Rick uses Tom's recording to guide arrivals

Rick uses Tom's recording to guide arrivals, turning the voice of Malorie’s dead companion into both a personal signal and a warning that a community may be nearby. When Malorie reaches Jane Tucker School for the Blind, Rick asks whether the man on the recording is with her. Her answer—that Tom is dead—reveals the painful mismatch between the recording’s hopeful purpose and the loss that has brought her to its destination.

Purpose of the Recording

The recording is designed to serve two audiences. Rick explains that the community expected Malorie to come down the river and chose Tom’s voice to alert her that she had arrived. The same familiar voice could also tell strangers, if they first encountered the perimeter fence, that some kind of civilization remained nearby. A message meant to guide one known traveler thus doubles as a signal of collective survival.

Rick says the community had contacted many people over the years, but fewer than might be expected; its members could not know how many survivors remained alive or sane. Malorie was the only river arrival they specifically anticipated, though Rick acknowledges that others might also reach them. The recording’s purpose therefore combines a narrow expectation with an open-ended effort to reach the unknown.

Malorie's Arrival and Rick's Apology

At the school, Rick asks whether Tom is still with Malorie. She feels her heartbeat quicken, swallows with difficulty, and answers rigidly that he is dead. Even after she has reached the marked entrance, she scans the hall for other people without yet trusting what she finds. Rick taps his walking stick and moves toward her, reaching out to touch her, while she watches him closely.

Rick apologizes for using Tom’s voice without knowing he had died. He says that, had he known Tom was no longer with her, he would have insisted on using something else. His explanation makes the recording’s cost immediate: the signal that confirms Malorie has found the expected refuge also forces her to state her companion’s death to the people waiting there.

From Signal to Community

Rick’s voice sounds hopeful and optimistic to Malorie, a tone she has not heard in a long time. Yet he bears the stress and age of life in the new world, recalling to her the housemates as they looked years earlier. Hope does not erase the damage of survival; it arrives in a person visibly shaped by the same altered world.

As Rick and Constance explain how the facility operates, their account gives the promised civilization concrete form: fields of potatoes and squash, summer berry harvests, and a way to purify rainwater. The recording has brought Malorie to more than a location. It has led her from the exposed river to a functioning settlement, although her attention remains wary: while the explanation continues, she sees a shadowy figure move behind Rick’s head.