malting | IC Contact

Angel of death doesn't have the same ring to it in an apocalypse.

No, they don't. I know you're training people over there, so I hope the burden gets easier to share. If there's something I can do, or lend help when needed, just let me know. My skill set is different, but I hope this Summit means a better and more collaborative approach to everything.

At least you're not a zombie!

Yeah, I hope so, too. I might have to pick your brain about making medicine sometime if you're game.

Not yet anyway.

Sure, I'll be as helpful as I can. I reached out to Maggie too, so maybe that science salon can get up and running sometime soon.

Tell me more about these health screenings.

You won't be!

That sounds great. I look forward to talking ✨science✨!

My colleague Courtney Slaughter and myself are planning on stopping at all the communities, offering free check-ups with a focus on prevention and managing chronic health issues (eg. we'll check if you've got scurvy or high blood pressure and help you sort it out). If all goes well and we build enough trust, maybe we can offer vaccines etc at a later date. It all depends on how much cooperation we get, though. Might turn out to be a shitshow.

Oh I'd never let it get to that point. An explosion is far more likely and practical. Or an industrial accident.

So do I, talking to yourself only gets you so far.

That sounds brilliant and necessary. In community screening was such a ridiculous struggle before. Consistent and accessible primary care where people are at, building that trust? I believe in you both.

Well, let's hope that doesn't happen either! I just met you and I can already tell you that I like you better in one piece.

Yeah, and if you do it enough, everyone around you gets annoyed.

Thank you for believing in us! I really hope it turns out well. I'm not here to boss anyone around, I just want to help.

That's the sweetest thing anyone has said to me, thank you. Likewise.

You all sleep in bunks right? That's pretty close quarters.

I think it will. I wouldn't say I'm an optimist myself, but you're filling a desperate need and being thoughtful about it. The communities already trust you all considering Prescott is our primary source of health care and you're our lone doctor. No one is here to boss anyone around, but people who are proactive and have the expertise are going to be trusted with authority. Why underplay what you're doing?

Thank you! I hope to stay whole for a little while longer.

Yeah, and a bunch of them snore. Do you get all your own spaces over there?

I like to think I'm pretty good at meeting people where they're at, but it's just a little hard when there's a lot of distrust out there if people think you're trying to be an "authority figure", or whatever. I've overcome worse resistance in other places but it's always an uphill battle.

I'm just like... I'm not a fucking cop though, y'know?

So it sounds like talking to yourself is reasonable payback then. And no, leadership does have more private space to themselves, but we have bunks on the sub level. And the guest rooms, which you're familiar with. I also have a cot in the distillery for long nights.

I don't think anyone has ever looked at you and thought cop. You have bedside manner in spades. Dad energy.

Is sleeping in the distillery a nice break from the hustle and bustle or is it too noisy to get much rest?

Well, gosh. Thank you. If people are groaning at my jokes, I know I'm doing my job.

I like the noise. Helps me focus better, and to be honest I find total silence unsettling.

Do you practice on your daughter?

Me too. I was big into white noise machines back when I still had a white noise machine.

Yeah, but she's basically immune now due to over two decades of suffering.

Snoring doesn't quite hit that perfect frequency?

I think it's a rule that all that suffering and "Daaad"s actually increases her social capital. She's cool, isn't she?

No, but it prevents me from sleeping even when I have the time to sleep. (I am not a snorer, I checked.)

Oh, she's so cool. You'll love her. I'm sure you'll meet her soon.

Sounds like something a snorer would say very defensively. I don't sleep much to begin with, but there was a time where I was pretty into accidental ASMR. Did you ever watch those videos of people tailoring?

I hope I do. Does she take after you then?

Oh believe me, Zelda would have loved telling me if I snored. And yes! I loved those! Also those videos about painting restoration. And that person cleaning rust off of stuff.

No, she's thankfully way better than me. She's a nurse. So smart! Takes after her mother!

Oh I never got on rust cleaning youtube! Going to the top of my regret pile.

Sounds like a family thing to me. Are you two locals?

It's so relaxing. I don't even know why.

Nah, we're originally from Chicago. We're city slickers.

Maybe this is your next radio show.

Long way from Chicago, how did you end up all the way over here?

Eh, I probably won't actually do a radio show.

I took a job in Seattle for a couple years while Z was away in NYC. She came here to visit a friend, I drove down to pick her up, shit hit the fan and here we are.

How about you? How'd you wind up here?

Why not? I would have thought all of Prescott would be all over that. Radio is a pretty good way of getting your health promotion across, Dr. Niko.

Hm, there's something to be said about timing. I don't believe in coincidences or the universe being a gossipy instigator, but good that you were together in all of this.

I'm from Oregon, but I'd been in Seattle for just under a decade for school. Tried to make it out of the city to Oregon on Day 1, but plans change.

Because I made a joke about making a sex show and then I kept yes-anding it into being a real thing, and then the kid who wanted to help dropped out anyway, so maybe everyone will just forget I said anything. No one actually wants me to give them sex advice.

Yeah, I'm really glad we're together even if the circumstances kind of suck. I'd have lost my mind if all of this happened and I didn't know where she was.

I'm sorry you never made it home. You seem to be making the best of it, though.

Wait, what were the yes-ands? I want to know what this sex show was going to be.

I haven't made it home yet. I have a younger brother and an older sister, a niece, all who very well could be dead right now. My gran is, which means their chances, even in Eugene, are fairly low. If they're alive, I'll find them again, but there's no use in lamenting about it when there are people here who need me.

Oh, I just made a crack about how I'd be Dr Ruth and it spiralled from there.

Well, hopefully you make it down to check or get news somehow, someday. I wish I could go home, but it's unlikely. I have Z here and she's safe, and that's all that really matters to me. I'll just keep doing the best I can for as long as I can do it.

Except you'd be a great doctor Ruth. No one needs safer sex talks more than people in an apocalypse alternating between two pairs of underwear.

All anyone can really do. I don't think a major metropolis will be a good idea for a long while.

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