<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
We reach an open doorway and push through it to find ourselves in the church kitchen. We crouch low to the ground, crowded together behind the metal prep tables in an effort to remain unseen. Looking around the room, I catch a glimpse of Jack. His gentle eyes are wide with fear and confusion. Tick is also clearly terrified. Phil pulls something from his pocket and frantically instructs Jack to administer it to Dorothy. Jack is unsure, but manages to get Dorothy, shaken as she is, to swallow the pill.<\/span><\/p>\nPhil begins to pace, his eyes frantic and searching.<\/span><\/p>\nTick nervously asks Phil, \u201cWhat should we do?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nNo response.<\/span><\/p>\nTick asks again, more desperately, \u201cWhat\u2019s the plan, Phil?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nPhil stammers, \u201cI\u2026 I\u2019m thinking!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWell, think faster!\u201d, Tick urges.<\/span><\/p>\nPhil pleads, \u201cI\u2019m doing the best I can!\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cTHAT\u2019S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!\u201d, Tick shouts, pounding the table with his fist, his voice reverberating against the metal surfaces.<\/span><\/p>\nThe impact of Tick\u2019s words hit Phil like a gut-punch. He collapses to the ground in a broken heap and huddles, sobbing in a fetal position, as the consequence of his incompetent leadership sinks in.<\/span><\/p>\nSuddenly, we are aware of a firm yet soothing female voice in the room. It\u2019s Dorothy, who has awakened from her trance and is attempting to calm Tick. Once Tick has begun to breathe normally and gather his wits, Dorothy helps Phil up off the floor. She takes a breath assesses the situation.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cPhil, What\u2019s the Plan?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nPhil tells her \u201cThe whole building is in lockdown and there\u2019s no way we can all escape now. I shouldn\u2019t have told us to run. That was stupid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDorothy looks around at us. \u201cIs this is? Is this all that\u2019s left of Patchwork?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nWhen this elicits more arguing from Tick & Jack, she decides to take a different, more stoic approach.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cProblems are best solved on your feet. I\u2019ve run away from mine for too long, and now I\u2019m going to be ready for when they come. So I\u2019m trying to remember something and I need your help.\u201d She exhales. \u201cRight before I was drugged I was holding onto the thread of an idea and I don\u2019t know\u2026I seem to have let go of it\u2026it was about the old prophecies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nShe asks if any us recall what those prophecies foretold of the rightful ruler of Oz. As she speaks, Tick grows anxious again. He clearly has something to share but hesitates. Dorothy encourages him to speak and he tells a story:<\/span><\/p>\nA long time ago, before Mombi and the witches, people of the old religion they had these quilts. The patterns of them were made from the ancient texts. Then the winds changed and Oz became unsafe and so they took apart these quilts. They took them apart and then they hid them in these patches. My family, they were true believers of the old religion and once they found out that the religion had been corrupted by the government, they went searching for these patches for answers. My great grandmother, my grandmother, they passed down these patches in order to\u2026 people died looking for these. People died. Oz is forgotten but they remain.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n