ESME

Sit! Good boy. Speak!

[scout barks]

ESME

Good boy. Roll over! Good boy.

HEN

Wow, he knows so many tricks!

ESME

He also destroys zombies, very efficiently. Does Aja know any tricks?

HEN

She knows the very impressive trick of ‘keeping me from falling over.’

ESME

Oh, duh, I didn’t mean-

HEN

[laughs] Don’t worry, I’m just teasing! Aja, get!

MASON

Wha- My crutch!

HEN

You weren’t using it! Aja, return!

ESME

What a good girl!

MASON

[joking] That good girl is a thief, Esme. An ableist one.

WILL

Hey, she did give it back.

MASON

That’s true. I guess I can forgive her.

HEN

Plus, just look at her. How could you hold a grudge against a face like that?

WILL

I wish I could see her.

HEN

First thing when you’re released, we’ll introduce you to Aja!

ESME

Oh, and Scout will be so happy to see you again.

WILL

I bet. So how are you liking the colony?

ESME

It’s nice! I mean, I love that I got to keep Scout.

MASON

Yeah, I really didn’t expect that!

HEN

Maybe they thought he was a service dog like Aja.

ESME

No, I had to mark whether he was or not on the paperwork. They let him in anyway!

MASON

Huh.

ESME

Honestly, I think Tairam might have had something to do with it. He spoke with one of the council members when our group first got here, and I saw him gesturing to Scout.

HEN

Guess he has a soft spot for Scout, huh?

MASON

He has a soft spot for Esme, more like.

ESME

I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Scout and I are assigned to maintenance look-out, which basically just means we go around checking for problems in our part of the compound. If we see any, we alert the maintenance crew, and that’s it!

MASON

I guess a moon colony would have to be pretty on top of things when it comes to maintenance.

ESME

Oh yeah, it’s a very important job! It’s nice feeling important.

WILL

Esme, you were always important.

ESME

Aw, I know that. It’s just- I kinda felt like an extra back in the mall on Earth. Tairam did his best to find me jobs inside the mall, but besides keeping our active areas tidy and keeping track of rations, there just wasn’t much to do that didn’t trigger my squeamishness.

HEN

Well, I’m glad the colony assigned you a job that suits you!

ESME

Yeah! Scout and I-

WILL

[groans]

MASON

Will?

HEN

What’s wrong?

ESME

Are you okay?

WILL

I’m- I’m fine, sorry. Just… weird pain in my head.

HEN

You know, you’ve been looking a bit green since breakfast. Not actually green! Just… nauseous. Unwell.

ESME

Now that you mention it, he does seem to have a green tint to him, literally.

MASON

Oh no.

WILL

Mason…

MASON

No. No, no, this can’t be happening. You haven’t had a single symptom in the last few days, and it’s almost lunch time, we almost made it!

WILL

Ha. Guess this is why the doctor wanted to keep me an extra day…

MASON

No, this can’t be what we think it is. Maybe you’re just normal-sick? Or, I don’t know, maybe it’s food poisoning?

WILL

I don’t think it’s food poisoning. I- I’m sorry, but… We both know what this is.

MASON

Fuck… Will, I… I’m sorry. This is all my fault, you got bitten because you were protecting me.

WILL

No, this is not your fault, okay? If I- If I turn, then… it’s not anyone’s fault. We did everything we could. You stayed by my side the whole time.

MASON

And I’ll stay by your side until the moment you turn, too. I’m not leaving you. Fuck, this is so unfair!

WILL

I’m so sorry. I- I love you. I know that’s- that it’s too much, too soon, but if I’m going to turn, I need you to know. You’re… so important to me. I love you, Mason.

MASON

Damn it! Damn it, I- I love you too! I shouldn’t have waited, I shouldn’t have made us wait, I-

WILL

Stop, please, don’t blame yourself. You needed time, and that’s okay.

MASON

But I would’ve acted differently if I knew we didn’t have time! I do care about you, and I know now—I love you, too. But I also cared about you then, and- and-

WILL

Hindsight’s twenty-twenty, isn’t it? It can’t be helped. But we had a good run, right?

MASON

[in tears] Yeah, we- we did. We really did.

ESME

[crying] I’m sorry, I- I’m so sorry. I’m going to miss you, Will. I, I can’t- I need a moment.

HEN

[sniffles] I haven’t even known you long, but- But I’ll miss you, too. You and Mason are my first real friends in the colony. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.

MASON

I’m not leaving for lunch or lights-out, I- I want to be here when it happens.

HEN

I’ll bring you lunch and dinner if I have to, don’t worry about that.

MASON

Thank you, Hen.

WILL

Thank you all. For being here.

HEN

Why don’t we, um- [snuffles] I think we should turn off the radio for the day, alert the doctor.

MASON

That… yeah. Sounds like a plan.

HEN

This is Hen, signing off.

MASON

This is Mason, signing off.

WILL

This is Will… signing off.