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by Colin S. Bond

Rated:

Genre: Drama User Review:

The Undead infest Portland, and Danny Chavez, a widowed husband must protect his son, while coming to terms with his own problems.

COLD BLOOD

FADE IN:

EXT. PANNING SHOTS OF DIFFERENT BEAUTIFUL LOCATIONS - DAY

Fading in and out of Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, Mt. St. Helens,
and other gorgeous Oregon locations, to a piano instrumental
of Coffee Prince. As it plays, the camera pans over a
highway, until it's over a truck, which it follows for a
moment, until it stops at the side of the road. Camera shot
changes to driver's side, at the bottom of the door. The
truck's driver gets out, and we can hear a lighter start.
The truck driver lights up a joint, moving around to the
back of the truck, and opens up the back, where we see a
wriggling mass, inside a glass box.

THE TRUCKER
(Disgusted)
God, you're ugly, ain't ya? No
wonder they wanna do away with ya.

After taking a drag, he climbs up into the back, and
snickers a little as the glass box shakes a bit, the immense
creature trying to escape.

THE TRUCKER
(Chuckling)
Pfft. Stupid blob.

The trucker kicks the box, and laughs again, at the virus's
reaction, of pressing against the glass where it was kicked.
The trucker kicks in the same spot, repeating his action
twice more.

THE TRUCKER
Ya like that?

As if giving an answer, the glass cracks, and the Trucker's
expression changes to that of confusion. Suddenly the glass
blows outward, and the creature spills out, the Trucker
pushed out of the truck, and smacking his head against the
pavement, groaning, and passing out. The blob crawls out,
and moves on top of him, just for a moment, before moving
off, where we see the Trucker's foot sticking out, and being

pulled in. It starts crawling into the forest. After a few
moments, it notices a river, which the monstrosity moves
into, carried away by the strong current, and breaking up,
into smaller pieces. The Trucker's body, strongly disfigured
floats to the water's surface. The camera follows the river
to a water purification center, and moves in with some of
the infected water. It goes through the water purification
process, which fails to purify the microscopic pieces of the
virus, and then fades out.

INT. DANNY AND LOXIE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Fade in.
It's dinner at the Chavez residence, and Danny isn't home,
and there is an empty chair at the circular table, a plate
of food in front of it. Jack is picking at his plate with
his fork, not eating anything, and Loxie is eating slowly.

The silence is almost screaming, and all we can hear is the
clinking of silverware, and quiet chewing.

LOXIE
(Reprimand)
Jack, don't play with your food,
eat it. Before it gets cold.

JACK
(Hestitantly)
Yeah, but I wanna eat when Dad
gets back from work...

Loxie sighs, and shakes her head. She pats his hand a few
more times, and then goes back to eating her own food, after
taking a small drink of water.

JACK
Where is Dad, anyway?

LOXIE
He's... Out. I don't know, I'm
sure he'll be home before we start
playing Monopoly.

EXT. DOWNTOWN PORTLAND - NIGHT

Camera shot to a street curb, and we can hear drunken
singing. The camera pans up and to the left, to see Danny,
swaying in the middle of the street, drunk as a lush, and
drinking from a bottle in a bag. He's singing Big Rock Candy
Mountain, incredibly badly. Suddenly, a cat runs across the
street quickly. Danny is surprised, and jumps a little. He
yells, finishes drinking what's left of his drink, and
throws the glass bottle at it. He misses, and the bottle
goes into the alley where the cat came from, the sound of it
shattering echoing in the night. We hear a noisy growl from
the alley, to which Danny turns his head, and we go into a
first person shot. Danny's breath is heavy, and labored, and
his vision is blurry. We can lightly see an outline of a
Runner, watching him, but Danny disregards it, and we go
into a camera shot panning over the street. Danny starts to
stumble home, the Runner looking around the corner, watching
as he goes home.

INT. DANNY AND LOXIE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Loxie is sitting on a love-seat, and Danny opens the door,
still drunk, even though it's been a few hours. The analog
clock shows 1:30, to the left of Danny's .22 rifle, just
above the door. He moves towards Loxie, who simply glares at
him.

DANNY
(Drunken)
Hey, baby... Waitin' up for me?
D'aww... Y' shouldn't *hic*
have...

Loxie stands up quickly, and glares even more. She moves
into the other room, and comes back in with a blanket, and
throws it at the couch.

DANNY
(Surprised)
What 're you doin'...?

            LOXIE
      (Furious, but
       quiet)
You're sleeping out here, Danny,
            (MORE)

LOXIE (cont'd)
until I say otherwise.

DANNY
(Angry)
Like hell I am, Lox! You put that
blanket back in the closet, woman,
if you know what's good for you!
What's gotten into you!?

            LOXIE
      (Trying to keep
       calm)
Danny, stop yelling. Jack is
trying to sleep. You will sleep
out here tonight, at least, and
tomorrow we'll see, okay?

            DANNY
      (Angrier and
       louder)
No! You get your ass back in the
bedroom, and bring that blanket
with you. Now go, before I lose my
fucking temper, woman!

            LOXIE
      (Visibly trying to
       stay quiet)
Danny, shut your mouth. You were
gone for dinner. Jack didn't eat,
because of it, and I tossed your
food. You're full up on beer and
peanuts anyway, so go get some
sleep. I'm going to bed.

INT. JACK'S ROOM - NIGHT

Jack is lying in bed, trying to go to sleep, but his eyes
are wide open, as the camera slowly zooms to his face from
above. Shouts can be heard from the other room, from Danny.
Loxie's soft voice can be heard as well, but it's much
quieter, trying to let Jack sleep. Jack pulls the covers
over his face, and sighs. Suddenly, a loud clap is heard

from the other room, and we hear Loxie hit the floor, after
yelping.

DANNY (From other room)
(Shouting)
God! Motherfucker! See what'cha
made me do!? I tried to warn you
Loxie!

We can hear Jack start to cry, from beneath his blanket.

JACK
(Whimpering)
I just... I just wish it would
end... All of it...

As Jack speaks, the camera pans over to Jack's window, where
it's started to rain. The camera blurs, and fades out into
black, Jack's crying in the background, sound slowly fading
away.

EXT. DOWNTOWN PORTLAND - NIGHT

Sudden close-up shot of a Runner's face, as it sniffs the
air for several seconds, while the camera pans backwards,
the words 'One Week Later', fading in on the screen. It's
raining heavily as the camera's movement exposes the street,
and a portion of the city, all ruined, with several trashed
cars, littering the streets. Lots of trash, and empty
plastic bags litter the once busy urban environment. There
are several quarantine signs, some homemade, others from the
government, the Runner standing on a government one. After
about ten seconds of viewing, for the image to set into the
viewer's mind, the camera stops, and the Runner roars in a
startling manner, sort of a scream mixed with a groan and
clicking of the throat. In the background, you can hear
several other Runners in the background, letting out similar
screams. Throughout the Runner-Screams, we can hear a quiet
burning, screams, and yells from people in the city.

Suddenly the screen cuts to black, and the Title appears on
the screen, in a bright icy blue coloring. It stays like
this for five seconds.

INT. JACK AND LOXIE'S APARTMENT - DAY

Fade in.
The stationary camera shot from the kitchen shows Danny
coming inside, with Jack. A slight growling can be heard
very faintly from the other room.

DANNY
Alright, Jack. Take a seat. I'm
going to go check on your mother.
I'll be right back. I'm going to
see... What's happened.

Danny leaves the camera's view, and we see Jack all alone,
for several seconds. Suddenly, a sharp cry is heard, and we
hear something hit the floor. Jack is sitting down, and
remains seated, following his father's instructions, but his
head jerks up with the sound, hand moving towards the .44
magnum on the end table, not quite reaching for it
completely. Danny suddenly rushes into the camera's view
again, and we see Loxie, wildly deformed into a Runner, jump
out at Danny, who is tackled to the ground, barely keeping
her from biting him.

DANNY
Jack! Help me! Get the gun!

Jack's eyes are wide open, and he stands up, grabbing the
.44 raising, aiming, then firing once, everything going
quiet afterward.

JACK
(Scared)
Dad...?

Danny's panting can be heard slightly, and he pushes Loxie's
body off of himself.

DANNY (After a few seconds)
(Quietly)
Jack, come on. We've got to go.

Jack shakily puts the gun down, and runs into the kitchen,
in front of the camera. We can only see his back, as we hear
the sound of the boy vomiting.

Jack throws up a little more, and turns back to the living
room, moving in, and grabbing one of the three backpacks
near the door, Danny coming forth and grabbing a second one.
They open the door, and leave, shutting it behind them. The
third backpack is left there, a small pool of blackened
blood around Loxie is growing larger. The camera switches to
a zoomed in shot, and we see her finger twitch. One more
twitch, then the camera switches to the next scene.

EXT. DOWNTOWN PORTLAND - DAY

Danny has his backpack on, and is semi-pulling Jack along,
who's taken on somewhat of an apathetic feeling. Suddenly,
they stop, seeing a building, with a chunk torn out of it.
Danny looks up at it, shocked for a moment.

JACK
(Fearful)
Dad? What're we going to do, Dad?

Danny comes back to attention, and looks at Jack for a
moment.

DANNY
We're leaving the city. Military
has a place for us outside this
hellhole.

JACK
(Angry)
What about Mom?

DANNY
Mom's not... Mom's not coming
anymore, Jack! Let's go.

Jack quiets, and pulls away from Danny. He mutters something
under his breath, then looks up expectedly. Danny shakes his
head, and starts to walk, his rifle in one hand, holding it
at about mid-barrel.

As they walk through the abandoned streets, Jack looks
around worriedly, and Danny takes a swig of his
leather-cased metal flask, which holds whisky, though Jack
doesn't seem to notice, or care.

JACK
(Worried)
How long until we get there?

Danny doesn't answer, and instead continues to walk. Soon,
they begin to near Pioneer Courthouse Square, where they
begin to hear a man shouting.

DUANE
Woah! Slow down, buddy!

We hear a gunshot from a pistol, in the Square, to which
Danny runs over, to see what's going on. He stands by the
statue with the umbrella. Duane is holding off two Runners,
with a third dead on the ground. Quickly, he shoots one
down, and the other catches him off guard. A gunshot rings
out, and Danny puts down the final Runner, killing it before
it gets the chance to bite Duane, though it came close.

After a brief pause, in which Duane looks Danny over, then
Jack, he moves forward, and walks up the stairs, offering a
slightly dirty hand, with a fingerless wool glove on.

DUANE
Duane Walker, reportin' for duty,
fellas.

DANNY
(Hesitant)
Uhm. Right then. I don't suppose
you know where the military evac
point is?

DUANE
(Laughs)
The Military left, stranger.

Danny blinks, looking at Duane.

DANNY
(Stunned)
They already left? They were still
broadcasting this morning!

DUANE
Oh, yeah. Few days back. Guess
they figured everyone was out
already, or infected. And someone
must've forgotten to turn off the
radio.

Danny turns away, clasping a hand to his face. He thinks for
a long moment, when suddenly, we hear several distant
screams, from Runners, in the distance.

DUANE
(Cautiously)
Ooh, boy. We have got to go. Come
on!

The trio, Danny, Jack and Duane, quickly hurry, up the
street, along the MAX tracks, eventually getting to what was
once the Galleria stop.

DANNY
Where are we going, Duane?

DUANE
I've got a place to go, that's
safe.

The camera switches over to a shot, with Jack leaning over
to Danny.

JACK
(To Danny)
Can we trust him, Dad?

Danny shrugs, and continues to follow Duane. The camera
changes to that of Danny, Jack, and Duane all moving up the
steps into Powell's Book Store. There is a large pile of
dead Runners in the street, who have been burned. All of the
windows and doors around Powell's have been boarded over.

DANNY
Wait. You live in Powell's?

Duane grins, and walks to the door, taking out a key, and
unlocking it.

10.

DUANE
Yes I do. I figure, since no one's
left around here, why not? Read a
good book, have some good coffee,
some pre-infection
non-perishables... It's not bad.

Duane opens the door, letting Danny and Jack in first, going
in and closing it behind himself, then locking it.

INT. POWELL'S BOOK STORE - DAY

The book store looks neat, orderly. A paradise compared to
the chaos of the city streets outside. The normally crowded
rooms are completely bare, aside from the books and shelves,
and a little sleeping area in the reading room.

DUANE
Don't worry. I cleared it out,
when I came in the first time.
This place is clear. Managed to
not shoot any of them either,
until I got them outside.

DANNY
Wow. The whole place? All by
yourself?

Jack moves away, and starts looking around the lobby. He's
never seen Powell's so empty before.

DUANE
(Nodding)
Yep. But they started avoiding my
traps, after a while. They're...
Not dumb. But they're not smart,
either. They've got street smarts.
You know?

Danny nods, then suddenly looks out at the entrance into the
rest of the book store.

DANNY
How do you know there's not
anymore of them in here?

11.

DUANE
(Chuckles)
Oh, we'd know. They're noisy, and
insatiable. When this all started,
they could've just watched, or
even stalked. Now they just run,
and eat. Heh, Runners. If there
were more, we would definitely
know about them.

Danny nods, looking slightly away. He looks over at Jack,
and notices Duane also looking at the extremely melancholy
boy.

DANNY
His mother was... Changed. Don't
worry, we're both clean, but he
hasn't taken it well. She jumped
me, and he shot her. He's barely
said a word, you know? He's smart,
though. He knew what was
happening, when she got sick.
Well, he knew she wasn't gonna
make it. I don't think anyone saw
this coming. Not really, anyway.

A long moment of silence passes, in which we see Jack look
over at Danny, sadly, then move out of the room, and start
walking around.

DUANE
What's your name, stranger?

DANNY
Danny. Danny Chavez. The boy's
name is Jack.

Danny takes out his flask, and takes a drink. He offers some
to Duane, and Duane takes it, smelling the contents.

DUANE
What're you doing with this,
Danny? This is no time to drink.
Be the death of you.

12.

Before Danny can respond, Duane gets up, and walks out of
the room, with the flask. Danny hesitates, then starts to
follow him. Duane makes his way to what was the Coffee Shop,
and pours it out into a sink. Danny simply watching him, not
wanting to be hostile to someone who someone who offered him
somewhere safe. After Duane washes it out thoroughly, with
water from Fiji water bottles. He refills it with the same
source, and gives it back to Danny.

DUANE
Don't drink the tap. That stuff
there? Comes only from the Fiji
Islands. Something's wrong with
the tap water. I've seen a lot of
people change, from drinking it.
So, don't drink anything besides
this, okay? You get thirsty, you
find some of this.

DANNY
What about food? You have enough
canned stuff for a while?

DUANE
Oh yeah, we'll be fine for a few
weeks here, especially if we go
raid some stores. Don't have
anything to do with the tap water,
or else you'll turn, as I'm sure
you know by now, I know they said
something about it on the news. I
can make bread, and I've got some
plants growing, that I'm watering
with this Fiji stuff. We'll be
fine. Go ahead and stay here
tonight. There will be more time
for questions and answers
tomorrow, okay? I'm tired.

DANNY
Okay. Um, how long can Jack and I
stay?

DUANE
Well, we need to go out, regularly
to look for supplies. If you two
can help me do that, you're more
(MORE)

13.

DUANE (cont'd)
than welcome to stay as long as
you like. But if one of you
becomes infected...

DANNY
I understand, Duane.

Danny calls for Jack, while Duane moves to get both of them
a sleeping bag. Jack comes down the stairs, and into the
reading room, somberly.

DANNY
C'mon, Jack. Time for bed.

Jack just looks over at Danny, and moves to a spot of the
floor, where Duane has laid out a sleeping bag, slipping
into it. Danny sighs, and mirrors Jack's actions, getting
into his own new sleeping bag.

INT. POWELL'S BOOK STORE - NIGHT

New shot. From the inside of the building, we can hear
shuffling, and the occasional groan, from the Infected. The
camera moves throughout the bookstore, starting in the
Reading Room, and going from room to room, with Breathe, by
Cinematic Orchestra playing in the background. After two
minutes of the gentle music, we find Jack, reading
'Good-Bye, Chunky Rice', in one of the rooms, using the
light of a nearby lamp, to read. The camera moves over one
of the pages he is on. The music softens further, and we can
hear him reading.

            JACK
      (From Book)
"Just today you are leaving, and
already the places we shared have
grown with beauty and
significance. How could you ever
want to leave this behind? On
second thought, rather than
gaining significance, my
environment is suddenly drained of
it. What does a breathtaking view
of the ocean mean without you?
            (MORE)

14.

JACK (cont'd)
...Nothing."

We see a single teardrop fall onto the page, obscuring the
little mouse's face.

INT. POWELL'S BOOK STORE (COFFEE SHOP) - NIGHT

The camera slowly makes it's way back to the Coffee Shop,
the song ends, and we see the two sleeping men.

A moment of quiet passes, then Duane and Danny are suddenly
awoken by the sounds of mounted machine guns, from a
helicopter, and a huge roar, and the thumping of a Hulker's
feet, as it runs, and stomps loudly, frustrated.

            DANNY
      (Yelling over
       noise)
What the hell is that!?

DUANE
I don't know! Come on, let's go
see if we need to prepare for
something.

Danny looks over to Jack's sleeping bag, seeing him gone. He
curses, and starts to move out of the room.

DANNY
I need to find Jack.

Danny runs out of the room, and yells for Jack.

INT. POWELL'S BOOK STORE (UPSTAIRS) - NIGHT

The camera switches over to an angle where we see Jack
walking around, running his hand over a Bible. He looks down
at the holy book, starting to move closer to the window. He
looks out, because of the sudden noise of the Helicopter,
and sees a Hulker leap into the frame, surprising Jack. It
looks directly at Jack, and roars loudly. Jack screams, and
panics, dropping the Bible, fleeing towards the sound of his
Dad's calling voice. As Jack runs, the Hulker slams his fist

15.

into the book store's window, smashing it open, and starting
to climb inside, tearing the hole open further.

INT. POWELL'S BOOK STORE (COFFEE SHOP) - NIGHT

Camera shot switches over to one in the coffee shop, where
Jack rushes in, Duane is packing, and Danny comes in behind
Jack, having left the room.

JACK
We've got to get out of here, now!

DUANE
What's going on out there?

JACK
I saw a big one. It tore out the
wall, and started trying to come
inside.

DANNY
How big was it, Jack?

JACK
It was like a very small, two
story house. And it had a lot of
holes in it.

Danny looks over to Duane, and nods. Duane finishes
thrusting a few more supplies into his bag, looking around
for a brief moment, then tossing Jack and Danny two bags,
that are better prepared, then puts one on.

DUANE
Let's do it.

EXT. DOWNTOWN PORTLAND - NIGHT

We're looking at the doors that the group went into earlier,
from the exterior of Powell's. Suddenly, they burst open,
and we see Duane recoiling from kicking them open, and Danny
holding up his rifle, ready to fire. The camera slowly pulls
back, and we see Danny go slack-jawed. We see about one

16.

hundred Scavengers, staring at the Survivors, mouths opening
and closing, as though chewing.

DANNY
(Frightened)
Oh... F�

He is cut off by Duane's pistol, putting down eight
Scavengers, in just a few seconds.

DUANE
Seven in a clip. One in the
chamber. Nowhere near enough, and
that little .22 of yours isn't
going to be doing us any favors,
either.

Danny renews his grip on his rifle, giving a nod.

DANNY
Back inside, then?

Suddenly, a hail of gunfire comes down, from the helicopter,
and the Scavengers begin to rattle around, being shot. The
gunfire ceases, and the Zombies fall to the ground. The
helicopter starts to lower onto the street, but stays in a
hover. Danny and Duane start to whistle and cheer, Jack
staying silent, and hiding behind Duane. However, two
soldiers jump out of the helicopter, carrying M-16s. We
cannot see any of their features, as they're completely
covered in their gear.

DANNY
Hey, I thought you said the
Military had left...

Before Duane can give an answer, the soldiers run up to
them, and smack each of them on the head, with the butt of
their automatic rifles, Jack letting out a scream.

As the camera fades out, we hear Danny whisper Jack's name,
passing out.

17.

INT. CONFUSION - DAY

The camera fades in and out, we see blurry shots of Jonathon
Tesla trying to talk to Danny, Frank Young doing the same,
then the two arguing between each other, the words too
blended to understand, though we can occasionally make out a
name or two.

INT. MILITARY BASE PRISON - DAY

The camera snaps up to a shot of Danny, alone, in a
pristine, white, clean cell. The lights are on, and bright.
Danny lowers his head, away from the light. We hear him
groan, and try to get up, but he's tied down to a single
black chair.

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
Don't try to move, boy, or we'll
kill you. We have the child in our
custody.

Danny's head shoots up, and he doubles his efforts, until a
gun falls through a trap, in the ceiling, and points at him,
making a loading noise.

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
You think I'm joking? We'll kill
you, your friend, and then we'll
kill the kid.

DANNY
How do I know you even have
Jack...?

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
Well, here. Listen for yourself.
Speak up, kid.

            JACK
      (Crying, Over
       Intercomm)
Dad...? Dad, please. Please stop.

18.

Danny stops moving, to listen to Jack's voice. He takes a
moment of thought, after Jack finishes, and resigns his
struggles. He hangs his head a little in his chair.

DANNY
What do you want with us?

            FRANK
      (Over Intercomm,
       laughing)
Hey hey! There you go... Look, we
just want this to end. Same as
you, buddy. Let's see if we can
work out a way for that to happen,
neh?

DANNY
I don't even know what's going on.
How am I supposed to help you?

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
Why, you're administering the
cure, of course! Isn't that
lovely? You're going to help us
save the world. We're going to
give you the cure, and then you're
just going to waltz in there, and
you're going to put it into the
system. Then all of this problem
will go away, see?

Danny blinks a few times, shaking his head. The turret
raises back into the ceiling, and the door opens up,
Jonathon entering the room.

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
Dr. Tesla here is going to give
you a shot. This will put you to
sleep, and then we're going to
carry you out of our little base.
With the cure. Don't worry, we'll
make sure that you're in a safe
zone.

19.

Jonathon comes closer, and leans down, prepping Danny for
the shot. He's wearing an oxygen mask, and whispers to
Danny.

JONATHON
(Whisper)
Don't say a word. Your friend and
son are both safe. That was a
recording. You've been held
captive in here, for the last six
months. I'm not giving you the
shot, like the other scientists
here have been. They want you to
blow up the city, and they're
doing the same thing across the
nation. That's their 'cure'. When
they carry you out, push them
away, and... You're going to need
to kill them.

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
You almost done there, Jonny?

JONATHON
Yes sir, that should put him out
in a hurry.

Jonathon binds the place where the needle would've gone, and
Danny begins to feign drowziness, and after just a few more
moments, pretends to pass out.

FRANK
(Over Intercomm)
Perfect. Now, come back up here,
Doctor. We need to finish
preparing the bomb.

Jonathon leaves the room, and the door closes. Nothing
happens for several seconds. Two soldiers come into the
room, and untie Danny, picking him up. They remove him from
the room, and the camera follows them. As soon as they're
out of the room, we see that there are no other guards, and
Danny lets out a yell, twisting his body, so the Guards drop
him, landing in a push-up position. They are shocked, for a
moment, and he grabs their ankles, yanking them down to the

20.

ground. He snatches the rifle of the one on the right,
shooting the left one, then the right one, while yanking the
M-16 away.

DANNY
"You snooze you lose", Mom always
said.

Jonathon comes around from around the corner, surprising
Danny, who then tosses him one of the rifles.

DANNY
Thanks, friend. Where's my son?

JONATHON
They're over this way, follow me.

INT. MILITARY BASE PRISON - DAY

Shot of a different room, appearing the same as the room
Danny was imprisoned in, but with Jack and Duane in this
one, and in two separate chairs. They're facing away from
each other, the door on Jack's left, and on Duane's right.
It's clear that the two are malnourished, and that they're
on the brink of starvation.

DUANE
Don't worry kid, we'll get out of
here. I'm not... Exactly sure how,
but we will.

JACK
(Quietly)
Duane, you've been saying that for
the last six months. It's pretty
clear that we aren't going
anywhere, anytime soon.

DUANE
Well, at least it's not the
Infected that get us, right?

Jack doesn't respond, and moves in a way to be more
comfortable. Suddenly, Danny, disguised as a soldier enters
the room, and rushes over to Jack.

21.

SOLDIER (Danny)
Jack! Are you alright? Duane? How
about you?

Duane spits on Danny, thinking him to be one of the
soldiers.

DUANE
Get out of here, maggot! You leave
that boy alone.

Danny pauses, thinking. Suddenly, he makes a sound,
realizing his mistake. He takes off the helmet, and smiles.

DANNY
Guys, it's me. C'mon, we're
breaking out of here. We're going
to go to those Fiji Islands you
were telling me about, Duane.
There's a doctor here, Jonathon
Tesla. He knows how to fly the
chopper.

While Danny talks, he undoes the pair's bondings, Duane
first, then Jack. As soon as Jack is free, Danny wraps his
arms around his son.

DANNY
I was afraid I'd never see you
again... You're OK now, though.

JACK
I missed you, too, Dad.

DANNY
I lov-

Jonathon quickly comes in, interrupting Danny, projecting
loudly.

JONATHON
Look, sorry to break you guys up
here. We need to get the hell out
of here, before they take the
Helicopter, and this turns into a
complete shit-fest. They're going
to let the Runners in, once Frank
(MORE)

22.

JONATHON (cont'd)
gets the bomb. He's going to
detonate it in the city himself.
The guy's completely nuts.

Danny looks up at that remark, looking over at Duane, then
Jonathon.

DANNY
Is that really so bad...? The
blast will destroy the Infected.

JONATHON
Well, yes. The blast will kill a
lot of them. But the nuclear
exposure... We don't know what
it's going to do. One of our tests
made it unable to die, except
through incineration, another made
it breathe fire. We can still stop
this, but a nuclear bomb isn't
going to do anything but make
things worse in the long run.

Danny nods, and goes back out into the hall for a moment,
coming back in afterward, with two rifles he hands one to
Duane, and hands one to Jack.

DANNY
You remember the shooting range,
Jack?

JACK
Sure do, Dad.

Danny nods, and makes a 'follow me' motion, moving towards
the door, and silently offering for Jonathon to go first.
Jonathon moves out into the hall, his gun raised, and ready.

INT. MILITARY BASE HALLS - DAY

JONATHON
I have the cure in my left inside
pocket, just in case I don't make
it. I've been in contact with
Washington DC, and if I die, there
(MORE)

23.

JONATHON (cont'd)
are scientists there, who can get
this replicated, and start using
it.

DANNY
Okay, but what happens to the
whole helicopter plan, if that
happens?

DUANE
I can fly. I've had a lot of
experience.

DANNY
Alright, but let's focus on
getting out. Jonathon, where's the
heli-pad?

JONATHON
This way.

As they move through the halls, cautious though they are,
they begin to let down their guard, as they haven't come
across any soldiers yet.

JACK
Where is everyone, Dr. Tesla?

JONATHON
I don't know, kid. They normally
have patrols running through here
24/7. This... Isn't normal.

Faintly, in the background, we can hear rapid footsteps,
when suddenly, they hear a screech, and Duane spins around,
opening fire on a Runner that was coming up from behind
them.

JONATHON
Oh no. They must have opened this
place up already.

Upon inspection of the corpse, they see that it was a
soldier.

24.

DANNY
This place is going to be overrun
in a matter of minutes. How far
off is the chopper?

JONATHON
It's right through here.

Just as they reach the exit, Jack screams, and points to
their right.

JACK
Swarm!

Charging the group in the wide corridor, is a large group of
Runners, gnashing their teeth, and trying to get at them.

Danny quickly opens the door, and gets everyone through,
slamming it behind himself.

EXT. MILITARY BASE - DAY

Danny presses his back against the door, making sure it
closed, when he sees Frank, a detonator in his hand, and a
crazed look on his face.

FRANK
(Chuckling)
Oh! Good, you're just in time for
the show. That city, will be the
first to get the cure. Since you
seemed so unwilling to provide
your assistance, I took the
liberty of sending most of my
troops in there, and they set up
the bomb, before getting eaten, or
infected. And guess what...? It's
all your damn fault! If you had
just cooperated, none of this
would have happened!

Danny take a step forward, pointing his gun at Frank.

25.

DANNY
Drop it, Captain Young, just put
it down, and come with us. We
still need people to come with us,
and there's room in the helicopter
for all of us. Come on. Let's not
be hasty, and get any blood on
anyone's hands.

FRANK
You don't understand, do you!?
This is the only way! They don't
stop. Won't stop. Can't stop,
even! You don't understand, what
it's like to have caused this! I
need to stop it! Need to end it!
All of it!

Frank raises the detonator high above his head, his thumb at
the ready to push the red button.

JONATHON
Captain, no! That's a nuclear
missile! You'll kill all of us,
and you'll only make them
stronger! That's why they're
changing, it's because of the
radiation! It'll only make it
worse!

Frank yells, unintelligibly, and moves to push the button,
when a Runner screams, and leaps at him, knocking him down,
and sending the detonator skittering away, Jonathon running
forward, and grabbing it.

DANNY
Let's go!

The others rush through the door, and follow Duane in. Duane
and Jonathon climb into the front seats, and begin prepping
the flight. Even over the helicopter's spinning blades, we
can hear Frank screaming as the Runner tears him apart,
feasting.

26.

DANNY
Jack? We're getting out of here!
We'll go to those islands, and
we'll be safe there!

Jack smiles, and wraps his arms around Danny, as the
helicopter lifts off. Duane and Jonathon give a loud whoop,
having survived.

EXT. ABOVE DOWNTOWN PORTLAND - DAY

It's early morning, as the helicopter flies low over the
city, and the band inside the helicopter are rejoicing.
Danny looks out the window at the city, and points.

DANNY
Jack, Jack, look!

Jack looks out the window, and gasps a little. We see
several Hulkers, climbing buildings, a la King Kong. One is
on top of the buildings, and lets out a might roar as it
sees the Helicopter.

DANNY
Jonathon. Duane. Fly higher.

JONATHON
What? Why?

Out the window, we see the Hulker pick up something large.

DANNY
(Yelling)
Fly higher! Do it now!

The Hulker roars again, and throws the debris, colliding
with the helicopter's tail end. The group screams, spinning
out of control, and heading for the ground. After a moment
of this, the helicopter collides with the ground, the camera
cutting to black.

27.

EXT. PORTLAND WATERFRONT - DAY

We can hear Danny breathing heavily, the camera slowly
fading in from black, and focusing in.

DANNY
Jack... Jack...? Are you okay?
Jonathon? Duane?

Danny slowly crawls out of the helicopter. He groans, and
looks inside the ravaged, grounded chopper. To his right, we
see a Runner, Loxie, that Danny doesn't see. She roars, and
he turns, just in time to see her leap upon him, the camera
cutting to black, as they make contact. Everything goes
quiet, with the cut to black, and we hear a vicious crunch,
the sound of Loxie biting Danny.

Immediately begin playing Rammstein's Mein Teil, with the
credits rolling a second afterward.

THE END

Feedback

From Matthew	Date 2/17/2009
An okay script....the beginning with Danny being a drunk and a wife beater seems pointless. Since it doesn't really come into play at all in the story and he seems like a great guy after that. I get the feeling you based this off the video game Left 4 Dead. And as a huge fan of both King Kong and Hulk I must say I loved the little winks to them in this story.

From Jonathan	Date 2/16/2009
Not bad.. You shouldn't use camera directions though, that should be left to the director.

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