This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Melanie Lavin: When I was in elementary school, I got a book of children's poems as a birthday gift. There was a lot of filler, but the last poem in the book was Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin. It's not a children's poem, or it shouldn't be. It tells the story of that piper, the mysterious man in colorful clothes who leads a town's children away, from the point of view of a little lame boy who can't follow the piper and his friends. I loved the poem, but it made me so sad. That little boy who can't follow his friends, who knows he is missing something. Since I've returned from Split Valley, I've felt like the little boy left behind in Hamelin. I saw the piper leading the children to a merry place somewhere wonderful, where they could be free. Or maybe it's someplace horrible. But either way, someplace different. And I didn't follow.

[1:16] Laura: Is that all you have with you, Melanie?

[1:19] Melanie Lavin: Yeah, I didn't know how long I'd be gone.

[1:23] Laura: We have clean clothes for you to change into, and a shower if you need one.

[1:28] Melanie Lavin: Is it outside?

[1:30] Laura: We commandeered a county water pump shed and isolated it with quilts. Kathy? She's been with me the longest. She's a plumber. We've been lucky enough to have every kind of person here. People who can do everything.

[1:44] Melanie Lavin: You look confused.

[1:47] Laura: I'm just trying to figure it all out. How you live here. Why you live here.

[1:53] Melanie Lavin: The how is hard. I'm not gonna lie. I've been here almost two years now. One full winter. Winter is difficult, but it can be done. And it's better than the alternative.

[2:08] Laura: I've been in the alternative.

[2:12] Laura: I can see that you're running away from something, Melanie.

[2:15] Melanie Lavin: I wouldn't say running.

[2:17] Laura: But your face. Your posture. A bad situation.

[2:22] Melanie Lavin: Not a bad situation.

[2:27] Melanie Lavin: Maybe a situation where I'm not appreciated. But not a... I don't mean to...

[2:36] Melanie Lavin: I live an incredibly safe life. I'm not into playing who's had it worse. I think... I think a woman can have the happiest, safest life imaginable. And still need to walk away from everything.

[3:06] Melanie Lavin: Finally, buried on page 748 of the Caldwell Cosmetics message board, I find it. A post titled, We Made Signs. Sorry for the confusion. We realize not everyone has a compass. Or not everyone knows how to read a compass. So we've put up some posts to help you. You'll know them when you see them. You might have to wait for a little while, but one of us will come get you.

[3:38] Female Voice One: Hello, ladies. I know it's been a while since I recorded a tutorial for you. It's important to me to be honest with you. I've always tried to present myself as I am. Someone with an imperfect life, who really wants to make some part of the day... perfect. Caldwell Cosmetics has been that perfection for me. I've learned so much about myself from using the products. And from helping you share them with your friends and family. I wanted the experience of using Caldwell products to be about enhancing beauty. Not covering up ugliness. But as you can probably see... Today I have some ugliness to cover up.

[4:40] Female Voice One: I'm going to show you what the Caldwell Pore Perfection Concealer and Foundation can do. I want you to know that everyone has something ugly in their life. Even me. Especially me.

[5:04] Laura: We've got a mattress for you right here.

[5:13] Melanie Lavin: This is so soft.

[5:16] Laura: I stuffed it with goose feathers. If you've been traveling, you should really just take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow I can show you the workstations. We have a sewing hut, we have carpentry, we have a gun stockpile. They're for hunting. We only meet we catch.

[5:33] Melanie Lavin: How did this happen? I mean...

[5:36] Laura: It's Laura. Or it started out with Laura. Now it's all of us.

[5:45] Melanie Lavin: Have you ever tried to disappear before this?

[5:48] Laura: No.

[5:50] Laura: It's harder than it seems. Everyone wants your last name, your social, to find out where you were. It's better to be here.

[6:01] Melanie Lavin: Aren't you worried that someone will try to kick you off this land?

[6:05] Laura: That's where the gun stockpile comes in handy. Kidding!

[6:10] Melanie Lavin: Oh.

[6:11] Laura: Oh!

[6:15] Laura: I'll let you rest.

[6:20] Melanie Lavin: Actually, I'd love to see what I could do. The jobs. If that's okay.

[6:29] Laura: Absolutely. Follow me.

[6:33] Narrator: Episode 6 of Split Valley features Keilly McQuail as Melanie, Meg MacCary as Laura, Susannah Jones as Female Voice One, and Michelle Beck as Steph.

[7:02] Narrator: Written by Caroline V. McGraw.

[7:04] Narrator: Sound Design by James Hansen.

[7:06] Narrator: Directed by Eddie Prunoske.

[7:08] Narrator: Music composed by Luke Santy.

[7:11] Narrator: Produced by Five on a Match.

[7:32] Narrator: Thank you for watching.