"What's happening?" "Why are you taking a bath?" "I'm not." "Watch out!" "Everyone." "Where are you?" "Papa!" "It's okay." "It's just a minor earthquake." "I'm right here." "Right here." "The Road Subs by richard" "The clock stopped at 1:17" "There was a long shear of bright light then a series of low concussions." "I think it's October." "But I can't be sure." "I haven't kept a calendar for years." "Each day is more gray than the one before." "It is cold." "I am growing colder." "As the world slowly dies." "No animals have survived." "All the crops have long gone." "Soon all the trees in the world will fall." "The roads are peopled by refugees towing carts and gangs carrying weapons" "looking for fuel and food." "Within a year there were fires on the ridges and deranged chanting." ""Behold the Valley of Slaughter"" " Jeremiah 19:6" "There has been cannibalism." "Cannibalism is the great fear." "Mostly I worry about food." "Always food." "Food." "An the cold." "And our shoes." "Sometimes I tell the boy old stories of courage and justice." "Difficult as they are to remember." "All I know is the child is my warrant." "And if he is not the word of God - then God never spoke." "...you can land on Lady Liberty's torch." ""If you flicked your tongue like a chameleon..."" ""you could whip the food off your plate without using your hands!"" ""But what would your mother say?"" ""If you crane your neck like a crane"" ""you have to stretch your arm way up to scratch your head."" "...you had eagle eyes so you could spot a running rabbit..." "Let's take a look." "It could be something here." "Corn or something." "Nah." "They run out of food." "Maybe there's some hayseeds in the hayloft." "I doubt it." "It's not what you think." "Committed suicide." " Why?" "You know why." "Two left." "One for you, one for me." "Put it in your mouth." "You point it up." "Just like I showed you." "Okay." "Like this." "Then just pull the trigger." "Okay?" "Is it okay?" " Okay." "Hungry?" "Thanks." "Thirsty." " Thirsty?" "Water." "You're pretty." "Oh no." "We don't have to do this." "I don't want to do this." "I think we do." "No, I don't want to do this." "Not into life like this." "You have to push." "Come on." "Push." "Quick!" "Get up!" "Get around." "Stay low." "Go, go." "Check those junks over there." "...watch your head..." "Don't look at them." "Look at me." "You call out, you're dead." "Where are you from?" "Doesn't matter." "Where are you from?" "You got ammunition for those rifles?" "I told you not to look over there." "Have you eaten?" "Whatever we can find." "What you can find." " Yeah." "You ain't gonna shoot that thing." "You ain't got but two shells." "Maybe one." "They'll hear the shot." " Maybe." "But you won't." "Because it will be through your skull inside your brain before you can hear it." "To hear it you will need a frontal lobe and things with names like - colliculus and temporal gyrus - and you won't have them anymore." "They'll just be soup." "Are you a doctor?" "I'm not anything." "We got a man hurt." "It'd be worth your while." "You look at him again, I'll shoot you in the head." "That boy looks hungry." "Why don't y'all come on to the truck?" "Get yourself something to eat." "Ain't no need to be such a hard-ass." "You don't have anything to eat." "Come on." "Let's go." "I ain't going nowhere." "You will come or I'll kill you." "You're wrong." "You know what I think?" "I think you're chickenshit." "You never killed a man in your life." "Where did it come from?" "Whose shoot?" "...he's gone..." "Let's go." "Come on." "Treeline." "Come on." "...over there..." "You're okay?" "I'm right here." "Let's go." "I try to look like any common traveling killer but my heart is hammering." "When it comes to the boy " "I have only one question:" "Can you do it - when the time comes?" "I will not let anything happen to you." "I'll take care of you." "I will kill anyone who touches you." "Because that's my job." "Please stop crying." "We gotta go now." "We're gonna find the cart." "Come on." "Take the gun." "That's all we have left." "I should have done it a long time ago." "I should have done it when we had more bullets." "But I listen to you." "They're gonna catch up with us and they are going to kill us." "They are going to rape me and then they'll gonna rape your son - and then they'll gonna kill us." "And eat us." "Whatever it takes..." " Stop it!" "I told you..." "Stop it!" "I'll do anything." "Anything..." "Like what?" "I don't even know why even ask you." "I should just go ahead and empty every goddamn bullet into my brain - and leave you with nothing!" "That's what I should do." "Shh." "Please don't talk like that." "You're right." "There's nothing left to talk about." "My heart was ripped out of me the night he was born." "We have to..." "We will survive this." "We are... not going to quit." "Not going to quit." "You want us to survive?" "Don't you get it?" "I don't wanna." "I want you let me take him with me." "Don't touch it." "I would take him with me if it weren't for you." "You know that." "Listen to yourself." "You sound - crazy." "Other families are doing it." "Let's take a bath." "Listen..." "We have to talk." "That man back there " "there are not many good guys left." "That's all." "Gotta watch out for the bad guys." "We have to just..." "keep carrying the fire." "What fire?" "Fire inside you." "Are we still the good guys?" "Yes, we're still the good guys." "Of course we are." "We always will be, no matter what happens?" "Always will be." "What is it?" "It's a treat for you." "Go ahead." "Really good." "You should have some." " No, you drink it." "I want you to have some." "It's bubbly." "It's for you." "Come on." "I'm coming." "I'm hungry." " I know." "So am I." "And we are still heading south?" " Of course." "There might be food there." "Everything depends on reaching the coast." "Okay?" "Okay." "I wish I was with my mom." "Meaning you wish you were dead." "Yeah." "You mustn't say that." "It's a bad thing to say." "I can't help it." "Just stop thinking about her." "Would you at least say goodbye to him." "No." " No?" "No." "No." "Why not?" " I can't." "Why can't..." "why can't you stay until morning?" "Because I can't." "Can you spend one more night with me." " I have to go." "Why?" "Why you have to go?" "Why...!" "?" "What am I to tell him?" "What am I to tell him?" "You go south." "Keep him warm, and you go south." "No one will survive another winter here." "Why won't you help me?" "Where are you going?" "You can't even see out there." "I don't need to." "I don't need to see." "I beg you." " Don't." "Please." " No." "Don't." "She was gone." "And the coldness of it was her final gift." "But she died somewhere in the dark." "There are no other tales to tell." "Look!" "Those colours." "Want to go in?" "Come on." "Papa!" "There's a reason this is locked." "Now I give you treatment." " What?" "Keep your eyes closed." "How's that feel?" "Shampoo." " Shampoo." "How do I look?" "What do you think?" "Can I taste some?" "Why?" " You don't like it." "Makes you feel funny." "Okay?" "You think I come from another world, don't you?" "Sort of." "What was that?" "Sounded like a dog." "It's not a dog." "It is." "It is a dog." "If it's a dog, he'll be with someone." "Who?" " I don't know." "I'm not waiting us to find out." "No, I don't wanna go." " It's not safe here anymore." "But..." " We're going." "What are we going to do with all the stuff?" "We just have to take what we can." "You always wait bad things are going to happen." "But we found this place." "I don't have anything for you." "You can look if you want." "I've got nothing." "We are no robbers." "I said, we are no robbers." "What are you?" "Just like you." "What are you following me?" " We are not following you." "We've got food we can give..." " He's not getting anything." "He's scared." " Everybody is scared." "Please, Papa." "Alright." "Just one." "Here." "Take it." "Spare a spoon?" " He's not getting a spoon." "Pull it." "You got it." "Eat it." "It's good." "He's hungry." "I see him." "I know what you gonna ask me." "The answer is "No"." "What's the question?" "We can't keep him." "You'd have dinner with us?" "I don't know." "What do I have to do?" "You'd have to do anything." "You walk okay?" "Help him." " You help him." "I can't." " I can walk." "How old are you?" "Ninety." " Ninety my ass." "Is that what you tell people, so they wont hurt you?" " Aha." "It'll work?" " Nope." "What's your name?" " Ely." "Ely?" " What's wrong with Ely?" "Don't hold his hand." "That little boy." "Is he your little boy?" "Your son?" "What's it look like?" "I don't know." "I can't see really good." "Is that right?" " Yeah." "Can you see me?" "No, I can tell somebody's there." "You have a good little boy." "Time for you to go to sleep." " No." " Yes" "Good night." " Night." "Good night." " Go to sleep." " Good night, son." "You see that or can't you?" "There." "When I saw that boy " "I thought I've died and he - was an angel." "I had a boy one time." "Of my own." "I never thought I'd see a child again." "Never thought that would..." "happen to me." "He's an angel." "To me he is a god." "I hope that's not true." "To be on the road with the last god like that " "Would be nothing but a..." "dangerous situation." "What happened to your son?" "I can't talk about that." "Not with you... anyway." "I knew this was coming." "This or something like it." "There were warnings." "Some people thought it was a con." "I always believed in it." "Did you try to get ready for it?" "What would you do?" "Even if you knew what to do you wouldn't know what to do." "Supposing " "you were the last man left alive?" "How would you know that?" "That you're the last man alive?" "I guess you'll know it." "You just be it." "Maybe God would know." " God would know what?" "God would know what?" "What he knows?" "If there's a god up there, he would have turned his back on us by now." "Whoever made humanity, will find no humanity here, no sir." "No sir." "So beware." "Beware." "Do you wish you would die?" "No." "It's foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these." "He's going to die and you don't care." " I care enough." "When we're out of food you'll have more time to think about it." "Yeah, but... you always say watch out for bad guys." "That old man wasn't a bad guy." "We can't even tell him." "That'll keep it safe." "Do you know where we are?" " About a hundred miles from the coast." "As the crow flies." "As the crow flies?" "It means going in a straight line." "Which we can't." "There's not any crows." "Are there?" "Just in books." "Yes." "Just in books." "Do you think there could be crows somewhere?" "It's unlikely." "They fly to Mars or someplace?" "You know what:" "Let's go back." "What is it?" "Let's go." "Come on." "...no, no nooo..." "Hey, hey, move on." "Stop!" "It's okay, its okay." "It's okay, its okay." "It's gone now." "I had a bad dream." "Stop." "Stop." "I tell him, he've dream about bad things happening - shows him still fighting, you're still alive." "When you start a dream about good things- you should start to worry." "Here?" "No." "Closer than we think." "That's us." "And this is all sea." "This..." "Is it blue?" "The sea?" "I don't know." "Used to be." "I'm sorry, it's not blue." "We'll be all right." "Just keep heading south." "What's on the other side?" "Nothing." "There has to be something." "Maybe there's a father and his little boy - and they're sitting on the beach too." "You alright?" "What is it?" "Feels..." "Jesus." "You're burning up." "Sorry." " It's okay." "You didn't do anything wrong." "Can I ask you a question?" "Of course." "What would you do if I died?" "You died?" "I wanna die too." "So you could be with me?" "So I could be with you." "What are you doing?" "Going out to that boat." "What are you gonna do?" " See what can I find for us." "Here." "And keep a good lookout, okay?" "Okay." " Be warm." "Hey!" "What the hell happened?" "I'm sorry." " They took everything." "Our food." "My shoes." "Son of a bitch!" "Okay..." "listen." " I'm sorry." "Didn't mean to." "It's okay." " I fell asleep." "Don't feel sorry." "We'll gonna get them back." "Get away from the cart." "Put the knife down." "Fuck you I put down a shit." "Goddamn you." " Papa, please don't kill the man." "Please." "Alright." "Alright, I done what you said." " Please, Papa." "Listen to the boy." "How long have you following us?" " Following?" "HOW LONG?" "I'm not fucking following you." "I saw the cart in the sand and took it, that's all." "I ain't touched the boy." " Take your clothes off." "No!" " Take them off!" "Every god-damned stitch." "No." "Don't do this." " Do it!" "All right." "Just take it easy." " I'll kill you!" "Right where you stand." "Watch up." "Please mister." "You ain't gotta do this." "And the shoes." "Throw them into cartwheel." "Throw them in the cart!" "Do it!" "You don't gotta do this to me, man." "You ain't gotta..." "I don't wanna learn." "I'm not going to be around forever!" "Sooner or later you've to look after yourself." "Help me with the goddamn cart!" "Would you stop sulking." "He's gone." "He is not gone." " What do you want me to do?" "Just help him, Papa." "Just help him." "He's hungry." "He's going to die." " He's going to die anyway." "He's so scared." " I'm scared." "Do you understand?" "I'm scared." "You're not the one who has to worry about everything." "What?" "What you saying?" "YES I AM!" "I am the one." "Okay?" "Okay." "Help me to push." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Papa." "What?" "What have you got?" "What is it?" " It's a beetle." "Get down!" "Papa!" " Son of a bitch!" "No, no!" "Papa!" "...no, no, no..." "Cock sucking motherfucker!" "Who else is here?" " You piece of shit!" "Why are you following us?" "We're not following anybody." "You were following us." "Right there." "Fuck." "No." "We have to leave it." "I can't do it anymore." "If I were God," "I would have made the world just so and no different." "And so I have you..." "I have you." "Okay." "You're okay?" " Don't get too comfortable here." "You need to keep going." "You don't know, what might be down the road." "No." "You're going to be okay, Papa." "You have to." " This has been a long time coming." "Just keep..." "just keep going south." "Do everything the way we did it." "Keep the gun with you always." "Don't let anyone take it from you." "You need to find the good guys but you can't take any chances." "You hear me?" "But I want to be with you." "I want to be with you, too." "But I can't." "You have to..." "have to let me go." "No." "Just... just take me with you." "Please." "I thought I could." "Please Papa." " I can't." " What should I do?" "Just hold my hand." "You said you wouldn't leave me." "I know." "I'm sorry." "My boy." "You have my whole heart." "You always did." "Papa." "Papa." "Papa." "Where's the man you were with?" "Your father?" "Yes." "He was my papa." "Maybe you should come with me." "Are you one of the good guys?" "Yeah, I'm one of the good guys." "Why don't you put that pistol away?" "I'm not supposed to let anyone take it from me." "No matter what." "I don't want your pistol." "I just don't want you pointing it at me." "You see, you've got two choices here." "You can stay here with your papa." "Or you can go with me." "If you stay here, you need to keep off the road." "How do I know you're one of the good guys?" "You don't." "You'll have to take a shot." "Do you have any kids?" "Yes, we do." "Do you have a little boy?" "We have a little boy and a little girl." "How old is he?" " About your age." "Maybe a little older." "And you didn't eat them." "No." "So, you don't eat people." " No." "We don't eat people." "And - are you carrying the fire?" "Am I what?" " Carrying the fire." "You're kind of weirded out, aren't you kid?" "Well, are you?" "Yeah, I'm carrying the fire." "Can I come with you?" "Yes." "You can." "I'll talk to you every day." "And I won't forget, no matter what." "No matter what, Papa." "I'm so glad to see you." "We were following you, did you know that?" "We saw you with your papa." "You're so lucky." "We were so worried about you." "Now we don't have to worry about a thing." "How's that sound?" "Is that okay?" "Okay." "Subs and corrections by richard, Jan 9-12,13-2010." "Finland"