EJ003X | audio | night 011

[littlemissfutility]

Hello?

[ The voice is whispery right now, but it still sounds young and female. Enough talk, and some of the vowels might sound just a touch southern. ]

Is there anybody out there? Dawn? Is Dawn here?

[ A pause. ]

If someone's out there, I need help. And if whoever's out there doesn't wanna help - I'm armed.

Comments

[littlemissfutility]

Are there a lot of guns here?

[2199]

Do you think it's worth the risk?

[littlemissfutility]

I'm just asking.

[2199]

I imagine some people came here with a gun. There are unfriendlies in the field as well; we don't know who they are or what they want. They could be people pretending to be nice on the radio. No one's been here for more than a month.

[littlemissfutility]

[ Hm. Spurred on mostly because she already knows that not everyone who's nice to you is actually nice, Gawd. ]

But you think I should trust you, don't you.

[2199]

I don't know anything about you. Maybe you've shot someone and now you're playing innocent on the radio. I can't know. I can't see you. But you said you needed help, and you don't need to trust me for me to help you.

[littlemissfutility]

We're all stuck here, right? So you probably can't help me get back to Atlanta.

[2199]

That's the only thing you need?

[littlemissfutility]

It's a start.

[2199]

When you look up, can you find the north star?

[littlemissfutility]

You draw a line from one of the dippers, right?

[2199]

Yes. And then you can chart north or south, right?

[littlemissfutility]

Yeah.

[2199]

Good. Keep track of what direction you're going. In the wilderness, most people die from getting lost in a relatively small area.

Do you know how to make a fire?

[littlemissfutility]

[ She's pressing the button, about to reply, when the woman asks if she can make a fire. Her laugh is a surprised little thing. ]

I know how to live in the woods.

[ Obviously. ]

[2199]

[Why? For any number of reasons, none of which Moss can fix or change. She can only grimly think good.]

The tropics? I was trained to survive in deserts. Arizona.

[littlemissfutility]

I told you, I'm from Georgia. It gets pretty hot.

[2199]

It's a completely different biome. Food that looks safe there won't be safe here. Boil your water. Stay away from roots and berries, just to be safe.

[littlemissfutility]

I'm not stupid.

[ She might have drunk some unboiled water, though, so, like. Maybe a little stupid. ]

[2199]

I didn't say you were.

[littlemissfutility]

Then why are you telling me to boil water? Are you gonna tell me not to eat mushrooms, too? It's been two years. I know what to do.

[2199]

I am going to guess that you've experienced some catastrophic event, taking place after 2015?

[littlemissfutility]

No. It was 2010.

[2199]

[It's moving up again.]

Last I remember, it was one-niner- [Oh, for-] Nineteen-ninety-seven.

[littlemissfutility]

Really? [ Weird. ] I was three then.