Uncorrected Scribe v2 machine transcript. Neutral speaker labels are specific to this recording. Review flags: 2.
TXT · SRT · VTT · Untouched JSON · Review flags
Source: collected/029-everhouse-episode-2.mp3
SHA-256: 2d05183e0e7ffa2db56b8669aa75bbc2344065486c21f094393bde5cac379311
00:00:00.080 Speaker 1 [gentle music]
00:00:49.920 Speaker 1 Everhouse. Chapter Two: Predator.
00:00:55.540 Speaker 1 Freddy and Trent walked through the third dark room in a row. Half the doors here
00:01:00.960 Speaker 1 were marked out with black X's. Most of the other half had cheerful little signs
00:01:06.460 Speaker 1 like Keep Out or Private Allotment. That meant precious few doors for
00:01:12.340 Speaker 1 their patrol route. They moved quietly now, trapped between the northeastern
00:01:17.260 Speaker 1 exclusion zone and Elias' dwindling, but aggressively advertised, private rooms.
00:01:24.080 Speaker 1 Trent tested the knob on one of Elias' doors. It was locked. Of course it was.
00:01:30.120 Speaker 1 If they were all locked, that didn't leave them a lot of escape options. It was
00:01:34.880 Speaker 1 either run back the way they came or take the scenic route. He looked at the
00:01:40.380 Speaker 1 closest marked out door. Bad company that way.
00:01:46.560 Speaker 1 Trent cracked open the next door on their route and pushed his lantern through
00:01:50.080 Speaker 1 before him, peeking into the room before opening it all the way. Another dark room.
00:01:55.600 Speaker 1 "Shouldn't there be lanterns out here?" [door creaks] "Should be."
00:02:00.360 Speaker 1 "Isn't that weird?"
00:02:06.460 Speaker 1 "Yep."
00:02:09.220 Speaker 1 The next room was a hallway with two doors on the right, but it stretched into the
00:02:13.500 Speaker 1 darkness beyond his lantern light. They would have to step in to see farther.
00:02:19.900 Speaker 1 Trent took a deep breath and patted the two emergency flares sticking out of his
00:02:23.620 Speaker 1 back pocket. It was a poor weapon, but it was something. He took the lead into the
00:02:28.740 Speaker 1 hallway, not because he wanted to, but because he didn't trust Freddy's nerves.
00:02:33.080 Speaker 1 "Stay 10 steps behind me. Keep it quiet." Freddy nodded
00:02:39.120 Speaker 1 eagerly. The boards under his feet creaked and groaned as he walked. There were a
00:02:44.740 Speaker 1 lot of floors like that in the Maple rooms. He supposed even the maker got lazy now
00:02:49.300 Speaker 1 and again.
00:02:51.780 Speaker 1 Every few feet, he paused to listen, trying to ignore the sounds of Freddy
00:02:57.740 Speaker 1 following him. Walk, pause, walk,
00:03:04.460 Speaker 1 pause. It would take them a week to complete the patrol route at this rate,
00:03:10.400 Speaker 1 but it would be an eternity if something leapt out of this darkness to make a meal
00:03:14.960 Speaker 1 of them. Finally, the door at the end of the hall came into his lantern light. The
00:03:19.920 Speaker 1 hallway was empty. He released a little bit of tension he'd been holding, but
00:03:24.420 Speaker 1 something felt wrong. It wasn't just the missing lanterns. Gloom
00:03:29.960 Speaker 1 banes were heavy. They didn't go missing by accident. Shallow grooves in the wooden
00:03:35.600 Speaker 1 floor showed a path where the lantern had been dragged from this room. Freddy was
00:03:40.580 Speaker 1 about to speak, but Trent's instincts started screaming. He quickly put a finger in
00:03:45.740 Speaker 1 front of his lips and walked as quietly as he could to the door in front of them. He
00:03:50.000 Speaker 1 tilted his head and pressed an ear to the next door. Floorboards creaked in the
00:03:55.820 Speaker 1 next room, and he reflexively took in a sharp breath. [floorboards creak] "Wh- who's
00:04:00.980 Speaker 1 there?" Trent's eyes went wide, and he cooked Freddy with a
00:04:06.580 Speaker 1 wildfire stare. Silence meant silence.
00:04:12.060 Speaker 1 Footsteps came toward them from the other room. Trent backpedaled away from the
00:04:16.760 Speaker 1 door, holding the lantern out in front of him. The footsteps stopped on the other
00:04:21.260 Speaker 1 side of the door. Trent sniffed at the air as his intuition screamed louder still,
00:04:28.040 Speaker 1 desperately trying to tell him something. "Do you smell that?" "What
00:04:34.060 Speaker 1 is it?"
00:04:36.120 Speaker 1 He took a step back. "Don't open that door." [door creaks] It was a musty, wet
00:04:42.120 Speaker 1 smell, and it grew stronger the closer he got to the door. "Did you bring the
00:04:47.300 Speaker 1 paint?" "Yeah, just a sec."
00:04:50.980 Speaker 1 Freddy pulled the pack off his back and started fumbling around in it with shaking
00:04:55.360 Speaker 1 hands. He pulled out a can of small black paint. Trent simply stared at the door
00:05:01.320 Speaker 1 while he did it. Freddy dipped a small wide brush in the paint and handed it to
00:05:06.360 Speaker 1 Trent. "Great." He took the brush and stepped toward the door.
00:05:12.500 Speaker 1 There was something in that room, standing just on the other side of the door. He
00:05:17.940 Speaker 1 reached out a shaking hand and silently painted a large black X on the door. Then he
00:05:23.920 Speaker 1 took a step backward and the floor creaked loudly underneath him. Something slammed
00:05:29.640 Speaker 1 into the other side of the door. Trent dropped the brush and scrambled away,
00:05:33.460 Speaker 1 breathing in short, panicked gasps. They'd almost opened it. They'd almost opened
00:05:38.500 Speaker 1 that door. By the time Trent got up, Freddy was already running down the hall, the
00:05:43.580 Speaker 1 lantern light receding, leaving Trent in deep darkness. There was the sound of
00:05:48.680 Speaker 1 something wet slapping against the other side of the door. That got him moving.
00:05:53.800 Speaker 1 Trent got up and started chasing after the light, willing himself not to panic,
00:05:58.220 Speaker 1 forcing himself to walk slowly, deliberately. He caught up to where Freddy waited in
00:06:02.920 Speaker 1 the next room. "Where do we go, Trent?" Home What about patrol? W-
00:06:08.972 Speaker 1 what do we tell the others? The truth.
00:06:13.232 Speaker 1 That it was over. They'd tried to contain the spread, and they'd failed.
00:06:19.852 Speaker 1 Help wasn't coming. Whatever was on the other side of that door, it wasn't small.
00:06:26.812 Speaker 1 Well, we'll call a meeting in central courtyard tomorrow morning. We might have a
00:06:32.312 Speaker 1 few months to pack up. A distant sound stopped him short. Freddy started to
00:06:37.931 Speaker 1 reply, but Trent motioned for silence again, and then Freddy caught the sound, too.
00:06:43.312 Speaker 1 They both turned to listen. In the dark hallway they'd just left, a
00:06:48.832 Speaker 1 doorknob rattled. There was a soft click as the latch came free,
00:06:54.792 Speaker 1 followed by the light creak of hinges in darkness, the sound that changed
00:07:00.752 Speaker 1 everything. With a slow, almost dreamlike motion, Trent pulled
00:07:06.812 Speaker 1 one of the emergency flares from his back pocket and snapped the top off. A gout of
00:07:12.232 Speaker 1 bright red flame burst from it. Then he rolled it into the darkened hallway. It
00:07:17.352 Speaker 1 rolled a dozen feet, and thankfully, the flame didn't catch on anything, burning
00:07:22.232 Speaker 1 harmlessly in the middle of the hallway.
00:07:26.472 Speaker 1 Something tall and black glided into the far edge of the torchlight, a twitching
00:07:32.372 Speaker 1 creature almost nine feet tall made of jet black tar. It reached toward the
00:07:38.152 Speaker 1 flare with a long, spindly hand like the branch of a courtyard tree. The
00:07:43.872 Speaker 1 semi-solid flesh bubbled and sizzled in the bright light. Then it snuffed out the
00:07:49.032 Speaker 1 light between two foot-long fingers, and the hallway fell back into darkness.
00:07:59.852 Speaker 1 Run, Freddy. Trent heard his heart pounding in his head. He opened and closed
00:08:05.892 Speaker 1 doors, checking only occasionally to make sure that they were still following the
00:08:09.712 Speaker 1 gray path line back. He kept the presence of mind to close the doors again behind
00:08:14.492 Speaker 1 him. Whatever that thing was, it could open doors. It didn't seem
00:08:20.072 Speaker 1 especially good at it. They would be fine. They would be fine as long as they kept
00:08:25.192 Speaker 1 running. But where else had this thing gotten to in the past few weeks, past day,
00:08:31.772 Speaker 1 the past few hours? Trent's terror redoubled. Was Marcy safe?
00:08:38.152 Speaker 1 Surely. But what if there were more? What the hell was that?
00:08:44.752 Speaker 1 Freddy panted heavily. Trent had to go slower not to lose the man. He wanted
00:08:49.452 Speaker 1 desperately to leave him here and run to Marcy to be certain she was safe. Cob.
00:08:56.052 Speaker 1 Scary one. They don't get that big, do they? It wasn't
00:09:02.012 Speaker 1 the size that concerned him. It was that hand, that deliberate way it
00:09:07.892 Speaker 1 snuffed out the flare. It understood. That understanding scared him
00:09:13.912 Speaker 1 far more than anything else. It wasn't something he was ready to talk about.
00:09:20.232 Speaker 1 A bell started ringing in the distance, and Trent's blood ran cold. Is that...
00:09:27.252 Speaker 1 Yes, it's the breaching bell. Come on. They were under attack. His home
00:09:33.392 Speaker 1 was under attack. Trent shoved the lantern into Freddy's arms and started sprinting.
00:09:38.832 Speaker 1 He broke his last emergency flare for light. He was running so fast he slammed into
00:09:43.572 Speaker 1 the next door, rebounded, then threw it open and was running again.
00:09:48.452 Speaker 1 Go to the courtyard. His mind narrowed to a single purpose. Marcy was
00:09:54.192 Speaker 1 alone. Not my goddamn family. He'd lost everything.
00:10:00.352 Speaker 1 Everything except that. As long as he still had her, as long as they
00:10:05.872 Speaker 1 lived, he had everything he needed. But if he lost them... His
00:10:11.512 Speaker 1 eyes flicked to the burning flare in his hand. Nothing matched the raw, destructive
00:10:17.592 Speaker 1 power of a human being unhinged. If it came to it, he would show the
00:10:23.452 Speaker 1 sprawl what a monster truly looked like. I'm coming, baby. Hold on. Trent
00:10:29.532 Speaker 1 sprinted down the hallway, following the cerulean blue line. He glanced left where
00:10:34.272 Speaker 1 the iron basin's yellow line branched off. Part of him wanted to check on them, make
00:10:39.192 Speaker 1 sure they heard the alarm. The iron basins were old. But he kept following the
00:10:44.472 Speaker 1 cerulean line. He had to. He skidded to a stop outside their front door. It was
00:10:50.412 Speaker 1 closed. The moment he put a hand on the doorknob, though, a woman spoke from the
00:10:55.312 Speaker 1 other side. Touch that doorknob and you're gonna eat a whole lot of lead. Keep
00:10:59.832 Speaker 1 walking. Marce? Marcy, it's me. The
00:11:05.832 Speaker 1 door flew open and Marcy crashed into him. Trent didn't say anything. He simply
00:11:11.092 Speaker 1 started crying, crying for everything he'd almost lost, for all the lives he
00:11:17.152 Speaker 1 almost didn't live. You almost shot me. I'm so proud of you.
00:11:23.932 Speaker 1 She pulled back and put her hands on the side of his face. What's happening? A bit
00:11:29.352 Speaker 1 of darkness bled back into Trent's sense of relief. They were safe now, but for how
00:11:35.332 Speaker 1 long? Come on. Let's get to the courtyard. I'll tell you
00:11:41.272 Speaker 1 on the way.
00:11:43.272 Speaker 1 He started down the hall at a pace he thought his heavily pregnant wife could
00:11:46.972 Speaker 1 manage. Wait. Then she ran back to her rooms and returned a moment later with a
00:11:52.932 Speaker 1 double-barrel shotgun over her shoulder. He gave her a wide grin.
00:11:59.212 Speaker 1 That's not gonna stop a cob. That's fine. At least I'll give him a bad day first.
00:12:04.912 Speaker 1 [laughs]
00:12:07.636 Speaker 1 It felt good to laugh. Even when things fell apart, especially then,
00:12:13.776 Speaker 1 Marcy grinned back at him. Besides, it's not just for the Cobbs. We're about to make
00:12:18.936 Speaker 1 some hard choices with a lot of scared people, and I wanted two votes. Two?
00:12:25.876 Speaker 1 Yeah, one for myself and one on account I'm holding a gun.
00:12:31.496 Speaker 1 Trent's spine stiffened just a little. She was going to make him look bad. Well,
00:12:36.856 Speaker 1 that was a given, but he could at least be a worthy husband.
00:12:41.636 Speaker 1 On the way, Trent told Marcy everything he'd seen on patrol. She asked very detailed
00:12:47.396 Speaker 1 questions about the sprawl creature they'd seen. He almost felt guilty. He could
00:12:52.116 Speaker 1 tell her so little. They were getting close to the central courtyard and the sound
00:12:56.596 Speaker 1 of the breaching bell. She gave his arm a little squeeze. He did the right thing,
00:13:01.556 Speaker 1 running. Didn't feel that way. He knew that was foolish, though, so he didn't voice
00:13:06.996 Speaker 1 it. Instead, he gave voice to the other problem, the one they'd been kicking
00:13:12.976 Speaker 1 around for almost a year now.
00:13:16.496 Speaker 1 We can't stay, Marce. We can't stay anymore.
00:13:21.956 Speaker 1 We knew it would be hard out here. He didn't reply. Didn't have
00:13:27.836 Speaker 1 to. They both knew the script. They knew it like the back of their hands. But
00:13:32.996 Speaker 1 tonight had changed things. It was suicidal to stay now. How long are we
00:13:39.016 Speaker 1 gonna run?
00:13:41.036 Speaker 1 How long, Trent? I can't lose you. And I can't live like that
00:13:46.776 Speaker 1 again. We were dying there, Trent. We can't go back. If we stay, we
00:13:52.656 Speaker 1 are going to die. Some things are worth dying for. He
00:13:58.356 Speaker 1 wanted to scream at this woman. He wanted to punch the wall until his hands bled.
00:14:04.916 Speaker 1 But he wanted to kiss her even more. Here was a burning spirit. Here
00:14:10.876 Speaker 1 was the woman he loved. But it was misplaced. This fight wasn't winnable.
00:14:17.416 Speaker 1 It was a sacrifice without purpose. And our baby. Is it worth our baby?
00:14:24.376 Speaker 1 Marcy closed her eyes tight and turned away. A stream of fresh tears running
00:14:30.376 Speaker 1 down her face. You know it isn't.
00:14:36.596 Speaker 1 She stopped walking. We were so close, Trent. So close to
00:14:42.576 Speaker 1 getting away with it. With what? With a good life.
00:14:49.056 Speaker 1 We almost had it. Trent felt tears on his face then.
00:14:54.996 Speaker 1 After years of cramped, frantic, constantly terrified living, they had
00:15:00.216 Speaker 1 escaped to the outskirts. Their own little corner of paradise away from the
00:15:05.756 Speaker 1 mistakes and the burdens of the past. And now it was being taken from
00:15:11.756 Speaker 1 them. A fire lit in Trent Murdock's stomach. And
00:15:17.856 Speaker 1 now it was being taken from them. Despite all
00:15:23.596 Speaker 1 rationality, he saw her point clearly then. This was their
00:15:28.996 Speaker 1 home and monsters were trying to take it. And they were going to destroy them
00:15:35.316 Speaker 1 without being killed. Somehow. It was that simple.
00:15:41.856 Speaker 1 They stopped just outside the exterior door to Central Courtyard.
00:15:47.336 Speaker 1 Trent turned and looked into his wife's eyes and said the words she'd been waiting a
00:15:52.396 Speaker 1 year to hear. This is our home. Our home. And we're going to
00:15:58.316 Speaker 1 fight like hell to keep it. But we do it smart. If we can't do it smart, we'll
00:16:04.196 Speaker 1 just have to find a new home. But we're never going back.
00:16:10.816 Speaker 1 She beamed up at him and steadied the shotgun on her shoulder. I knew you'd come
00:16:16.456 Speaker 1 around eventually.
00:16:31.316 Speaker 1 Trent gently pulled the shaking woman away from the breaching bell. Anyone who could
00:16:36.416 Speaker 1 hear it was already here. The shocked look didn't leave Wanda's face, though. He
00:16:42.476 Speaker 1 surveyed the 40-something people spread out in a semicircle around the bell. They
00:16:47.156 Speaker 1 removed hands from ears, but no one spoke. Barely contained panic was written across
00:16:52.716 Speaker 1 their faces. Freddie had made it back, fortunately. Trent didn't need that guilt
00:16:58.536 Speaker 1 piled on top of his already heaping mountain.
00:17:02.756 Speaker 1 There were about 20 residents still missing, though. He just had to hope that they
00:17:06.576 Speaker 1 were holed up in their allotments as Marcy had been, waiting for the all-clear.
00:17:11.616 Speaker 1 Waiting for someone else to make their problem go away. Trouble was, that
00:17:17.636 Speaker 1 person didn't exist. The residents of the Maple Rooms were silent, holding each
00:17:23.356 Speaker 1 other, whispering to curious wide-eyed children. Looking at him, for some reason.
00:17:29.976 Speaker 1 Marcy leaned close to whisper in his ear. Say something. Why? You're better at
00:17:35.936 Speaker 1 this. Yes, but they like you. She nudged him in the ribs with an elbow, and
00:17:41.896 Speaker 1 he cleared his throat. In the few minutes they'd been in the courtyard, he'd
00:17:46.276 Speaker 1 gathered what happened. His worst nightmares had come true. The sprawl had gotten
00:17:52.316 Speaker 1 out and had taken a life. It just hadn't been Marcy. Wanda had found her
00:17:57.876 Speaker 1 husband, Elias, dead. From what Trent heard, it wasn't pretty.
00:18:03.676 Speaker 1 She'd followed a trail of open doors thinking someone was trying to steal something,
00:18:09.056 Speaker 1 and instead found her semi-digested husband laying on the floor. She hadn't seen
00:18:15.116 Speaker 1 that big cob, though.
00:18:19.746 Speaker 1 "We lost a good man tonight. A neighbor. A friend." That
00:18:25.786 Speaker 1 last one was a stretch. Elias couldn't claim many friends among the other residents,
00:18:30.266 Speaker 1 but hopefully no one would correct him now that he was dead. "And I'm pretty sure
00:18:36.006 Speaker 1 Freddy and I saw the cob that did it." His voice caught as he thought about the
00:18:41.266 Speaker 1 monster they'd seen less than an hour ago. It could walk right in here. There was
00:18:46.486 Speaker 1 nothing to stop it. He lifted his chin and tried to meet the eyes of each person as
00:18:51.446 Speaker 1 he spoke. "Frankly, we should run. We should all run."
00:18:58.626 Speaker 1 A wave of murmuring went through the group. "But we should have run a long time
00:19:04.506 Speaker 1 ago, too. There's only one reason we all stayed when all the smarter folks left."
00:19:11.126 Speaker 1 He heard a few nervous laughs. He understood that reason now. "It's our
00:19:17.006 Speaker 1 home." He saw them nodding. That was all he needed to say.
00:19:23.066 Speaker 1 "It's our home."
00:19:26.266 Speaker 1 They didn't jump up and down cheering for him. Everyone was still scared as hell.
00:19:31.366 Speaker 1 That made sense, but it didn't change what they had to do. "So let's
00:19:37.386 Speaker 1 figure out how to take it back before it's too late." He stepped into the
00:19:42.846 Speaker 1 semicircle of neighbors, and the group broke into a half-dozen quiet, nervous
00:19:47.606 Speaker 1 conversations. Trent wasn't their leader. They didn't have a leader. The mayor and
00:19:53.186 Speaker 1 anyone with any semblance of leadership had the good sense to leave a long time ago.
00:19:58.446 Speaker 1 It was just sixty-five people now. Trent seemed like he knew what he was
00:20:04.226 Speaker 1 doing, seemed like he had a plan. Hopefully that was good enough. Freddy pulled
00:20:09.566 Speaker 1 Trent aside. "You serious about this?" "I have a plan." "Better be a hell
00:20:15.586 Speaker 1 of a plan. They can open doors." Trent nodded. At least one of them
00:20:21.626 Speaker 1 could. There was a predator in town, a big cob that broke the rules.
00:20:27.706 Speaker 1 It was still just a cob, though. Cobs weren't the apex predators of Everhouse. That
00:20:33.886 Speaker 1 sole position belonged to the lightslingers. Too bad there weren't many left.
00:20:40.086 Speaker 1 The world had given up on the Maple Rooms. Small towns like this weren't even worth
00:20:44.586 Speaker 1 sweeping out anymore, not with what was happening in the South. No lightslingers
00:20:49.986 Speaker 1 were coming. He didn't blame them. "You still have that revolver?"
00:20:56.266 Speaker 1 Freddy's eyes got very large. "You said it didn't work." "It doesn't.
00:21:02.826 Speaker 1 Not yet." Freddy leaned in very close. "What's the plan?"
00:21:08.706 Speaker 1 "I need you to find something for me. Lenses. As many lenses as you can
00:21:14.646 Speaker 1 find. Big ones. And something to mount them on. Can you do that?" "Yeah, I can— I
00:21:20.266 Speaker 1 can get some from Phil, too." Trent looked up at the pitch-black sky over the
00:21:25.466 Speaker 1 courtyard. It was a few hours until dawn. "And I need them by first light,
00:21:31.686 Speaker 1 by the replenishment." Freddy nodded eagerly and then ran off without further
00:21:36.266 Speaker 1 questions. He just seemed happy to have a job, a purpose to pour his restlessness
00:21:41.486 Speaker 1 into. They didn't have any lightslingers around here, but maybe...
00:21:47.786 Speaker 1 maybe they could figure out the next best thing. They'd have to. The night after
00:21:53.506 Speaker 1 replenishment was feeding time. Anything lurking out there in the dark would be
00:21:58.506 Speaker 1 waiting for their food sources to come back. Once that happened, things would
00:22:04.286 Speaker 1 start moving fast. Their problems were going to get a lot bigger,
00:22:09.926 Speaker 1 figuratively and literally. No pressure. He
00:22:15.826 Speaker 1 watched Marcy walk over to a group of children playing in the grass, and she leaned
00:22:21.326 Speaker 1 down to speak to them. "Hey, kids. Who wants to learn how to make a barricade?"
00:22:27.226 Speaker 1 [outro jingle]