Leave the World Behind

Amanda wakes up nauseated and vomits twice, a thin pink liquid. Clay wakes up and gets her water, thinking about the fact that this may just be a hangover or it may be something worse. No one notices that Rose was not with them in bed.

Amanda returns to the bedroom and asks Archie how he is feeling. He is unsure, and her attention irritates him. He feels fine, but his tongue touches a tooth and his gums begin to bleed profusely. He touches the tooth with his finger and it breaks loose, confusing and alarming him. He shows the tooth to his mother and she doesn’t understand.

He gets ups and goes to the bathroom, investigating himself in the mirror. He tries another tooth and it gives too, as do two others. He spits blood on the floor and another tooth goes with it.

Amanda calls to Clay, and he comes in and doesn’t know what to do, though he knows this is the moment when he must be ready to save his family. Archie says he’s okay, and he really does feel fine. Amanda, in a panic, asks if the bathtubs have been filled with water.