MASON
You’re serious? You feel completely better?

WILL
Completely! No pain, no fogginess- Do I look green to you?

MASON
… [pleased] No, you don’t!

HEN
In fact, you look great!

WILL
Why thank you, I feel great!

MASON
That’s awesome, Will! (excitedly) Shit, you actually made it through!

WILL
I know! I don’t blame them if they want to keep me another day, but after that—I’m out of here!

[door opens]

TAIRAM
Hey, can I come in?

MASON
Tairam! Yeah, come on in. This is Hen, by the way.

TAIRAM
Hello, Hen. I’m happy to be on your show, but I must admit I mostly came to check on Will.

WILL
I’m doing great, Tairam.

TAIRAM
That’s certainly good to hear. In that case, I guess we can do that interview Hen wanted me in for!

HEN
Yes! Word around the compound is that you’re running for councilman.

TAIRAM
I am! I’m a bit of a late entry, seeing as we only arrived almost a week ago and the election is in three days. But some of the other candidates have only been here a few days longer.

MASON
I don’t understand why the current council bothers putting a spot up for election.

HEN
It’s to make us feel like we have a say in things! You know, of the people, for the people. The rest of the council is all hired by the rich guy who founded these colonies, so it helps to have one of our own in that position, too.

TAIRAM
And I plan to ensure our needs are met and our concerns are heard.

MASON
Well, I know who I’ll be voting for. Tairam is the best; not only did he expertly lead our survivor group down on Earth, but he also stayed behind with me and some of our friends so we could wait for Will. If not for him staying behind, I’m not sure we would have made it to the next evacuation.

TAIRAM
It was a team effort. Daethie was a huge help, and your radio show kept morale high.

MASON
Woah, am I hearing that you liked my show?

TAIRAM
Of course I liked it, Mason. It made you happy, and it made the rest of the group happy, too.

MASON
Aw! See, this is why everyone listening needs to vote for Tairam for councilman. He’ll do the job right, and he’ll do it with our best interests in mind.

TAIRAM
You’re too sweet, Mason.

MASON
Nah, just telling the truth.

WILL
Yeah, he’s a good choice if you ask me.

HEN
I certainly know who I’m voting for, then!

TAIRAM
[sharply] Hey, what are you doing?

MASON
What?

TAIRAM
Sorry, not you. You: the doctor, the scientist, whatever. What are you doing?

DR. ELORA
Oh! Just pretend I’m not here. I’m only getting Will’s breakfast ready, is all.

TAIRAM
Yes, I can see that. What are you putting in his drink?

DR. ELORA
Oh, this? Just some vitamin C to help out his immune system! We want to give him the best chance possible of completely beating this virus, of course.

TAIRAM
Oh, right. [embarrassed] Heh, sorry about that.

DR. ELORA
It’s not a problem. It’s good you’re looking out for him.

MASON
Just another reason why he’d make a great councilman!

WILL
The kind of guy you could leave your drink with at a party.

TAIRAM
[laughs] Thank you, both of you. I suppose that’s all I came here to do, check up on Will and get the word out about how I’m running for councilman.

HEN
Thank you for joining us, you were a pleasure to meet and a pleasure to have!

TAIRAM
Of course, the pleasure was all mine. See you later!

[door opens and closes]

DR. ELORA
I’ll be going, too. Here is your breakfast, Will.

[tray sliding, door opening and closing]

HEN
Well, you two were right, Tairam’s pretty cool!

MASON
He’s not even that prickly, now that he’s not stressed over keeping us alive in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

WILL
Who knew all the guy needed was to not be responsible for the lives of his only living friends.

MASON
Then again, maybe he misses the responsibility. He is running for councilman, after all.

HEN
I feel like ‘council member’ is a much less stressful job than ‘apocalypse survivor leader.’ It’s definitely a step up, if you ask me.

MASON
Yeah, fair enough.

HEN
Anyway, I’m gonna shut off the broadcast and go get breakfast! You coming, Mason?

MASON
Uh, actually, I’m gonna talk with Will a bit. You go on ahead, I’ll catch up!

HEN
Okay, sure! Bye, Will!

[door opens and closes]

WILL
What did you want to talk about?

MASON
I just… I was so worried about you.

WILL
Oh, Mason. It’s okay, I’m feeling better now! I think the vaccine worked.

MASON
I know, I just- I can’t stop thinking about how close I came to losing you.

WILL
Mason-

MASON
But it’s not just that. Because I also can’t stop thinking about how I could have lost you on Earth and not even known about it. You thought you were bitten, maybe you were bitten, and I- I didn’t even get to stay on the line with you, because I didn’t know I needed to. You could’ve turned, alone, and I- I-

WILL
Mason, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.

MASON
I’m not mad at you. I’m just… scared.

WILL
I know. It won’t happen again, okay? I won’t get bitten again, for one, but if by some chance I do… you’ll be the first to know. I promise.

MASON
I love you, Will.

WILL
I love you, too.

MASON
Oh, shit, Hen didn’t turn off the broadcast. That’s- Oookay, well, folks, why don’t we listen to some music? And we’ll be right back after this short meal break!oon, Mason.