, I stay low. It's a two hour walk back to the cabin. It would have been faster if I took one of the bikes from the shed, but I wanted to be able to hide on the highway if I saw anyone.


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[Assistant] It gives me time to think about what it could mean if we joined up with another settlement. Maybe Andrew and I would be welcome.


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[Assistant] But then I picture the both of us stationed outside another home depot or a grocery store that hasn't been completely ransacked.


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[Assistant] We have guns and we have to shoot anyone else who might come by. Even in the warm sunlight, the thought gives me chills.


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[Assistant] I'd never be able to join up with a settlement who are so willing to end other people's lives, after everything we've all been through with the superflu.


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[Assistant] If the news was even close to correct on the death toll estimates, then there's very few people left. Maybe Andrew would be able to join up with them. He was heading for Reagan National after all. So maybe I would just stay on my own. Chills return. And something else. It feels like grief.


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[Assistant] The idea of Andrew leaving and me being alone again creates a pit in my chest like all my vital organs have gone missing.


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[Assistant] I have to tell him to give him the option to leave and join up with him if he wants to, because of course he'd want to. I won't tell him.


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[Assistant] Not yet, at least. I don't want to worry him that there might be other survivors around us. But even more, I don't want him to leave.


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[Assistant] Packs of seeds are spread across the outdoor table, organized based on when they're supposed to be planted.


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[Assistant] And a stack that were to be sewn indoors in early spring that I'll have to save for next year.


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[Assistant] I write each type onto a tablet and put a note of when they need to go in the ground.


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[Assistant] Andrew looks over the top of the library book I brought him on the seed supply run I did a few weeks ago.


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[Assistant] It's some novelization of a movie that was never released because of the superflu. I told him he needs to read it and tell me what happens.


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[Assistant] He's been here for about six weeks and we've spent most of our evenings with Andrew retelling movies to me scene by scene. You're so organized, he says now. I would have just thrown them all in the dirt and waited to see what popped up. And then you would have starved.


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[Assistant] We aren't starving yet, but the food in town is getting scarce.


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[Assistant] I did end up planting a whole bunch of the seeds I nabbed from the Home Depot, and vegetables are already starting to sprout.


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[Assistant] And the weather has been good to us. We should have a first crop ready by June.


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[Assistant] These seeds are the leftovers that need to be planned further out, including some winter cabbages. Or gotten scurvy. He turns back to his book, and I glance at his leg propped up on the chair across from him. He's been able to move a little better.


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[Assistant] The swelling is gone and the bruising is yellowed and faded. Another week might be all he needs.


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[Assistant] I turn back to the tablet and write down that the mustard greens should go in the ground at the end of July. Jamie, his voice is cold and scared. I hear a twig snap and see movement out of the corner of my eye.


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[Assistant] I jump, reaching for the rifle and aim it at the man at the tree line.


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[Assistant] The man has long, coarse black and gray hair with a matching beard.


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[Assistant] I'm trying my hardest to make my voice sound intimidating. To make it sound like I can pull this trigger.


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[Assistant] But the gun is shaking and my palms are already sweaty. No need to start shooting, the bearded man says. How many of yous are there? He takes a step forward. I said stop. My voice breaks and I sound like a child. Andrew whispers, Jamie?


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[Assistant] He doesn't have to say anymore because the movement catches my eye. There are more people emerging from the tree line.


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[Assistant] A black woman in her thirties with a vest and short hair.


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[Assistant] There are three more men. Two are older white men, maybe forties.


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[Assistant] While the third is a tall, stocky kid with brown skin who looks like he's the same age as Andrew and me. All of them have guns. Three rifles, three handguns. You're outnumbered, the man with the beard says. So how about we lower our guns and talk? Talking sounds fine. I turn to Andrew, trying to see his reaction to this. He looks skeptical.


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[Assistant] And if I'm not mistaken, it looks like he doesn't want me to lower the gun.


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[Assistant] But I don't have a choice. There's more of them than there are of us. I don't know if those guns are even loaded, but if they are, we're screwed. And I still don't think I can shoot them.


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[Assistant] My stomach is in knots and I can't psych myself up to think about it, let alone do it. I lean the rifle against the deck railing.


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[Assistant] And the rest of the interlopers lower their own weapons.


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[Assistant] I let out a soft breath of relief as the bearded man hands his rifle to the woman with the gray ponytail and comes toward us. When he reaches the bottom step of the deck, he holds out a dirty hand. Howard. Howie. Now I have a face to the name.


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[Assistant] I look back to the people at the tree line, wondering if one is Jack or Raven.


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[Assistant] My eyes fall on the kid and I wonder if he's the one who's a better shot with the rifle in his hands than the others. Jamison. I take Howard's hand firmly and give it a shake, locking eyes with him. Howard looks to Andrew, who gives his name. Then Howard asks, mind if I sit? I do mind that, sir.


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[Assistant] I would like for all of you to leave and never look back.


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[Assistant] I turn to Andrew who still looks at me like he's ready to set the world on fire.


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[Assistant] But I grab the rifle anyway and carry it over to the other side of the deck.


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[Assistant] Out of the corner of my eye I can see the others in Howard's group move their weapons up.


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[Assistant] Don't worry, we're all set up. We're not going to take your house.


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[Assistant] He reaches into his front pocket and I see Andrew flinch, but Howard only withdraws a pack of cigarettes. The cigarette butts. They must have been his. Or someone from their settlements. I wonder how long they've been watching us.


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[Assistant] Howard smiles at Andrew, probably seeing the same flinch I did, then holds out the pack, his eyebrows rising. No thanks, I say. Those'll kill you. Subtle, Andrew. Very subtle. Howard chuckles, but proceeds to light up. Not much these days, don't.


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[Assistant] He lets the smoke out through his nostrils, like a dragon, warning us that he can breathe fire.


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[Assistant] He tucks the pack and lighter into his pocket and leans back, relaxing. What can we do for you Howard?


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[Assistant] The town nearby. I assume you frequent it, he asks. Not so much now that the tourism industry's kaput, Andrew answers. Stop it, I say to him.


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[Assistant] He's poking the bear, or the dragon, to maintain the metaphor. Howard smirks and continues, his eyes falling on the seed packets scattered on the table.


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[Assistant] Well, there was plenty there to be had, but not so much anymore. He takes another puff on his cigarette and says, there's more of us. He motions to the people along the trees. Quite a few more. I want to call his bluff, but there's no point.


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[Assistant] We're already outnumbered, so he's got no reason to lie to us.


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[Assistant] The six of them are enough to intimidate Andrew and me. Howard continues.


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[Assistant] That's a lot of mouths to feed and not much in the way of food delivery anymore.


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[Assistant] So we started out to see who might have been in the area, just poking around, going door to door to collect. This isn't door to door. It's an ambush. Collect, Andrew asks. Taxes.


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[Assistant] We claim these lands for our settlement and you're living on it.


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[Assistant] But this is America, and if you live on our land, you need to pay taxes. You want money? Andrew asks. Money's not worth the paper it's printed on anymore. We're looking for food. We don't have any food. Howard holds up a hand.


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[Assistant] Stop there. You don't need to start our relationship off on the wrong foot by lying.


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[Assistant] We know you raided the town nearby and left the scraps. Plenty of people did. The scraps that we then took.


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[Assistant] But again, there's more of us than there are of you, and I think we can come to some kind of mutual agreement.


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[Assistant] Maybe you'll need medicine or protection in the future, so you've gotta pay up now. You help us, we help you. And if we say no, Andrew says, I haven't spoken a word.


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[Assistant] I'm frozen with fear and I can't help but look back at the line of people at the edge of the yard. I think you know what happens if you say no. I do. They'll kill us. It might not be now, but they'll kill us all the same. They'll come back with more people, and it'll be worse.


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[Assistant] Do you know what the term no taxation without representation means, Howard? Andrew asks.


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[Assistant] I want to elbow him and tell him to shut up and just let them take some of our food, but I can't move.


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[Assistant] Howard chuckles and takes another long drag of his cigarette. I am your representation. I didn't vote for you. Andrew, stop, I finally say, but I don't look at him.


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[Assistant] I'm still watching the others with the guns. They're gonna take what they want and we can't stop them. They have the people and the weapons. Howard looks between us, back and forth.


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[Assistant] It's trained on Andrew, steady, unwavering.


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[Assistant] Everyone else along the backyard raises their weapons too. My heartbeat quickens, and I put up my hands, leaning toward Andrew, putting myself in front of Andrew.


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[Assistant] But Andrew still doesn't move and I wonder if he saw this coming.


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[Assistant] We're taking your food, Howard says. All pretense of politeness is gone, along with his smile. He whistles and three of his group come forward.


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[Assistant] You can come after it if you want, but believe me when I say we'll fight for it. We've fought for it before.


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[Assistant] I'm not sure if it's sadness or anger.


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[Assistant] Maybe Raven was right and they should have focused more on security than crops.


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[Assistant] Someone else might have shown up at their settlement and done what they are doing to us. Now, they're low on food.


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[Assistant] The three moving up the stairs pull bags from the packs on their shoulders.


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[Assistant] The black woman hands Howard one of the bags and she takes a few steps back.


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[Assistant] She nods and Howard joins the others in the house. So, this is Raven.


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[Assistant] I hear them opening cabinets, ransacking, taking what's ours.


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[Assistant] Just don't let them go searching the rest of the house. Don't let them take the medical supplies. Don't let them try the lights or the water. Don't let them find the safe and make me open it and take the handgun and ammo. They can't leave us with nothing. What are we supposed to do? I ask Raven. She shrugs. What all of us do now? Do what you have to, to survive. And you have to do this? I ask.


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[Assistant] Raven takes her eyes off us long enough to look toward the house. Then she takes a short step forward. She lowers her voice. This is more performance than anything else.


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[Assistant] Performance, Andrew asks, not bothering to keep his voice down. Raven looks annoyed, but continues anyway. Do you think you'd survive out here alone, just the two of you? How do you know it's only the two of us, Andrew asks. Because they've been watching us, I say. That's right, isn't it? Raven nods.


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[Assistant] So all this is to leave us desperate enough to come find them. Because they need people. They need numbers and security.


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[Assistant] And maybe even people to work their crop fields in return for food and protection.


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[Assistant] Their work is fast, and when they emerge, all three of them hold bags filled with our food.


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[Assistant] Raven goes back to the tree line, and Howard turns his attention to us.


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[Assistant] We left some of it, enough to keep you going for a few days. A few days.


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[Assistant] That's not counting the deer in the freezer that was supposed to last us longer than it will now. And they've already taken the rest of the food from town. Remember what I said.


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[Assistant] Don't come after us. Don't throw your life away for nothing.


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[Assistant] Now if you want to come out and join us, no weapons. You're more than welcome. We'll find a way for you to help out and a way for you to get paid. Raven was telling the truth. This is just a performance. I wonder if they even need that food. If we begin to starve, what do you think we'll be forced to do to you? Andrew asks. Howard shrugs again.


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[Assistant] I suggest you come up with another plan before that happens, because you'll lose. He turns and heads toward the others. Andrew whispers to me, Grab the gun. No. Jamie, no, Andrew, just no. Only one of the men still has his gun on us.


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[Assistant] The others have turned back into the woods, disappearing in the foliage.


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[Assistant] If I were someone else, I could do what Andrew is asking. If I were stronger, I can't do any of that. And now we're going to starve to death. I'm sure all of them would do it in a heartbeat. In fact, I know it. Howard's eyes told me everything.


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[Assistant] He looks frustrated and I can see the muscles in his jaw clench and unclench. He's probably pissed at me.


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[Assistant] Maybe now he sees how weak I am and he's embarrassed that he was ever scared of me. He pushes himself up, grabbing his crutch.


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[Assistant] And I watch as he hobbles into the house to take stock of what's left and figure out how long until we starve.


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[Assistant] We skipped dinner that night, and Andrew goes to bed early. I follow shortly after, lying in my bed, thinking about the food we have. There's enough canned food for a week. More if we can keep the venison going.


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[Assistant] And the seeds in the garden are starting to germinate so maybe we can take vitamins until they produce crops. I'll hunt in the morning.


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[Assistant] I'll do what I need to now because I don't have any other choice. But more than that, there's something else distracting me. I keep trying to come back to the food, to focus on what's important, but my mind wanders to Andrew, my gut reaction when Howard pulled the gun. I tried to get in front of it.


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[Assistant] It didn't matter because the others by the trees had their guns on both of us, but my focus was only on Howard's gun, pointed at Andrew.


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[Assistant] Most of my night is spent imagining what would have happened if Andrew got hurt, if they killed him, and if I survived.


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[Assistant] I spiral thinking about every possibility that could have happened. Mainly though...


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[Assistant] I can't figure out why the whole incident is affecting me so much. Andrew, who I met six weeks ago, is someone I was willing to jump in front of a gun for. Spiraling again.


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[Assistant] Howard didn't shoot, so it doesn't matter. I tell myself that over and over. We're fine. It didn't happen. We'll survive this. I'll do what I have to in the morning. When I wake, the sun isn't up yet.


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[Assistant] But blue pre-dawn light peeks through the curtains.


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[Assistant] I get up, shower, dress, and sneak out the back door.


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[Assistant] I lie on the ground and pull a brown tarp over my back.


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[Assistant] Looking through the scope of the rifle at shadows cast by the trees, waiting for the sun to rise. As the morning goes on, I keep telling myself I don't need to be out here. We still have some food after what Howard left us, but we're still gonna need some protein. And that means waiting here for something. Then I hear it.


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[Assistant] The crack of twigs, the rustle of dead leaves.


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[Assistant] There's a flash of brown and white as a large doe prances into the field from the tree line. My heart leaps.


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[Assistant] My finger floats against the trigger as I line up the black lines in the rifle sight where the doe's heart is. She looks around, her ears twitching atop her head.


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[Assistant] I can do this. I have to do this. I have to. I have to. My finger applies more pressure. The trees behind the doe rustle, and a small fawn hops from the woods. White spots speckle its brown fur. My finger flicks away from the trigger.


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[Assistant] The fawn frolics around its mother with abandon, springing up and down on its spindly legs.


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[Assistant] It has no idea of the metal projectile moments away from taking its mother's life.


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[Assistant] Come on, this changes nothing. I put my finger back on the trigger.


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[Assistant] As the doe bends her long neck down and nibbles at the grass.


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[Assistant] The fawn stops hopping and bends down as well, sniffing.


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[Assistant] Its tail twitches with excitement at all the new smells and sensations. I move the sight over to it.


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[Assistant] Following it as it explores the new world it was only just born into. I see my mother's face again.


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[Assistant] This time her eyes are open and pleading with me, and I can barely hear her as she asks me again to end the pain.


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[Assistant] I can't do it. I can't kill a mother deer in front of her baby. Not this one. I'll get another one. Maybe tomorrow or, I don't know. God damn it, I whisper under my breath. The doe and the fawn look up from the ground, their ears twitching.


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[Assistant] I let out a sigh and stand up throwing the tarp off my back.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I said god damn it. I shout at them across the field. Neither of them moves. Go, I say, waving my hand again. They remain where they are, staring at me. Move it! I point the gun at them, and they don't even flinch. I hold the rifle steady. If they're so keen to die, we might as well eat.


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[Assistant] Only this time, I can't even bring my finger up to the trigger. As the deer watch me and I watch them, I drop the rifle and crouch down, holding out my hand to the phone.


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[Assistant] The fawn looks back at its mother as if asking for permission, but the doe is already scanning the rest of the field. The fawn takes a tentative step forward, lowering its head. It approaches me slowly. When it reaches my hand, it stays back, but stretches its neck forward, breathing in my scent.


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[Assistant] I reach out with my other hand and touch the fawn's fur. It's soft and hasn't grown coarse yet. I look up at the mother who is watching me like a hawk.


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[Assistant] She trusts me, but only so much. Her eyes tell me, hurt my baby, I hurt you. It's alright, I won't hurt them. I pet the fawn from its head down its back, and it shakes its little tail.


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[Assistant] It's like they intuitively know something happened to the human population.


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[Assistant] Like the silence of the roads and the significant lack of human animals walking on two feet means things have changed for them. Like their world is less dangerous. All right. I think your mom wants you to head back now. I take my hand away.


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[Assistant] And its wide eyes look like they're wondering a million things at once. The spring breeze has cooled the sweat on my back.


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[Assistant] I fold the tarp and tuck it under my arm and lift the rifle, slinging it over my shoulder. The fawn tenses, ready to run. It's okay, kid. I'm done for the day.


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[Assistant] The fawn turns and begins walking back to its mother.


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[Assistant] Stopping every few feet to sniff at the ground. Be careful, I tell the doe. I smile and head back to the house.


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[Assistant] There's a book on the coffee table. It's the first thing I see when I walk into the living room and my mouth goes dry. It's the voyage out. I call out to Andrew, but there's no answer. There's a piece of lined yellow paper sticking out of the top.


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[Assistant] I know it's from Andrew, and I'm terrified to take it out. But I can't leave it there. I can't ignore it.


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[Assistant] He wasn't on the back deck waiting for me as usual, and he's not the kind of person to sleep in. Slowly, I pull it out and unfold it. Seeing his handwriting hurts like a knife. Jamie, it says, I'm sorry. I hope you don't find this until you come back from hunting. I didn't want to be here when you got back.


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[Assistant] This is a trope you wouldn't know anything about because it's only in shitty movies you've never seen. It's the coward's way out. I am a coward.


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[Assistant] This is your food and your home and I've been enough of a burden.


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[Assistant] But I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you've done for me.


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[Assistant] I need you to know how grateful I am. You're a really good person. He wrote something else after this.


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[Assistant] I hope you managed to get a deer so I don't feel so guilty. I think you did. I'm going to miss you so much, Jamie.


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[Assistant] I can't believe they actually made a movie called Mannequin, in which a mannequin comes alive and runs amok in Philly.


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[Assistant] Andrew told me all about it in one of his movie summaries before he went to sleep. And now here I am thinking about mannequins.


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[Assistant] It sounds like a Hallmark movie, which is a secret I haven't shared with Andrew yet. I love Hallmark movies. He thinks I haven't seen any movies because I don't like them, but that's not entirely true.


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[Assistant] I just only watched Hallmark Channel movies, and I've seen way too many of those.


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[Assistant] In fact, I've seen so many, there are some I've rewatched in their entirety, thinking they were a new movie.


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[Assistant] Only to realize at the end I had seen them before. But that's what I like about them. They're safe and predictable. Unlike the world now. My eyes are dry and they burn.


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[Assistant] A long yawn makes my jaw ache and I glance down at my watch. It's only one in the morning. I told Andrew I would let him sleep until three. Then I can sleep from three until nine or so.


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[Assistant] I remind myself to talk to him about going to sleep earlier and getting up earlier to try to cover as much ground as we can before the sun gets high. The temperature is only gonna rise as we get farther south.


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[Assistant] I remember hearing somewhere, that's what you're supposed to do in the desert. Andrew's leg is doing much better.


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[Assistant] I can only see his limp now when I really focus on it.


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[Assistant] I wait until he asks me if I want to stop and rest, because it seems like he's worried we won't make it to Reagan National by June 10th. When he asks how I am, I tell him I'm fine, when in reality I'm exhausted. The heat and the walking are taking their toll.


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[Assistant] It's been a week since I left home to come after Andrew, and I'm thinking about it again. Most nights while I'm up and Andrew is asleep, this is what I think about. He asked me why I came after him, and the question haunts me.


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[Assistant] Because I don't know the answer. No, I do know the answer.


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[Assistant] It's just that the answer doesn't make sense to me. I told him it wasn't safe at the cabin anymore.


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[Assistant] And that might have been true, but it wasn't the whole truth. After I found Andrew's note, I couldn't stop picturing him getting hurt again.


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[Assistant] Falling and breaking his leg, stepping in another bear trap, meeting a group like Howard's, only this time they didn't bother talking first. Eventually, the worrying was too much.


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[Assistant] It was like the beginning of the superflu all over again.


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[Assistant] Every night I would be up, pacing around the house, trying not to read posts online about the sick and dying, worrying about my mom while she was at the hospital. On the front lines, they kept calling it.


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[Assistant] As if she was a soldier and that made the fact that she was risking her life mean more. It was the same worries I was having with Andrew, picturing him out here on his own.


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[Assistant] Then finally, I couldn't keep worrying about it anymore, and decided to do something about it.


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[Assistant] I stifle another yawn and turn to look at Andrew sleeping soundly.


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[Assistant] Maybe it's the fact that we've spent the last several weeks around each other non-stop.


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[Assistant] Or maybe it's just that he's the only person I've been able to talk to since October. I blink, but my eyes refuse to open.


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[Assistant] My body slips forward and I snap awake, sitting up straight. One look at my watch makes my stomach drop. It's two thirty in the morning. I fell asleep for an hour and a half. I stand up looking around the store in the darkness.


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[Assistant] Outside the clouds have cleared and Viking Lane is drenched in full moon blue. The light filters through the dusty windows. The back room is empty.


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[Assistant] I listen at the doorway for any sounds of someone shuffling around, but hear nothing. So I walk back to Andrew. He lies spread out on the sleeping bag, arms and legs splayed wide. He breathes deep and heavy through his open mouth. I step into the light filtering through the window. Andrew stirs, talking in his sleep. I look back at him and smile.


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[Assistant] The talking sound isn't coming from him. It's coming from outside.


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[Assistant] My heart lurches in my chest, blood pounding in my ears. I turn back toward Viking Lane.


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[Assistant] Footsteps scrape across the pavement. The deep voice of a man shouting. He's...


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[Assistant] Singing, singing something familiar too.


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[Assistant] I recognize the lyrics, but can't quite place them.


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[Assistant] I see his shadow first, cast across the weed-cracked asphalt by the full moon. I step back away from the window, moving into the shadows of the ice cream shop. I check my feet.


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[Assistant] I reach down, the man's voice getting closer and louder. He's walking toward the ice cream shop.


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[Assistant] I reach for Andrew's wrist, my other hand hovering above his mouth, ready to clamp over it if he cries out.


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[Assistant] As the man's shadow falls across the floor, I pull Andrew's arm out of the moon's light and put his hand on his chest, then raise the rifle toward the window.


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[Assistant] The man leans against the store window, his back to us, and I breathe a quiet sigh of relief, but I still keep the gun on him.


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[Assistant] Because in one hand he has a half empty bottle of whiskey, and in the other, he has a small hatchet.


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[Assistant] Andrew sleeps through the clanging as it reverberates in the empty shop. Everyone's gone to the movies. The lyrics hit me as soon as he starts up again. It's Steely Dan. My mother had the album back at the cabin.


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[Assistant] Every time she played it and this song came on, she would make a face and say, oh, I hate this song. For good reason, too.


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[Assistant] Hearing the drunken singing by the man wielding the axe makes the lyrics even creepier. Kids, if you want some fun, Mr. LePage is your man.


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[Assistant] My brain sings the first two lines, sending goosebumps across my body.


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[Assistant] Mr. LePage takes another swig of liquor and pushes himself off the window. He looks back at the window and stops, looking in at us.


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[Assistant] I raise the gun again, my finger at the ready.


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[Assistant] This time I'll pull the trigger. It won't be like the deer. Andrew's next to me, asleep, and I'm not letting this guy anywhere near him. I swallow hard, but my mouth is dry.


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[Assistant] I wait for him to smile at me, to say something, anything, instead.


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[Assistant] I stand and walk toward the window watching him go. He gets to the body in the middle of the road and stops standing over it.


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[Assistant] He drops the hatchet on the ground with a loud metallic thud. Then he takes another long swig of whiskey before he reaches between his legs


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[Assistant] And unloads a stream of urine over the dead body in the street.


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[Assistant] My teeth clench, and I hold on to the gun tightly.


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[Assistant] I turn away from the window in disgust and walk back to where Andrew lies on the floor. Mr. LePage walks back in front of the window and down Viking Lane. After I'm sure he's gone.


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[Assistant] It has nothing to do with the proximity of Mr. LePage.


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[Assistant] It was the way my brain was working while he was close to us that makes me nervous.


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[Assistant] He was right there with a hatchet, the same hatchet he no doubt used to chop the head off a man in the middle of the street. Still, I didn't pull the trigger.


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[Assistant] I didn't need to, but even if he had seen us and come in, I don't know if I could have.


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[Assistant] In the moment I was so sure I would protect Andrew.


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[Assistant] The more I thought about it, the more I realized...


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[Assistant] I could have tried to reason with him first. I could have woken Andrew up and the two of us guns drawn could convince him to leave. Then we could run. Instead, I was scared.


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[Assistant] Scared of what would happen if I pulled the trigger and killed him.


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[Assistant] Would I be just as bad as Mr. LePage at that point? I don't know why he killed the man in the street.


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[Assistant] Perhaps he wandered into town. Maybe he held up Mr. LePage at gunpoint. Maybe Mr. LePage snuck up behind him barefoot and buried the hatchet into the man's back. Mr. LePage had his back to me. If I shot him, it would be the same thing.


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[Assistant] I let Andrew sleep until four in the morning when I finally begin to calm down. I shake him hard and he wakes. I decide not to tell him about Mr. LePage.


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[Assistant] This time, when I think of it, I don't smile or laugh. I lie on the sleeping bag and close my eyes.


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[Assistant] I'm able to drift off into a twilight sleep, waking up every once in a while.


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[Assistant] Each time the sky outside is a brighter shade of blue. At seven in the morning, I sit up. Let's get an early start today, I say when Andrew looks over to me. You sure? Yeah. This place creeps me out.


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[Assistant] Walk to the airport, please. We still have our beloved express pass with us, which we have to use today.


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[Assistant] Okay, so rotate him 90 degrees straight.


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[Assistant] We have to make fruit tortillas. I'm like, are there four or five?


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[Assistant] We're gonna use an express pass because we think the pit stop is next, or is it?


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[Assistant] This is something that Nash can do in like one shot. Be ashamed to waste it on this. Go to the next one and use the express path. Who discovered gravity? Einstein?


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[Assistant] So this morning we were going to use our express sauce and get number one. We get to the detour, we were too afraid to use it because you don't know what's coming ahead.


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[Assistant] Us giving up our express pass just really speaks volume to the fact that we never give up.


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[Assistant] They attacked me! You attacked us first!


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[Assistant] I mean, look at me. This is a $2,000 suit, Mike. Got like 12 of them. I take on real software projects. I have clients who bring me briefcases filled with cash, and I hand them identical briefcases with vacuum-sealed bud. I'm telling you, man. I hide in plain sight. Okay, so what do you need me for?


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[Assistant] Leaving the ring team facing elimination. One of you will go home.


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[Assistant] Tonight, have we got a doozy for you. They must endure their most difficult challenge yet.


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[Assistant] It looks amazing. There's so much detail. I know this is not gonna be easy. They've put a lot of technique into this dish.


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[Assistant] The elements of the savoury are absolutely divine. The sculpts are perfectly cooked.


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[Assistant] It has a wonderful crunch because it's been fried off nicely that goes really beautifully with that dew that Santi has poured on the side. It's a well-rounded, well-thought-out, beautiful dish.


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[Assistant] I'm freaking out because there's definitely some techniques within this dish that I've never done before, so I am really nervous about that.


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[Assistant] I'm really nervous. Christina's amazing and sweet and I love my sabres. So I think it's really anyone's chance.


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[Assistant] At the moment I'm working on getting my stock reduced down to demi-glace. Uh, the most challenging thing today will be just keeping calm and really working hard.


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[Assistant] I'm a little bit confused. It says to butterfly and then take the breast off the bone. But I'm really struggling to work out what that means. Do I take the bone, backbone out then? If we understand.


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[Assistant] I'm just wondering if it's taking out the full backbone or if it's another way that I don't know about. Let's start.


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[Assistant] The quail is the most important part of this dish. I've only got one shot at it.


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[Assistant] I don't really understand who's taking them off the breast.


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[Assistant] I'm feeling the pressure already, I've wasted time second guessing myself, and I just need to trust my instincts. I take the backbone out and I start butterflying the quail.


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[Assistant] There we go. The quail breasts have been deboned.


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[Assistant] And then I quickly roll that into a ballastine. And now I'm gonna move on to the crowd of legs.


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[Assistant] I kind of know what I'm doing with this. I need to take the tendons off but leave as much meat on there as possible.


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[Assistant] The recipe says to do two of these, so I need to work a lot faster.


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[Assistant] Santi's cauliflower puree has wonderful roasted notes to it, but it also has a nice flavour of miso as well.


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[Assistant] I've done the first section of my savoury and now it's time to start on my sweet.


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[Assistant] I'm going to work first on my gold chocolate and banana mousse. This is the inside of the makis.


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[Assistant] What I remember of Santis is its consistency. It was this light, airy and beautiful mousse and I'm really excited to make it.


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[Assistant] First thing I do is caramelise some bananas.


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[Assistant] I heat the milk and cream and then I add the blended bananas and bring that to a boil. Then I pour that into the gold chocolate and get that to melt.


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[Assistant] It's really important that I get that chocolate to melt so I get a really smooth consistency.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna fold it through my cream and then we're ready to go. Once that's done, I then pipe the mousse in little silicon molds.


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[Assistant] For the second part of the roasted cauliflower puree, I take it out of the bag and blend it until it's smooth.


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[Assistant] I'm getting a lovely flavor of miso. It's absolutely delicious.


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[Assistant] The next element is the jus for the quail. The jus is poured over the quail to richen it up. It needs to be a nice, soft, subtle flavour.


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[Assistant] The shoe has reduced and I add my tamari and also my jasmine tea to infuse.


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[Assistant] I've reduced it enough and shouldn't reduce it anymore otherwise it'll become too thick.


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[Assistant] Mr. Ross, what happened to me happened six years ago. It was horrible, and there was a reason I didn't do anything about it. They'll put me on that stand and attack me, and I don't want that.


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[Assistant] I'd been working six months when Mr. Hunt started asking me to work more, order dinner. One night, late, he tried to have sex with me. The next day, I requested a change in assignment.


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[Assistant] In this garden, it is just like nature everywhere. You can't really tell where the ladders are and where the herbs are placed. Everything blends into one. Did I miss this one?


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[Assistant] After training, I'm just so hungry, all I wanna do is eat. I don't care if it tastes good, I just know what my body needs. I eat plain chicken, rice, and broccoli every day. So this is very challenging.


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[Assistant] We are now in last place. I'm so scared that I'm about to lose this leg of the race for us.


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[Assistant] Tara, keep going. You got this. I really wish I cooked more spices.


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[Assistant] We know this is the last leg before the final, like we need to be top three. I-I felt so lost.


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[Assistant] Now I know for our next attempt, I'll go around that con.


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[Assistant] As athletes, we go through tough times, but this has been like a world of new experiences for us and it's so great to see what else we can pull out from ourselves.


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[Assistant] Right now, Sarah is not communicating well. We need to be on the same page.


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[Assistant] Okay, this is the first time I've done this though. This is gonna be interesting. Okay.


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[Assistant] Yeah, you're gonna do C3. So right now we have three moves, we have one more to go.


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[Assistant] So we decided to do something that me and Sarah are really good at. Ask for directions.


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[Assistant] I am the great immortal. You destroyed my ginseng tree.


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[Assistant] Walt told us where he and Harvey found you, Steve says. We got on the highway and started down from there.


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[Assistant] Steve shut up, Grover warns, but Steve doesn't listen.


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[Assistant] Whole lot of people out looking for just you two, but we saw your fire tonight.


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[Assistant] We dug a little pool so when the tide comes in it fills it, and we can collect the salt-free water from condensation. There's one every few miles. Not the prettiest things, but they're easy to rebuild if they come down. It's just till the engineers figure out how to restart the water treatment plant and plumbing.


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[Assistant] Though if you ask me, she was doing pretty damn well for herself.


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[Assistant] This one's no good, it's not sealed. Okay. This one's not sealed. This one's not sealed. This one's no good. Oh my god, babe. This one's no good.


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[Assistant] This one's no good. It's not sealed. No good. Oh my god. This one's not sealed. This one's not sealed. And this one is too light.


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[Assistant] Qualified persons are interested in investing and have money to invest now. Chris.


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[Assistant] smell, smelt, smelt, smelled, smelled


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[Assistant] NBA. National Basketball Association.


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[Assistant] CBA China Basketball Association


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[Assistant] It was the 25th of September. I remember that day because that's the day that I found out there was only $21.33 left in my bank account. I was broke.


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[Assistant] To the other. To the true north strong and free.


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[Assistant] This just got juicy. Jaw dropping gameplay.


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[Assistant] I just don't feel like it's fair that we both work so hard and one of us has to go home.


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[Assistant] Oh my god, you just did it!


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[Assistant] Until one by one, teams were knocked out of the competition. Dave, Marina, you have been eliminated from the race.


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[Assistant] It's now down to the final three. Team Canada athletes Sarah and Sam have conquered hurdles.


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[Assistant] The all new 2019 Chevrolet Blazer RS. A once in a lifetime trip for two around the world. A quarter of a million dollars cash. And the amazing race Canada.


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[Assistant] Team will now fly to Toronto Pearson International Airport where they will race to the nearby executive terminal to take one of three float planes to Muskoka.


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[Assistant] Once they land, they'll head to the executive terminal, where they'll find a sign-up board and an assortment of cliff bars to keep them fueled up along the final leg of the race. Here, teams must secure their spot on one of three flights, departing separately for Port Carling on Lake Rosso, where they'll find their next clue.


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[Assistant] Throughout the race, teams have explored our country while completing a series of challenges along the way. In this life-sized cottage trivia game, we'll find out just how much they remember from their amazing adventure.


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[Assistant] First, teams must roll these big red dice to determine the leg of the race that they'll start on. Then, racers will have to play this oversized board game to collect all the legs on the board by correctly answering trivia questions directly related to the leg of the race that they've landed on.


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[Assistant] If they land on a roadblock, route marker, or detour, they will have to answer an additional question correctly, and will have to wait another turn before they can roll again.


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[Assistant] Anthony and James! Oh my god, Johnny! Pick your color, gentlemen. Red. Let's do red. Roll your dice and we will determine where you start. Ready to roll. Okay. How do I get one of these for home? You have to win the Amazing Race Canada. Ready? One, two, three.


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[Assistant] Seven. Okay, leg one. Okay. Leg one, Toronto Kamloops. Last hug? Last hug. Bring it in boys. Ahhhhh. Jett and Dave. Jett and Dave is correct.


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[Assistant] Two. Uh, detour. Name all three legs of the race in which there were no detours. Four five six. Four five six. Wrong. John!


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[Assistant] Lauren and Joanne, welcome to the game. I think you guys know what color you're going to be. Let her roll.


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[Assistant] Anthony and James, for the game, gentlemen. Yellow Knife. What is the name of the lake in which you took a swim under the ice? Woo! He looks so cute. Great Slave Lake.


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[Assistant] Teens must now make their way to historic Cleveland's house, a 150-year-old resort located in the town of Manette. In this roadblock, one team member will experience one of the newest extreme sports to hit the water. As they take to the sky, strap to one of these hydro flyboards. Yeaah!


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[Assistant] Here on Lake Rosso, racers will have one of these jetpacks fasten to their feet, and will have to learn how to fly while maintaining a minimum height of 15 feet above the water. When they've mastered this delicate balance, they'll have to throw a beanbag into one of these targets.


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[Assistant] Eight is the answer. Eight is correct. Sarah and Sam, your clue.


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[Assistant] The teens must now make their way to the town of Bala and find the Muskoka Lakes Farm and Winery. Family owned and operated since 1950, the Johnsons produce over 400,000 pounds of cranberries every year. In this final challenge, teens will need to assemble and connect the delicate irrigation system used to water this massive cranberry marsh.


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[Assistant] Root info. Teams does now make their way to Port Sydney and find Camp Miniyowi, a 270-acre summer camp and year-round retreat committed to developing the leaders of tomorrow.


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[Assistant] capital capital after all after all noon noon mad mad


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[Assistant] Get mad, get mad. Effort, effort. Make an effort, make an effort. Passport, passport. Clean off, clean off. Chalk, chalk. Blackboard,


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[Assistant] blackboard northern northern coast coast season season knock knock eastern eastern take off take off worth worth


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[Assistant] teenage teenage granddaughter granddaughter behave behave except except elbow elbow gradually gradually get used to get used to


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[Assistant] suggestion, suggestion Brazil, Brazil Mexico, Mexico Cali, Cali Colombia, Colombia Lausanne, Lausanne Norway, Norway