Future Darkly: Pandemic - Kate and the Free Man
We create a fantasy world so that we can stay in it, not so that we can escape reality. "-Lynda BarryOn Kate (Cherie DeVille) in bed, the scene opens. Dressed in shop glasses, an oxygen mask, and newly bleached white sheets drawn up to her shoulders, she lies. She inhales fearfully and sits up abruptly. Taking a glance at her list of things to do on the kitchen counter, Kate sees all the rituals she has created to help her deal with her agoraphobia. Kate looks over the inventory. But Kate soon feels overwhelmed as she looks at every single thing on the list. She finally smacks the counter with her marker. She calms herself down with deliberate breathing, cleans her hands, puts on rubber gloves, and quickly leaves. Determined, Kate proceeds through the list, carefully sanitising and securing every area of her house. Her landline rings out of nowhere. After taking a quick look at the phone, she chooses to let the answering machine answer. Kate's sister leaves what sounds like a furious, repetitive message on the answering machine, telling her to take care of some plants that Kate got. There is a buzzer as the message hangs up. Kate's tiny house's front door cracks open on the front steps. Kate reaches out the door with her gloved hand to attempt and grasp the plants using a grabber stick. She tries in vain to pull the plants inside, but she is unable to reach them, and she finally gives up and shuts the door. Kate gets in the shower right away and gives herself a thorough body scrub. She closes her eyes and lets her thoughts roam while she scrubs. She imagines packed streets with people conversing, coughing, shaking hands, and smiling as the wind moves through the trees. She continues to scrub, and it's obvious how tense she is. Her mind flashes through a sequence of masked, blurry faces. She witnesses some dirt being slammed by a pair of boots. Kate lets her hands wander down her body and licks her lips. She's starting to become a little agitated. She imagines the boots stomping on a mask that is gradually dropping to the ground. The man wearing the boots, Dick Chibbles, then shows his face to her. Kate loses it all as a result, and she starts to enjoy herself excessively. Who IS this enigmatic, man without a mask who has taken over Kate's thoughts?