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So anyway, that’s why John looked inside the truck and that’s why he took the box even though for all we knew, the contents orthless, or toxic, or radioactive, or all three We did eventually get into the box, and considering as inside it, they didn’t have nearly enough security around the thing But that story will have to wait for a bit Oh, and if you’re thinking that it was a huge coincidence that the truck happened to crash in the exact ti, don’t worry It wasn’t All of this will make sense with time Or, maybe not

Now let’s fast-forward to November 3rd, about …

48 Hours Prior to Outbreak

"I’m not crazy," I said, crazily, to my court-appointed therapist

He seemed bored with our session That actually made me want to act crazy, to iht, maybe I should tell him I’m the only person on Earth who has seen his entire skeleton

Or, I couldup instead The therapist, whose naotten, said, "You believe your role here is to convince me you’re not crazy?"

"Well … you know I’m not here by choice"

"You don’t think you need the sessions"

"I understand why the judge ordered it I uess that wasMan, psychiatry seeo I shot a pizza delivery guy with a crossboas drunk"

Pause Nothing from the doctor He was in his fifties, but looked like he could still take e His gray hair was cut like a 1990’s era George Clooney Type of guy whose life had gone exactly as he’d expected it I bet he’d never shot a delivery guy with a crossbow even once

I said, "Okay, I wasn’t drunk I’d only had one beer I thought the guy was threatening "

"He said you accused hihbors heard you shout to hi from the police report, ‘Go back to Hell you unholy abomination, and tell Korrok I have a lot more arrohere that came from’"

"Well … that’s out of context"

"So you do believe in monsters"

"No Of course not It was … a "

He had a nameplate on his desk: Dr Bob Tennet Next to it was a bobblehead of a St Louis Cardinals baseball player I glanced around the room, saw he had a leftover Halloween decoration still taped to his , a cardboard jack-o’-lantern with a cartoon spider crawling out of its mouth The doctor had only five books on the shelf behind hiht was hilarious because I owned more books than that and I wasn’t even a doctor Then I realized they were all written by hi the Dynamics of Group Paranoia and A Person Is Smart, People Are Stupid: An Analysis of Mass Hysteria and Groupthink Should I be flattered or insulted that I apparently got referred to a world-class expert in the subject of why people believe in stupid shit?

He said, "You understand, the court didn’t order these sessions because you believe in ht, they want to make sure I won’t shoot anyone else with a crossbow"

He laughed That surprised h "They want to er to yourself or others And while I know it’s counterintuitive, that process will actually be easier if you don’t think of it as a test you have to pass"

"But if I’d shot soirl or a stolen case of beer, I wouldn’t be here I’ Because of who I aed "You know the stories that go around this town People disappear here Cops disappear But I can tell the difference between reality and fantasy I work, I have a girlfriend, I’m a productive citizen Well, not productive, Ito society and what I take out, society probably breaks even And I’m not crazy I mean, I know anybody can say that But a crazy person can’t fake sane, right? The whole point of being crazy is that you can’t separate crazy ideas from normal ones So, no, I don’t believe the world is full of hosts, or men made of shadows I don’t believe that the town of--

The name of the tohere this story takes place will remain undisclosed so as not to add to the local tourishts only a mentally ill person believes Therefore, I do not believe them"

Boom Therapy accomplished

No answer froreat at not talking to people

After a minute or so I said, "Just … to be clear, what’s said in this rooht?"