Original subtitles

I started making these tapes because I wanted people's stories and I hoped that

they'd matter someday.

And now I

guess that possibility feels much more real to

me.

These tapes are important.

Someone will watch them someday.

They'll know.

They'll know what happened and how we helped one another,

how we survived.

There will be a future.

I'm from Dallas. How did you two meet? It was a hurricane.

So I'm hiding in the back of a big spot, praying to Jesus the roof don't come

off, and who comes limping in but old Earl here, gasping his leg just bleeding

all over the floor.

I fought a tree, and the tree won.

Well, I helped him, and he helped me.

We've been helping each other out ever since.

I never had a daughter.

Earl's my rock.

I swear to God I don't know where I'd be without him.

Look at him, blushing.

I ain't.

We're good together.

He's good with the dead. I'm good with the living.

And fishing?

I never had a fish before Earl taught me.

Only thing my daddy taught me was how to make a stiff drink.

She caught a striped bass the other week.

It was this big.

You were alone when Earl found you?

Girl, I've been on my own since I was 16.

Never knew my mama.

Just had some pictures and a pearl necklace she won in a singing contest.

You still have it?

Back when I was living in a tent city under I -30, before it all started, I

didn't want nobody to steal it, so I put it in an old cigar box and buried it.

You said before that he helped you after you helped him.

Yeah.

How do you? Carl found me in the back of that big spot.

I was messed up.

From what?

Things I saw.

Things I did.

What kinds of things?

Bad things.

There's a line between right and wrong.

I promised myself I'd never cross it.

But I did.

You did what you had to do to stay alive. It just came so naturally, like I

brushing my teeth. It was easy.

We didn't have to talk about it. He just understood.

Why do you think that is, Earl?

Because I've been there.

I crossed over that same line down in them tunnels in Hobo Woods.

Say what?

You were a tunnel rat.

Yes, ma 'am.

Non gratis enus rodentum.

The hell does that mean?

Not worth a rat's ass.

They call me the Descrubadon.

If he sees us underground hiding, I'd find him.

Damn.

They'd nail snakes to the door right at our level so they could... Bites you in

the face.

I still wake up in the middle of the night hearing that hissing.

Sounds like the dead.

When I got through them tunnels.

Same way you survived that tent city, CJ.

We're survivors, you and me.

How come you never told me about that before?

Why didn't you tell me about that cigar box with your mama's thing?

I don't know.

I think about it sometimes.

Wonder if it's still there.

Let's go see.

Ain't no way I could find it.

You forget who you're talking to.

I'm the descubadore, remember?

That's why he's my ride or die.

The way I see it.

We've already been through hell and back.

What we've seen, what we've done, makes all this look like a walk in the park.

Thinking about you crawling through those tunnels, getting bit by a snake,

me feel like I can do anything.

Having you to look after, having you looking after me, keeps me going.

Gets me up in the morning.

And for that, I am grateful.

You're fixing to make me cry.

I mean it.

I know you do, Earl.

I love you, too.

Let's talk about the Boy Scouts.

Yes. I was scout leader for both my boys.

So, give us a Coke can, we can make you a lantern, signal mirror, even a penny

stove.

I had a buddy, he was a prepper.

God, we used to laugh at him.

Just, I hope he made it just so he could say I told you so, because...

He did.

We're going to be okay out here for a while.

We've got the lake for water and fish.

Kyle, he nabbed a whitetail a couple weeks ago.

A few more of those, we'll be set for the winter.

Not a lot of folks live up there, so daisy pushers, they're not much of a

problem. I mean, coming down here was the most dangerous thing I've done in

months.

What made you take the chance?

A library.

Not much nuance in Grisham on the fifth read.

You risked your life for books.

And a check on the bank.

Is that where you worked before?

Yeah. Manager, clemency, savings and trust.

Safe deposit boxes and the like.

When people started getting sick, I locked it down tight.

Took the family up to the cabin.

Up on Lake Worth.

They didn't want me to come down here.

Stacy, she raised a fuss.

But I had to see with my own eyes if the vault was still standing.

Was it?

Yes, ma 'am.

Window smashed, cash was gone, but the vault?

Just as I left it.

Might be a good place to stash some things.

I reckon so.

But I'm not planning to go back down there. Anyone else have access?

Ava Johnson, assistant manager.

She was anyway. I have no way of telling if she's still alive.

You could give me the combination.

I don't know how I feel about that.

I get it.

I just want to keep some things safe.

That money belongs to someone.

Those things are family heirlooms.

Things that hold meaning.

You think they're coming back for it?

Yeah.

I don't know.

People don't care about those things anymore.

Not those things.

I'm not talking about old car titles.

I'm talking about history.

You know, a grandfather's wife from the war.

Diamonds swallowed outside of Ellis Island.

Those vaults have stories.

Yeah, stories of the people who put them there, but... Anyone else, they're

relics of a bygone era?

They're not all relics. We are arguing for the same thing.

The preservation of history.

The difference is I'm preserving who we are, not what we had.

I have a duty.

So do I.

One day when this is all over, there has to be documentation.

People need to know.

Look, if someone opens your vault in a hundred years, what can they learn from

an old watch or a diamond? They'll need context, right?

They're going to want to know who kept them safe. They're going to want to know

about you.

I don't know if they want to see that.

Who knows?

This tape, your story, could really help someone someday.

Next time I go down, I'll take you with me.

Every time you leave, you don't know if you'll make it back.

Now you're sounding like Stacy.

Well, maybe Stacy's right.

What if you don't make it back?

Let's just say this tape was what they had of you.

Is there anything you'd want to tell them?

Yeah, I'd probably start out.

Say it here.

Boys?

Kyle, Lee, stay safe.

Be good to your mother.

Be good to everybody you meet.

We're in a different world.

We all need to look out for one another.

If you're seeing this, I'm sorry I got killed.

I've loved you ever since you told me to kiss you down there on that river.

I love you and raising that family together was the greatest joy of my

I'll give you that combination.

Probably won't be discovered for a hundred years, but fill it with stories.

All kinds of stories from all kinds of people.

For the future.

Whatever that is.

I won't.

Guess I'll arrive with.

What do you want to know?

Start with your name, where you're from.

My name is Samora Sinclair.

I was born and raised in Matthews, North Carolina.

Where were you headed?

Forty -six days ago, I was on my way to Tucson, Arizona.

What happened?

My sister died.

Sorry, what are you doing?

Counting my pennies.

How many are there?

Always five.

Always odd years.

What happens if they're not?

I'm... I'm not crazy.

Hey, everyone copes in their own way.

I was diagnosed with OCD when I was 11. I was on chlorovan, triple, andromedal.

Cognitive behavioral therapy twice a week.

I learned to manage it.

I had a job.

A boyfriend.

I was a fully functioning adult.

And then when everything went bad,

So did I.

I started pulling my hair out again, and I started

counting again.

Counting what?

Everything.

Today I took 18 ,903 steps.

Your jacket has six buttons.

Mine also has six.

I have worn it for 553 days.

Well, it's a nice jacket.

Thank you.

I always button it from the bottom.

It's safer.

I know how that sounds, but it's true.

How did your sister die?

I didn't have my pennies.

I only had four, and I have to have five. I pulled up in an office building,

the dead were pushing up against the entrance.

Our group wanted to go out the back, but I can't do that.

Why not?

I just can't.

I have to go down.

The staircase, I went up, and I have to go out the entrance I came in.

Crystal got bit in the shoulder.

The 59th dead person that I killed

was my little sister.

And it was my fault.

What did you do after that?

I counted.

The trees, the dead, everything.

I couldn't handle anything else.

I had one gun and four bullets.

More than enough to, you know... I

was just so tired.

Crystal loved sunset.

So I climbed the highest west -facing point that I could find.

It was beautiful.

It felt like Crystal was just on the other side.

All I had to do was pull the trigger.

What happened?

I heard it.

The loudest sound I heard in... I don't know how long.

And then I saw it.

This soaring over the mountain, this squatty little bus with wings and

propellers just flying through the sky.

It was you and your friends.

When I saw that plane, I... For the first time since it all started,

I stopped counting.

There was just one plane.

One plane soaring through the sky.

And to see something so big and mechanical, something

man -made, I... I don't know.

I wasn't scared anymore.

I didn't want to count the dead or the seconds it would take me to hit the

ground.

I wanted to count the steps I would take to find that plane.

And?

How many?

31 ,703.

Nice odd number.

Yeah.

Since I joined you people, things have been better.

I'm managing.

I'm still counting, except now I count supplies.

We have 209 help boxes, 200 pallets of bottled water, 450

peanut butter protein bars.

June set me up to manage the supplies.

And it's a job I'm uniquely suited for.

I'm using my affliction to help people.

Like you helped me.

And that feels...

I'm glad you found us when you did.

Me too.

I get these noodles.

And you take me to Tyler?

Yep.

All I got to do is tell you my story.

Yep.

It's a hundred miles from here. Why?

Stories are important.

You might change your mind after you hear mine.

You get a judge of that.

Start with your name.

Ed.

Where are you from, Ed?

Oregon.

Where are you trying to go?

The people there?

My family.

I think they are.

I don't know.

Long way from home?

I started in Daytona.

What's in Daytona?

Nothing good.

Even then.

So what were you doing in Daytona?

You want to go to Tyler?

You've got to work with me here.

I was touring.

In a band?

Yeah, I wish.

Sports team?

I look like the athletic type.

What then?

It's really, really dumb.

I did stand up.

Why didn't you want to tell me that?

Because it's pathetic.

I left my parents, my sister, a nephew I've never met.

And all for what?

A dumb dream?

You know, I told myself that when I make it big, I'm going to give it all back.

I'm going to pay my parents' mortgage. I'm going to buy my sister a car.

That's just what I told myself.

And it wasn't for them.

Who was it for?

What do you think?

I wasn't doing it to help out my family.

I was doing it because I wanted people to like me and to think that I was

But the people that did like me, who thought I was funny, were 3 ,000 miles

when it all went to shit.

So you were chasing your dream.

So bad about that.

It was never going to happen.

I just couldn't.

Why wasn't it going to happen?

That wasn't very good.

Oh, come on. You don't know that.

I could use a good laugh.

Try me.

No, you don't want to hear any of my jokes.

I want your story. This is part of it.

It's a long walk to Tyler. All right.

So, I used to do this bit about rappers.

Thinking about liquor.

And the whole thing would end with a pirate rap.

A pirate?

So stupid.

Cruising into port and we're looking for a party. Yo ho ho and a bottle of

Bacardi.

Yeah, they didn't laugh in Daytona either.

What?

Before this conversation, I don't think I spoke to another living person for

three months.

And it's taken me, I don't know, a year

just to make it this far.

It'll take me another year to get to Oregon.

And I don't...

I don't know if my family's still there.

If they're still alive.

My nephew, he'd be two by now.

I never even met him.

That's on me.

That's all on me.

I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain.

I mean, it's hard out there for everybody, you know.

I do.

We are good to go.

I didn't even get my knife out.

You know, it's a wonder that I'm still alive.

No, yeah, it's... Like, the number of times I've almost died.

And not even good close calls.

You know, not like I was, you know, saving an orphanage or something.

No, it's always the stupidest things. Like what?

Like that.

Or this one time, you know, I found this burlap sack of beans, right? Enough for

a month, okay? That is a rare triumph for me, all right? So, you know, I'm

walking back with my prize, and out of nowhere, one of them comes up, okay?

scary guy, you know, teeth sticking out, one -eyed dangling and stuff, yeah.

So, oh, and they're never alone, okay? So more of them start, you know,

stumbling out from... everywhere and they're coming at me but of course all i

care about are the beans all right so googly eyes he's reaching for me he's

snapping away and i'm you know pushing against him with my bag and i'm swinging

my machete around and stuff finally i i just i just take off i i run away as

fast as i can and you know i still got the bag which is good you know uh but

it's it's kind of heavy and and i look behind me and googly's gone well sort of

okay turns out Uh, he's still attached to the bag.

Oh! Yeah.

Well, at least half of him was.

His arm had gone through the bag, entrails flopping about, and I had been

dragging half of this nightmare demon down the street like it was some

prize. And the best part is, all right, there was a big hole in the bag, and I

lost all the beans. I lost every last one of them.

Thank you.

Oh, my.

Reminding me what it feels like to make someone laugh.

Yeah.

It's been a while.

You know, if you like near -death stories told by the mouth of an idiot,

I got loads.

My favorite kind.

Yeah. Near -death stories told by an idiot. Yeah. Yeah. I'm your guy. Who

doesn't love those?

What is it to Waco?

Four hours, you think?

Yeah, that's like 300 miles from here.

Well, I liked your story.

I want to hear more.

Waco's on the table if you want it.

Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

Okay. Sweet.

Let's do it.

back a little.

I used to do this in medical school.

It helps with dexterity.

I was a trauma surgeon at St.

Joseph's back when it first broke out before we knew anything.

We were on the front lines in the ER.

A lot of doctors, a lot of good friends died trying to help people,

just trying to do their job.

My husband, Ryan, was an engineer for the city, and we managed to make it out

town somehow.

We landed in a settlement.

A lot of need for medical care, everything from stitches to

horse and stitches.

Ryan used to say that my hands were more precious than a good fence.

A new world made Ryan brave.

That doesn't always happen.

And sometimes fear, true fear, brings out the worst in people.

But not Ryan.

The way that he protected me, it wasn't just because he loved me.

It's because he knew that there weren't...

Many people left that could do what I do.

And he knew that people needed me to survive.

And that was his gift to the world.

Keeping me alive.

What happened to him?

How about your hand?

What happened? The DSW to the abdomen.

The victim got on the wrong side of the herd.

You know how they herd, right?

Well, he was trying to lead the herd away from the camp.

Somebody got nervous, fired into the herd, and the bullet hit him in the

stomach.

clean through, but he was bleeding out.

So I had him on the table, no monitor, no power, didn't even have a chance to

sterilize.

Not that it mattered.

I was so focused on stopping the bleeding that I

didn't realize that he had died.

He was probably reaching out for me.

So scared.

I was so focused on keeping him alive.

I didn't know.

Until he bit me.

I knew I had maybe a minute to amputate.

It ain't pretty, but I'm alive.

Patient. He was your husband.

Is that obvious, huh?

Why didn't you want to tell me?

Because I didn't want that to be how he was remembered.

Because if he knew that his death meant that I couldn't operate again,

if he knew that his final act of selfless

bravery took that away from people, people who needed it,

it would be like, I don't know,

it would be like he died all over again.

That's why I have to relearn how to operate with one hand I Have to

So that I can help people so that his

death won't be for nothing

That's what I'm going to do.