MaddAddam

Toby once again begins the ritual of storytelling with the Crakers, but when she starts the usual story about their creation the Crakers beg to hear about Zeb and the bear. Toby tells the beginning, skipping concepts she can’t explain to the Crakers, such as flying in a helicopter. Zeb was lost in the mountains in winter, with only a knife and a gun to defend himself. Zeb had no food and was worried about bears. He decided that if he had to fight a bear, he’d have to win and eat it. Toby tries to explain that bears are carnivores and Zeb needs to eat to survive. The Crakers worry that Oryx would be sad that Zeb ate a bear. If he hadn’t, Toby explains, Zeb would have died. Then Toby pauses because the Crakers are crying about the thought of Zeb being dead.

Zeb tells Toby the real story of the bear—flirting with her while doing so—including the parts Toby edits out for the Crakers. Zeb was working for Bearlift, a company that airlifted meat trash to feed hungry bears affected by climate change.