The Flucks is my (Ed) first novel and an experiment. We are independent creators, publishing chapter by chapter as a podcast and text. It’s designed to be heard. We’d love to receive your feedback so we can tell stories better.
Continue reading for Chapter 12, start at Chapter 1, or find where you left off.
Audio performance by Anthony Michael Malec
Text copyright © 2025 Ed Herrington
Last time on The Flucks
When the page refreshed, I noticed it for the first time—the notification bell was a distinctly different color. I had a DM.
I clicked it and read the message.
Slacy, sorry it took so long.
I re-read it a thousand times, along with the screen name.
Chuq
Slacy and Galileo started the next leg of their journey, but dropped everything when he got a DM from the dead. He sits with the message, figuring out where to go from here.
Chapter 12 — Emotional damage
I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to, but it was impossible. I saw Chuq die by The Flucks. Did she schedule the message to send now?
There was a video. I hit play.
Chuq was quite pretty, even in her 90s, right up until the moment she died. She took care of her skin—rarely wore makeup, always wore sunscreen.
But Chuq the younger was downright gorgeous. She had this glam rock aesthetic going on. Short, pink hair, a blue lightning bolt across her eyes—David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust if he were a lesbian.
Y’all know Bowie, right? Of course you do. Timeless.
She spoke.
“Hey, Slace, it’s been a while. Sorry it’s taken so long, I needed to find myself. I spent so many nights, alone, confused, dying—being reborn. I was lost in oblivion until, finally, I remembered who I wanted to be. I told oblivion to go fuck itself. I took control.
“I died a few more times. Some, by my own hand. But, eventually, I wound up somewhere with food, warmth, and makeup.”
She flashed a smile and did a little upper-body dance, framing her face with her hands. I could imagine the music and sparkly animated overlay.
“It’s the apocalypse. I can wear whatever I want. Be whomever I want. But I didn’t want to be alone.”
She paused and gave a million-meter stare, then looked down. When she finally looked up, she took a deep breath, then continued.
“The other people I ran into didn’t stay around long. I never ran into anyone I knew before. Some people I could barely recognize as human.
“I was in oblivion long enough to know what happens when they die. At least I wouldn’t likely have to see them again. The world is a big place, and I don’t think there are many of us left.”
Her eyes began to tear up as she looked right into the camera.
“I needed someone I could trust. I needed you, Slacy. All those years we spent caring for each other in our old age, even though we weren’t married. Even though we’d never be a couple, and I could never have feelings for you. I never cared what you had in your pants, nor you mine.”
She grinned, then used her palms to wipe away the tears. And, man, the makeup stayed; that’s some high-quality stuff—I guess—I’m not a beautician. Then, her face fell solemn, and she stared into my soul.
“But we had a platonic love, Slacy. One stronger than any chemical attraction. One stronger than any sexual desire. One that kept us together until the end.”
I paused the video. I thought I was alone. The only other person I’ve seen until now was inhuman. But to be delivered this gift—Chuq—it was too much. I cried myself to exhaustion, then slept.
⍟⍟⍟
I woke in the middle of the night, sprawled in the front car seat. Galileo booped my elbow to wake me. We walked around outside to take care of our business, her following behind me to mark her spot on top of mine.
I stared up at the stars, wondering where Chuq could be. How could I find her? Would the stars guide me? Galileo came and sat beside me, staring into the bright sky, free from light pollution.
We got back in the car, and I checked the battery to make sure the heater wasn’t using it faster than I had calculated.
I drank from my water bottle, then snapped into a Slim Jim. No, of course I didn’t give the dog any, that’s too much salt. I tossed her a dog biscuit and pressed play.
“I figured if you were alive, you’d still be writing that stupid blog.”
I burst out laughing, releasing all the tension that had built up, and missed the next part. I had to skip back 30 seconds.
“But then, I read your last words—Farewell. You were gone. I had lost you, just when I found myself again.”
Well, shit, she was going to make me cry again. She had been on a rollercoaster of emotions, that’s just like her to drag me on it with her.
She wasn’t talking to me. She was sending out a message to the void—a reply to my self-eulogy. I thought about how she must have been feeling and banged my hands on the steering wheel furiously.
Galileo raised her head, gave me a “WTF, man, I’m trying to sleep” look, and curled back up in the passenger seat. She was getting used to my rantings and ravings.
Chuq was done talking. She reached for the corner of the screen to stop the recording. The video froze on her arm, her face out of the screen.
I noticed that her arm was bare, free from the beautiful, colorful tattoos she gained over a long life. The ones that recorded the people, things, and places she loved most.
I guess The Flucks takes those too—erases you and makes you new.
I sighed and bonked my head on the steering wheel and just lay there, wondering what to do next, when movement caught the corner of my eye.
The video wasn’t over; she was just still, finger hovering over the stop button. She wasn’t done talking. She sat back, re-entered the frame, and stared back into the camera.
“Fuck this! This doesn’t feel right. I don’t know if you can have platonic soulmates, but dammit, I’m going to have one. I know you’re out there. Slacy, get your shit together and come find me.”
Author’s Notes
So begins Part 2 of The Flucks.
As I mentioned in the last Author’s Notes, I completed this chapter last October when I had only written the first 3 chapters. Anthony Michael Malec read and recorded it back then and we’ve been sitting on it for months.
The story was always going in this direction, but Slacy had a few detours. Clearly, he isn’t the only person left, but where is everyone?
Do you think they’ll find each other?
Next Chapter Coming Soon
