"Ya heard about that distillery out in the Ozarks? Moffat's hell shine? The guy there's hacked himself up with some armadillo DNA or something, he's got a big shell and red eyes that glow at night. Makes it awfully hard to wash himself up, but he only needs to breathe once every six minutes. Helps when you're boiling up toxic water and corn."

"I guess, they got no water out there that isn't poison, they gotta drink something. Like, here in the flatlands, we're living in a contaminated zone, but it's not so contaminated that we can't grow anything. 'Least, not yet."

"Might be coming sooner than you think, what with the cityfolk from New Memphis dumping their sludge here. And they say we're the ones who are ruining the land with our aggressive farming. Like we have any other way to farm now."

"They sent a squad down the river to off some drifters. Beadle's colony."

"Shit, I didn't know about that. Anyone get out?"

"Don't think so. The cops were modded out--robot arms, fiber optics, probably some biohacked hokey to make them faster. I saw their boat go by two days ago. Crazy stuff."

"Shit. I thought the flatlands would be safe, there's not even anything here anymore to steal."

"They don't care if there's anything to steal. They want our DNA, is what I heard. Our hacking is miles better than theirs."

"Our hacking's nothing like theirs. They hack their babies to look prettier and be smarter. We splice ourselves with varmints because they can digest raw carrion and garbage without getting sick."

"You got a problem with my possum splice? I think my pouch is bona fide. Great for carrying shine and seeds out of the Smokies unnoticed, at least. Makes it pretty difficult to do the deed, if you know what I mean, but--"

"Look, this is serious. If they're coming for drifters, for hackers, then we gotta get out. Head down the river, up to old Appalachia, anywhere they won't look. Like I said, I know a guy in the Ozarks. We can be gone by tomorrow, lord willing."

"Then what?"

"I don't know, get blacked out on toxic corn and rye or something. You mix yourself with a varmint, can't really be surprised when they start hunting you down like one."