HEN
[hushed] Will? …Will?

WILL
[waking up] Hen? What’s up?

HEN
[squeals] You’re alive!

WILL
Oh, shit. [excitedly] Oh, shit!

HEN
Mason! Mason, wake up!

MASON
[drowsily] Hmm… yeah?

HEN
Will is alive!

MASON
Will is- [gasp] Will!

WILL
I’m here, Mason!

MASON
Holy shit, you’re alive, you didn’t turn! How- How did you not turn?

HEN
You look pretty green…

WILL
Yeah, I don’t feel great. But… I’m here, aren’t I?

MASON
You’re here!

[door opening]

HEN
It must be the vaccine helping you out!

WILL
Oh wow, so I might… actually pull through.

DR. ELORA
Or you might not.

MASON
Gah! Jesus, doctor, warn us next time you enter!

DR. ELORA
Sorry. This is good news, by the way—that the vaccine is working, even if only a little. Your friend here has a solid chance of recovery.

MASON
That’s… [just barely suspicious] great to hear.

DR. ELORA
I’m sure.

WILL
Riiiight… Well, uh. Since no one’s grieving…

DR. ELORA
Yet.

WILL
[annoyed] Yes, thank you, doctor. Since no one’s grieving yet… Did you have any plans for today, Hen?

HEN
Oh! Actually, we did have a call scheduled this morning that I forgot to cancel.

WILL
[warmly] Well, might as well go through with it.

HEN
Yes! Let’s see if he’ll pick up…

[call sound]

KEO
Hello?

HEN
Hello! Keo, right?

KEO
Yeah! And you’re Hen, I assume?

HEN
You got it! Also here with me are Mason…

MASON
Hi!

HEN
And Will!

WILL
Hi, Keo.

KEO
Nice to meet you all.

HEN
Nice to meet you too! So, you’re from Colony 5-29, right? Some of the first people evacuated?

KEO
Yeah! I’m actually one of the people in charge of our air cycling system.

HEN
Oh wow, that’s so cool! Can you tell us a little about that?

KEO
Honestly, it’s… not going so good.

MASON
Uh… how so?

KEO
There have been so many system errors and malfunctions, and we’ve had to resort to the backup vents multiple times. My team and I can’t keep up with them all. It’s… worrying, to say the least.

WILL
Yeah, it is. That’s pretty much the worst area to have a malfunction in.

KEO
One of the worst areas, for sure.

HEN
I’ll pass it on to one of our council members here in case you all need to evacuate to another colony. Maybe you could even come here!

MASON
I don’t know, it feels pretty packed already.

HEN
Well, I’m sure there’s some solution the leaders could come up with.

KEO
I sure hope so, but…

HEN
Let’s- Let’s talk about something else. How’s the rest of your colony doing?

KEO
I hate to say it, but it seems like everything else is going downhill too. I’ve heard problems about food storage from one friend, the water filters from another… It all feels very much like a botched first try at a colony.

MASON
Well, besides the botched part, that’s kind of what you are, right? You were the first people to be evacuated.

WILL
But that would imply they’ve been putting the finishing touches on these colonies up until the very moment the people arrived, if ours is better than theirs simply because of when we were evacuated.

MASON
Well, that’s concerning.

KEO
Doesn’t bode very well for any of the colonies, does it?

MASON
[sarcastically] Wow, thanks for putting that thought in our heads.

HEN
Um, how- how about- is there any silver lining you could tell us about?

KEO
Hmm… We had a zombie problem a few days ago.

HEN
How is that a silver lining!?

KEO
No one got bitten, that’s how. Our guards handled it perfectly, and the zombie was disposed of.

MASON
Disposed of?

KEO
We dumped it into space.

WILL
Oh, great. Maybe now the zombie virus can reach the stars one day.

KEO
Whether or not aliens could one day come across the virus wasn’t really on our minds. We just wanted it gone.

MASON
How did it even get in in the first place?

KEO
I… don’t know.

WILL
That’s pretty weird, two colonies letting a zombie slip past security in the span of five days. I thought quarantine was supposed to prevent that.

KEO
You’ve had a zombie problem too?

MASON
Yeah, Will here got bitten.

KEO
Oh, shit, sorry to hear that.

WILL
It’s probably fine.

HEN
Maybe the quarantine isn’t long enough?

MASON
But I thought we were pretty clear on the 72 hours deal. It was on the news and everything.

HEN
Maybe the scientists were… [disbelieving] wrong.

WILL
Yeah, well, they’re only human. …Until they’re not.

MASON
Thanks for talking with us, Keo. We’ll make sure someone important hears about your worries.

KEO
Thanks. Signing off!

HEN
If 5-29 is falling apart, and 6-14 is having problems too, then… what if it’s only a matter of time until our colony starts going downhill?

MASON
[comfortingly] Hey, try not to think like that. It doesn’t do anyone any good to worry.

WILL
Yeah, but if we just ignore it…

MASON
I’m not saying we ignore it. I’m saying we try not to let it consume us. Hen seems like the type to worry a lot.

HEN
I definitely am.

MASON
Besides, we have enough on our plate right now with you and your zombification problem, Will. Let’s all just focus on worrying about you for the day, and tomorrow we can start thinking about the big picture stuff.

WILL
I guess that works for me.

HEN
Works for me, too! Now, listeners, let’s have some music while I drag Mason off to get breakfast.

MASON
Bye, Will! I’ll be back as soon as possible.

WILL
I know. See you soon, Mason.