ZOE GOES OUT IN STYLE
Final Fugitive Cornered in Tuxedo Store on E. 86th St.; Hunter Mark Tafoya Claims $10,000 Grand Prize to Add to His Winnings

[At approximately 1:15 PM on Saturday afternoon, Fugitive Zoe met her match in the cramped quarters of Jack and Co. Tuxedos on E. 86th Street. Her captor was none other than Mark Tafoya, the man who brought down Fugitive Jason on Day 9.

Early in the day, Tafoya had set a trap for the lone remaining Fugitive, arming the man on duty at Jack and Co. with a description of Zoe, his cell phone number, and these instructions: "If she comes by, please call me on this number and pretend like you're ordering a pizza. I’ll come right over."

And she did come by, and the Jack and Co. employee did call, and Tafoya did rush over. And he said, "Fugitive Zoe, you’re captured." And that was that.

Afterward, Zoe was gracious enough to submit to an interview with Command.]

Do you want a seat?
No, I'm lucky to have endless energy. [Sits anyway.]

Tell us about the capture. How did it feel?
I felt a lump in my throat. It was defeat. Chris and Jason said it was almost a relief -- and I was definitely coming down with something and not feeling so good about myself last night when I was hanging out with the homeless people in Penn Station -- but it wasn't a relief for me. I definitely wanted to win.

Did you ever think about skipping this task? [Having completed every other task, Zoe was allowed to skip either Saturday's or Sunday's Day Task.]
No. I figured if I skipped any it would be on the last day. And I had already figured this one out. I think I probably would have done tomorrow's, too, because that's just the way I am.

Why do you think that on Day 11 you were still playing and Jason and Chris were home?
I think I prepared more. I had disguises. Nobody knew about them. The other guys didn't even know about them. I think that made me less paranoid - I never had to worry about people recognizing me. I also never photographed my face [for Task evidence]. And I'm a physical person. So, for me, other than the sweating, it wasn't hard for me to be outside all day.

What was the hardest part for you?
Believe it or not, I think the hardest part was figuring out the tasks and getting them done. When they were finally done, I had this incredible feeling of freedom.

Besides the disguises, what else did you do to stay clear of capture?
I would get on my cell phone and have fake conversations in French.

You speak French?
Enough to say the same thing over and over again. I would have long fights on the phone with my French "boyfriend."

What else?
I hung out in churches, I hung out in synagogues. I hung out in hospitals -- places that aren't very entertaining. I sought refuge in places that people wouldn't think of.

How did you deal with people when you met them?
There are a lot of guys waiting for Joanna to come back to the bar tomorrow. [Laughs.] I did create fully new identities sometimes, but if was in an engaging conversation with someone, I would just change my name and tell the truth about everything else.

So you weren't going out of your way not to interact with people?
No, that's not in my nature.

Do you think you benefited from growing up in the City?
I think that my knowledge of the City helped me be more confident and comfortable, but I don't think you need to know the City to play this game. This is a great game for people who aren't from the City, because you see all the parts that aren't the center. I think if you have a map and a [guide] book you'd be fine.

Did you feel hunted out there? Like there were eyes on you?
One time, during the movie rental task, I saw someone outside of Blockbuster who I thought was staring at me. He was in his 20s, just standing around -- sort of like I pictured the hunters. So, I decided not to go in. That was the only time, before today, that I really felt like there were eyes on me.

Did you make a conscious effort to stay out of the back-and-forth with the serious hunters?
Yeah. I felt like the less involved I was, the less chance there was that they'd come after me.

They seemed to get to Jason and Chris.
[Jason and Chris] would come [back to the Hide/Out] and be freaked out by who they thought was tracking them. I had a very different anxiety. I mostly worried about getting the Tasks done. All of these Tasks were like homework to me. I was definitely more stressed about the Tasks than they were and they were more paranoid about people following us.

Did anything bother you about living with those guys?
The first day, when Chris got into the [Getaway] Car, he didn't say hi to us. I was like, What an asshole! So, I had this one notion. By the end of the day I realized it was completely wrong.

Jason talked way too loud and I had fights with him about littering, because he's a litterer. But nothing really bugged me. They're great guys. And it was interesting, because we're all so different.

Are you glad you played?
I'm glad I played. Would I do it again? Probably not. I would get very frustrated with the Tasks and I feel like there were a lot of inconsistencies. But I really feel that I was perfectly suited for this. I really thought I had a great chance of winning.

Any revelations from playing?
No, not yet. There might be one. There was so little time to think about my own thoughts. I was always thinking, What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? I never thought about my life.

What are you going to do next?
I would like to write about this experience. Even talking about it right now -- I hadn't thought of any of these things during the game -- it's just coming out now.

And I want to chill out. I want to tell people what happened.

Thanks, Zoe.
No problem.