Year One

Arlys Reid decides to take her show to the streets. She packs a recorder, slips a gun into her bag, and heads out for man-on-the-street testimony. Fred insists on going with her and leads her toward a boarded “market” where the remaining neighbors share supplies under a strict rule: take only what you need. As they walk through blocks scarred by fire and rot, Fred explains the ad-hoc “safe zones,” where the few “good” people left perform dawn rituals, burning bodies to prevent scavenging. She also mentions the rising threat of Raiders who hunt through apartment buildings.

A motorcycle pack rushes by, and Fred yanks Arlys into a looted store until the danger fades. She then guides Arlys to the hidden market. Inside, Arlys interviews a man who uses the alias “Ben” and recounts losing his husband, a decorated New York police officer who chose to die at home rather than in a hospital bed. Afterward, Ben nearly killed himself, but he abandoned this idea when he found a young boy from their building, newly orphaned. Ben and his neighbors laid the dead to rest, and Ben took the boy in. He now teaches, trains, and plays with the child each day, framing survival as a daily choice to do what must be done.