21
THE INTERVIEW IN Year Fifteen, continued:
FRANÇOIS DIALLO: Now, I believe you were very young when the Georgia Flu
came, when the collapse happened.
KIRSTEN RAYMONDE: I was eight.
DIALLO: Forgive me, this is a fascination of mine when I speak with people
who were children back then, at the time of the collapse, and I’m not sure how to phrase this, but I want to know what you think about when you consider how the
world’s changed in your lifetime.
RAYMONDE: [silence]
DIALLO: Or to phrase it differently— RAYMONDE: I understood the question. I’d prefer not to answer.
DIALLO: Okay. All right. I’m curious about your tattoo.
RAYMONDE: The text on my arm? “Survival is insufficient”?
DIALLO: No, no, the other one. The two black knives on your right wrist.
RAYMONDE: You know what tattoos like this mean.
DIALLO: But perhaps you could just tell me— RAYMONDE: I won’t talk about it, François, and you know better than to ask.
