The Humanity Bureau Page #4

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lying in a mass grave somewhere.

But why assume the

identity of a dead woman?

I don't know, Porter.

You should come in for a swim.

Um...

No, sir, I-I'll...

I'm afraid I-I'll drown, sir.

It's a very real possibility.

This is a lost art, Porter.

The trick is to hold your breath

before you go under.

Mm.

How long was I asleep?

A few hours.

Where are we?

Somewhere west of North Dakota

on what's left of the I-94.

He talks in his sleep.

When he twitches like that,

means he's dreaming

What was his father like?

Um...

He came. He stayed a week.

He left.

He was some city dweller.

Lucas never knew him.

But lately, he's been

asking a lot of questions.

What do you tell him?

I make things up.

Fill in the blanks and...

I mean, he wants to hear

that he's a knight in shining armor.

What about you?

What's your story?

I assume you have one.

I mean, we all do.

My mother died when I was 12.

I was shipped off

to a state orphanage.

It wasn't a very nice place.

I don't remember my father.

But there was a man.

A friend of my mother's.

He taught me how to fish.

I wonder what the world's

gonna be like when he grows up.

If he makes it that far.

When I was a boy, I couldn't

wait for summer vacation.

Lucas Weller, six pounds,

eight ounces.

Hello, Rachel.

Father:
Unknown.

In lieu of kin:
Amanda Douglas.

Relationship:
Neighbor.

Your impostor is your neighbor.

Convenient.

I tell you to run,

you run for your life.

You run and you don't look back.

You hear me?

Is it looking for us?

It's military.

I think it's replenishing

its solar cells.

It could stay up there for days.

What are we gonna do?

Stay put.

That's all we can do.

If you know a long story,

now would be the time to tell it.

It is circling.

It has teeth. I can see 'em.

Yeah, and a 20 mm minigun

capable of firing

40 rounds per second.

- I have to pee.

- Hold it.

I don't think it knows

we're down here.

If it did,

we'd be dead by now.

What have you got?

Um, sir, a military drone

has picked up on some

movement in a sector

that hasn't seen

vehicle traffic in months.

There's somethin' down there.

Zoom in.

Um, we can't, sir.

We're borrowing the feed

from the military

so we have no control

over the drone's functions.

Do they not know how

important this is, Porter?

I don't think they care, sir.

It's Kross. He's down there.

And I know it.

This car smells.

You think something died in here?

It's possible.

What's it doing?

It's just making another

long, lazy circle, okay?

Hey, don't.

Stop that, Lucas.

Um... okay.

Once upon a time,

there was,

in a land far, far away,

a giant.

And this giant...

Come on, this giant?

It's a stupid game, Mom.

I'm not a little kid anymore.

I hate giants.

He died of sunstroke, okay?

The only thing worse right now

would be I spy

with my little eye.

I spy with my little eye

something white.

Do that again,

and I'll break your little arm.

Lucas, put that out!

You know what braves

at the Indian camp told me?

They're not real Indians, Lucas.

New Eden is a death camp.

What?

It's where millions of people

are burnt and turned into ash.

That's why they promise

to write but never do.

because they don't

have any fingers or arms.

They're burned to a crisp.

Well, that is

a horrible thing to say.

It's true. First, they force you

into a gas chamber.

And then they burn you in an oven.

Happy endings only

happen in story books.

The giants always stomp

on the little people.

Noah?

Noah, look at me.

Tell my son he's mistaken.

What am I lookin' at?

New Eden.

What is this?

Crematorium 6.

Enhance.

What have we done?

There isn't enough food or water.

He's telling the truth.

Mom, look, the drone's gone.

That is a hell

of a secret to keep.

"Here's a pamphlet

that explains everything"?

How do you sleep at night?

I don't sleep.

Why me? Why my son?

Why save us?

This is the Rachel Weller I knew.

Who are you?

So you finally came

to look for your son.

What took you so long?

Is he everything you imagined?

Yes.

Sh*t.

Don't worry, kid.

Keep your heads down.

Get down, stay down.

Hey, you got your flashlight?

Yes, mom, okay.

I gotta go, okay?

Be careful.

Hello?

I said, hello.

You let him go in

a washroom on his own?

You think that's wise?

I... It was number two.

He insisted. He's not

a little kid anymore.

All right.

She's running hot.

There's gotta be some water

in those toilet tanks.

I'll check on Lucas

while I'm there.

It's all fun and games

till someone loses an eye.

The world can be a very

dangerous place, my little friend.

Lucas?

Lucas?

Sh*t.

Run!

We can't leave without Lucas.

We're getting him back

right now.

Three's a crowd.

The sooner you figure that out,

the better off you're gonna be.

You must think you're real tough,

picking on a little kid.

So why don't you take a picture.

You can show all your friends.

You little pickpocket.

Where is it?

It looks so real.

Give me that.

I'll get it.

Little brat.

What is the plan?

The plan is to get him

through the back door.

Sh*t!

Oh, boy. Okay.

Um, sir.

What is it?

We found this.

Thank you, Porter.

No problem, sir.

These instructions

were printed in 1951.

A rem is a unit

of ionizing radiation.

According to the

government of the day,

exposure should not exceed

5,000 millirems per year.

Exposure of 600,000

millirems is fatal.

You know, Rachel and I were...

we were friends.

We lived up the road

from each other.

Lucas was two,

and Rachel wanted to sell him.

She wanted to sell her little boy.

You need to understand

that people were eating

their neighbors then.

But you know,

Lucas was...

He was just so beautiful.

I couldn't let that happen.

And we fought and...

You know, there was an accident.

Lucas thinks you're his mother.

I am his mother.

I am his mother.

I love him. I protect him.

I-I would do anything for him.

You know, I worry every single day

what this world

is gonna do to him.

But what about...

Are you gonna tell him

you're his father?

What-what am I gonna do?

I'm gonna say I'm his dad.

That you're not his real mom, or...

Or-or we did know each other,

but we were just

acting like we didn't?

Do you think he's

ready for the truth?

That lake had better be there.

Two thousand

millirems.

- How bad is that?

- It's not good.

All right, uh,

go back to the car.

Make sure Lucas doesn't get out.

How you doing back there, champ?

I'll let you know

if my hair falls out.

Tell me about the lake.

Tell me how you learned to fish.

You've heard it a hundred times.

I-I wanna hear it again.

There's nothing left to tell.

Why don't you tell me a story.

I haven't done anything

worth telling.

Will you teach me

how to fish?

Let's get there first.

I have a nosebleed.

Ugh.

Is my hair falling out?

No. You look

as handsome as ever.

I get nosebleeds sometimes.

He'll be fine.

- You promise?

- Yeah, I promise.

When you're ready, sir.

Kross seems to have adapted well

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