Michael and the others make preparations to send KODI down into the tunnels.
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We're Alive: Chapter 47 - The Lion's Den - Part 2 of 3(071624)
[MUSIC PLAYING] This episode is brought to you by Experian. Are you paying for subscriptions you don't use, but can't find the time or energy to cancel them? Experian could cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, saving you an average of $270 per year, and plenty of time. Download the Experian app. Results will vary. Not all subscriptions are eligible. Savings are not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. It's time for Tuesday Terror here on the Mutual Audio Network. The following audio drama is rated R and is recommended restricted for anyone under the age of 17. Here's a question for the marketers listening. Want to find that perfect customer beyond the world of scrolling, swiping, and searching? Here's a secret to make sparks fly. Smooth talking with podcast ads. With ACAST, you can reach millions of listeners who will be hanging on your every word. On the train to work, in the gym, or waiting in line for coffee, start up the conversation with podcast listeners anywhere and everywhere. And they're looking for love. 60% of listeners have a higher trust in brands they've met on podcasts compared to social. Get closer to your audience. Make podcast ads with ACAST. Head to go.acast.com/closer to get started. [MUSIC PLAYING] We're alive, a story of survival. Chapter 47, "The Lion's Den," part two of three. [MUSIC PLAYING] If Michael's right, even if that symbol works now, it might not work for long. Now that we know what it is, he'll just find some way around it. He may already have. So what can we do? Michael, you said he found those, too. It's one of those entrances still open. Yeah. Yeah, they didn't recognize us at the first one. Do you think you can get Cody down there still? Maybe it's got a good range, but that gas might keep us even further back. It could be spreading out into the area, not to mention the entrances are crawling with those things. More than I thought. What if we were able to get that scuba gear for you? That'll limit any gas exposure you'll have. Oh, no. Seriously, that stuff. But what if it goes really, really deep? Tanya, you said the cracks at ground zero could be old tunnels. How far can Cody go? Wait, I didn't catch that. What about the cracks at ground zero? Do you think they're connected? That I doubt way too far. The gas is probably from corpses they kept there, maybe to keep us out. No, you were saying that they might have been here from before. Like, they could be old, old. Well, we don't know exactly where the gas came from. But if it came from something that died, it's just that from what you described about the tunnel walls. That's not something you learn overnight. It could be more instinctual. Maybe one of the reasons they're adapting to going underground easily. Maybe whatever came before did too. Like, there's some sort of animal now. If it makes it easier to think of them that way, yes, they're becoming less and less like us all the time. OK, so wherever that stuff came from is dead, but they're not, so can we say on task? So then what? Are we all going to just go over there now, try and help? Can you give me some time to think about it? I need to stitch up Saul and there's a lot to consider. Should we call back other colonists to help? I don't know if we can. Convincing people to come back and to go down there, they still haven't pointed their dishes from the colony to here yet, so I have no way to talk to them anyway. Yeah. And I think we'll need to do some recon first. If things not down there, this could all be a big waste. So what do we do? Well, if you want, go ahead and get those scuba tanks together. I'll get back to you in the morning. We've been at it all day. Need to get some sleep. Michael, would you all mine give us a minute? Yeah, sure. Come on. Can you put Saul on? Saul, you should probably talk to your mom. She's really hurt now that she needs you. I know you don't want to, but why don't you think about what she's going through here, her child. You know, you should talk to her. I want to talk to her. He won't listen to me. I'll try. OK. Just give me some time. Thank you. I'll be in touch shortly. Yeah, get some rest. [MUSIC PLAYING] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] You didn't go back to sleep, did you? No, not like I could anyway. I'm coming. I grabbed everything we might want to take with us and loaded it up already. Found a good stash of meds in the bathroom, too. Where are we going? I think we should get home. Head to Dunbar, the colony, and spend some time there for a while before the firehouse. What's the point? Well, I think we should, for now, regroup. I don't want to go back. I understand that. But I think a few days off might be-- I'm done. There's nothing left for me or us. We're not going to find her. So what? We just go, leave everybody behind. I can't go back there, Bert. Everything I love is gone. I'm still here, and I care about you. Not in that way, but, you know. So let's just go, you and me. We can get far from this place. All that's left here for us is pain. What I did last night, when I think about it, when he looked at me, it's like he was looking at her. He wasn't one of those things. He wasn't even pointing and gun at us. And I killed him. I don't think I can ever forget his face, how he looked at me, how I look at me. Now, hold on. He was no innocent. Does it matter? We're no closer today than when we left everyone the first time. How long can we keep this up? What is it doing to us, to me? We haven't seen Scratch in how many months, and she's still hurting us. I guess. There were fine before we left. There'll be fine now. I don't want to go back and see where Liz is not anymore. If we would have stayed, she might still be here. We can go someplace new. Live this behind. Try and forget it. [MUSIC PLAYING] We can go, but I can't just walk away without telling everyone. We did that once before, and it's not fair to them. After we pack up, we can head to a safe house and give them a call. You don't have to say a word. I'll do the talking. Let me do that. Then we can go. All right. OK. [MUSIC PLAYING] Acast powers the world's best podcast. Here's a show that we recommend. [MUSIC PLAYING] Hello, and Tansay. My name is Joel D. Moncran. I'm an actor, and I'm indigenous. And I've created a podcast called Actors and Ancestors. It's a podcast all about indigenous actors here on Turtle Island and our experience in the industry. So if that sounds like something that your earballs would be happy to listen to, then check out ActorsandAncestors.com and go to any of your favorite podcast players, and we're there. Agosay. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcast everywhere, acast.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] [BEEP] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Morning. Any trouble getting here? No, I just cleared the whole way. Well, let's make this quick. Your scuba gears in the back, go ahead and grab it. I also brought a bunch of other stuff you might need. NVGs, we grabbed extra flashlights with filters and whatnot. Well, thanks, but we may not need it. Yeah, Michael and I came up with an idea to give us a clear path for Cody. We'll use the attractant near the entrance where we were attacked, draw them out. I haven't really seen that stuff work, so we'll have to trust you on it. It will. What are these? Pigs made those last night. They're the red armbands we used at the colony, but she sewed something else on them. The symbol thing. Yeah, she stayed up late last night getting them done. I know you were going to draw the symbol on your gear, but this won't rub off. Hey, these are cool. Man, if they work, sweet. All right, so how do you use this scuba stuff? These are solid sleeves. Yeah, go ahead. All right, so this valve here controls a flow. This knob here is going to hold right here. So? In here. Oh, yeah, he didn't do a good job stitching you up, did he? Nope. Oh, nice. I'm going to have to redo most of this. OK? Yeah, that's fine. Well, this part isn't bad. Maybe just the lower half. I think that part in the mirror can do the rest. Ow. Just do your best to hold still. This is bleeding pretty bad. You sure you can do this? You want me to go? I can. I can leave, let it get infected. I didn't ask you to come. Michael did. Fine, I'll have him come in and he can do it wrong again. I just undid most of the bad stitches. Ow. You're the one who's bleeding. I can wait. I'm sorry. Can you? You're good at it. Hold still. Ow. Wow, these are really bad, even for Michael. He was too careful trying not to get blood on himself. That's sloppy. Then I guess I'm the only one who can do this. So just let me work. Oh, is that where he got you on the neck? Yeah, didn't bite in too deep, like he was trying not to. Mine wasn't like that. It would have killed me if it had the chance. Michael said that maybe they try to grab you too. You know, I think they knew we might be, you know? Immune? I guess it's no. Why else would they try to turn you? Well, Victor said something like maybe we should have tried to give Dottu a blood transfusion. You think that might have-- Could be something to test in the future, but Dottu wasn't our same blood type. That could have just killed him sooner. Well, maybe you should tell everyone that, because they're expecting us to hook them up. Saul, whatever makes us different, I doubt it can transfer like that. If you and I both have it, it's genetic. Not in our blood, but our bodies. How come we're this way? I don't know. Lucky, I guess. Jeans play a funny role like that. Sometimes in ways you don't know until you're exposed to something. Hell, there's even some people who can't get HIV. Their cells just don't let it in. I mean, look at Skittles. He's different too. Whatever's unique might not have been that uncommon. There might have been others like us, but immunity doesn't stop you from being killed. Ow! I'm going quick, just hang in there. Man, I'm bleeding all over. Oh, headroom does that. I'll be done soon. This one's deep. I need to use the ones that dissolve. You think Nicholas is too? What? It's like us. Can we not talk about him? I'm sorry. Look, I know you're mad at me. But please, not him. He didn't do anything. I'm not. You don't seem to care one bit what happens to him right now. You're his father. I do care, and I know who I am. Why do you think I'm here? You're not trying to distance yourself from him, from me. This might be our last shot. What happens if that fails? What future would he have? We have other people. There are other options. And they can just screw it up. All right, I won't let that happen. I know. I just have a bad feeling. When your father left-- Please, don't bring him up. Just saying, it was hard enough to raise you on my own. Can you imagine what it'd be like for him growing up losing you both? Yeah. Well, whose fault is that, huh? Ow. I love you, Saul. I love you more than anything. But I can't let you blame me anymore. I have cried myself to sleep every night. My heart can only break so many times. There's a few left. Finish your own damn stitches. I'm trying to. I am. Figure it out. No matter how hard, how painful it is, you are not the only one suffering. [MUSIC PLAYING] [DOOR CLOSES] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] All right, here's the rest of the water you asked for. Thanks. I got it from here. We can shower on our own. Uh-huh. Ah, it's a little blurry, but hey, I think it'll work. Well, the simple does anything at all. All right, so we have Cody loaded up, scuba gear. All we need to do now is get clean again and head over there. If you want, I have an extra tank and gear as well, assuming Saul don't need one. So if you want someone else, Kelly is trained and I wouldn't even need a suit either. I don't know. And Kel did a hell of a job at the hospital with me. I know it seems to make sense to throw more bodies at this, but that doesn't mean it'll make it any easier. More noise, more smell, and not enough repellent for all of us. I need to keep it tight. And well, what if this fall out? Like how? Well, if Roberts gets out, he knows where Dunbar is. There could be retaliation. He could be capable of that. Then don't fail. I wish it was that easy. How will you know for sure if you got it? Cody's just going to plant the bombs, right? It's built to transmit us a live video feed, so we'll be able to see when it's down there. And I won't detonate the C4 until I see him. Yeah, but wouldn't you lose Cody? We're using all of our explosives. There won't be much use for it after that. And it'd rather make certain he's dead and whatever's down there is gone. It should be more than enough to collapse everything if we get it in the right spot. I'd love to get more information about that place before we send Cody down there, but I'm not sure that we'll have time for that. This is a one-shot deal. So we've got to go. Want me to go scrub down now? Right inside that door, there should be a bathroom. Drain's still work, so go ahead. Thanks. Just hurry up and save us some water. And we need to get back to Dunbar. This was just supposed to be a quick drop off. Bye. Good luck. Try your best to keep in touch. We'll just be in the dark 'til you call. And we'll keep trying to get a hold of Burton Riley. They need a heads-up to what's going on to avoid that area. They know how to contact us. If they haven't tried to call him yet, then I don't know if you'll hear from them at all. They just might need some time, right? Mama. Bye, Sal. OK, you better tell me everything you see when you go down there, OK? Well, what if I show you? Cody's controller records the feed. Even better. You watch him, OK? Who, Victor? He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing. We'll go over the baby books when I get back. A few things I still need to learn. Yeah. I love you, baby. Oh, shoot, I almost forgot. You mind handing me that? Thanks. Here, Sal. Your katana? You know, if you have to be quiet, better than your knife. Bitchin', thanks. Yeah. Good luck. Bye. Are you ready for this? No, but we're going to do it anyway. You're back. How did it go? You were gone for a while. Uh, yeah, sorry. It took longer than I expected. I just thought we were going to drop off the stuff. I was going to head up to the roof to work on the relay. Is that OK? Yeah. That's fine. We're all clear here. But I'll keep an eye on the monitors for a while just in case. And he's-- he's going to do it? Yeah. But I think they'll be OK. It seems like they have a solid plan. They promise a call the minute they can. But Michael also mentioned there could be some fallback if they're successful. So keep on your toes. The entrances have reinforced concrete, but they might still have a few of the big ones. That's why we moved the minigun into the lobby. If I get that thing on the roof working, we might be able to know more sooner. Be able to talk to them and-- [phone ringing] That was fast. Are you going to get it? [phone ringing] Hello? Hey, it's Pete. Damn it, Pete. What is it? Jeez, what the hell did I do? No, no, sorry. It's not you. Go ahead. What is it? We got it working. What? What working? The pump, the-- the reserve's already filling up and that's barely with a breeze. Oh, yeah. That's great. We got it back in the site and finished packing everything up. But we're really excited and, you know, we want to let you guys know. I'll call you when we get back to the safe house. Gotta get moving. Thanks. Okay, bye. So does that mean the other colonists can come back? Uh, well, we'll need to do a survey and figure out what sort of sustainable rates we can get with the pump, but maybe. Yeah. Once they get their comms pointed here, we can talk to them and I'll let them decide. Well, at least we have our water source now. I might be able to start gardening again. All right. Well, the radio is kind of more important right now. Tell me the minute you hear something. I'm gonna go to work. Yeah, and Nicholas should be waking up soon. Go, go. I got this covered. [Music] Cody's all set outside. C4 is primed and ready to go. It's all cleaned off and I put some more of that repellent sweat on it too, just in case. But I wish we had more explosives. There'll be enough force to seriously damage the structure. And then pressure will take over. There's so much weight sitting on top of everything, it'll cave in and crush whatever's down there. We just need to get it in the right spot. All right, I'm going upstairs. You ready for me to shoot it? Yeah, but be careful they don't see you. [Music] Down the street, near the other entrance where we were exposed to the gas, we set up the jar of attractant. It was quite a ways away, but from our vantage point upstairs, Victor was going to be able to shoot it with a pellet gun. If our plan worked, the tunnels would empty, clearing a path for Cody. Then, once the smell wore off and they went back inside, boom. We watched the monitors intensely from the cameras we set up earlier and waited. [Music] I did it! It worked! The jar broke and they're coming out and I like a lot! Wow! Look at all of them. They're coming out over there. Our entrance is still clear. We don't know how long we got, right? Before they figure out it's nothing? Our tunnels wide open, time to go. I'm going to look from upstairs, see if any can close to us. [Music] I pushed the knob forward. Cody responded and crept down the driveway and across the street. Onto the sidewalk, up the wheelchair access ramp, and into the building. From the camera's view, I could see the empty tunnel in front of us, as I guided Cody inside. [Music] [Music] Join us again Monday for the next episode of We're Alive. [Music] And now a word from our sponsors. [Music] Starring Jim Gleason, Nate Geeze, Shirley Jordan, Constance Parn, Otto Stirk, Elisa Elliot, Tammy Klein, Scott Marvin, Claire Dodon, Greg Miller, and I'm Michael Swan. Written and directed by Casey Whalen, produced by Grayson Stone and Casey Whalen, composer Daniel Berkov-Hopkins, series artist Ben Hosek, editors Phil Englert, and Casey Whalen. Zen turns Lauren Crume, Ray Husky, voice cutter Brent McLean, print editor Elisa Elliot, wine producers Grayson Stone and Blair Whalen. To find out more and for a full list of cast and crew, please visit our website at www.we'realive.com. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all production-related updates and future projects. Thank you for listening to this audio theater for the mind by Whalen Productions. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]