We're Alive: Descendants - Chapter 19 - Dwelling in the Past - Part 3 of 3

We're Alive

Descendants

Written and directed by Casey Weyland

Chapter 19

Dwelling in the Past

Part Three of three.

Ow! Mother!

Those zaps kind of hurt, don't they? I told you the equipment was building up static. You didn't believe me.

Did you even ground yourself?

Well, I'm grounded now. Would you let me do this? Thank you.

Okay.

Geez.

Oh, right.

So, is this Westport's emergency frequency? Yes, I already dialed it in. Everything should be working, but

there's been no signal all day.

All

day?

You checked during the day?

I'm just saying HF waves work better at night. It should get clearer.
Well, it's not.

Or

maybe the equipment's broken, right?

How long has it been sitting here at the Ranger Station, unused?

Years? I don't know.

I just hope it still works.

Okay. Well.

Oh, where did this one come from? Don't touch that. It's the Republic Radio I sold.
It's meant for listening only. Oh, okay.
Okay, I'm just... I'm just curious.
Alright?

Hmm.

Um.

Oh. Well oh, what about this one? It's Tanya's sat phone.
It works, but there's no one I can call in Westport, so it's not all that useful. I can touch this one? Just be gentle.
Okay.

It.

Oh, okay. Well, at least it's authenticated.
And uh, the satellites still are receiving, and

well, I wonder for how much longer,

you know. You know what I'll take it back.
Stop touching that. Just turn it off, put it back in the safe, will ya? Okay.

Why, um, do I need to put it in the safe, though? Because those are very rare. Same as the radio.
Tanya kept them locked up in case anyone came snooping around.

You'd think the infected would keep raiders away. They're not always on the surface, she said.
Now, would you put the sat phone away, please?

Okay, I was just checking to see if you did if you tried any redials. Yes, obviously, I tried the redials.
Nothing went through. There's only one number stored in the memory, anyway.

One number? What? Who would Tanya be calling anyway? Well, I don't know. Someone listed as Alvin.
But it was just another dead number. Wait, you say Alvin?

Yeah.

Oh, sh shit, his papers. I forgot.
What? What is it? Nothing. Go.
Just nothing. Because

just keep doing what you're doing. Um,

just let me know if you need any help, okay? I'm good. I got this.
Thank you.

Okay, bye.

Oh, uh, Peggs. Oh,

hey, Will. Are are

you okay?

Yeah,

I'm.

I'm just waiting for Nick.

Did you get the radio to work?

Dean is still trying.

No luck. Hey, how's Tanya? Is she in there? Yeah, she's um resting now.
Nick is talking with her. Right.

And uh, and you're you're waiting.

I wanted to leave them be.

Um

mind if I wait with you then?

Sure.

Can't she just talk to Tanya in the morning? Well,

not not really.

I have an important question about earlier. Yeah.
Well, knowing her, she'll just have you asking more of those before you get the answers you're looking for.

Yeah.

That's uh kind of how things went down in the tunnels.

Well, before it all went bad.

How did it happen? Her episode?

Well,

I mean, just like Nick said, he was arguing with Tanya, didn't like something she was saying, and then

she sort of like

zoned out. Wasn't the first time either.
Oh yeah, for us too.

Happened Happened with her when Dean and I first arrived. I don't know, I thought it might be stress, but what if it's something else? Mm-hmm.
All those bite marks. Like a ticking time bomb, right?

She's had them for years, so maybe not, but

I am getting more concerned.

I don't know about you, but

I don't think I want to stay here any longer than we have to.

Are you going home soon? I think so.

I haven't brought it up with Nick, but I don't know. I think that'd be a good idea.

You flew here, right? Is that how you're gonna leave? Well, we still need more jet fuel. Dean already brought some in through the tunnels from the Republic.

A few more canisters, and we should have enough to get back to Westport.

Well, that's if Nick even wants to leave.

Maybe, um...

Maybe I should talk to him. Yeah, if you'd like.

I didn't want to be the one to take time away from his grandma. I I mean, they've already missed so much, but

I also do not feel safe here. Me too.

Hey,

where did the infected go?

They were all over the visitor center earlier. Asleep.

Most went down into the cavern. Good.

I don't really like them around.

I have been constantly looking over my shoulder. I get why Tanya isn't worried, but how about the rest of us? I carry my moda pistol around in my bag just in case.

Nick says we shouldn't be without one.

Where's your gun?

Um,

I don't have one. Well, I'm sure we could get you one if you don't feel safe.
I thought it was pretty much a rule everyone had to carry one in the red zones.

Dean brought enough weapons with us on the plane. It's not that.

I just

won't use them.

Oh,

yeah, yeah.

I think I remember Nick saying something about that.

But you've never had to fire one?

You survived the original outbreak.

No, I've been forced to use them before.

But I never want to be in that position again.

I.

I just. I don't like guns.
I never have.

Did something happen?

It's complicated.

Was it bad?

Yeah.

I don't like talking about it. I'm sorry.
I just.

It's.

It's just something happened to me, too.

I've been struggling to get it out of my head, and

it just sounded like you might understand.

I don't think Nick does, so. No, no, he wouldn't.

Because, because

he's done it so many times, and

this just once for me, because it was just one time.

And I can't think. I can't stop thinking about it.
Will, it's just won't.

I just.

Oh, boy. Will, breathe.
Breathe. Will.

I know this feeling.

Come here.

I understand.

Something happened to me too.

She was my best friend.

Was it um

before the outbreak or

after?

Before

we went to college together

She was a few years older in the JD program.

JD, it's a jurist, doctor, like lawyer, lawyer.

Absolutely incredible person. All honors.
Graduated early. I mean,

the best. Like, she immediately became a prosecutor.

Her first solo case was against some guy who held up and killed a store clerk. She put everything she had into that prosecution.
She

just wanted to make a name for herself.

Got him life in prison.

Did they get out?

Find her?

No.

But his friends did.

Ended up driving by while she was walking to her car. We were going to meet up and celebrate her win, and

I was on the phone with her.

She seemed so happy. And then

she was gone.

She was shot so many times that

they had a hard time even identifying her. Oh my god.

People mock me for not wanting to use a gun.

Especially with everything going on.

I get it, but

I could never separate what happened to her in my head.

Reliving it over and over, hearing it. Ugh.

So, yeah, I've been forced to pick one up and use it, but only as a last resort, and only to defend the people that I love.

Otherwise, I don't think I could have.

With a gun, the consequences come so fast.

There often isn't enough time even to think what those might be.

I, um.

That uh

happened today.

Before we got here. Nick getting shot? That's what's bothering you? No, no, he's gonna be fine though.
No, I I um

I

I I had to.

I was forced to.

At the checkpoint at the border, there was um

a guard.

Then uh

then there wasn't

it's it's all just so s still

clear in my head. Oh Will, Will, I am so sorry.

Me too.

I can't take it back.

I have to live with it now.

So many people I know have

been killed, but

this was the first time.

The first time I was the one to do it.

Will.

You were protecting yourself and Nick, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Then

you were defending the people you love.

I

yeah, I guess

it still hurts, though.

Yeah, because you have a heart, will,

and

it will heal.

Trust me.

Just, I, I, I, I wish there was a faster way of relief.

Yeah,

me too, but there isn't.

Just takes time.

And sometimes

someone to talk to

helps let it go.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, you're right.

Thanks.

You know, maybe you could just go lay down and wait till tomorrow to ask your questions.

I already prepped you're in Nick's room at the end of the hall. Um,

no, no, this has to happen first.

I have to talk to Tanya.

But, um...

Thanks, Peggs.

Really?

You mind keeping all that between us?

My husband was the only other person I could talk to about this, and I, um, yeah,

of course.

You know, I am tired of waiting as well.

Can you let Nick know I'll see him in the morning?

Of course.

Night, well.

Good night.

So, so headstrong, that dad of yours.

And him and that dog. Oh, I tell you.

Went all the way back for Lady. Risked his life.
Didn't care.

He had more heart than head.

You two have that in common.

Well, yeah, we probably wouldn't have gotten along then.

Yeah,

that sounds about right.

Too stubborn, the both of you.

Oh,

hey, well,

you you alright?

Huh?

Oh, uh,

yeah, I'm

I'm I'm fine.

Tanya, how uh how are you feeling? Oh, it's nice to lay down.

I overdid it, didn't I?

That

that uh wasn't the only reason.

What I said really didn't help out either.

Maybe I needed to hear it.

I was so far removed from your life, I

never stopped to think how much it might affect you.

I was focused on the wrong reasons.

I'm just

so, so sorry for all that happened.

Oh no,

I know.

You know, you should really get some rest. This is too much excitement for one day.

Oh, you need something, Will.

Oh, I, um.

Is it important right now?

Uh.

No, no, it can wait.

Good. That's good.

Nick, would you mind grabbing the small blue bottle from the drawer over there?

This one? That's it.

Grandma, what are these?

They help me sleep. Hard to do anymore.
Lots in my head.

That's um.

That's the

what? Well,

um,

no, uh, nothing.

Sure.

Thank you, honey.

I'm just so glad you're here, Nick.

Yeah.

Me too.

Night, grandma.

Night, sweetie.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
Hey, well, you okay? I mean, what's going on? Nick, those.

That's.

She's taking stardust. My grandma? No, no way.

I swear, I swear. Trust me, I would know what it looks like anywhere.
It's just it's in bill form.

Well,

are you gonna be okay?

Oh, me me? Yeah, yeah. No, I think so.
I just but you should tell her not to. That that stuff's not really gonna help her.
Well, look, I already set my grandma off once today.

I don't plan on doing it again.

Yeah, that that's

that's why I didn't show her this. At least not yet.
What is that?

A USB drive. What's that for? It was it's the papers.
What Tanya wanted from Inc. They're on here.
I scanned them from Alvin back in Prim. He he made me promise to give them to her the director.

So much has happened today. I just

forgot.

Well look, it's probably not a good idea right now. Better wait till morning.
I still got some shit to talk to her about too, but I mean, she can only handle so much.

Oh, yeah,

that

I can understand.

Well, you

okay? You

you seem like you're upset.

I it's it's just

I'm just tired. You sure?

All right, well why don't you just go turn in then? I mean, Peg says we have rooms at the end of the hall. Yeah, I I know.

Thanks. I just.

Yeah, yeah.

You're right. Look, man, you've you've done more than enough today.
Okay?

You deserve some rest.

Okay.

And uh, well,

thanks for having my back through all of this. And the other times, too.

You're a really good friend. You too, Nick.

I hate you.

Oh, what am I missing?

Oh, it's gotta be simple, right? Why can't I figure this out? And here I thought your MOS was supposed to be intelligence. Or was that a lie, too? Ha ha.

You know, that hurts on multiple levels. Well, it should.
It's not like you don't deserve it. Should I keep apologizing for something I had no control over?

I get it. I mean, it's just weird to think that you're one of those family types.
Shit, Vera, too.

Did you know about her the whole time? Would you think less of me if I told you yes? Oh, I already do. The only way that you have any chance of making this right is to keep telling the truth.

You and Pegs have made that abundantly clear.

This doesn't make any sense.

I mean, you're supposed to have some spy network shit, right?

Use that to call Westport. I do have something, but

it won't help.

So what is that? It's my sat phone. The only way the family communicates over long distances.
Now you know.

It was how I was able to stay in contact with the family from Westport without any transmissions getting intercepted.

We thought it was best to take it with Pegs and I and not leave it behind, so unfortunately, I have no way of calling back there.

But at least before we left, I was able to send a message to Oliver about where we were headed. So you knew where to go.
You mentioned something about that.

So I guess you brought us here. Should be thanking you for that, at least.
I'd love to take credit for that, but full honesty, it was not intentional.

It was me checking in, letting him know where we were headed. I had no idea what was going on with you, man.
I figured you were already at Lechagia.

A few days later, I got a message back from Oliver saying you were on your way here, but that Vera was staying.

Then

CJ doesn't know about Vera.

Or where any of us are? No, she doesn't. There's a message on my phone that I'm supposed to relay to her, but it's stuck here with me.

And there's no way of contacting my mom's back home either, except with this HF radio that doesn't seem to want to work.

Moms?

Wait, so Mira made it back too? You told Peggy you saw Bert and Kelly getting on the helicopter in Prim, right?

No offense, but if they made it, Mira would have to.

Heck, she was probably the one flying. That's what she used to do.

I just have a hard time believing that both Ruth and Mira are like tough super spies.

Yeah, I used to think that. I don't anymore.

It is intimidating. All those times spending the night at your house, we did so much crazy stuff.
How about that time that we snuck out to go see those girls, you remember?

Oh my god, yeah, how could I forget? Turns out they knew. Found that out later.
It's crazy because they just seem so normal, you know? I mean, that's the point, right?

Although, nowadays, are any of us really normal?

Look at this place. Look where we are.

Yeah.

Yeah. You...
you got a point.

Wait, so...

You said that you can contact Oliver, right? Back in Erim? Would they have a way to communicate with Westport? I already sent a message. Haven't heard a response.

Actually, now that I think about it, you were supposed to help me contact Vera now that I'm here. That's what I said in the message.
But I need to wait till the channel is clear and they're ready.

Okay, then just send another. It's not that simple, man.

Look, so text takes a while to manually encrypt. They'll get my first message, and another wouldn't matter.

I'm telling you, right now, this radio is the best chance we have to contact Westport.

Alright, alright, then just keep doing your thing.

You know,

not knowing what's going on with Vera right now, it's pretty rough. But I can't imagine what it's been like for CJ.

Her mom has no clue what's happened to Vera. Maybe she knows about Prim, but she still wouldn't know if she was okay.

I mean, while I was out there, the only thing that I could think about was how pegs must feel, not knowing. And look, I was right.
I'm sure with CJ, it's even worse.

Yeah, I'm sure it is.

You know, Dean,

that's one thing

out of all of this, I gotta thank you for. Being there for my mom.

Sh she said that you looked out for her.

Especially.

Especially after what happened to Michael.

Nick, however, I can help, you know I'm there for you. And your family.

I just wish there was a way I could have come clean with you about everything before all this happened.

Yeah, I wish you did so.

But

as Vera would say, this is our present situation. We just have to deal with how it is now.
That's...

That's true.

You sure there's no more set phones you can call in Westport? I mean, there's got to be some way. These things are very rare nowadays.
I can't begin to tell you how much they're worth.

Tanya has one too, but that doesn't do us any good.

So we got two.

I mean, hey, that's something at least. We could leave one behind

when

we go.

Is that the plan?

Take the plane, go home?

Maybe not right away,

but

yeah.

I think I want to spend at least another day with Tanya here.

But it's it's hard, you know?

Well,

it'll take at least one more trip to get enough jet fuel to make it to Westport, but

if that's what you want, I can get it ready.

Thanks.

This thing.

You know, Dean, as much as I'd love to sit and watch you struggle with this, and trust me, I would love to. I'm bushed.
This day and my eyelids are barely hanging on. Yeah, go get some sleep.

I don't know how long this might take.

But I'm not going to let it beat me.

No.

I don't think you would.

Night, Dean.

Good night, Nick.

Descendants will continue after a word from our sponsors.

And now, back to Descendants.

Morning, Sunshine.

Oh,

hey, Ma.

What a view

can see everything from up here.

Yeah,

sure can.

You want some coffee?

Oh,

yes, please. Didn't sleep well?

I mean, can you?

In this place?

Yeah, can't say it's been easy. Exactly.

What?

Come on, Ma. The coffee, the sweet talk, what what?

Nothing. Nothing.

Just go ahead and ask it. Ask what? I don't know what you're talking about.
My goodness, Ma.

When are we going home?

There.

There just isn't any fair way I can ask that.

You have to tell me.

I'm just glad to be with you now. And I understand how much Tanya means to you.

She did.

Now?

Now I'm not sure who that is in there.

Michael warned me about following the journal.

He ever tell you about that?

Yeah, he did.

Do you know why he didn't want me to?

Because Tanya left you.

And he felt she became more concerned with all this...

this stuff rather than finding a way to be there for you when you needed her the most.

If only I could go back and listen. If only

I would have stayed behind. Even if you were there, you couldn't have stopped what happened to Michael.
No, my, I would have found a way. That's wishful thinking.

You know how many times I said the same thing? If only I had done something else about Michael, or even with things as simple as knocking over a flower pot.

But we can't change our history. We can only learn from it.
For the sake of our future.

For the sake of our future.

Part of me wishes I wouldn't have known about this place or what's happened to Tanya.

Just

it just seems like the more that I get told, the worse it gets.

For once,

can I just get a story with a happy ending?

Michael once told me, no stories have a happy ending if you tell them long enough.

Ain't that the truth?

Maybe he's right.

Maybe we just need to focus on what we have now.

Whatever you want to do next, I'm with you.

Know that.

Nick, when you're ready, I'm ready.

Thanks.

Mom.

Peggs, is Nick out here? Yep. He's over there.

Hey, you're up earlier than I expected.

Sleepwalking, can't you tell?

What is it?

So I'm gonna make that run to get the last canisters of jet fuel. Once you have that, that, that's all we need to leave.

Exactly.

Well,

in that case, lead the way.

You sure you want to help? It's gonna take most of the day, and the path there's pretty rough. What else am I gonna do?

Good, because I really didn't want to carry them all the way back here by myself. Hmm, muscle for hire.
That's what you infantry boys are good for, right?

I will hit you. I don't care about whatever training you might have.
Try it and find out.

You know, honestly, I kind of do want to try it to find out.

No, you don't.

Oh, my goodness. Damn, these caves really do stretch on forever.
Yeah, I know. Are we...
Are we there yet? My legs are getting tired. Yeah, this is it coming up.
Lean, you.

You sure that we're not lost? I mean, honestly, everything looks the exact same. Let me check.

Yeah, markers say we're on the right path.

Come on.

Oh my god, another ladder.

It's the last one, I promise. This is the exit, right? What's on top? Uh-huh.

Apparently, Tanya made a hatch to hide the way out on the surface. Tanya? Like, my grandma.
I mean, I'm not saying she can't do it, but she's not exactly youthful, you know?

Yay, watch it up there. You almost took me out with a rock.
Ah, you're fine.

Okay.

We're clear up, top. Follow me.
Stay close. Yay.
You don't think that I should be point man, right? I mean, I am better with the rifle. We're not arguing about this right now, man.

You don't even know where we're going.

So, so we're like

in the Republic right now.

How far?

Far enough. Few miles past the border.
A few miles? It sure felt like way more than that.

Okay. Pass me up those canisters.

Can't imagine what it's gonna be like carrying these back all that way. Full, too?

Do you have any idea how many times I've had to do this solo?

Who's a real muscle for hire?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tanya said that the infected could help, right?

Yeah, she did.

You trust that?

Not at all.

Me neither.

Okay.

Wait here for a sec. Oh, no.
Heck no. I'll cover you.
No, it's better if it's only one of us. Look, I'm not leaving you alone up here.
You'll die or something. Dude, I will not die.

I can handle my sister. No, you cannot, Dean.
I can't. I'm better than you.
What do you mean? At what? Not shooting.

Fine. Come on.
All right. I'm point.
No, you're not point. I'm point.

Damn, that's right.

Yeah, take a second to adjust.

Okay, we've got bushes here for cover, but stay low.

Looks empty. I don't see nothing.
Been like that every time I've come

What is this place? They got their own small airstrip it's a natural gas facility.

It's remote enough they must have to fly in pretty sure the place runs itself most of the time automated tower eyes on that tower. It's empty.
No one's up there. Oh, okay

It's like the lookouts they have along the border Republic guard posts. Not all of them are filled Kind of the point, right? You're not supposed to know which have people

Jeep! There's a black Jeep here. Relax, will you? It's always been there.
Tanya said she used it a lot when she used to drive into town. Oh.

Doesn't do that much anymore, I bet. I didn't ask, but I doubt it.
Looks like it's been here for a while.

Okay,

this is it, right over here. The large storage tanks are underground.
The one closest to us has the jet fuel.

How are we going to pump it, baby?

All right, hurry open the canisters let's do this quick

all right

okay pass them now

here you go

Oh, these are damn heavy. I am so not looking forward to walking these all the way back and down all those ladders through the cave.
Don't I know it?

At least the surface was clear. Told ya.
Well, that's good. Oh, shit.

Tanya, don't do that.

What are you doing here?

You brought infected? They're here to help.

Yumped up.

How'd you get here so quick? I left not long you did.

Strong, aren't they?

I told you before, they're here to help. Look, Grandma, we had this handled on our own.
You didn't want me to know.

You're leaving, aren't you?

That's the last of the jet fuel?

No, no, no, no, it's not. It's not like that.
I just.

Look, I just wanted to be prepared in case we need to go in a hurry.

Dean,

Yeah,

yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just I'm gonna uh walk ahead and follow the fuel canisters.
Thanks.

Always have to make things more difficult than they have to be.

Look, I said I wasn't planning on leaving right away.

Dean just needed help, and I gave it. You're that eager to go back home?

Just tell me.

Maybe.

I don't. I don't know.
What's back there that's so urgent? People need to know what we know. All of it.
CJ hasn't heard Vera safe. I mean, so much is going on outside of here.

Even shit we saw in the Republic. What you see in the Republic?

You.

You know, Intel, maybe Westport should know. Their army did attack us before we left.

You're not trying to get away from me after what happened and what I told you.

Nicholas.

That could be part of it.

I knew it.

I was only trying to show you the deeper meaning of all this.

To help see things for how they were and what they could be. Peace with the infected?

Is that what you're still going on about? Look, Grandma, just because it worked for you here doesn't mean it will everywhere else. They are not the enemy we all think they are.

That's all I wanted you to understand.

After how many times infected try to kill me and what they've done to countless others, I understand plenty. And I've seen that side too.
My bite marks are proof enough.

But I've also experienced more than anyone. There is another way.

How much have you seen of this world? I've seen a few things.

Since when? You barely graduated training. You've been out here, what, a week? Trust me, it's been a long week.

For all the years I've spent in the field, even through their violent nature, I've seen a species living with the land, not against it.

So what?

You never saw what life was like before the outbreak, but people never did that. So much of the world was already dying.
Humans were bleeding everything dry.

But look at it now. Exactly.
Filled with dead, suffering, and new wars. How much of that is the infected's doing? Hmm? And how much of it is man's? We only do it because of them.

And I'm telling you, it could be different.

You saw what's written down there. No, no, no, Grandma.
What I saw was a bunch of old cave drawings. Nothing more.
I don't know what you think you saw. I saw our past and our future.

The world is repairing after everything we've done to it.

And if there was a way we could find a coexist together like we do here. That's not going to happen.
Not now, not ever.

Then you're never gonna win in the end.

You keep thinking about the infected like they're a plague.

But what if it's the other way around?

They could be the antivirus of the Earth destroying a past that had no future. I really can't believe you, Grandma.
After everything they've done to you, to us, your son, even, my father.

You don't need to tell me what they've done.

I felt that that pain and lived with it my entire life.

The difference is that I can see the good that could come from all that bad.

But you can't.

How could you?

Still that lonely boy living behind the walls.

You know what?

I think they were right to raise me believing that my grandma was dead. Because I don't even even know who the hell you are anymore.

Nicholas,

Nicholas, Tank,

do not walk away from me. No.

No, grandma.

I'm done.

Nick.

Please.

I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have s- I shouldn't have said that.

Listen.

That took a lot longer than I expected. I didn't know getting the fuel would take all day.
Hey,

you volunteered.

So these infected will just follow you around with the fuel canisters, no matter how far you go?

Uh, yeah, apparently. It's kind of creepy, not gonna lie, but uh, at least we didn't have to carry them.

Should they put them down or?

Um,

put them down.

Put it down. Stop.

By the plane. Here.

I don't... I don't know their words.

Pim.

Well,

that seemed to work.

Huh, nice.

They are helpful, I'll say that.

Oh, not you too. Look, it's...

It's nothing. I don't want to get into it.
This is all that we need. It's enough fuel to get back to Westport.
Yeah. Peggs and I did the math, and oh, there she is.
Is that the last of it?

All we should need.

Once I get it into the tank.

Ema, can you really take off on this road?

I don't even know how you managed to land.

Well, thank you. I had to circle a a few times, but I made it work.
Takeoff will be no different. Hey, hey, and should you really be out here by yourself while those things are wandering around?

Don't worry, I keep my distance. No, Ma, you don't carry any weapons.
Maybe just stick by one of us until we leave, okay? Even Will has that Mata pistol.

Hey, actually, talking about Will, where is he? I haven't seen him all day. Well, last I saw you, he was inside Tanya's lab.

What? What is he doing in there? He was looking over notes notes and in her room by himself.

I um

I wasn't going to say anything, but

I don't know. You might want to keep an eye on him.
Talk about whatever happened yesterday at the border. It upset him a lot.
Oh shit. Oh shit.
Tanya's meds. What? Just stay with Dean, okay?

I can take care of myself. He needs help anyways, okay? Just get all of this ready if we want to try to leave tomorrow.
Tomorrow?

Okay, we got you.

Paige, and scan.

Jesus, Nick, you fucking scared the shit out of me. Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.
What are you doing?

Uh, well, I well, I didn't know when you and Tanya would be back, but Pegg said it'd be hours, and I wouldn't. Then just tell me, Will?

Will! Well, I wanted a copy of her research. I didn't know how she would feel, but but this is too important.

I'm scanning everything I can and copying her files.

That that's all you were doing. Yeah, but

what did you think I was doing?

I um

nothing.

Why wouldn't you just ask Tanya for a copy?

It probably upset her again. I

and then it's well

you saw it too. Something is seriously wrong with her, Nick.
I mean, yeah, she is messed up, but this... This feels kind of wrong, too.
This is her life's work, Will.

That she wouldn't share with anyone. At least, not anymore.
Will, you don't know that. Actually,

I do.

Take a look at this.

These were buried in the files. Before Tanya, quote-unquote, died of cancer in 2016 during her time in the field, it says right here she went to the Republic.

What?

Yeah.

Friedrich mentioned someone immune, right?

They were working with Tanya before. Apparently, back then, she shared her research with them and even her own blood samples.
This doesn't make any sense. Why would she ever work with the Republic?

Listen, I've been scanning a lot of these, reading through her own notes, and it's

almost like she changed her mind about the infected.

Being here, seeing how the pacifists are, that that could happen. I'm not defending her, but it's more than that.

Tanya filled in large gaps in their oral language translation, identifying symbols on the walls that I don't think any human could do, even with Noha's help.

But

if she was infected,

maybe

that would be enough to bridge the gap?

You're saying she's completely corrupted? That she's become one of them? I- you- you've seen what I have, right?

Do you think any different?

I-I-I-I- I don't know.

Maybe, but a lot of her seems like it's still there.

I- yeah, I-

Okay.

What if she lied to us knowingly? Okay, there's something else I found.

Will, I don't know if you should be going through her stuff. If you just tell me what to grab.
Oh.

Ah, I see. Yeah, that.

That's what you were worried about, this Stardust?

Look, Will, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just. Hey, is everything okay? I thought you guys were filling up the plane.
Yeah, it doesn't take that long. Nick, this is important.
Listen.

I am, okay, relax.

The HF radio doesn't work because one of the transceivers I seize was removed.

Okay, what? You're gonna have to help me out on that one. I knew it wasn't something I was doing.
Let me see.

Tanya took out one of the chips to make sure the radio was disabled.

Why would she take that out and not tell us? Well, Will believes that Tanya may be corrupt, that she may be turning already, and we might not be able to fully trust her anymore.

She has had a few moments. More than a few.
I mean, Will, you were there, you heard. She thinks we could possibly make peace or some shit with the infected, and we all know that's not happening.

What if she's trying to trick us into believing it? Well, what about all the pacifists here? She's shown they aren't hostile.

That she's communicating other commands with them and they're following her orders. We've seen her do it.

I

didn't think of that. How could that be possible? All the tribes of infected we've ever seen fall under an individual who maintains control of everything they do.

That would mean,

in this case,

Tanya is their alpha.

To be continued in the next episode of We're Alive: Descendants,

and now a word from our sponsors.

You've been listening to We're Alive, Descendants, produced by Wayland Productions, written and directed by KC Weyland, starring Daton Gilbert as Nicholas. Sam Skolnick as Will.
Hayes Dunlap as Dean.

Elisa Elliott as Peggs. Shirley Jordan as Tanya.
And I'm Michael Swan. Additional voices by Phil Phil Nieto.
Kelsey Hughes. Shannon Zimmerman.
Amy Newman. Eric Daves.
DJ Hughes. Jason Patrick Gallant.

Editing and sound design by Gino Jang and Casey Wayland. Additional editing by Vicki Lucas.
Post-production supervisor Casey Wayland. Original music by Robert Mai.

Theme music by Danny Berkhoff-Hopkins. Score assistants by Evan Tamani.
Recording and Engineering by Wayland Productions. Sound Engineering by Gino Jang and Victoria Cheng.

Script supervisors Gino Jang, Aaron Reardon, Kelsey Hughes, and Lynn Michaela. Audio Production Manager Dimitri Keogh.

Associate Producers Jace Oly, Mistress Zeneka, Raul Miller, John Girls, Mandy Arnold, and Christophe Laputka. Co-produced by Rusty Quill.
Executive Producer Alexander J. Newell.

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Simon, David Thomas, Felix Gaita, Dustin Chassay. For more info about the show and a complete list of cast and crew, visit us at www.we'alive.com.

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This has been A Theater for the Mind by Wayland Productions.