Episode 12 The Strangers

Transcript

0:30

This is Ed Falco on the air, reading The Strangers, a novel in 19 episodes. In episode 11, Severn and the kids meet Matthew and A'isha. Two human survivors who have built a fortress and a cave to protect themselves from the pack. At the conclusion of the episode, the five of them, Severn, Tommy, Vi, Matthew, and A'isha, have just come down from the attic of a farmhouse where a cache of weapons is stored. They're in the farmhouse talking things over before leaving for the cave to spend the night. That's where we pick up episode 12. Downstairs. On the ground floor of the house, Vi and Tommy helped Matthew gather more dishes and utensils before taking seats around the table. Severn came up from the basement with A'isha where they had started the generator. He carried plastic containers of food. In the dining room, he glanced at the uncurtained porch windows before placing the food in the center of the table and pulling up a seat alongside Vi. There were still a couple of hours to sunset. But it was grey outside, under a bank of dark clouds. The light through the windows would be visible from the road. He considered pulling the curtains and decided against it. At the table, Matthew was talking about the strangers tearing down whole cities. On their journey east, running from the packs, they'd passed through Oklahoma City and Tulsa, St. Louis and Memphis and Nashville, and they'd found the strangers busily tearing down great expanses of buildings and businesses and homes. Matthew seemed to enjoy the attention of Vi and Tommy, both of whom were leaning over their plates, listening with fascination. What's your thinking on that? Severn asked. He pulled up a chair at the table. Why would they level cities like that? They've also blown up every dam in the world that we've checked, Matthew said. Boulder Dam, gone. Three gorges in China, gone. Fort Peck, Hiaaswang, all gone. How do you know that? Tommy asked. A'isha stopped what she was doing in the kitchen to join the conversation. She held on to the refrigerator handle and leaned into the living room. We were able to hack military and civilian satellites, she said. Matthew's a genius at that stuff. There was no one to fight us off, Matthew said. You mean there's no one keeping you from getting into the computers, Vi asked? Exactly, Matthew said. But we didn't need anything more elaborate than Google Earth anyway. Why would they do that, Severn asked. He surprised himself with how annoyed he sounded. When everyone looked at him as if to ask what his problem was, he tried to tone it down. Why would they tear everything down? They're returning the planet to a pre industrialized state, A'isha said from the kitchen. And not just pre industrialization, but back practically in some places at least to pre civilization. That's pretty awesome, Tommy said. And he lifted his beer as if toasting the strangers. Matthew said, they've got a generation's worth of work just getting rid of the stuff humankind spent its entire history building and acquiring. He stretched out his legs and looked up to Severn. A few more generations before nature swallows up everything they aren't maintaining. And after that, they'll have a pristine, earthly paradise. They're leaving whole continents untouched, A'isha said. She opened the refrigerator door. Africa, Australia, most of South America, no one there. Pacific Islands too, Matthew said. Severn looked from Matthew to A'isha and then out the window again, where his gaze lingered. Beyond the window he saw the porch and the fields, though in his mind's eye he was imagining the great rainforests of South America re emerging where they had been burned and cut and decimated by encroaching towns and cities. He tried to imagine Africa with no human development of any kind, all forest and veldt and savannah populated only by wildlife and swarms of birds and insects, like stepping back in time hundreds of thousands of years. When he turned back to the table, Matthew was talking about Nashville, about seeing the Mississippi flowing through what had once been downtown. And these black holes, Severn asked as soon as Matthew paused to take a breath, these cinder block structures that they're dumping everything into. Do you have any idea about them? We have theories. Matthew picked up his beer and held it poised for a drink. We think the Hulls are here to accelerate the work of cleaning up the planet. Other than that, they're exclusively using our technology. Dump trucks, wrecking balls, explosives. Then the Black Hulls eat up the debris. He tilted his beer bottle to his lips and emptied it in a single gulp. Any idea how? Severn asked. A'isha leaned into the living room again. There's only one way into those places and no way out, she said to Severn. Do you want to go inside and look around? She has a point, Tommy said. Anyway, Matthew said, they know how to travel through space, I'm not shocked if they know how to zap stuff back to the molecular level. And I'll bet anything that once they're done tearing down everything, they'll get rid of the black holes too. He got up and went to the refrigerator for another beer. A'isha said to no one in particular, they don't even have weapons. She sounded exasperated. Really, Tommy said? They don't have any weapons? Severn said, they invaded and inhabited a planet, and they didn't bring any kind of weaponry with them? Matthew returned to the table with his beer. Told you, he said. They're non violent. Except, Vi said, and sighed, as if frustrated beyond words at having to repeat her point, except that they killed approximately seven billion human beings. There is that, Matthew said. A'isha returned to the table and poured Vi a glass of lemonade. She glanced at the unopened food containers on the table. I hope you guys aren't waiting for me to serve you. At that, everyone began portioning out food on their plates. The containers were full of chicken salad and it looked like A'isha had put some effort into making it. There were chunks of celery in it along with what looked like chopped up walnuts and slices of grapes. Hey, Tommy said after taking a bite. This is really good. It's just chicken salad, A'isha said. You're strangers of vegetarians. Lots of chickens roaming around just waiting to get eaten. There's not much A'isha can't do, Matthew said. Stop, A'isha said. And then brought the talk back to the strangers. We were surprised too when we figured out they were unarmed. We thought they'd have to have weapons if for nothing else than to protect themselves from wild animals. Then we saw why they don't need protection, Matthew said in between bites. They've got the packs for that, he nodded to Severn. How did you get through the whole winter without the dogs finding you? Today was your first encounter with them? How could that be? The birds have been here since December. No idea, Severn said. He thought about it and then ventured. We were pretty remote. Only a couple of back roads go by the farm. Matthew finished his beer and then went to get another. On his way to the fridge he asked, Then how is it they found you now? Again Severn said, No idea. Oh hell, Tommy said. When everyone looked at him, he said, Sterling. And then turned to Severn and Vi. Vi said, You think Sterling led them to us? A'isha asked, Who's Sterling? When Severn explained about Sterling running off with the two strangers, A'isha said, That's possible. Dogs can't be trusted. They've turned on us. Except Sage, Vi said. Sage can be trusted. She reached under the table to pat Sage's head. Why do you think it is that only you and A'isha got away from the pack? Severn asked Matthew. If they killed everyone else, any idea why you two survived? For a while, A'isha said, we thought it was the caves. We were trying to get to Manhattan, where we thought there was the best chance of finding other survivors. But they kept cutting us off, and we wound up here in the south, where we found the caves. We thought maybe they couldn't track our smell in the caves. Matthew looked at his beer bottle solemnly, as if something about it depressed him. He pushed it aside. But then we'd smell them outside the cave, and even inside more than once A'isha interrupted. So they know where we are, Matthew went on. For some reason, they're not attacking, A'isha said. I was thinking that they were just playing with us again, Matthew said, raising his voice a little as if bothered by A'isha's interruptions. Sometimes, in the past, they'd let weeks go by between attacks. So just when you thought maybe it was over, maybe you lost them. Matthew looked at his beer bottle and then pushed it farther away. When it was clear Matthew was done speaking, A'isha said, And now we find out that they didn't attack you when they could have. Phi laughed and said, So what are you thinking? They going to let the remaining five human beings live peacefully in caves? Tommy said, Maybe they're keeping us as pets. They're beasts, Matthew said. They smell like what they are, filth with teeth and claws. They're not going to let us live peacefully, in caves or anywhere else. Severn looked out the window at the darkening sky. Before he could say anything, Matthew stood up. We should go, he said, and he pulled a rifle from the back of his chair and slung it over his shoulder. On the trek from the farmhouse to the cave, Matthew and A'isha took the lead, followed closely by Tommy and Vi. The early evening had turned gloomy under a dense expanse of clouds. Severn hung back with Sage at his side and let some distance accumulate between himself and the others. They were following a trail that cut through a rocky field toward the horseshoe curve of high hills and caves that wrapped around the farmhouse and the farm. In front of him, Matthew and A'isha laughed and then turned to Tommy and Vi, and the kids laughed along with them. When all four of them looked back at him, he waved and they turned around again and continued with their talk, the sounds of which floated back to him in an indistinguishable volley of pitches and notes. He patted Sage on the rump, pointed to the others, and said, Go. Sage dutifully bolted to Vi, where he walked alongside her, though not without an occasional backward glance at Severn. Alone for a moment, Severn let himself relax. Because his eyes were on his feet and his thoughts were wandering, he didn't see Matthew falling back from the others and waiting for him. He was practically on top of them before he stopped and looked up and then laughed at his own distraction. Lost in thought, he said, and made a face that expressed dismay with himself for being so inattentive. Listen, Matthew said, A'isha is worried about you already. He straightened out the rifles slung over his shoulder and quickly glanced behind them. I mean, he went on, that's how she is. She worries about everybody. But the kids told us you were depressed all winter. Really? They said that? It's nothing to me, Matthew said, as if frustrated at A'isha's level of concern about things. Why wouldn't you be depressed? Severn didn't think he'd been depressed all winter. There was a big difference in his mind between depression and grief. He considered defending himself but instead changed the subject. How come you guys never got rid of the corpses back at the farmhouse? You mean Mr. and Mrs.? Is that what you call them? They were Howard and Janet Walker in the old world. We call them Mr. and Mrs. How come you didn't bury them? Man, Matthew said, and he thought about it a moment. They look peaceful side by side like that. We thought it better to let them be. A hundred yards in front of them the field was intersected by a narrow stream that meandered out of a wide strip of pine trees at the bottom of a limestone bluff. Matthew pointed to a small black opening in the rock face. That's us, he said. Severn saw, even from a distance, that it was an easy climb to the mouth of the cave. You think you're safe from the pack in there? You'll have to see how we have it set up. Matthew straightened out his glasses by tugging on one side of the yellow croquet. We stand a chance in there, he said. He added a caveat. In the short term, anyway. In the short term? We can hold them off in there, he said, but we could never come out and face them on open ground. And so them what? He turned towards Severn with a look of resignation. Severn looked up at the cave again, at the last of the dull evening light smeared over the craggy rocks surrounding the black opening. You don't think there's any way to kill these things? He asked Matthew. What if we could kill the whole pack? We tried everything, Matthew said. He stopped and looked as if he was momentarily reliving old battles. In all that time crossing the country, in all those attacks, we only managed to kill one of them, and that was mostly luck. What? Severn asked. How? Me? Matthew said. I killed one of them. How? Severn asked again, impatient with Matthew's long pauses. They run on all fours, Matthew said, but they fight either way. On all fours or standing up. I've seen them go from all fours to upright and mid leap. He paused again and wiped away a line of sweat that had suddenly appeared above his lip. I saw one running along the forest floor like a panther, that smooth and sleek, and then leap and in mid air turn into something almost human before it grabbed a tree branch and swung itself upward like a chimpanzee and disappeared into the canopy. Matthew laughed in wonder and wiped away more sweat from his upper lip. Again Severn asked, So how did you kill one? They were nearing the stream where the others were waiting for them. At one point Matthew said, There were seven of us left, six guys and A'isha. When they came for us again that time, I was the one they peeled off. It was dark and late and I remember getting thrown against a big rock. It was still for a second where I was, though I could hear gunfire nearby, and then I remember thinking to myself that in a moment they're going to be on me, they're going to hit me hard and tear me apart. I thought that, and then I imagined where they would come from. I pointed my rifle there and pulled the trigger, and then one of them was lying dead in front of me. Matthew turned to Severn, his face full of amazement, as if he were surprised all over again in the retelling of the story. There was nothing there when I pointed the rifle, he said. I anticipated where it would be and pulled the trigger before I saw or heard a thing. And that's how I killed one of them. What about the others? Severn asked. What about the rest of the pack? That's the strangest part. Matthew pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and Deb sweat from his forehead. My clip was empty. I was defenseless. The pack made a semicircle around me. They watched me. Then they pulled the one I'd killed away and disappeared. Why didn't they kill you? Matthew looked at Severn as if that had to be the stupidest question in the world. How would I know that, he said, and he walked on to join the others. Severn understood that there had to be more attacks after the one Matthew described. More men killed before only Matthew and A'isha remained. He waited, watching Matthew walk away from him toward the stream and the cave, and he didn't move to join him until he heard Tommy and Vi shouting his name. He waved to them and then hurried to catch up with Matthew. Up close, the entrance to the cave appeared shockingly easy to access. Severn was standing on a silty talus slope that led to three boulders so easy to climb they might as well have been steps, and beyond that a flat ridge some three or four feet wide lay like a porch in front of the mouth of the cave. Hell, he thought, and almost said aloud. Why not put a couple of rocking chairs up there, hang a home sweet home sign, and lay a welcome mat out? With a quick scan of the rock face he found two caves that looked more difficult to access and thus, to Severn's thinking, safer. Several feet in front of him, Matthew and A'isha were talking to the kids. The evening was turning brisk and a low whistling breeze blew through the strip of pine forest that followed the curve of hills and mountains like a scarf around their neck. The smell of pine was in the air, along with the sound of birds squawking, but for a moment that all faded away and Severn was enclosed in a bubble of silence. Sage was stretched out beside the kids who were standing beside Matthew and A'isha. A'isha was pointing to the woods and talking, but Severn couldn't hear a thing. Around him, everywhere, pressing on him, he felt the presence of the dead. The breeze was their breath, and every solid, unmoving thing in his field of sight. And everything he couldn't see and everything that wasn't moving, in all of it, he sensed their presence. They looked out at him from the rock face and from the black hole of the cave, from the pine forest, from the trees and spaces between the trees. The silence was their voice. Their hearts beat in a fluctuation of light. Their body was the ground and the mountains rising around him and the woods and the trees and the dark. They were everywhere, watching. He took a step forward, as if he might somehow move closer to their presence, might move into it, and was startled to hear Tommy calling his name. He looked to where Tommy was waiting for him with Sage at his side. He meant to say something, but no words came out until Sage barked and Tommy started toward him. He waved Tommy on. Go ahead, he shouted. I'm right behind you. At the cave, Severn found Tommy and Vi waiting. Tommy offered him a hand and helped him up the last step from the boulder to the ridge. Matthew and A'isha were in the shadows at the mouth of the cave, looking out over the surrounding woods and fields. Sage was behind them, sniffing at the cold air coming out of the darkness. Come on, A'isha said, and she led the way into the shadows. The mouth of the cave opened onto a small chamber, at the back of which was a seven foot high, arched opening to another, much larger chamber. A'isha retrieved a heavy black maglite from a nook in the cave wall and led the group into the second chamber, where she scurried up a tunneled rock wall and turned on a rectangular black battery powered krypton light that cast its narrow beam down into the center of a large open space that looked like a primitive opera house. The ground was remarkably flat and smooth, though the shadowy walls rose around it craggy and tunneled in a long oval. The opera house look came from a wide, jutting ledge two thirds of the way up the cave wall that followed the oval like a wide balcony, stopping short of the smooth, concave back wall, which is where the stage should have been. The ledge was uniformly enclosed by a three or four foot lip like a balcony railing. Stalactites hung from the bottom of the ledge and from the roof of the cave, which appeared to be some 40 or 50 feet high in places. Spaced evenly along the ledge, each separated by approximately a dozen feet, were a series of green dumpsters. The lip of the ledge hit all but the top of the dumpsters from view, but the distinctive green color and the heavy lids made them unmistakable. Those are dumpsters. Tommy looked amazed. How did you get them up there? Severn turned to Matthew, who was strapping a miner's lamp to his forehead. Cables and pulleys and a lot of genuinely terrifying moments, A'isha answered for Matthew. She too had strapped a miner's lamp on. And why, I ask? Come on, Matthew said, we'll show you. He crouched down and climbed one of the multitude of grooved tunnels in the cave wall. Severn followed directly behind him and together they made their way up the slick surface, moving along a path that was relatively easy to climb, though it got tight in places. At one point, some twenty or twenty five feet up, he had to get down on his belly and slither through a rock tube that emerged on the chamber's ledge. I see why you have the Miner's Lamp, Severn said. Once, Matthew's body had filled the tube and blocked off the light from his lamp, and Severn had found himself crawling through a slimy dark. It had taken a little talking to himself to tamp down a rising shock of panic. Not my favorite thing, he said to Matthew upon emerging from the tube. Crawling through little wormholes in rock. Got you, Matthew said, and he crouched at the mouth of the tube and gave Vi a hand as she slithered out. That wasn't too bad, Vi said to Matthew, and then made a wide eyed, terrified face when she turned to Severn. Severn waited with Vi as the others emerged one by one out of the tube. A'isha laughed. Welcome to our home, A'isha said. She jumped up and flipped the switch on a krypton light that cast its beam off the rock ledge and down to the slick cave floor below. Do I have anything in my hair, she asked Vi. She bowed to her so that Vi could examine her hair closely. I hate climbing through that tube, she said, her eyes on the ground. I always get something in my hair. In the glow of the Krypton light, Severn saw that they had built a wooden platform some ten feet long and the width of the ledge. A ridiculously out of place, expensive looking black leather sofa was situated in the center of the platform with wide mahogany end tables on either side of it and a long slate surfaced coffee table in front of it. The couch and tables rested on a thick oriental rug that looked like it should be in a museum rather than a cave. There were battery powered reading lamps on each of the end tables and two more on the coffee table, along with a 17 inch MacBook Pro, a half dozen iPods and iPads, a stack of People and Vogue magazines, and a scattering of books with old bindings that looked like they must have come from the farmhouse library. Surrounding the platform were stacks of crates like the ones in the farmhouse attic. Severn assumed they were full of weapons and ammunition. Matthew fell back onto the couch and threw his feet up on the coffee table. Sage, who had been slinking around sniffing everything in sight, jumped onto the couch and buried her head in Matthew's lap. Matthew looked her over, obviously still a little wary of her, and then scratched her beyond the ears. Join us, he said to Tommy, and Tommy flopped down on the other end of the couch. A'isha and Vi had switched places, and now Vi was bowing and A'isha was examining Vi's hair. Severn picked up a book from the coffee table. From the farmhouse, he asked Matthew. Matthew stretched his arms out over the backrest. They may have pushed mankind back into the cave, he said, but we're decidedly more comfortable than our Cro Magnum brethren. And better read, Severn added. He placed the book back on the coffee table and looked along the curving length of the ledge and down over the rock railing. The beams of light from the krypton lamps cut through a haze of moisture and dust and spread out in small circles of light on the rock floor. The ledge under the palm of his hand was rough and damp, as if it was sweating. Severn took a deep breath. The cave smelled to him like a root cellar, that earthy, slightly acrid odor that had a sense of thickness to it, as if he were drinking it as well as smelling it. Where do you sleep, he asked Matthew. Matthew gestured toward the dumpsters. In them? Tommy got up and joined Severn. Yes, A'isha said. It's safest that way. She started toward the nearest dumpster and everyone including Matthew followed her. The dumpsters appeared to be identical. Green, about twelve feet long, eight feet wide and five feet deep. When A'isha reached the first one, she struggled with the heavy lid before Severn came up alongside her to help. Once they flipped it open, the lid banged into the rock with a crash that sounded like a bomb blast. I hate that, A'isha said. She had covered her ears, anticipating the crash. Inside the dumpster was a cut sized mattress with sheets, covers, and two pillows, a reading lamp, an iPad, two assault rifles, a machine pistol, and a handgun, and a crate of ammunition. Where the dumpster rose up higher than the ledge railing it was pushed up against, there was a rough, narrow window that looked like it had been cut out of the metal with an acetylene torch. Obviously for shooting. Similar, though smaller, windows were cut into the other three walls so that they could shoot in any direction. But you really sleep in these? A'isha scrunched up her face like she couldn't believe it. Sure, Matthew said. Look. He pointed down over the railing. There's no place for them to hide. They're going to have to jump or climb the walls to get here. Severn looked down at the cavern floor. You think they can jump twenty, twenty five feet? I know, hard to believe, Matthew said, but yeah, I do. They bounce off things and swing off stuff and they leap like there's suddenly no gravity. Matthew shook his head as if overwhelmed by trying to describe the dog's way of moving. Regardless, he said, if we can't hit them on the way up, then we should get a shot at them when they try to get into the dumpsters. He pointed to the other dumpsters. We move around, each of us sleeping in a different dumpster each night. That way, we get familiar with a variety of views of the cave. He paused and then added, From any one of these dumpsters, you've got a good shot at the other. If they're going after A'isha and one of them, I can get a shot at them, and vice versa. You sleep in different dumpsters, Vi asked. Even though she had just been told, as if she couldn't believe it. Safer for both of us, Matthew said. Severn was impressed. That the two of them had been able to haul these heavy dumpsters along with the couch and furnishings up to this ledge was impressive. Their plan for defending themselves from the dogs was impressive. If the pack came after them, they'd find themselves under fire with no place to hide. Matthew and A'isha had given themselves every tactical advantage. Tommy turned back to the couch and coffee table. What kind of music have you got on your iPods? he asked Matthew. Wide selection, A'isha said. I'm a heavy metal guy, Matthew said to Tommy. He started back to the coffee table. You like Motorhead? Tommy blushed and didn't answer. He likes country, Vi blurted out, following them. He's embarrassed, I tell you. I'm not embarrassed, Tommy said. I like Hank Williams Jr., Dwight Yoakam, that kind of country. Matthew and A'isha both stared at Tommy as if he had suddenly become one of the aliens. Actually, A'isha said, catching herself and taking Tommy by the hand, one of these iPods does have a lot of country on it. It does, Matthew said. He was already stretched out on the couch and was about to put on a set of headphones. Sage was curled up in a ball on the oriental rug, sleeping. The red mini, A'isha said. We picked it up in Nashville. Cool, Tommy said. Severn watched as Tommy and Vi joined Matthew on the couch. The kids were flipping through the selections of iPods and iPads, exploring their contents. Matthew had reached behind the couch and come up with a bottle of beer, which he was sipping from as he leaned back and listened to music that leaked out of his earbuds in a tinny buzz. Vi appeared to be reading on an iPad. She had folded her legs under her, settled into a corner of the couch, and every few minutes she swiped at the screen with one finger, turning a digital page. A'isha had climbed into one of the dumpsters and light shined out of its narrow windows. When Severn caught a flash of the bare skin of her back as she pulled a dark garment over her head, he turned his eyes back to the couch, but not before a wave of loneliness threw him off balance. The thought of leaning back and letting himself tumble off the ledge played out in his imagination. There was no sense that he might really do it. But there was a pleasure in imagining it, until he got to the part in the fantasy where Vi or Tommy looked over the ledge and found him sprawled on the cavern floor. At that point he let the fantasy go and returned to concentrating on the sheer weirdness of the scene. Tommy, Vi, and Matthew playing with their electronic gadgets in a living room surreally placed on a rock ledge rimmed with green dumpsters, Sage sleeping at their feet. A'isha emerged from the dumpster looking like a ninja. She was dressed in black slippers and loose fitting black garments. When she caught sight of Severn by himself at the ledge, she joined him. What are you grinning at? she asked. Was I grinning? Severn said. Just the weirdness of things. He looked toward the couch. Wouldn't have guessed Matthew was a heavy metal fan, he went on, making conversation. I pictured their fans more as disaffected suburban youths. That's Matthew, A'isha said. His parents were both professors at UC Davis. Sacramento was the nearest city. Ah, my stereotypes hold up. He nodded at her outfit. Are those your pajamas? A'isha opened her arms and glanced down at herself. Nice and loose for sleeping, she said. Also good for not being seen, should it ever come to a battle. You two have thought of everything. That's why we're still alive, A'isha touched his arm. Come have a look at this, she said, and she started toward the shadowy curve of the ledge where the lights from the couch faded into murky shadows. Severn glanced toward the kids and saw that Matthew's eyes were open and following him. Once they rounded the curve, the ledge continued, tracing the line of the cave wall. Three more dumpsters were spread evenly to midway across the chamber. A'isha found another kryptonite fastened to the rock above the nearest dumpster. She leapt up, hit the switch to turn the light on, and then gestured to the entrance of a newly illumined chamber at the back of the ledge. Our private bath, she said, and motioned for Severn to go ahead of her. How many of these are there, Severn asked, pointing to the krypton light A'isha had just turned on. One over each dumpster, she said. Another half dozen spread around the cave, all bolted into the rock. Severn walked past A'isha and through the entrance to a black chamber. He couldn't see a thing and so stopped and waited until he felt A'isha brush by him. In her black ninja pajamas she might as well have been invisible. But he heard a grunt slightly and then another krypton light came on, illuminating a small space at the center of which was an almost perfectly circular pool of clear water. Next to the pool, they had built a freestanding wood structure with several shelves. The shelves were stacked with towels and bath supplies. Its source is an underground stream, A'isha said. Look, she went to the edge of the pool, sat on a lip of stone, and stuck her hand into the water. You can feel where it enters here, she said, and she pointed across the pool, which was some six or eight feet in diameter. It drains over there. She cupped a handful of water and sipped it. It's pure, she said. We tested it. Severn sat next to A'isha, lowered his head to the pool, and took a sip of the water. It's got a little tingle to it. Natural carbonation, Matthew says. Feels great to take a bath in. Feel it. She stuck her hand into the pool again. It's actually moving pretty fast, even though it looks perfectly still. Severn moved closer to A'isha and stuck his hand in the pool. The force of the water entering the circle pushed his fingers apart. You found a little paradise back here. I wouldn't call it paradise, but this pool is pretty special. What's going on? Matthew said. A'isha jumped at the sound of his voice. He had appeared at the entrance of the chamber without warning, as if he had just materialized there. You scared me, she said. It's easy to walk silently over this rock surface, she explained to Severn. Another advantage. A'isha was just showing me your private bath, Severn said. Matthew said, neat, isn't it? Very. Severn stood and stretched. You two are impressive. This is, he fumbled for the right words, an intelligence setup. He moved past Matthew and stood in the chamber entrance, gesturing out to the cave. You've got the light shining down into their eyes, blinding them. Only way up here is to leap. No way they'd fit through that rock tube. If you sleep on opposite sides of the ledge, we do, Matthew interrupted, then you've got them caught in a crossfire. Not to mention what it must have taken to get these dumpsters up here, which I'm still amazed at. Matthew looked pleased. Thanks. My parents were hysterical when I went into the cadets, but see, the stuff I learned turned out to be useful. I never saw a combat, though. Before the dogs, that is. Tommy tells me you have. Story for another time, Severn said. He put a fist to his mouth, covering a yawn. Can I just pick a dumpster, he asked? Or do you have one picked out for us? Be best if each of you slept in different ones, Matthew said. You think the kids will be alright with that? I'm sure, Severn said. Tommy's fine, and Vi is tougher than all of us put together. A'isha said, I would have sworn she was your daughter. You sure she's not? She had three sisters, Severn said. They were all named after flowers. Daisy, Iris, and Rose. She was the youngest, Violet. When Severn finished speaking, a silence fell over them as if they were all thrown back a moment into their separate pasts. I found it best not to get nostalgic, Matthew said, and he moved past Severn and out of the chamber. Severn looked to A'isha as if to ask what he had done wrong. He was tight with his parents, A'isha answered, and he had an older brother he adored. Severn said, I guess we've all got similar stories. I guess. A'isha slid by Severn and went out to the ledge with Severn following. Pick your sleeping quarters except for that one. She pointed to the dumpster with the light still shining out of it. Severn picked the nearest dumpster, started to open the lid and then laughed. This is seriously weird, he said to A'isha before he climbed in. A'isha knelt to one of the windows as Severn turned on the light and settled onto his cot. You get used to it, she said. Severn picked up the iPad. Got books on here, he asked. Uh huh, a ton of them. What about you, Severn asked, looking up from the iPad. You told me about Matthew's family. Who do you miss? I miss everybody, A'isha said. I don't let myself think about it. She was quiet, and Severn thought she might go on to tell him a little more about herself. Instead, she said goodnight and disappeared from the window. Severn navigated the iPad's touchscreen to the bookstore. Glanced at the titles on the digital wooden bookshelf and then turned the thing off and tossed it to the foot of the bed. He picked up one of the assault rifles, checked to be sure the safety was on, and laid it beside him on the mattress. He looked around once at the tight confines of his space and then tried to concentrate on their circumstances. The situation with the pack was a puzzle. If they had killed off all the rest of the survivors, why were Matthew and A'isha still alive? Why hadn't they killed him and the kids when they had the chance? He recalled the pack's attack on the buck and disregarded any theories of kindness or forgiveness or generosity. They were animals. There were hunters and killers. He thought back to the moment in the clearing when the biggest of the dogs, the one with the mottled brown coat, had stepped past the two bays and approached him and the kids. There was no fear in that creature's eyes, though Severn had his gun leveled at its chest. It looked down at him with a mix of curiosity and anger that was haughty, with the air of a warrior slightly amazed at the temerity of a difficult child. Severn sensed that it was thinking, deciding what it would do. And then the sun came up. And it put the decision on hold. Severn was tired of mysteries. He was tired of searching for reasonable answers to incredible situations, only to discover that his notions of what was reasonable were a joke. Aliens, he whispered, and he thought, aliens that look like humans, and creatures that look like a mix of dogs and human. Back at the start of the lurchings, he couldn't possibly have guessed what was coming. It wasn't reasonable. Why should he bother trying now? He was ignorant and small and weak, and he wouldn't give a damn if it weren't for Vi and Tommy, who seemed to think that he knew what he was doing. For their sake, he would keep up the pretense that there might be some reasonable path to follow in the midst of these incredible circumstances, but he no longer believed that himself. In that way, he was changed. It was a subtle change that had been working on him all winter, but now he felt it acutely. He would act and react in accordance to the particulars of the situation, but he wouldn't allow himself to believe for a second that he was in control of anything, that he had any idea what was going to happen next. Anything could happen. It was all a mystery, everything, and it always had been. This radical shift in circumstances was simply making it evident. He wasn't amazed anymore at the incredible turn of events. Rather, he was amazed that he had ever been completely unaware that the incredible was always possible and could happen at any moment. Always. He sat up on his cot, arranged a pair of pillows for support, and reached again for the iPad. He had just turned it on when a knock on the lid of the dumpster interrupted him. Room in there for me, Tommy asked. Without waiting for a response, he opened the lid and dropped into the dumpster. Dude, he said, you forgot your backpack. He tossed Severn's pack onto the cot. Don't you want to brush your teeth before you go to sleep? No, Severn said, I don't. Ooh, disgusting. Tommy crossed his legs under him and settled himself. I feel like I'm back in the Boy Scouts, camping out. Without taking a breath, he added, Vi has a serious girl crush on A'isha. Have you noticed? Tommy was dressed identically to A'isha in loose fitting black cotton slacks and a black pullover. You guys look like ninjas, Severn said. Where'd you get the outfit? There's a crate of them, Tommy said. You want me to go get you one? Severn said, I'll pass for now, and turned off the iPad. He was glad for Tommy's company. So, did you notice, Tommy asked? Notice what? That Vi has a girl crush on A'isha, Tommy repeated. No, I didn't, Severn said. But I'm sure Vi misses her sisters. A'isha, she's probably only a couple years older than Daisy. Than Daisy was before she died, Tommy corrected. I miss her too, he said. Man, that was fun hanging out with those girls. They could be like wild, but not crazy wild like I used to get before their parents took me in. You miss them? Severn asked. Tommy looked taken aback. Of course I miss them, he said. Are you depressed? What do you mean, am I depressed? You mean about the girls? Yes, are you depressed because they're all dead? Tommy stared at Sevyn, trying to read him. I'm not depressed, he said. I'm sad. I'm sad about all of it. That's my point, Severn said. I'm not depressed either, Tommy. What's this about? Tommy clasped his hands behind his neck. Even through the loose black fabric of the pullover, his biceps were evident. You told Matthew you thought I was depressed all winter. You were, Sev. You've been depressed for months. It worries me and Vi. It's like the biggest thing we worry about. Severn covered his face with both hands and rubbed his temples. We're in a dumpster in a cave hiding from a pack of alien animals, he said, his face still hidden. And whether or not I'm depressed is what you and Vi are most worried about? Yes, it is, Tommy said. When Severn looked up again he saw that Tommy had covered his face with his hands and was rubbing his temples, mirroring him a moment earlier. We never have talked about your father, he said. I don't like talking about that, Tommy said. I'd rather we didn't. Okay, I respect that. Look at me. He pulled Tommy's hands away from his face. I gave you and Von my word that I wasn't going anywhere. A. You can trust me on that. B. I'm not depressed. I'm grieving. Just like all of us. I'm not as young and resilient as you guys, though. And it shows more on me. That's what this is. That's what you're seeing. Not depression. Tommy didn't look convinced. I hate talking about stuff like this. He shook himself like a dog from head to toe. Whatever. He looked around and grinned. You're right though, dude, he said and then left. We're talking in a dumpster. Vi appeared at the window behind Tommy and said, What's so funny? Tommy lifted the dumpster lid and Vi hopped in beside him. What's going on? Tommy and I were just talking, Severn said. I've got Sage in my dumpster with me, Vi said. I don't think she likes it in there. You should get back to her, Severn said. Matthew and A'isha won't like the three of us hanging out in one place either. It's not tactically smart. Vi said, I'm guessing they're not thinking much about us right now. Why not? Tommy asked. Vy grinned wickedly. They're both in one dumpster and I heard some funny noises. Oh man, Tommy said. What do you mean, oh man? Vy slapped him playfully. Severn said, I guess privacy is going to be hard to come by for a while. As soon as he said it, they all heard one dumpster lid open and close, followed by a similar set of sounds a few seconds later. Tommy said, I think we can go safely now. Good, Vy said, I'm tired. Severn said, We'll work out a plan in the morning. He stretched out on his cot. Right now, I'm exhausted. When the kids were gone, he pulled his iPod from his pocket and flipped through pictures of him and Sarah and their family. Pictures on the farm with their parents. Pictures on Mount St. Helen. The eruption devastated acres in the background. He flipped through the images quickly, pausing now and then to remember a particular moment or a set of circumstances surrounding a scene. When he felt himself getting drowsy, he switched off the light. Put the iPod back in his pocket and lay in the dark listening. For a time he heard various clicks and bangs as the others moved around and arranged themselves in their sleeping spaces, and then the noises stopped and all that remained was a wide silence punctuated by the music of water dripping from stalactites and splashing into rock or into pools of water. It was a comforting sound that washed away his thoughts. And lull them to sleep. That was episode 12 of The Strangers. New episodes will be available twice a week on Mondays and Fridays until the novel is completed. If you want to read ahead, an inexpensive digital edition of The Strangers is available from Amazon, Barnes Noble, and other online bookstores. This podcast is an experiment in alternatives to traditional publishing. If you would like to support it, and more like it in the future, Please consider becoming a subscriber or supporter. If enough listeners choose to do so, that will go a long way to help ensuring the podcast's success and continuation. In any event, this is Ed Falcom, I wrote The Strangers, and I hope you'll come back for the next episode.