[hammering]
Previously on Earth Abides...
- [hissing] - Ah! Fuck!
[gasping]
[wheezing in pain]
[tense music playing]
[engine starting]
[Ish] I knew there was a new pandemic.
Vaccines weren't working.
[beeping]
My parents called me three times a day,
but I thought they were just stuck on the wrong channel.
[Milton] Turns out,
they were all the wrong channel.
[Ish] I mean, people were getting sick, yes, but...
[crying out] No, no, no!
[Ish] ...it wasn't supposed to be the fucking end of days.
[Ann] Make mine a double.
[Ish] And there's nowhere left?
♪ Nowhere ♪
No one?
Whoever might be left
is out of time.
[gunshot rings out]
[screaming and raging]
[brakes screeching]
How fuckin' lucky are you?
We're the last-chance Texaco, Luck,
and no one's coming by anymore.
[barking insistently]
[hopeful music playing]
[main piano theme playing]
[seabirds crying]
[lone engine running]
[engine rumbling]
[turning engine off]
[Lucky whining]
[Ish] Let me do the talking.
[Lucky barking]
[Lucky panting]
[door closing]
[nervous music playing]
[woman] Stay right where you are!
[Lucky barking]
[cocking gun]
[Lucky barking]
I haven't seen anyone in the longest time.
What do you want?
[Lucky whimpering]
We're neighbors, almost.
I saw your smoke,
thought I'd see who's alive.
[door opening]
[woman] Go on in.
[Ish] Been here long?
[woman] A few days.
[door closing]
[Ish clears his throat]
[Ish sighs]
I was making tea.
[pouring tea]
[Lucky whining]
Ahem.
This is, uh--?
Thistle tea.
Ah.
It's good.
[laughs]
You're lying.
I have honey.
- Now you tell me? - [laughing]
The only bear I didn't have to shoot.
Hmm.
[Ish] You hunt?
[woman] Don't you?
[Ish] Only rocks.
I'm a geologist.
[woman] How old are you?
[Ish] 27.
I don't normally look Amish.
Well, the beard suits you.
Now you're lying.
[woman] The hair, I could trim.
I used to cut my sister's.
I'm from Pensacola.
Daddy was military.
Mother, a nurse.
Thank you.
I grew up campin' and huntin'.
That gave me a leg up in case the world decided to end.
- [sniffing] - [Ish] Lucky!
[woman] His name is Lucky. Hmm.
You have been alone too long.
Um.
[Ish] I should go.
No, stay.
It's okay...
to allow a kindness.
[Ish] You made a home for yourself here.
You're planning to stay?
[woman] No.
This place never belonged to anyone.
It has no soul.
I gave it a few nights, but--
Why did you choose it?
The ones for sale are usually the only ones with...
no bodies inside.
You said your house was close?
Did I?
You saw my chimney smoke.
You don't live on Mars.
[chuckling lightly]
My house is big enough.
I was sure I was gonna die alone.
[door closing]
[sprinklers running]
[sighing]
Sorry.
What are you sorry about?
I don't know.
Being happy?
Don't blame yourself.
I have a habit of doing that to people.
[Ish laughs]
[engine starts]
[Ish] I don't think I ever brought
a proper girl home before.
Who said I was a proper girl?
[Ish] You can see I wasn't expecting anyone.
If you'd kept the place neat for no one,
I'd be worried.
[laughing]
You like to read.
[Ish] Yeah, my mother taught me, uh, books are ladders.
My grandmother called them "wings."
They've, uh, kind of been keeping me alive.
- The yard? - Through the kitchen.
[Lucky whines]
It's all new, buddy.
[cutting]
[woman] Ish? You'll want to see the pantry!
Squirrels?
Mice.
[empty box thuds]
Infestation means one thing.
[flies buzzing]
[packets landing in the cart]
[flies buzzing]
[putting objects in the cart]
[Ish] This place has everything!
We should just move in here.
Why do I get the feeling
you're getting all the wrong stuff?
[woman] I won't even dignify that with an answer.
[Ish] Well, you haven't been exactly shopping for two.
And you have? Do tell!
I'll shut up now.
[woman] I found solar panels on seven,
if you want to grab a few!
This place was built for the apocalypse...
only.
Not exactly a great business model, long-term.
[Ish] Skip the alcohol. I got plenty at home.
This aisle's had last call.
[squeaking]
[Lucky barking]
[woman] I think we got enough canned pineapples.
[Ish] They're good.
In fact, your cart looks like mostly canned food.
It's enough to make you my favorite dinner,
for as long as your heart desires.
Which, based on what I see before me...
might be never.
[Ish] I'll come back for the solar panels.
[Lucky panting]
[woman] This is a meal to you?
[Ish] All the nutrients a body needs.
And none of the taste.
[both laugh]
I can guarantee you
there's gonna be some fishing in your future.
My dad and I used to spend Sundays at Pillar Point.
More catching rays than fish, but...
I miss him.
I miss birds.
It's too quiet now.
Back at the other house too.
Just keep noticing the silence.
Something's preying on them.
The Earth's self-correcting,
maybe over-correcting, without people.
We're still here.
It's a quirk of biology.
Some fortuitous genetic mutation or natural immunity.
She'll try to shrug us off too.
Mother Earth seeking revenge.
We were the virus.
She's gonna fight us, never let us relax.
Permanent payback.
So we fight.
Against Mother Nature?
If she gon' be a bitch, hell, yeah.
[chuckling]
[peaceful music playing]
[sighing]
[reel spinning]
- [wood clatters] - [sighs]
There's nothing that could have prepared me for Emma.
No book or song or poem.
No piece of advice.
She has landed in my life like a rescuing angel.
[Emma] This makes me happy.
[snipping]
[shaving]
[pouring]
[Emma] Let me guess. Your first chicken coop.
[giggles]
They ask Picasso that after his first painting?
[Emma] Hmm.
Now all we need is some tenants.
"If you build it, they will come."
Even if you build it that bad?
- Ow! - [laughing]
You ever wonder--
[Ish] I don't think I ever stop wondering.
I mean...
why we are still here.
Maybe we're here because...
What?
Everyone disappeared...
but me.
Now you.
I don't believe in fate, but maybe.
[Ish] I don't believe in it either.
Hmm.
Maybe that's the cosmic joke.
[Ish sighs]
[Emma gasps]
[Ish] Nature is taking back all that was once hers.
[exhales]
Seen from the moon,
Earth surely looks no different,
no brighter, no dimmer,
for the disappearance of humans.
[pen scratching paper]
But up close...
I can see that we matter not to anyone or anything
but ourselves.
Will that be enough?
[Emma] I miss ice cream.
Especially right after.
Yeah?
You don't know.
I could devour
some Jamoca almond fudge right about now.
[both chuckle]
Waffle cone?
What else is there?
I feel like this is more
of a soft-serve shitty cone kind of truck.
A girl can dream.
How does a truck wind up on its ass in the--
It's on its side.
If it was on its ass, I would've definitely said--
[both] Aliens.
Damn.
[laughing]
If we're staying,
really staying,
we're gonna need power.
Well, food's the main priority.
And light and heat
and clean water, refrigeration, ice.
[sighing] It was easier before.
It's not before...
anymore.
[Lucky whining]
[engine not starting]
Shit.
[wood splintering]
[starter chugs and sputters]
[sloshing]
[gas flowing]
[spitting]
[engine roars]
[hopeful music playing]
Ah!
[wincing] Aah!
[Lucky starts barking]
Oh, well.
It's nothing. It barely hurts.
I'm more mad than anything.
I should be able to get on and off that roof.
That's my specialty.
[Ish chuckles]
We could look for others.
Help wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
Others?
Are you lonely?
[Emma] I miss people.
I miss noise
and chaos,
community.
Not knowing what every day brings.
We don't know what every day brings.
I miss love.
Being surrounded by love.
This is like an arranged marriage.
[giggles]
We arranged ourselves.
Yeah, well, the apocalypse makes for strange bedfellows.
Who you calling strange?
- Ahh! - Oh, I'm sorry.
- [Ish exhales] - Mm. [kissing]
Suddenly that ankle doesn't hurt so bad, hmm?
What ankle?
[laughing]
[sleeping peacefully]
[Lucky whining]
[rustling]
[unzipping]
[sentimental music playing]
[photos rustling]
[sniffling]
When do you think we'll truly have power?
I'm learning as I go.
Any chance you could learn faster?
[chuckling lightly]
Hey, don't pick on the little guy.
Will it be in, like...
six months or...
Just trying to get an idea.
Why? What's happening in six months?
Also, when did we even start doing months?
Are you secretly keeping a calendar?
[Emma] My body is.
[chuckles nervously]
I've been afraid to tell you.
No hospitals.
No doctors.
No safety net.
- [footsteps departing] - [door opens and shuts]
- Ish! - [sighs]
My body is built for this.
How can we protect a child?
What if something happens to us?
We've been okay.
We'll be okay.
I need you to believe in us, in this,
in a future.
[tense music playing]
[Ish] Found it, Luck.
[flipping pages]
[Lucky growling]
[barking]
[rat squeaking]
[Lucky barking]
- Lucky, leave it alone. - [Lucky barks]
I love it when you're ridiculous.
A baby.
A real person is coming.
Well, no father is actually ready
until they hold their child.
And then?
And then they realize how far behind they are.
And you'll help me...
a little.
Why don't we do it together, hmm?
[Lucky barking]
Looks like you were right.
[Ish] The big one gave me a hard time.
We'll eat him first.
[sentimental music playing]
Should we get your feet up?
It's one of those third- trimester symptoms, isn't it?
Pre-eclampsia?
Isherwood, mm, you read too many books.
No such thing.
No. I need meat.
I thought the beans and greens were giving you enough protein.
I could eat a sea of spinach
and every egg our chickens surrender, but...
I know what this is. I need meat.
I could eat a--a horse or a really big rabbit.
Yeah.
I'll get my gun.
No, no, no. You've done all the hunting.
I got this.
Oh, my love. Mm!
Mm. [smooch]
Look at me, a manly man!
[grumbling]
[rain falling gently]
[cattle mooing]
[clicking]
[cow mooing]
[mooing]
Shh.
Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.
Hey, hey, hey!
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. No, no.
Hey, no-no-no-no, no, no, no. Stay, stay.
Hey! Hey, hey!
Hey, hey, hey.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Whoa, buddy.
Hey, buddy. Hey, hey, hey.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Back up, back up. Back up.
Fuck.
[cocking gun]
[sighing]
[tearfully] I'm sorry.
[firing]
[cow screaming in agony]
Aw, shit!
Aw, fuck!
[cow wailing]
- [cocking gun] - [cow screaming]
- [shot firing] - [silence falls]
Sorry, buddy.
"Make a long cut along the belly."
"Just through the hide."
[sighing] Oh, shit.
[sniffing]
Okay.
Hoo!
[sniffing deeply]
Come on, Ish.
[flesh tearing]
[grunting]
"Cut along the same line,
exposing the abdominal cavity."
You have gotta be fucking kidding me.
[grunting intensely]
[coughing]
"Saw the pelvis--"
The fuck is the pelvis?
[sawing through bone]
"Separate the bung."
Ahh!
Fuck! How do people do this?
"Remove the abdominal viscera."
- [flesh squishing] - Oh.
[retching]
Ahh!
"Cut the aorta and esophagus."
"Release the tail from the hide."
"Remove the heart."
Ohh.
Okay.
Self high-five.
Good job. Good job, Ish.
[rooster crowing]
[grunting]
I only took one anatomy class,
but I think this is the heart.
I killed a cow. Not well.
My father taught me to kill with reverence and respect.
[dryly] Good for you. I tried.
The book said bury the head and guts. That, I managed.
And to use every part you can carry.
I'm gonna need your help with the carrying.
Mm. Did you skin her?
What?
I'll handle that part. Thank you.
- You're welcome. - Mm-hmm. And now...
you must eat the hunter's prize.
Now? Raw?
That'd be sexier.
[sighs]
No, cooked, you dodo!
- That's not funny. - [laughing]
Can't hunt. No sense of humor.
How'd you ever get a girl like me?
- Well, I do hunt now. - Mm!
So eat your heart out.
- Still no sense of humor. - That was funny.
[Emma laughs]
Oh, my God.
[sniffing and panting]
[drill whirring]
[panting]
[yelling] Let there be light!
[Emma] I have something to show you.
Not until I impress you.
You don't need to impress me with a circuit breaker.
I can do that.
I know. You do everything. It's almost annoying.
[exhaling]
[clicking]
Ah! We're alive!
Are you ready?
- [clicking] - Ah!
- [Emma laughs] - [Ish] Come on!
Ahead of schedule by weeks.
♪ Ahhh! ♪
Hmm!
Love it!
Don't love this.
It was in the upstairs toilet.
I drowned it.
You think taking a cow down was hard?
Never met a fight to live like a rat in a toilet.
[Ish] We have traps?
Not big enough for that guy.
- Poison? - Not enough.
Ish, this is no joke.
I lived in Florida when the world was still a thing.
With rats, it's us or them.
[rats squeaking]
[foreboding music playing]
[Ish] I'm gonna need backup.
Em! Come here.
[Lucky barking]
[growling]
Holy fuck.
We gotta get rid of the trash!
[Lucky barking]
For every rat you see, there's a hundred you don't.
[firing]
- [rat screeching] - [gunshot]
[firing]
Ish, what do they want?
The cow!
[urgent music playing]
[firing]
[grunting]
[firing]
[reloading]
- [screeching] - [gunshot]
[dropping carcass in]
[panting]
[skittering]
[loading gun]
[Emma] Oh, my God. We need to seal the house!
Go inside! - Emma, come on!
[firing]
[rats squeaking]
[skittering and squeaking]
[Ish] Seal up the back! I got the front!
[Emma] There's hundreds on the back deck!
[rats clambering]
[skittering and squeaking]
[Emma] Did we do enough?
[skittering overhead]
[Lucky crying]
[alarmed] Lucky!
[Lucky crying]
[Ish] Oh, my God.
[crying]
[Emma] Oh, shit.
[Ish] Here, we gotta get him. Come on.
[tearing tape]
[Lucky whining]
[Emma] They're gonna fuckin' come in here.
[Ish] I got it. You back up. Back up.
Hang in there! Hang in there, Luck!
- You ready? - Yeah.
[Lucky crying]
[screeching]
Good boy. Whoa. Whoa. Get the door. Get the door.
Get the door. Get the door. Come on!
Take him upstairs. Take him upstairs.
Fuck!
[loading gun]
[firing]
Aw, fuck!
Aah!
[grunting intensely]
Die, you rat fuck!
[grunting]
Fuck!
Haah!
[grunting as blows land]
Fuck!
- [Ish panting] - [rats skittering]
[Emma] I gave him Benadryl. Hope it's helping.
- [Lucky crying] - [Ish] It's okay. It's okay.
Shh, shh, shh, shh.
Should be getting sleepy.
[Emma] "Should be" isn't "is."
What's it gonna take for them to move on?
[rats squeaking]
We're fucked.
- [Lucky whimpering] - [Ish] Sorry, Luck.
[Emma] Now, hold him tight again.
[Lucky whines and cries]
[Lucky crying softly]
[Ish] Shh. Good boy.
He's asleep.
[sighing]
I could lose you.
[Emma] I'm not leaving.
Women die during childbirth.
Not me.
[Ish sighs] You're so sure.
Done it before.
No complications.
Twice.
I lost them both on the same day.
To the virus.
Feels like...
a hundred years ago.
And it feels like yesterday.
Em.
I wanted to tell you all about 'em.
But by telling you,
it means I'd have to share them with you,
and they are mine.
I'm so sorry.
[Emma sniffles]
I wanted to die too.
[chuckles]
My girls always wanted me to wear my hair natural.
So when they were gone...
I did these braids so tight,
wouldn't be anything that could undo 'em.
I buttoned up every part of me.
I tried to walk off my guilt,
'cause guilt is a useless thing.
All weight and no wings.
I don't want to keep falling through that trapdoor.
I'll catch you.
[hopeful music playing]
- It'll be more than me now. - More to catch.
[Emma laughs]
[Ish kisses]
[Emma sniffles]
- [Ish] As for the cats... - [cats yowling]
they had always accepted man's domination
with reservation.
[rats squeaking]
Those penned inside houses soon died of thirst.
[cats yowling]
But those who had been on the outside
managed better than the dogs.
Their hunting became an industry,
not an amusement.
[panting]
They prowled in the streets and the alleys.
They spread outward from the edge of the city.
Ish?
And, somehow, it worked.
[Emma] I think they're gone.
[deadbolt turns]
Fuckin' cats.
[wind chimes ring]
[door sliding open]
Ish?
Where the hell'd they all go?
It's good the rats are gone.
Someone else is coming!
[Ish] What?
What?
- [Emma giggling] - [Lucky barking]
[exhaling deeply]
[blowing air]
Don't breathe on me.
Ooh.
Mm.
Okay, here it comes!
[exhaling through pain]
Ah! Mm.
Okay. [breathing]
[Emma grunting]
Come on.
[grunting] Okay, okay.
[straining]
Come on, come on.
Come on. Come on.
- [pained] Ah. No. - Okay.
I need to change position.
[groaning and whimpering]
Here you go. Come on.
[Emma gasps]
What's happening?
Its shoulder's coming first.
I can feel it when I reach inside.
It's blocking the head.
Is that "breech"?
I read about that in the book. It's breech.
- No! Fuck the book! - Do you know what to do?
I don't know what to do if we fuck the book.
I helped my sister. It's a fancy name.
It just means the baby's head can't come through.
[Emma groans and moans]
Ish.
[dramatic music playing]
[Emma] Ish!
Ish!
Ish! I will die, and so will our baby
if you don't step up right now!
Ish!
- Emma, I'm here, I'm here. - I can't do this by myself.
I know. I'm here. I'm here. You got this. I'm here.
Just tell me what to do.
Ahh, you have to reach in and turn the baby.
- [groaning] - Reach in.
- And turn the baby. - Mm-hmm.
Go.
- Okay. Okay. Uh... - Do it.
[Emma groaning lightly]
You'll feel the shoulder first.
Ooh. And you have to rotate.
Mm. Give the baby's head space to come through.
[groaning] Ahh. Ooh.
Can you-- Can you feel the head?
Uh...
Okay, hold on. I got a shoulder.
Okay, I got a head.
Can you feel the other shoulder?
Uh...
Okay. Yeah. I got two shoulders and a head.
Another contraction.
You have to turn the baby right as I push.
[Ish] Okay, breathe.
Ooh. ooh.
- Now, stay inside-- - Yeah.
And turn your hand like a slide until--
Okay, hand-slide!
- Ahh! Ooh. - Okay.
Ooh.
- Ahh. - Come on!
[crying out]
Holy shit!
- [screaming] - I've got him!
Come on, come on, come on!
[screaming]
[loud squishing]
Oh!
- [Emma panting] - [baby cries]
[crying]
[Ish] She's a girl.
It's a baby girl.
[baby crying]
Watch the umbilical cord. Just gentle now.
Isn't she just too beautiful?
[chuckling] She's perfection.
I love you, Emma?
[chuckling]
You questioning?
[Ish laughs] No. I love you.
And I love you, little one.
We love you, Isherwood.
Name her Heather.
After your mother.
Hi, Heather.
Humans are back.
Maybe civilization could rise again.
Mm. You puttin' that huge task on these tiny shoulders?
Hey, she was coming out all shoulders.
[laughing]
Not just hers.
On mine.
On ours.
[hopeful music playing]
Hello, Heather.
How you doing? Hello.
[Ish] I can't believe I'm gonna say this word.
My former self, forgive me, but I feel blessed.
[paint hissing]
[rattling]
[paint hissing]
[closing theme playing]