SMNTY Fiction: Terminus (Chapter 12)

Things come to a head when violence breaks out as the Resistance tries to obtain the vaccine, and Tilda learns more hard truths, and makes even harder choices. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and welcome to Steffan Never Told
You production of iHeartRadio. Yes, I am still by myself,
but Samantha will be back. Never fear. And this is

(00:26):
another installment of Sminty Fiction, which is a once a
month thing we do. Has a bit more special effects.
Well I guess a lot more because most of the episodes
have none. But yeah, you know what I mean. And
if that's not you're saying, that's totally cool. But yeah,
we are close to the end. I'm getting excited. This

(00:47):
episode does have a lot of content warnings though, so
for illness, virus' death, gun violence, explosions, car crashes. It
is your very action packed kin ultimate ish episode, So

(01:08):
if you haven't heard the rest of the episodes, I
would recommend going back and listening to them if you're interested.
But yeah, we are close to the end. This episode
also contains a hilarious amount of me once again going
all in on directions, which I'm not sure was necessary,
but I certainly did it. I did this for Nana

(01:31):
Raimo National Novel Writing Month and twenty ten. It's not
very edited, if at all, because I kind of just
wanted to look and see what was going on my
head at that point, which is before I started on
this show. I mean, it was around the same time,
but it was before i'd really kind of accepted that
I was indeed a feminist. So I just was curious

(01:53):
your recap. So, in a world where humanity is done
out because of this virus, and because of that, any
children who are produced go to the board of better
parenting and that determines where they go. Our main character, Tilda,

(02:16):
has run away with her child, Madison, who is conceived
illegally outside of a conception center. She has been pursued
for seven years with her child by enforcers. She is
a priority number one, as there called from the government
in arm which is the religious organization that leads alongside
the government, and they've had a lot of close calls,

(02:37):
including one where Tilda was shot and she had to
heal up. And through this, through the person that helped
heal her inn she learned about a potential cure. So
she went and sought out this resistance who might know
more about it, and it turns out that there isn't
a cure, but there is a vaccine, and she also

(02:59):
learns that the resistance is not exactly what she thought
they were, and they're willing to use her son as
sort of bait, and she's not cool with that. Also,
her mother makes a very impassioned message about her daughter
coming home that is broadcasted through the state's kind of

(03:22):
radio system that they have set up. And now they
are on their way with the resistance to potentially find
this vaccine. So that is where we are. Please please
mind the content warning for this one, but enjoy. Her

(03:52):
eyes opened slowly, so gradually she wasn't aware of it
at first, her mother's words echoing in her ears. Night
had faded, giving way to a twilight morning. Around her,
people rustled conversing lowly, fiddling with belts and checking weapons.
Tilda took a deep breath of cold air. Madison snuggled
closer to her Mark pressed two energy bars into her hand,

(04:15):
murmuring we're almost there. She took the bars and pulled
off the wrappers, nudging Madison awake with her shoulder, placing
the bar in her hand and closing his fingers around it,
urging him to eat. She finished her as quickly, nerves
making it difficult to keep still. Madison only nibbled at
his face, puffy with sleep. Should we give her a

(04:36):
gun zo like A questioned, Gesturing to Tilda, Mark shook
his head. She won't need one. The truck dipped as
it passed over a pothole. The labs north of the
city center. We loop around and enter through the top end.
If we meet any enforcers Teams one and two, we'll
take them on and provide us a distraction to get
into the lab. Do you know where the lab is?

(04:58):
Tilda asked, under the impression that they were only guessing
at its existence. No, but Merlin does, and he's driving
the lead van. Mark's response through her, and she furrowed
her brow. Merlin's are acquisitions and communications experts, Ylike explained.
Tilda didn't inquire about the rest of the plan, focusing
on forming one of her own. That sole purpose was

(05:19):
to keep Madison, to protect him. She'd fight for him
just as her mother had fought for her. Mostly, that's
all her plan involved. She'd hammered out the details when
she got to them. A static transmission issued from the
radio in the front of the truck. We must be close.
Mark leaned forward to speak with the driver when an

(05:40):
explosion in front of them propelled the tires off the ground.
Mark was shouting, but another explosion to their left knocked
the truck to its side, where it rolled once, sending
its passengers sprawling into a massive bodies. Tilda clutched Madison
to her, trying to shield his body with her own.
There was stillness, weaponry, and explosions ripping the air as
every one tried to make sense of what had happened.

(06:03):
Arms and legs squirmed, stepping and hitting in their frantic
desperation to pull themselves free. Tilda's task was made more
difficult by the child in her arms, and she got
stepped on and struck more than once, kicking against the metal,
sighting to slide herself incrementally forward before someone jerked her
to her feet. She was pulled forward, forced to run
to keep up or tumble to her knees. Her feet

(06:25):
met pitted and cracked road Smoke thickened the air. The
sharp ports of rapid firing guns filled the air, but
Tilda could only see flashes of movement. This way, Mark
motioned them forward, keeping his gun at already in front
of him. He led them toward a building with collapsed
upper floors, only the ground floors and parts of the
seconds still standing. Looking around revealed that most of the

(06:47):
buildings in the area had been decimated, walls crumbling, craters
in the side making them look like open faced dollhouses,
complete with furniture and clocks and picture frames, floors and
rooms stacked on top of each other. Another explosion tore
through the air, sending Tilda careening off her feet. Fire

(07:07):
ate up her shoulder, and her vision faded out for
a moment. Her arms went numb and Madison rolled out
of her grasp. Blood ran into her eye, and she
blinked it away, forcing herself up, pulling Madison back into
almost unresponsive arms. Next to her was the bloody body
of Adam, eyes wide and staring into nothing. Crimson streaked
across his face and leaking from his side. His outstretched

(07:30):
fingertips reached for a gun. The ground shook again, until
the fault to stay on her hands and knees. Reaching
tentatively for the weapon with her shaking hand, she grasped it,
looking around for someone else in the vicinity, but they
were all engaged in whatever battle was being waged just
out of her sight. Sliding the gun into the waistband
of her jeans, she pushed to her feet, Madison fisting

(07:52):
his hands in the back of her jacket. The ground
was uneven under her feet. Everything seemed to be various
shades of gray. She stumped ford, barely able to keep
her feet beneath her. Falling hard into the doorway knocked
the wind from her. She could hear shouting as she blinked,
fireflies from her vision. The corridor she found herself in
was dark, the shafts of light from behind her and

(08:14):
in the cracks of the floor above the only source
of light. Tilda strained her eyes in the darkness, feeling
her way along the hall. Her fingertips met empty space.
There was a stairwell, but the baris traces of artificial
light coming from below. Instinct compelled her to descend the stairs,
the yelling growing closer, acting as a stimulant. She practically

(08:36):
ran down the stairs, hoping no one had seen her
take them, that she wouldn't hear footsteps stomping after her.
Coiled like a snake, the stairs took her down two levels.
Tilda's knees jarred and buckled as she hit the cement floor,
and she relied on the railing to right herself. The
depth dulled the sound of fighting above, allowing Tilda to

(08:56):
hear clattering, breaking glass, rifling, paine, and swearing coming from
the room at the end of the hall. Tilda glanced
behind her, slowing her jog to a creep, Balancing Madison
on her hip. She reached behind her and fished the
gun out of her waistband. She felt the weight of
it in her hand, her grip intuitive. The gun trembled
as she held it in front of her, a particularly

(09:18):
loud swear causing her finger to twitch over the trigger.
As they approached the doorway, Tilda quietly set Madison on
his feet, whispering his ear for him to stay behind her.
He hunched at her back, clutching her shirt with her
other hand. She steadied the gun, but still it shook
in her grasp. She peered into the room. It was

(09:38):
a long, rectangular space lined with benches, shelves, isolation labs
and refrigerators, lab tables and bats down the center. The
floor was littered with glass, metal instruments, and paper. At first,
Tilda mistook it for empty, but a loud crash drew
her attention to the back corner of the long room.
A man tall and Slen cursed loudly, sweeping his arms

(10:02):
along a black countertop and sending beakers smashing into the floor.
Madison whined, hiding his face into Tilda's back. The man
whipped his head around and til to raise the gun,
training it on him. He froze, staring at her in surprise.
Who are you? He demanded, and Tilda swallowed, wishing her
hands would stop shaking. The ground rumbled above them. I'm

(10:25):
looking for the vaccine. Contrary to her grip, her voice
was quite steady. Only the smallest wobble betraying her anger,
twisted the man's features. You're too late. The enforcers destroyed it. Why,
she demanded, Because they don't want a vaccine, he growled.
Seeing the confusion painted on Tilda's face, he expounded, they

(10:49):
want to hold onto their power, and how better than
to rule by fear and keep our numbers low. He
kicked a chair over and Tilda took an involuntary half
step back. My life's work. I was going to be
remembered as the man who cured HSV five idolized the
savior of the human race, but they destroyed it. He

(11:10):
flung a microscope at the wall Madison whimpered at the
fury in the raised voice, and the man stopped dead.
Noticing this shuddering child crouching behind Tilda, The anger fled
his face, stunned, wonder taking its place. He moved forward,
and Tilda raised the gun, her shaking more pronounced than ever. Stop.

(11:31):
She commanded, hating the quaver in her voice for betraying her.
He spared her the briefest of glances, fixated on the
small sliver of Madison he could see. Is that a child?
A loud bang from above sent a cloud of dust
into the air. Madison shifted so Tilda's body hid him completely.

(11:52):
The man continued to stare at the spot where he
had been for several seconds before he finally raised his
eyes to meet Tilda's. He's yours. Tilda didn't respond, but
he nodded as if she did. You came to get
the vaccine for your son. He stared at her and
muted amazement, as though he'd stumbled on something unexpected, rediscovering

(12:13):
the last missing peace obvious all along, I had forgotten.
It's been so long since I've seen one a child,
I mean. He gave a breathy laugh of aw he's
so small. He stepped forward, and Tilda took a corresponding

(12:35):
step back. She didn't know what to do in the
face of his shocked wonderment. Something akin to a rapturous
light in his eyes. She swallowed delicately, darting her eyes
to the side, looking for an escape route. I've never
seen one this close. He clapped his hands together and
held them in front of his mouth, as if in prayers,
smiling a few at the conception center. But never I

(13:00):
have forgotten the whole reason why I wanted to cure,
right in front of my very eyes. But I had forgotten.
A shaky laugh punctuated his sentence. Tilda tried to regain
control of the situation, hazily, wondering where Mark or Zuleika
or the enforcers were. Did the resistance die? How could
she be the first one here, the only one here?

(13:22):
There is no cure? No, the man agreed readily, distractedly,
still trying to get a glimpse of Madison. But I
did discover a vaccine, or I helped discover one. We
had two labs, one public one and this one secret.
Even then we didn't want to state or arm knowing
the extent of our operation, where our entire stock would

(13:43):
be if we started manufacturing something. We didn't trust them
to not take everything from us. He paused briefly. Tilda's
calves twitched with the bursts of muffled gumfire. When we
realized that we had a vaccine, we started synthesizing it
in mass before we told anyone. Somehow the enforcers found
out anyway. They destroyed the main lab, killed the other scientist.

(14:06):
We thought this one had escaped their notice. He looked
up as more dust billowed from above. We were wrong.
They came here and destroyed our stock and shot my
colleagues except for me. When I heard, he broke off,
averting his gaze. I heard them talking. They kept one sample,

(14:32):
stored it in a cold transport container. Said they were
taking it to arm headquarters in DC. I don't know why,
and by the sound of it, neither did they analysis.
Maybe they want to be the heroes, the ones that
develop and mass produce a vaccine. Think of the power
that would come with that complete control of the vaccine supply.

(14:54):
Another beat of silence, Tilda, not daring to hope her
throat dry. There's still one vaccine left. The man nodded, yes,
they just left with it too. If you're quick and
you're smart, you might be able to get it back
from them. Of course, you're more likely to be killed
in the process, he added, in a detached scientific way.

(15:18):
But for a child, please may I see him? Tilda
shook her head automatically, Madison's hands clenching in the fabric
of her jacket. Please, the man begged, is quietly, almost
lost in the increasing volume of the ruckets taking place outside.
I'll tell you how to get to DC and into

(15:40):
arm headquarters undetected. Just please let me see him. The
gun shook until his grip. Going to d C to
arm Headquarters did not appeal to her at all. It
sounded like a one way trip that ended with her
dead and Madison award of the state. But she couldn't
get the idea out of her head, the chance for

(16:00):
him to have a hopeful future in all of the
dark and decay around them. She had to do something
right by him. Just once, Tilda coaxed a trembling Madison
out from behind Her Terrified hazel eyes glistened up at
her as she stroked his hair clumsily. Her other hand
still pointing the gun at the stranger. He knelt reverent,

(16:23):
reaching a large, callous hand out, tracing his finger down
Madison's cheek. Madison started violently at the touch, and the
man retracted his hand. I promise, I don't want to
hurt you. I would never want to hurt something so beautiful,
so perfect. I can't believe i'd forgotten. That's enough, Tilda
gritted out, allowing Madison to retreat behind her. Once again,

(16:46):
tell me how to get an arm with great effort.
The man stood and tore his eyes from spot Madison
had just occupied. There's a train half a mile east.
The state transports cargo, heavy machinery and applies from Chicago
to DC and back again on the rail. The front
few cars are enforcers, other state officials, and people, but

(17:06):
the back cars are all equipment. He glanced around, striding
over to a drawer and rifling around through the papers inside.
The train leaves in a couple of hours, maybe last
with all the fighting. Hop on it and ride it
to terminus. It lets off in North d C. He
pulled out a folded map triumphantly and held it out
to Tilda. She took it hesitantly, stuffing it in her

(17:30):
pocket and regripping the gun. The man's voice increased in tempo.
The scuffle and shouting sounded closer. It'll take about eleven hours,
but once it starts slowing, get off. You don't want
to get spotted by d boarding passengers. You'll come out
in a train yard. On the south side of the track.
You'll see a line of old metro trains. Follow them
into a tunnel. Should be a door on either side.

(17:53):
That'll lead you into the old subway tunnels. You're going
to have to travel down the red line to the
Metro center and take it for Kunny access letter up.
Once inside, you're on your own. There was a loud bang,
very close in proximity. Tilda jerked all of her muscles, tensing.
Whatever you do, protect the child. What's his name? Madison,

(18:17):
Tilda replied, held hostage by the deep stair, he pinned
her with whatever happens, keep Madison safe. We need him
to remind us find the vaccine. Footsteps thundered down the stairs,
and Tilda swung her gun around just in time to
see a bloodied enforcer's slam into the doorframe. Take aim

(18:38):
and shoot the man next to her in the head.
As his victim crumpled to the floor, he opened his
mouth to alert the other enforcers, and Tilda reacted her
fingers squeezing the trigger. The gun jumped in her hands,
driving her back a step. The enforcer collapsed to one side,
weapon clattering to the floor. Tilda stared, unable to comprehend
the magnitude of what she had just done. Shouting and

(19:00):
more pounding on the stairs jolted Tilda out of her shock,
and she grabbed Madison's hand, pulling him down to the
far into the room and taking the back door out,
pushing open the emergency stairwell door. It slammed shut behind them,
and Tilda powered up the stairs, Madison doing his best
to keep up behind her. She could hear muted yelling
from behind the thick door, and she rammed open the
first door she came across. After two flights of stairs,

(19:23):
Tilda nearly tripped over some debris, blinking as the gray
light assaulted her unaccustomed eyes. Taking a second to orient herself,
Tilda figured out which direction was east and started to
sprint along the street, dodging chunks of rock and metal.
Smoke burned in her lungs, every gasping breath like fire.
Gunfires shredded through the air, grazing the side of the building.

(19:43):
Tilda and Madison ran past, shrap and abiding into their
exposed faces. More shouting assaulted her ears, but Tilda didn't
turned to look. The dust and smoke provided them some cover.
No one pursued them. Tears streamed down Tilda's face, whether
from irritat due to the smoke, or the grief at
her decision, the knowledge that the closer they got to

(20:04):
that train, the closer she got to the possibility of
never seeing Madison again. She couldn't be sure. She felt
like she was buying a ticket to her own death. Still,
Tilda forced burning legs forward, one in front of the other. Dazedly,
she realized she still held the gun in her hands.

(20:26):
Tracks to the left caught Tilda's attention. There was a
train yard ahead, and tiled a cross to it, slowing
her pace to a fast walk. Mass and gas wildly
next to her, coughing intermittently. The ground beneath her feet
was packed dirt, overgrown with dry grass and weeds. Rows
of tracks led to the station behind them, crossing and
criss crossing again. How is she supposed to know which

(20:49):
train to get on, she asked herself, desperately, cursing the
man from not clarifying and herself for not specifying. A
clacking sound ripped her from her recriminations, and she jogged
to ducking between abandoned trains. Through the slats between cars,
she could see movement a gray snake, slow now but
gaining speed. Tilda and Madison hopped over a metal bar

(21:11):
connecting two cars, just as the last few cars of
the train started to stream past them. Luckily, the train
had yet to gain any real momentum. The rusted cars
of red, green, and black missing strips of paint. Tilda
broke into a jog, glancing down the ends of the
train to make sure they had no observers. Finding none,
she ran for the tracks, looking for the safest option
for them to hop on the cars sliding past. She

(21:34):
saw an open car a few sections down, running alongside
the train. She waited for the car to catch up
to them, swinging Madison up into it and then hoisting
herself inside and swinging her legs over the edge. Coughing,
she rolled into her back and propped herself up on
her elbows, checking her surroundings, half heartily lifting the gun.
There was nothing in the car with them but textiles

(21:55):
and some other construction materials, no en force hers. She
flopped into her searching out Madison with her eyes. He
crawled over to her, tears leaving streaks in the dark
soot on his face. She propped herself up, scooting backwards
until her back met the wall, and opening her arms inviting.
Madison melted into her embrace, sobbing, Tilda petted his hair,

(22:17):
turning her neck to watch Chicago disappeared, becoming smaller and
smaller as the train gathered speed. Just a little later,
the smallest delay and they would have missed the train.
Smoke billowed from the streets. Hilda tried to piece together
the morning's events. Everything had happened so fast. Only hours ago,
she was in the cab of a truck, part of
a convoy of at least thirty people, on her way

(22:39):
to Chicago looking for a vaccine. Where was everyone now?
For all she knew, everyone that had accompanied her was dead,
and now she was on a train to DC, to
the very heart of everything she'd been running from all
of these years. The stronghold of those who would take
Madison from her and see her dead? Was she insane

(23:00):
acting on the word of a man she barely knew.
But the sheer awe in his eyes as he beheld
Madison made Tilda believe him. She shuddered, remembering his gasp
of surprise and the sound of his body falling lifelessly
to the floor. One second alive, the next not. It
took only a millisecond to rip the life from someone,

(23:22):
and now Tilda had killed someone herself. The gun was
still in her hand. Disgusted and frightened, she tossed it
over the side, a feathery sob escaping past her lips.
Did she kill him? Madison rose his gaze to meet hers,
tears shimmering, making round hazel orbs appear even larger. Tilda

(23:44):
regarded him for a long moment, her own eyes leaking steadily. Yes,
she whispered, terrified of his rejection. His body convulsed silently,
and he huddled into her side, apologizing profusely. Why are
you sorry, Tilda asked Madison's grief, pulling her from her own.

(24:06):
You did it to protect me, Tilda stroked his hair.
It's not your fault, baby, I'm the one that killed him,
not you. Madison only wept harder. I don't need a vaccine, please,
I don't want to go where the enforcers are part. Clinching,
Tilda shushed him, cooing it's gonna be all right. Madison

(24:30):
shook his head into her shoulder miserably. I've never seen
anyone die before. Neither have I, Tilda confided to him,
hating that he'd seen so much bloodshed at such a
young age. I wish you hadn't seen any of that.
Wish you hadn't either, he stammered timidly. None of this

(24:50):
is your fault, she reiterated. But it's because of me,
he argued. No, Tilda disagreed. It's because of me because
I love you so much. Madison stilled at that. Tilda
attempted to recall the last time she had told him
she loved him. She hugged him closer to her. We'll

(25:14):
get through this. His sobs quieted the steady forward motion
and hum of the train damp and Tilda's overactive nerves,

(25:43):
And that brings us to the end of this installment.
As you can tell I did. I also had to
split this one up so if it ends sort of
her properly, that's why. But yeah, a lot happens in
that one. I want to reiterate this. I wrote this
before the last of Us, but I keep finding similarities.

(26:04):
But we're really getting down to it now. And this was.
When I was reading this, I was like, this is
more dramatic than I thought. It also had a phrase
that I was unwilling to change fireflies from her vision.
I don't think that's what you say, but that's why
I left it in. But yeah, it does feel very

(26:24):
you go to this place, and then you go to
this place, and then you have to go to this place,
and then it's video game like that's what a video
game is like. But I hope you're enjoying it. We
are getting we're close. We are close to the end,
but there are two other installments, so we'll see. But
I hope that you're enjoying it. I love hearing from
people about it, even if it's just like I like this,
That mean it makes my day. So thank you for that.

(26:48):
And thanks as always to Christina or a super producer
who makes these possible. She makes them sound so much better,
so amazing. Thank you. If you have any thoughts, theories,
suggestions for other things we could do like this, Please
let us know. You can emailus at Stephanie your Mom,
Steff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us on
Twitter at moll Stuff Podcasts, or on Instagram and TikTok

(27:10):
at Steffman Never Told You. We have a tea public store.
We have a book that you can order at stuff
you Should Read books dot com. Thanks as always to
our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and our
contributor Joey, and thanks to you for listening. Stephan Never
Told You is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from
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