Hey, it's Scarlet S.
In American Outer Life, my character C.L.O. is forced to survive alone after an earthquake
destroys her city.
“Luckily, creating this audio drama wasn't a solo mission.”
I'm grateful I had a wonderful team with me. If you enjoy the story, it would mean a lot to us if you share and leave a review. Please enjoy this full on interrupted episode after this short ad break. A seismic offer just hit at parathieves.com/aap new customers get 25% off. Use promo code after life.
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Use promo code after life. Welcome to the podcast, American Afterlife. This audio drama unfolds episode by episode, so to get the full experience, we recommend starting from the beginning. If you haven't caught up yet, now's the perfect time to go back, and listen from the start.
Previously, on American Afterlife. When there was quick hit, it was like the calendar ended. I hadn't kept track of how many days it had been. We don't have the luxury or need to spend this much time on some child. Find out what she knows.
I'm working on a Charles. Sir, this is going to be a very boring few hours yellow if you don't tell us a bit more about what you saw out there. I had picked every house on my little hill, clean. I just didn't know what would help me next, so I took it all, even the gun.
Is this the same gun that you used with the men? I said I don't want to talk about that. Who killed all the men in that warehouse. I needed to venture further. That's when I heard him.
Where the fuck did you come from? Don't move. Who are you? I'm with the repo. You're going to fit right in.
I'm good. That wasn't an offer. Get on up. There was no way. I was getting into that boat.
I had a chance. So I took it. You bitch, you fucking bitch. You're listening to American Afterlife, a podcast series, based on the best selling book by Pedro Hofmeister, episode 3, Jackpot.
I just grabbed the gun and ran.
I took a second from my brain to catch up to what was going on.
Then all these questions started popping up.
“Who the fuck was that, and what the hell are the repo, and that just led to more questions?”
Like, you know, where the more of them, how close were they, but they find me? I needed to get the fuck away, fast, but my leg was back. I could feel the cut for all with every step. Online once I saw a video of fish that was missing a chunk of its back, another fish or a shark or something, took a bite out of him.
Somehow it didn't die. I didn't want to look, but I also could stop myself from watching him swim, feeling the pain, but not caring, because at least there was a live. The hell? Sure, why not, since everyone is out and about today, it was a woman in a tiny robot.
I had seen her once before, that day after the quake, she was just some woman, middle-aged, ormo, bagular. The kind you might see in the aisle of a supermarket and forget about as soon as she turned the corner, but something about the quake broker. I see you in the trees, young one, I see you.
You don't have anything to worry about, no, it's a miracle.
Don't you see a miracle where human again, finally, we're human again.
Hello, do you receive, can you read me, no capture, no traffic lights to click, slide the arrow to place the puzzle piece, the hell with you then, useless children, spoiled shit. One more instant story. She was a freak that I still felt bad for her, who was she before, who loved her, who looked out for her.
“Yeah, that's fish video, I think I've seen it.”
Okay.
So, how is it now, the leg?
It's healing, I think. Jesus, shello, when's the last time they changed your bandage? I don't like it when they get that close. Well, come here, this should do it for now, it's clean, at least. Thank you.
Does it hurt? Sometimes, a little.
“It's Tylenol, okay, I don't have an ibuprofen, I'd have to make a request for that.”
I'd feel even better if you got me in my bag bag. That's something I can't do, I'm sorry, Silla. Tylenol's fine. Are you done with the black cherry soda? Here, I have a water bottle.
Not as good as a warm half-empty bottle, found some dirty organ claws, but it'll do. Thanks. Sure, of course. Were you okay?
“I mean, after the crazy lady left you alone?”
Yes, and now. Oh, shit, I got home somehow, adrenaline, can really come through when you need it, too. But when I woke up the next morning, I was tired. I knew I had to clean the wound. All I had were these little airplane bottles, whiskey, mascara, vodka, that way with
vodka, seen cleanest. I also just didn't love the taste, I had no antibiotics, no peroxide, none of that. I just wrapped my leg in an old towel, the one you just threw in that trash can right there. But even though I was in pain, I woke up that morning, knowing that I couldn't just wait inside for more of those ribo guys to come around.
I had wasted enough days already, it was time. I know it was time to be out in the day. I was tired of waiting.
My first step was to check on the guy, see if he had anything I could use.
What guy?
Oh, yeah.
He was still where I left him, maybe a little less blood inside him than before.
I was amazed, everything, protein bars, sealed gatorade, heat packs, little socks, Swiss army knife.
“Well, how did that feel, rating a corpse's pockets?”
Look, I had done a lot of weird borderline gross stuff in those days, then seen many different than picking a house clean. It wasn't going to need those socks or the rifle. What?
My mom always hated action movies, said they were against the Lord, didn't want me playing video
games, any of that stuff. Said those things gave you violent, impure thoughts, but bad ideas in your head. But there I was, the pistol and the waist of the REI hiking pants I snagged from some rich lady's house and a rifle I took from some dead asshole who tried to combat me. And maybe she was right, because I was full of bad ideas.
“The little bow was upside down in the river, I guess that's what I call it.”
All the water from the broken dams that fluttered the entire lowlands of Eugene.
I had no choice, I had to go into that disgusting, super fun, dirty ass water. My plan was to cover about with some branches and wait until dark. Then... There's somehow managed to swim into the branches of a downed tree and hide out in their rightness.
“It came around the bend, it stopped maybe 15-20 feet from me, I tried to move so they didn't”
see the ripples, tried not to even breathe. All right, it's time. The two men in the boat were dressed like the bastard from the night before, the woman was too, but she was sitting down when they tried to lift her up, I realized that her hands were sifted.
Come on, get up, fuck you, we're not playing here, get the fuck up now. Come on baby, swim, come on, you got it. Shut the fuck up bro, whatever excuse me, sorry, Adam, so let's get back to base, we need a drink, so you think she's a bit just fish bait, let's go. I knew I had to act fast.
I didn't think, I just went, I could see a line of bubbles, I followed that down. She was lucky, the way around her ankle ended on the top of the car, just some random car that's one parked on the street while they ran an errand or whatever, not realizing it'll be under water, not knowing that parking it and that exact spot, right then, would save a woman's life someday, and maybe do them if they happen to be nearby when the
Quake it.
Anyway, it meant that I didn't have to die very deep to get her ankle free, then I got an
“arm around her and found my footing on the roof of the car, kicked as hard as I could.”
You're okay, you're okay, you're alive, I got you, hey wake up come on you're safe, come
on wake up, I am ashamed to say I never took first aid, I didn't know the first thing
about saving a drowning person, I am this hot on TV, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, you've been listening to American after life, an audio drama by Benz Town McVay podcast network production, in association with Aurora Productions and in partnership with gamut podcast network, based on the best selling book by Pedro Hofmeister, presented
“by pair of thieves, be sure to stick around after the credits for a post podcast interview”
with a member of the cast and crew, produced by Dave Chachy Dennis, Mike McVay, and Williams
Stewart, directed by Williams Stewart, podcast adaptation, written by Allison Dwyer, based on the best selling book series of American after life by Pedro Hofmeister, published by Cricket Lane Books, featuring Scarlett Estevez, as C. Lowe, Joshua Messnick, as Lucas, and Ted Evans, as Charles, additional voices by Stephanie A. Padilla, Phil Levitt, Darren Silva, Megan Vaskez, narration by Sean Andre, sound design by Jacob Urbanick, studio engineers,
“Darren Silva, and Megan Vaskez, production manager and marketing, Susan Axu Majarian,”
additional marketing, Robbie Gessel, if you enjoyed American after life, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and following us on Spotify. Hey folks, I'm Ted Evans. I play Charles in American after life. Yeah, that guy.
Look, when I first got the script, I thought, okay, great. I'm playing the charming warlord
who plays video games while threatening teenagers. Yeah, dreamer all. I figured it would be fun, dark, maybe a little twisted, but then I started digging into this character and realized, this guy isn't a cartoon. He's not twirling a mustache. He's he's calm. He's calculating and terrifyingly enough. He thinks he's helping. You know, he thinks he's saving the world or at least what's left of it, which frankly is terrifying, but also kind of tragic,
because you start to see the cracks. Little moments where he hesitates or talks about his cats. I have cats too. Love cats. Or stairs too long at a blank screen after barking orders. And you realize, Charles has a man who's built a fortress out of rules and fear because it's the only thing keeping him from falling apart. He's not made of iron. He's brittle. And let me tell you, playing him. Not exactly soothing. We'd record a session and afterwards, I just sit there like,
"Okay. Deep breath. He's shaking up. You are not actually a fascist. You just play one in an audio podcast, but I loved it. I really did because characters like Charles, as awful as they are, they hold up a mirror. They force us to ask what would we do? If the world fell apart, would we still be kind? Would we still see each other? Or would we cling to power to safety to the illusion of control?" You know, stuff like that. So yeah, thanks for listening.
And hey, if I made you hate Charles just a little bit less by the end, or at least see where he's coming from,
