8 | A Terrible Thirst

Summary

Havoc Town: Episode 8 | “A Terrible Thirst”

Podcast: Havoc Town
Host: iHeartPodcasts / Aaron Manke, Grim & Mild
Air date: September 30, 2025

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Episode Overview

“A Terrible Thirst” plunges listeners into the heart of Abbesstown, New Hampshire, as a modern-day plague mirroring a 200-year-old “vampire panic” returns. The episode focuses on Corinne Avis’ bewildering encounter with Jimbo Horn—recently deceased and newly reanimated—as she’s forced to confront the terrifying reality of the sickness ravaging her town. Old secrets and bloodlines intertwine as Corinne, carrying the legacy of the infamous Abbess family, finds herself at the center of a supernatural crisis.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Beats

1. A Disturbing Resurrection ([02:27]–[07:12])

• Barbara Horne receives a call from the morgue: her deceased husband Jimbo’s body is missing, leaving her confused and upset.
• Corinne encounters Jimbo on her porch. He appears outwardly normal, but Corinne is deeply unsettled by something in his eyes and demeanor.
  • “His normal face with his normal smile...but it was the eyes. There was something in the eyes. Something off that I couldn't quite place. Something that set every nerve in my body on edge.” – Corinne ([04:33])
• Despite her horror and confusion, Corinne invites Jimbo inside, struggling between fear and ingrained politeness.

2. Jimbo’s Horrific Return & Confession ([07:12]–[16:34])

• Jimbo recounts his “death”:
  • Succumbs to the mysterious sickness, suffers violent impulses, dies, and then experiences an afterlife vision that’s abruptly cut off, replaced by overwhelming isolation and an insatiable thirst.
  • “There is a light. Like everyone says...It was warm. It was beautiful. Everything they tell you. All of it...And then it was extinguished. And all of the warmth and goodness went with it. And I was alone in this icy darkness.” – Jimbo ([08:39])
  • Awakens in the morgue, driven by thirst, attacks and kills a hospital worker to feed.
  • Describes the vampiric thirst: “The thirst, Corinne. When it takes you, it takes all of you. Replaces every impulse you have and makes you a starving animal. Makes you insane.” – Jimbo ([13:26])
• Jimbo escapes the hospital, marveling at newfound abilities—heightened senses, endurance, but always shadowed by the looming hunger.

3. The Homecoming and Near-Tragedy ([16:34]–[23:26])

• Jimbo returns home; Barbara is shocked but embraces him, attributing his coldness and changed manner to the ordeal.
• Jimbo is increasingly tempted to harm Barbara, the narrative showing his internal struggle:
  • “There was a moment there when old Jimbo came rushing back into my head. Get away, he said. You love her, Bob. Bob, I think.” – Jimbo ([21:32])
• Despite his efforts, Jimbo succumbs—feeding on Barbara before fleeing, barely able to restrain himself.

4. Corinne Is Forced to Act ([25:33]–[26:31])

• Back in the present, Corinne interrogates Jimbo about Barbara’s fate.
  • “Did you kill Barbara?” – Corinne ([25:33])
  • “No. But I came awful close.” – Jimbo ([25:38])
• The confrontation becomes violent; Jimbo attempts to attack Corinne, but she instinctively uses a sainted wooden stake—Josiah's relic—to kill him.
  • “Jim Horn lunged at me...then he backed away, clutching a sucking hole in the center of his chest. Dark blood gushing out...It was then that I felt it in my hand, warm and sure. Josiah's wooden St.” – Corinne ([26:31])

5. A Family Legacy and New Threats ([28:03]–[31:48])

• Marie (a friend/nurse) arrives to check on Corinne, finds the aftermath, and delivers a cryptic message.
  • The street preacher, Brother Ken McLean, another victim, has reanimated—chained and reciting Bible verses, specifically naming Corinne.
    • “He said you’d know what to do, that it was in your blood.” – Marie ([30:24])
    • “He said your family killed vampires.” – Marie ([30:33])
• Marie urges Corinne to leave Abbesstown, warning of worsening contagion and government intervention:
  • “There will be more death, Corinne. And the response to it by the government will be swift and will absolutely make it worse. This place, it's getting ready to burn.” – Marie ([31:48])
• Corinne flees—the obvious path is safety, but she chooses instead to confront the threat, “turning right” into the unknown.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jimbo’s Existential Horror:
  • “I was no longer James or Jim or Jimmy or Jimbo. I was no one's son, no one's husband. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn't see any trace of him. Just clothes...hanging on this new body, someone different, looking out the eyes and examining himself. And Corinne, I was so thirsty.” – Jimbo ([18:31])
• Corinne’s Realization:
  • “It's truly incredible how quickly the numbness sets in when your world is altered beyond belief. The loss of a loved one, being laid off from a lifelong job, finding out that vampires are real and then killing one in the same instant.” – Corinne ([26:31])
• Family Destiny:
  • “He said your family killed vampires. Okay, sorry. That is absolutely not funny, given the circumstances.” – Marie ([30:33])
• A Choice to Fight:
  • “When I came back, everything would be under control. At least that's what should have happened with a simple left turn, a quiet exit safety...Which is why I turned right.” – Corinne ([33:52])

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:27 | Barbara receives news of Jimbo’s missing body | | 04:33 | Corinne’s eerie meeting with the resurrected Jimbo | | 07:12 | Jimbo’s account of dying, his experience “beyond,” and awakening in the morgue | | 13:26 | Chilling description of vampiric thirst | | 18:31 | Jimbo’s return home and existential crisis | | 21:32 | Jimbo’s struggle to resist harming Barbara | | 23:26 | Jimbo attacks Barbara, flees | | 25:33 | Corinne confronts Jimbo; Jimbo’s attack, and Corinne staking him | | 28:03 | Marie arrives, assesses Corinne, and relays Brother Ken’s message | | 30:33 | Reveal of Abbess family vampire-killing legacy | | 31:48 | Marie urges Corinne to flee town as threat escalates | | 33:52 | Corinne drives away, determined to face events rather than escape |

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Tone & Atmosphere

The storytelling remains steeped in dread, uncertainty, and the weary resilience of characters who are forced to confront the unthinkable. The dialogue is personal, raw, and suffused with New England stoicism and gallows humor—anchoring the supernatural in a real, lived-in world.

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Final Thoughts

“A Terrible Thirst” melds small-town drama, the supernatural, and family legacy in an episode packed with emotional confrontations and chilling horror. Corinne steps reluctantly but resolutely into her role as the inheritor of her town’s dark history, setting the stage for escalating conflict as the vampire threat spreads and old secrets resurface.

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Transcript

[Corinne Avis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Barbara Horne]

Stop.

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[Jimbo Horn]

Bring the Boom XBoom iHeart 3D audio for full exposure.

[Barbara Horne]

Listen with headphones.

[Aaron Manke (Narrator/Producer)]

Havoc Town is a production of iHeart podcasts in Grim and mild from Aaron Manke. Headphones recommended. Listener discretion advised.

[Corinne Avis]

Oh, Jim.

[Barbara Horne]

Hello, this is Mrs. Horn. All right. What do you mean he's missing? H. How is he missing? He's dead in the morgue. Did. Did you misplace him? Well, I'm sorry, I just don't understand how he could. How can. Look, I appreciate the call, but what exactly are you going to do to rectify this? You've already told me that I can't have him back until after the autopsy. Now you're telling me he's. He's what? Up and run off? But now you listen to me. Hello? Hello? God damn it. I'm coming. Hold on.

[Jimbo Horn]

Corinne.

[Corinne Avis]

Who's there?

[Barbara Horne]

Hello?

[Corinne Avis]

No. No.

[Jimbo Horn]

Hello?

[Corinne Avis]

It's. You're. You're dead. They. They said you were dead.

[Jimbo Horn]

I was. I'm not now.

[Corinne Avis]

Jesus. Jimbo.

[Jimbo Horn]

Can I come in?

[Corinne Avis]

In the shadows, he looked normal. Like himself. Like my dad's buddy, good old Jimbo. Jimbo the steady, the kind. The regular Joe Jimbo who liked fishing and fiddling around the garage and war movies and a million other things that men of his generation turned to in late middle age. His voice and his presence were well worn grooves in my life. But this was all wrong. This Jim. Stepping closer so that the streetlight fell across his face. His normal face with his normal smile. Wearing his slacks and a button up shirt. His loafers on my porch like he'd been a million times. Can I this sweet, normal Jimbo Horn with his normal dead man smile. It was the eyes. There was something in the eyes. Something off that I couldn't quite place. Something that set every nerve in my body on edge. Something that made my brain scream no, no, no. Over and over. But then that. That thing in me. That lifelong practice of being polite. So much of a habit that I. I just spoke without thinking. Of course. Jimbo. Shit. After you.

[Jimbo Horn]

Thanks.

[Corinne Avis]

The. The kitchen. You know where it is. I'll put on coffee.

[Jimbo Horn]

Coffee isn't necessary.

[Corinne Avis]

Sit. Sit, Jim.

[Jimbo Horn]

I'll stand.

[Corinne Avis]

Jim, I'm going to be honest. This is. This is scaring the out of me. Like I wish you just at least sit so I could stand on the far side of the kitchen island while we spoke. Okay.

[Jimbo Horn]

Fair enough. I don't want to scare you. What's that on the counter?

[Corinne Avis]

It's just an old keepsake box.

[Jimbo Horn]

What's inside?

[Corinne Avis]

Keepsakes, huh?

[Jimbo Horn]

Place feels different.

[Corinne Avis]

Does it?

[Jimbo Horn]

Yeah. With your dad gone, it feels bigger. Emptier.

[Corinne Avis]

Yeah, it does. What the is going on, Jimbo? You're. You're dead.

[Jimbo Horn]

And yet here you are. I was as surprised as you are, kid.

[Corinne Avis]

So talk. What happened?

[Jimbo Horn]

It's a long story.

[Corinne Avis]

Well, I can make the time to listen to a story about a man coming back from the dead.

[Jimbo Horn]

Fair enough. I don't remember a lot after I went into the hospital. The illness, it blurs everything. It was like having a hot knife in the middle of your skull. And I couldn't focus or hold a thought. It was just pain and a howling sort of rage. I don't know. I was never a violent man, Corinne. But I wanted to hurt, to destroy. To kill. That street preacher. I remember getting my hands on him. I wanted to press my fingers through him. Remember wanting to feel his skin give way. This strong need to press through his muscle and his veins. And get my hands into his viscera to tear him apart cell by cell. And then. Well, it just flashes. After that. I had moments of clarity, of course. Fear, remorse, sadness. The rage eating it all. Pressing against the insides of my skull. Hot, feverish. And then there is a light. Like everyone says. I could see it coming from far above me. So far up above the hospital ceiling. Above the clouds. Out beyond the sun even. Who was overtaken? Everything. It was warm. It was beautiful. Everything they tell you. All of it. I could feel myself begin to float. Could feel the warmth overtake me. I don't know. Like I was back in the womb. It sounds crazy, but I was pulled back hi the light retreated. A pinprick. And then it was extinguished. And all of the warmth and goodness went with it. And I was alone in this icy darkness. I was alone, Corrin. More alone than I've ever been. And I've been alone. When I was a little kid, my mom died. And it felt like being ripped from the world. Like nothing could reach me. Like I'd never feel love again. This was so much worse.

[Corinne Avis]

Jesus, Jim.

[Jimbo Horn]

And then I found myself back in the body. I was in the cabinet in the morgue. That feeling was still there with me. But I recognized it now. Really recognized it for what it was. What was, was a terrible, terrible thirst. Deep, painful. Like every cell in my body was screaming with it. I'd crossed an infinite desert and was parched. And so I went looking to quench it. I managed to push my way out of the morglaka. I wasn't alone. There was a body laid out, covered in a sheet. That preacher, the one I heard dead on the table. I never thought about him in life, you know, besides a couple of noise complaints here and there when he was on a tear. But besides being batshit, you know, he was harmless. So I left him alone for years, maybe. Maybe telling him to keep it down a little. But there was something sad and kind about him that I guess I always sort of admired. So I always just let him be. But here he was. Dead. Like me. Because of me. Any guilt I felt was cut short by the cutting thirst. And there was a water cooler in the room. And at first I moved toward it, but the thought of drinking it repulsed me. Confused me. Even that confusion was short lived. Because before I had a chance to react, someone walked in. He was wearing a face shield that I think must have fogged up because I don't think that he registered me right away. But I registered him even halfway across the room. I could smell him, feel the heat of his body. I could sense to the flutter of the pulse of blood in his veins. And what's more, my teeth. They suddenly itched, burned my gums as if they were sharper. And I understood the thirst. What are you doing? Stretching. How are you? I flew at him, knocking him over.

[Barbara Horne]

Help.

[Jimbo Horn]

Finally, I was able to grab a hold of his hair. And with as much force as I could muster, I slammed his head into the tile. I didn't have time to be horrified. I didn't even think. I just scrambled at his mask and collar and sank my teeth into his neck. I can't fully describe it. The relief, the warmth of him entering me and spreading outward. A tingling in my fingers and toes. And the world just became good again. And I felt like me for the first time since Bachmann came to town with his axe. Don't look at me in that way, Corrine.

[Corinne Avis]

Did you kill him, Jimbo?

[Jimbo Horn]

I did. Well, there was nothing else I could do. The thirst, Corrin. When it takes you, it takes all of you. Replaces every impulse you have and makes you a starving animal. Makes you insane. When I was young, I used to read stories about people who survived disasters or war. Couldn't get enough of it. Crazy stuff. A man riding a tank through the Iron Curtain to escape the Red Army. People who survived plane crashes, murder attempts. One of them was about a Navy officer whose ship went down in the Second World War and how he managed to live for two weeks on a piece of scrap, an old crate or something, out in the middle of the ocean. His small supply of water ran out, and so he drank his piss. And then, when he got desperate, finally drank seawater, which just dehydrates you more. See, kidneys can't handle that much salt, so it tries to flush it out. You lose more water than you drink, so you vomit. You get delirious. Eventually, if you don't get enough regular water to balance it out, you die. This sailor, he got saved before he died, but he went insane. Literally insane with thirst. I can't tell you how I know, but this was worse. But when I drank from that man, it went away completely for a while.

[Corinne Avis]

What happened next, Jimbo?

[Jimbo Horn]

Next, I cleaned myself up and found a pair of scrubs that fit me from a locker. And I walked right out of the hospital. It's funny, you know. I walked right by a couple of boys I worked with on the Foss. They didn't even look up at me. Like it didn't register who I Was just another doctor walking the halls of the hospital. Even with no shoes on, looking like warmed over. Nobody cast me a funny look. So I walked right out the door and I made my way home. Went barefoot. Kept off the road as much as possible. It was cold. And you know how far the walk from that hospital and into town is. But I wasn't cold. Never got tired. I felt impervious to. To it all. I felt strong, energetic. New. Right out of the box. Senses heightened. I could feel the animals in the trees watching as I passed. I could sense the people in the cars that would go by. The colors of the world were sharper. And with each step, I could feel it return. The hunger. Just the little whisper in my ear at first. By the time I returned home, it was a scream.

[Barbara Horne]

Hello? God damn it. I'm coming. Hold on.

[Jimbo Horn]

Hello? Han? I'm really standing here.

[Barbara Horne]

You're dead.

[Jimbo Horn]

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

[Barbara Horne]

Jim? Jim? Is it really you? Jim? Jim? Jim? Oh, my God. You're icy cold.

[Jimbo Horn]

It's freezing out. Can we go in?

[Barbara Horne]

Of course. Oh, my God. Jim. Oh, my God.

[Corinne Avis]

Go.

[Barbara Horne]

Go get some warm clothes on. I'll put on coffee. Oh. Oh. We need to call the hospital. They called just now to tell me that you're missing. Oh, God, they're going to be so embarrassed. Jesus. How could they have pronounced you dead?

[Jimbo Horn]

Why don't we hold off on calling? It will take a while to untangle all of this.

[Barbara Horne]

Of course. Get warm. My God. Jim. My. My gym. Oh, my.

[Corinne Avis]

Jim.

[Jimbo Horn]

Oh, my.

[Barbara Horne]

Jim.

[Corinne Avis]

Oh, my.

[Barbara Horne]

Oh, God, how good this is. Thank God.

[Jimbo Horn]

I'm going to get dressed.

[Corinne Avis]

Of course. Go.

[Barbara Horne]

I'll be in the kitchen. I'm going to get the coffee and the warm fire.

[Jimbo Horn]

I can't quite describe the strange feeling I got walking through my house. It didn't feel like mine anymore. It felt like a perfect reproduction of my house. Or perhaps a museum of a dead man's time on earth. But it was no longer mine. Maybe it was still Barbara's, but the James Walker Horn who owned this home and came back to it every night no longer existed. I think that's when it fully sank in. As they walked into the bedroom and peeled off the hospital scrubs and opened the drawer on my old mahogany dresser and put a dead man's clothes on this new body. I was no longer James or Jim or Jimmy or Jimbo. I was no one's son, no one's husband. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn't see any trace of him. Just clothes Hanging on this new body, someone different, looking out the eyes and examining himself. And Corinne. He was so thirsty. And in the kitchen, I could smell her through the freshly brewed coffee. Last week's dinner dishes forgotten in the sink. The smell of her pushed all the others away. I wanted her.

[Barbara Horne]

Barbara, you scared me. Oh, Jim. My Jim. My sweet husband. I thought I'd lost you.

[Jimbo Horn]

Shh, Bob. It's all okay. I'm here now.

[Barbara Horne]

Okay. I didn't know if you'd want a beer or coffee or what, so why don't you sit? I'll serve you.

[Jimbo Horn]

I think I'll stand, if it's all the same.

[Barbara Horne]

Oh, I guess you've been lying down for a while, haven't you? Poor Jim. Do you want me to make you something to eat?

[Jimbo Horn]

That won't be necessary.

[Barbara Horne]

I just can't believe it. I mean, they said you died. We're gonna have words with those doctors. I'll call my brother. I'll bet there's a malpractice lawsuit in all of this. Are you okay, Jim?

[Jimbo Horn]

I am great, Bob.

[Barbara Horne]

You just seem different.

[Jimbo Horn]

Well, I did just come back from the dead.

[Barbara Horne]

I suppose that would change a man. Are you sure you don't want something to eat?

[Jimbo Horn]

I'm not hungry.

[Barbara Horne]

Oh. Well, I'm gonna go grab a sweater from upstairs. It's a little chilly. You want me to turn up the thermostat?

[Jimbo Horn]

It doesn't matter.

[Barbara Horne]

You're so cold. Jim.

[Jimbo Horn]

There was a moment there when old Jimbo came rushing back into my head. Get away, he said. You love her, Bob. Bob, I think.

[Barbara Horne]

Oh, don't worry about the beer, Jim. I'll clean it.

[Jimbo Horn]

No, Bob, I. I better go.

[Barbara Horne]

No. No, don't go. Jim.

[Jimbo Horn]

I think I'm having trouble being close to you. I'm afraid of hurting you.

[Barbara Horne]

What do you mean, hurt me?

[Jimbo Horn]

I'm still sick, Barbara. I'm sicker than I was before, I think.

[Barbara Horne]

Oh, honey, why don't you go lie down? I can call the doctor. Maybe they have some medicine.

[Jimbo Horn]

No. No, I. I should just get out of here.

[Barbara Horne]

Jim. Jim.

[Jimbo Horn]

Get off of me. Barbara. But it was too late. Her heart was beating too fast, too loud. And I could smell it in the air. The iron in her blood. The salty, sweet taste of my tongue. And then my teeth were suddenly in a neck. That neck I kissed so many times in the past. And the rush of relief, the flood of joy into my system, feeling more vital with every hot spurt of blood. And then the sudden repulsion of myself as I drain the life out of.

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[Corinne Avis]

The only constant in Hollywood is change.

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[Corinne Avis]

Jimbo, did you. Did you kill Barbara?

[Jimbo Horn]

No. But I came awful close.

[Corinne Avis]

She's still alive?

[Jimbo Horn]

I think so. I hope so.

[Corinne Avis]

Should I go check on her?

[Jimbo Horn]

No. Don't reach for the phone even to.

[Corinne Avis]

Call an ambulance for her.

[Jimbo Horn]

I'll make sure she gets help later. Jim what's in that box? Corrine Nothing. You're hovering like it's something.

[Corinne Avis]

It's insurance.

[Jimbo Horn]

Against what?

[Corinne Avis]

I don't quite know.

[Jimbo Horn]

I'm sorry. Corinne.

[Corinne Avis]

For what?

[Jimbo Horn]

Jim I'm just so thirsty. I'm just so God damn thirsty.

[Corinne Avis]

And then chaos. It happened so quickly. Faster than a man of his size should. Jim Horn lunged at me catching my shirt sleeve and pulling me tight against him, his freezing, frenzied flesh. And then he backed away, clutching a sucking hole in the center of his chest. Dark blood gushing out his eyes, almost feral. An animal dying, his mouth twisted in hatred. Two sharp fangs bared at me. And then he was still. It was then that I felt it in my hand, warm and sure. Josiah's wooden St. It's truly incredible how quickly the numbness sets in when your world is altered beyond belief. The loss of a loved one, being laid off from a lifelong job, finding out that vampires are real and then killing one in the same instant. I had to move, to do something, to. To be anywhere but here. I grabbed the stairs. Stale pack of cigarettes from the back of the spice cabinet where I'd hidden them from dad over the years. I walked outside. I didn't even think to close the door. Jesus, it tastes like. Corinne? Who's there? Marie?

[J]

Oh, my God. I'm so sorry.

[Barbara Horne]

I. Oh.

[Corinne Avis]

Oh, no.

[J]

What are you.

[Barbara Horne]

Is that blood? I.

[Corinne Avis]

There was.

[J]

Are you hurt? No. Here, let me see.

[Corinne Avis]

Marie. No, no, no, it's not. It's not me.

[Barbara Horne]

Is there.

[J]

Is there someone else here in your house?

[Corinne Avis]

Yes. Yeah.

[Barbara Horne]

Okay.

[J]

Can I go in and check?

[Corinne Avis]

Yes. Yeah.

[Barbara Horne]

Okay. Okay.

[Corinne Avis]

I waited for the telltale screen. It didn't come. Instead. Dead.

[J]

Did he scratch you? Bite you? Did you get any blood in your eyes or your mouth? Corinne, I need you to think.

[Corinne Avis]

No. No, he. He didn't hurt me at all. I mean, probably bruised my arms and I. I twisted my ankle a little bit.

[J]

Okay.

[Barbara Horne]

Okay.

[J]

You're okay, then?

[Corinne Avis]

Marie, there's a dead body in my house. A body that was already dead got up and came to my house and tried to drink my blood. I am very, very goddamn far from fucking.

[J]

Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Barbara Horne]

You're right.

[J]

That is a lot to process.

[Corinne Avis]

What are you. What are you even doing here?

[Barbara Horne]

Well.

[J]

I had a message for you.

[Corinne Avis]

A what? A message.

[J]

Yeah.

[Corinne Avis]

Okay. What's that?

[J]

Well, it's not going to make any sense.

[Corinne Avis]

What is it? Who's it from?

[J]

It's from Ken McLean.

[Corinne Avis]

What?

[Barbara Horne]

Who?

[J]

He was. He was an indigent that was brought in last week. I think he was attacked by the dead man in your kitchen.

[Corinne Avis]

Brother Ken, The. The. The street preacher?

[J]

Yes. Yes, he. Well, he did scream a few Bible verses when he came back.

[Corinne Avis]

Came back? Yeah.

[J]

Corinne, like the man on your floor came back from the dead. He sat up and walked out of the morgue and happened onto my floor where he Was then tackled by the National Guard and chained to a bed for observation.

[Corinne Avis]

Jesus.

[J]

Yeah, he. Well, at least he seemed relieved to be tied down. But he was suffering. I was sent in to check vitals, and his heart was beating, but he was as cold as a grave. While he was chattering Bible verses, he said your name.

[Corinne Avis]

Oh.

[J]

When I pressed him, he said that he you'd know what to do, that it was in your blood.

[Corinne Avis]

What was?

[J]

The Holy Spirit. I don't know. He said your family killed vampires. Okay, sorry. That is absolutely not funny, given the circumstances.

[Corinne Avis]

You mean the dead vampire in my kitchen?

[Barbara Horne]

Yeah.

[Corinne Avis]

What are they gonna do to Ken?

[Barbara Horne]

I don't know.

[J]

They'll probably take him somewhere more secure, But I think that things are getting ready to get even more scary.

[Corinne Avis]

I'm not sure about you, but I'm already scared as Jesus. What the am I gonna do?

[J]

Do you have someone you can call? Family? A close friend?

[Corinne Avis]

What about.

[Barbara Horne]

Oh, God.

[J]

Sylvie.

[Corinne Avis]

Yeah. Uhhuh. I mean, should I call the. The cops? Cops?

[J]

What are they going to do?

[Corinne Avis]

Well, I don't know. The cdc.

[J]

I can call the contact person. They'll send someone over, but they're going to want to bring you in. Look, if I was you, I'd get in your car and drive away from Havoc for a few days. Check in with me tomorrow. I'll give you any news.

[Corinne Avis]

That's incredibly nice of you. I mean, won't you get in trouble?

[J]

I'll say I was checking in on you and found the door open.

[Corinne Avis]

No, no, I, I, I need to be here.

[J]

No, no, no. Listen to me. I've been at the hospital for a while, and I have never seen the sort of anxiety that I've been seeing there. It's not just the staff, the CDC doctors, the national Guardsmen. Nobody's seen me anything like this illness. I mean, nobody's used to the dead rising from the grave. They're scared. Look, something is happening here, Something big and sudden that none of us can really understand. There will be more death, Corinne. And the response to it by the government will be swift and will absolutely make it worse. And I have a job to do here, so I can't leave, but you can. So get the hell out of town. Far away. Hide in a motel, because this place, it's getting ready to burn. All right? Now wash yourself off, pack a bag, get in your car, and then drive. You're gonna avoid checkpoints, and you don't stop until you get an hour away. Copy.

[Corinne Avis]

Move. I did as I was told. Quick, Rinse. In the shower, a weekend bag. I didn't go back to the kitchen but said my goodbye to Marie at the front door. I got in the car and pulled out of my drive down my street to the intersection. A turn left would take me to the highway. I would drive to Maine, had an old friend who lived on the coast. I'd stay with him just a few days until things blew over. When I came back, everything would be under control. At least that's what should have happened with a simple left turn, a quiet exit safety, a decision not to be involved in whatever horror would come next. Oh shit. Which is why I turned right.

[Aaron Manke (Narrator/Producer)]

Havoc Town was created by me, Aaron Manke. The show was written and directed by Nicholas Takoski. This episode was edited and sound designed by Rima El Kayali Starring Jewel State as Corrine Avis, Crystal Lee as Damaris, Robin Bloodworth as Jimbo Horne Summer Rain Menke as Barbara Horne with additional voice acting from Jonathan Barron and Aaron Manke. This season is directed by Nicholas Takoski with assistant directors Sarah Klein and Jake Diamond. Casting by Sunday Bowling, CSA and Meg Moorman, CSA production Coordinator Wayna Calderon. Our theme song was created by Chris Childs executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young and Matt Frederick William with supervising producer Rima El Kayali and producers Gnomes Griffin and Jesse Funk. Havoc Town is set in the Bridgewater Audio universe, which includes the hit fiction podcasts Bridgewater and Consumed. Learn more about both shows as well as havoc [e-mail] and find more podcasts from iHeartRadio by visiting the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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[Corinne Avis]

This is an iHeart podcast.