Part 5 of 6
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In the penultimate chapter of our current serialization, Ruby attempts to make a hasty escape.
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062 - Ruby Departed: Utopia, Part 5 of 6
[ Music ] Welcome to FlashPulp Episode 62. Tonight we present Ruby Departed, Utopia, Part 5 of 6. [ Music ] This week's episodes are brought to you by Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride. These aren't your grandpa's TV shows. Well, not most of them. Find it at bmj2k.wordpress.com. [ Music ] Sunday is gloomy. My hour is not stumbled. Give it the shadows I live with our number left. [ Music ] [ Music ] FlashPulp is an experiment in broadcasting fresh pulp stories in the modern age. Three to ten minutes of fiction brought to you Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. In the penultimate chapter of our current serialization, Ruby attempts to make a hasty escape. Ruby Departed, Utopia, Part 5 of 6, Written by J.R.D. Skinner, Art and narration by Opoponax, an audio produced by Jessica May. [ Music ] July 9th, Daybreak. I have days where I do things that make me feel about as smart as the dead folk. Sure, but while dodging shufflers, sometimes when panic is setting in and I'm about to eject my lunch onto my sneakers, some greater part of myself seems to kick in. And whoever that lady is, whoever I am in those moments, she has a plan before the rest of me realizes I need one. Yesterday, Andy comes knocking on my door and I can hear a concern in his voice. Andy, hey, everything okay in there? Haven't seen you in a while. Want to go out for a ride? Ruby, why don't you ask Linda? Leatherhead. Oh, hi, yeah, Linda. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. She decided to leave. She knows she can't compete. Ruby, compete for what? By the time we get that far in the conversation, all my stuff is packed and I'm ready to go. Mimi has another serious moment of wanting to vomit all over the door handle, or at least curl up and start weeping. Ubermi opens the door against which Leatherhead was apparently leaning and, without stopping, smashes Bethany's long hilt into his forehead. He went over backwards. I kicked him in the belly, then rifled his pockets. Keys in hand. That started running. It was he who ended up doing the puking. I knew which key would open the go buggy. There's no actual ignition lock or anything. It's all buttons, but I didn't know anything about the rest. The door to the garage was bolted. It had never been before. I tried a few keys, but my hands were getting nervous. From around the curve in the hall, I could hear Andy getting to his feet. Turning, I spotted the north stairwell. With a running start, I put Bethany through the window. The safety glass mostly held together, but the hole was large enough that I could operate the handle from the far side. He'd lied to me. There were no stairs heading up. Only down. I took the only route I could, but I wish I'd just gone back and put Bethany's blade through his ribcage. They told me they were government people, but that was a lie too. Before the big collapse, they, or at least Andy, must have worked for the Cryos Corporation. The logos and manuals hadn't been cleaned out downstairs. There was a single door at the bottom, labeled "High Priority Deep Storage." The first place I went through was obviously intended as a sort of doctor's office/waking room. It must have been very clean and surgical at one point, although it's stank like a butcher shop when I pass through. I'm not used to the sight of blood. Zombies don't bleed. They ooze. Some of Linda was piled in the corner, but I think it's best if we don't discuss it. I can only guess that the next room was once full of Canada's rich and optimistic, although maybe a third of the huge coffin freezers had been opened already. As I ran through, I noticed a manual open on a little chrome rolling tray. The page was dog-eared, and bold type across the top red, emergency-thaw procedures. I think there was supposed to be a full staff on hand to watch over the cryo-preserved during any hard times for civilization that the frozen people might sleep through. But the nature of the emergency found everyone with better things to do except a creepy mofo like Andy. I need to take a break, stop and smell the zombies as it were. I'll finish with the explanations after a leg stretch. [Music] FlashPulp is presented by HTTP colon slash slash Skinner dot FM. The audio and text formats of FlashPulp are released under the Canadian Creative Commons attribution non-commercial 2.5 license. [Music] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)