I grew up in one of those places where everyone knew each other, the
middle of nowhere, Ohio, big Catholic population, you know, the type
a place you could blink and miss entirely that you'd see on the bumpy roads
through thirty miles of farmland. If you happen to pass the church lawn on
Sunday, it'd be packed with cars from sun up to noon, sometimes later.
If there was a potluck, handshakes, hugs, homemade dip, the
older folks gossip, and the kids find ways to have fun without getting their
clothes too dirty. But pot luck's ended, and if you listen closely,
you could hear parents sealing at their kids right after the car doors closed,
something about staring out the window during mass. Apparently dad's been staring at the
new organists too. Recycling bins had lids to cover the week's worth of bottles
taking out to the curb Monday morning. Black eyes got covered with concealer.
Then next thing you know, it's Sunday again and everyone's smiling. Love your
neighbors and let them think they know you. Amen. Episode three, Hail
Mary, You're going to get in so much trouble from who exactly mister Thompson
did the final sweep of the field half an hour ago. He isn't coming
back. It was always so easy for him to be calm. It wasn't
his scholarship on the line if we got caught. I didn't even want to
be on the stupid baseball team, but being as with athletic talent got me
free college and reason to be out of the house. So hey, I
went with it, Elliott, It's fine. I promise nobody's coming. Nobody's
looking to bust us. My parents think I'm at your place and yours think
we're at mine, So we're good until curfew. Let's just enjoy the peace.
And where did you even get the Devil's lettuce? From Golden Child?
Those guys we met at the campground over the summer. I've been saving it
for a special occasion. I figured your last official game was caused for a
little celebration to freedom from baseball and to the lucky team getting the world's most
apathetic picture. Long may he sit on the bench. You're the worst.
Walker and I were pretty strange pair even when we were kids, but nobody
knew either of us like we knew each other. And that helped me survive.
When he looked at me, he was seeing me for who I really
was. Having someone really know you and still choose to love you is intoxicating.
How did that English paper turn out? Ah C minus what but you
actually tried this time? What happened? I'm telling you, missus Abrams has
had it out for me since I quit ultra serving. The woman is deranged.
She is not deranged, Oh yes she is. Plus she's in quilting
club with my mom, so I'm sure that hasn't helped anything. They probably
sit there talking about how much they hate me in my opinions about checkl and
hind or maybe you just suck at English. Fuck right off, it's really
clear tonight. I bet we could see a planet or two if we look
hard enough. Come on, let's lay out in the outfield grass. Once
you're a Pittsburgh man, you're going to be starved for clear skies like these.
City living has its price. I'm sure we'll find plenty of other things
to do. We've always been good at that l Come on, what romantic
knight under the stars? And you expect me not to be wistful? Love?
You know I can't go. You keep saying that, but you can.
You got accepted a pit two just to match him. The two of
us in college in a big new place, no curfews, no sneaking around
all the time. It's perfect. Father Nichols is dying, Elliott, and
he already told the seminary that I'm his choice to take over when he passes.
It's literally his dying wish. Why should what he wants be more important
than what you want. You have your whole life to be a pre You
don't have to rush. He has taken care of everyone for decades, including
me, and no matter how prepared we are, it's going to be devastating
to a lot of people. I want to be here to support the community
when his time comes. That's what I want. I'm sorry. I wasn't
trying to upset you. I know I'm not upset. I promise you know.
If I could have it both ways, I would, right. I
just want you to be happy, Elliott, even if it means leaving me
behind. I'm not leaving you behind. I would never do that. I
love you. I love you too. A few weeks later, I missed
my deadline to commit to Pitt. I could barely hear my dad screaming at
me about it. That night, all I could think of was Walker holding
my hand while we figured out our schedules of the community college. We were
going to commute together and everything. If his dreams couldn't wait, then mine
could back. Then there was no future for me without him any thoughts on
what we should be looking for? Anything that isn't means. I was thinking
more like places to find food. There's a new stand over there, Maybe
there's an old cafe inside the station or something. Are you asking me?
You're the one that's done this before. You must know better than me where
we should look. You've been on the train for twice as long as me.
You haven't had to go forage for food yet. What was that noise?
Did you hear? The last couple of stations have already been picked through.
This place has probably been turned over a dozen times. Hey, are
you allergic to anything? Archie? Get down? You're gonna kill yourself.
I'm just trying to get a good look around. Ohio is flat enough.
You can see plenty from the ground. Would you get down before I throw
something at you? I just I really thought I heard something up there.
It was probably the conductor. He's been wandering around doing a full chassis inspection
for the last couple hours. Can't still be hunting me? Wasn't real?
Can't be real? Archie, Archie. Okay, looks like I get the
first pick for dessert. Who's there? Where the fuck did you get a
train? I'll be the one asking questions, fair enough. My name's Elliot
Denver. Nice to meet you. And what exactly were you expecting to find
here? Elliott? Do you know about something we haven't found yet? Probably
not. I've never actually been to this train station before, so I don't
know what used to be around. I mean, you're probably better at scavenging
than I am anyhow, just based on the luck of you, the look
of me. Yeah, you look like a scavenger straight out of a movie
or something. Don't you feel gross sticking through the garbage like that? You
know, we can't all be lucky enough to come from nowhere, little farm
towns with fancy bikes and holier than now attitudes. You're right, and thank
goodness for that. I'm pretty sure I just offended you. Can I can
I start over? You and this train are the most impressive things I have
seen in a long time. So why don't I show you this instead of
flapping my dumbs? Holy shit, I think you mean holier them thou shit?
Are you crazy? If crazy people get to board this crazy train,
then yes, you'll have to get the conductor's approval. Is he the one
climbing around on the train roof? No, that's just Archie. He'll want
to talk to you too, though, arch Look over here. Yeah,
I told you you were going to eat shit? Are you all right?
Were you the one thing around le tracks? He was in the woods,
Archie, I'm telling you it was just the conductor. Well you heard it
too, right, Yeah, I've been hearing it all day. The only
other person I saw was this really lanky guy with some power tools heading towards
the front of the train. I was gonna go talk to him about YouTube.
Were closer, Ladies and gentlemen. We will be departing with the South
Charleston station in fift ten minutes. That's fifteen minutes departing South Charleston station.
Please be sure to stow any luggage and take your seats to prepare for departure.
Next up, Lexington, we need to get Boodo. We definitely need
and then we'll be okay, Archie. Oh so I get grilled and almost
left behind and this guy just gets to walk on. You found him,
so I know he's real at least was you know. We're gonna need all
the medicine that we could get. All right, my turn? Then why
should we let you on? I thought you said it was up to the
conductor. Think of this as a preliminary screening. Okay, I'm strong and
fast. I don't have anyone or anything left, and I have a very
low tolerance for bullshit these days. I'm happy to pull whatever weight you ask,
so long as I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not.
Well, said Elliott, You'll need something small that can fit in the ticket
box. Anything works, Just tell them it's a ticket. Okay, I've
got this rusty old bike chain. Yeah, let me just let me just
get that off the bike. A perfectly good bike ruined. I'm gonna need
it where I'm going. I'm running a fucking train. So what's your story,
Elliot? Why are you on the run? Huh oh yeah, it's
kind of a doozy. Just hear me out. Let us ask that the
Lord continue to guide us safely down the path He has planned for us all,
and that we continue to serve Him as we persever through this test of
faith. Let us pray for strength in our devotion to His great plan and
to our brothers and sisters, so that when this is all over, we
can take our rightful place in the Kingdom of Heaven. And finally, let
us pray once again for our neighbor, Caitlin Cooper. May God give her
the strength to overcome her illness and join us once again in the House of
the Lord. Amen. Thank you all once again for coming. Please ensure
your neighbors return home safely. Elliott will be around tomorrow to distribute the weekly
ration boxes, and the community meeting will be yet Wednesday night at eight.
As always, our supplies are limited, so if we cannot provide everything on
your household requests, please be patient as we continue to do everything we can
to support you all. Thank you. Things got really bad back home after
the electricity went down One morning. That same day, my dad was out
the door with a bunch of guys who looted their neighbors houses and disappeared.
Everyone else who was left saw Walker as the leader. No question about it.
Next thing I knew, he and I were gathering up everything we could
from grocery stores, offices, restaurants, anywhere, really, and we brought
it all back to the church. Walker worked so hard to keep that town
together. Everyone's pretty quick to follow the guy with the most dutiful heart.
Dave Cooper has been saying Caitlin's cancer got worse very quickly. The pain is
the worst it's been in weeks, and now she can barely get out of
bed. It's horrible. I was she going to last without a hospital?
I don't know. All we can do is offer what we have. I
put extra medical rations and painkillers in their box. Shouldn't we be saving our
medical supplies. Well, we have to give what we can. L It's
what we would want for ourselves. All right, you're the boss. Let's
end her one of our soups too. I can skip lunch. No,
you're a sweet man. Yeah yeah, no, you can pretend all you
want. Tough guy, but I already know you have a heart. Too
late to hide it now only for you. Walker knew we didn't have any
supplies to spare, but I didn't fight him much on giving out extra rations
This was his system after all, and we were together. No, he
knew I was just his right hand, ma'am. But we had this whole
life together. The world ended, but mine was still right here, and
that was enough. My dad was gone, my mom was buried, but
Walker was finally my family. It's like this was the only way for both
of us to get what we wanted, all right, mister and missus.
Cooper got a care package from the church. Right here. What's going on
in there? Caitlyn Cooper, supposedly on her deathbed, was drinking wine out
of the bottle. Dave stood across from her, filling a box with bottle
on bottle of unopened pain mids. Their kitchen was filled with food. I
threw the door opened so hard I cracked a little window on it. I
just grabbed Dave and screamed in his face, how can you lie to us?
I couldn't see straight. All I could think about was Walker and how
he spent our whole lives trying to convince me that I'd lived in a town
of good people. But he was wrong. These people would pretend to believe
in anything to hide how nasty their hearts really are. They've pulled a knife
on me. Then I pulled the leg off the coffee table and sent the
wine and the pills rolling. I got Dave in the temple on my first
swing. You killed him. I did what had to be done, and
his wife. Yes, you've got to fucking kidding me right now. It's
the truth you both deserve to know. I want you to trust me,
so it's best to be completely honest. No, trust you really. Look,
I'm not asking for forgiveness or permission. You two wanted to know everything.
I didn't assume you meant that conditionally. They were selfish liars, and
they would have killed me to keep pretending they weren't, so I defended myself.
We all know how things are now. The only people we have to
answer to are the ones helping us survive. You killed someone, multiple someone's
how are we supposed to rule out the possibility that you'll kill us? I
was the only kid too scared to play Bloody Mary in the fifth grade.
What Everyone except Walker made fun of me for chickening out of playing. I
learned how to knit in middle school, but I haven't done it since then,
and now I kind of forgot. At hell, I can't carry a
tune to save my life. My favorite movie is Ferrispeeler's Day Off. I
hate the word nimble, and I've killed two people. I can't make you
trust me, but I'm a lot more than just a blood on my hands,
nimble. Look, all I'm asking is for you to understand. Is
that the same thing you told Walker? It went like this? Where were
you? Hello to you too, Darling. I had a lot of energy,
so I decided to go for a run. Remember the running path it
would make us take in high school during June. It's getting so overgrown lately.
Did you get in touch with Dave Cooper? Walk? I already told
you no. Their house is empty. Nobody has seen them. What about
Caitlin? I don't know what else to tell you, Walker, They're gone.
It's time to face facts and move on. They couldn't have just left,
Elliot, Caitlin has cancer. Where would they go? That isn't your
problem anymore. You can't control what people do. Maybe we can send a
few people out to search nearby. You're not sending me out to look for
them, absolutely not. He has been a part of this parish for decades,
since you and I were children. We need people like him to keep
the faith. If everyone else starts to lose it, now, our whole
community could wind up a lost cause. Yeah, because there's nothing worse than
a lost cause. Huh. Why are you being so spiteful about this?
Because I'm tired, Walker, all right, I'm tired. This isn't about
you God, of course, why would anything ever be about me? Elliot?
You only see them when they're all on their best behavior. But the
other of the time, they lie and they sneak, They only worry about
themselves, and you never see him because you're too busy being the next mother
Teresa to notice that isn't fair and you know it. Oh yeah, like
you really believe they're all sitting at home saying they're hail Mary's right now,
don't talk down to me. I'm not your mother, Elliott. Well,
then don't get pissy with me, because I'm the only one who cares enough
to be honest with you. The only thing you're being right now is an
asshole. You're obviously annoyed and taking it out on everyone else, like it's
our fault that you don't want a relationship with God. Okay, fuck you.
At least I'm honest about it instead of pretending like all these judgmental fakers.
And let's be a real walker. If God actually cared about us,
we wouldn't be holed up in a filthy old church in the middle of the
apocalypse. You're being a dick. Okay, I'm not going to have this
conversation with you right now. You did everything right right. You dedicated your
whole life to serving God. Well look where that got you stuck feeling responsible
for people who only care about what they can take from you. I'm sick
of being a part of it. We are surviving together, all of us,
united through faith, or maybe they're surviving like Caitlin and Dave by lying
and stealing. That's not fucking funny, elliot, do you hear me laughing?
You can't just say things like that. You want to yell at me
like I'm the bad guy, then I may as well commit. They were
bartering supplies from their medical rations. They faked her condition to steal her medicine
and then traded it off. That's ridiculous. I saw it myself when two
days ago, when I delivered their rations, they were putting together a box
for Calvin and Maureen Murphy unopened bottles of Med's in exchange for extra food and
wine from Calvin Cellar. Their pantry was full. But if they feel like
they had to steal to be comfortable, then there must be something more we
can do to help them. You're fucking kidding me. What about everyone else
who bartered with them? Who knows how many people kept quiet to protect and
take advantage of you. What's the point of Eddie of this if not for
them? They don't deserve our help. Elliot, Please, you have to
go look for them. I don't care if you think it's them. I
need you to go find them. They're gone, Walker, They're dead.
What Dave came after me with a knife. When I saw him, he
was going to kill me. I can still see his face when I closed
my eyes. That man taught my Sunday school class in second grade. He
gave out full sized candy bars on Halloween. He would smile and tap the
back of your hand with his thumb at the end of our handshake. But
in that moment I saw who he was underneath all that. He was ready
to kill me so he could have what he wanted, And it made everything
so clear. We were just two godless men willing to do whatever it took
to survive. No, no, no, no, no, no no
no, this can't be happening. I don't regret, Elliott, I don't
fuck Walker. I'm sick of them lying and taking advantage of us. These
people don't care about you, or God or anyone except themselves. It's just
a means to an end for them. Let's just go. We can clear
this place out, take everything we can carry, and find somewhere else together.
You you have to go, not without you. You're a murderer,
Elliot Day We're going to kill me. Doesn't that mean anything to you.
I have never tried to take your faith away from your Walker, but I
am putting my foot down. It's them or me. You have to leave,
Elliot. You cannot stay here for your safety and to everyone else's.
So that's it what I stick by you for twenty four years, give up
everything for you. I never asked you to do this. Everything I've ever
done has been for you. I love you. That doesn't mean you go
around fucking killing people. Elliott Water look at me. Please. All I'm
asking is for you to understand. Go. Thank you for everything. Thank
you for finally making your fucking choice. I was planning to go back and
gather a few things from the church the following night. There was still a
part of me that was hoping he would see me and change his mind.
But I never got the chance. Why not. Something must have happened at
the community meeting. The place was still full when I got there, hours
after things usually wrapped up. I didn't see Walker anywhere, and I had
no idea what had happened since the fight, so for all I knew,
I could have been walking into an angry mob. I took what I could
from the Cooper's, grabbed my bike, and I haven't looked back bad so
leaving like that, there's a lot I would go back and change if I
could, but I can't. Anyways, Fuck it, Tomorrow's another day,
So am I good to get on? Or right? Sorry? There's kind
of in no order of operations around here. The conductor needs to prove you'd
take it before you get or they'll try to kill you. Oh okay,
He's really not that bad of a guys, just kind of picky, very
very picky. Sounds more like it color me intrigued, Archie. He also
has really perfect timing. That's probably him. Now get inside. Shouldn't we
wait into the conductor gets here? That's not real? Buy it can't be
real? Is Is that a fucking gorilla? Elliott? Grab him run?
Thank you for listening to this episode of On Schedule. The show is created
and produced by Kyle Goss and Caroline Burton, with associate production by Victoria Pereira.
This episode was written by Caroline Burne and Kyle Goss. In this episode,
you Heard the Conductor voice by Kyle Goss, Archie Muller voiced by Christopher
Dina Sadie Laskin's voiced by Kiera Frost, Elliott Denver voiced by Connor, Riley
Walker, Prescott voiced by Mme Bentenkerr and David Caitlin Cooper voiced by Tobias Hawker
and Caroline Byrne fully In. Sound design was done by Kyle Goss and Caroline
Byrne. Audio editing was done by Caroline Byrne Our. Theme music is Hands
composed by Christina Jane George and performed by Christina Jane George and Anthony Saddig.
This episode also features it Is, It Is, It Is? What Is?
And On Rocks of Black Obsidian, also composed by Christina Jane George.
You can find all of her original pieces on her SoundCloud page. Our cover
art is designed by Caroline Byrne. A special thanks to this episode's consultants,
Kiera Frost and Taylor Heffner. Be sure to subscribe to on Schedule so you
don't miss any of the exciting action to come, and if you're enjoying the
story so far, consider leaving us a view. We release new episodes on
the first and fifteenth of every month. You can also follow us on social
media at on Schedule, cast on Instagram and Twitter, and on Schedule podcast
on Facebook and YouTube. We are so excited to have you aboard. Are
you enjoying the ride so far? Settle in as we keep on chugging into
our next episode, A special minisode from the Conductor himself, orientation for new
passengers of the Advent Nomad