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1. |
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INT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT
The sounds of a busy hospital. Voices over intercoms, people walking, and a hurried set of HIGH HEELED FOOSTEPS.
NURSE:
Doctor?
DOCTOR:
Yes?
NURSE:
I need your attention in room 31B, please.
The high heeled footsteps now walk with a pair of LOAFERS.
DOCTOR:
What’s the problem?
NURSE:
Security just brought a man in here
who ran in from outside. They’re considering calling the police, but...
DOCTOR:
Police? Why, is he dangerous?
NURSE:
No. He’s asking for help.
The screams of a CRAZY MAN are heard.
CRAZY MAN:
Please! Shut the doors!
DOCTOR:
Is he secure?
NURSE:
He’s not going anywhere.
DOCTOR:
Sir? Sir, I need you to relax.
CRAZY MAN:
Lock the doors! Turn all of the
lights on!
DOCTOR:
Sir, please! I can’t help you unless you tell me what the problem is.
The Crazy Man’s breathing relaxes.
CRAZY MAN:
They’re made of shadows.
DOCTOR:
They...
CRAZY MAN:
Them. My wife was making something
stupid... the stupid casserole she makes with Tuna Fish... and it came, and it took her.
DOCTOR (to the Nurse):
Have you been in touch with Psych?
CRAZY MAN:
I’m not making this up.
The Nurse begins to walk away.
DOCTOR (to the Crazy Man):
I’m not saying you are sir. Listen, let’s take this back a notch. What’s your name?
NURSE:
Doctor?
DOCTOR:
Yes?
NURSE:
Listen...
All of the sounds of the hospital are silent.
Beat.
DOCTOR (to Nurse):
Where is everyone?
NURSE:
I don’t know...
(to somewhere away) Oh, hey! Hey, excuse me! Is everything all right?
CRAZY MAN:
No, no, no, no...
The Doctor walks away.
Beat.
DOCTOR:
Who is it?
NURSE:
I can barely see him, hello?
CRAZY MAN:
Please close the door!
DOCTOR (to the Crazy Man):
Sir, please try and calm down, it just looks like we’re having a problem with the electricity, the Nurse and I will be... Nurse?
I must say I don’t find this slightly...
She is cut short. The Crazy Man starts whimpering anew.
CRAZY MAN:
No. No. No. No...
The sounds of him struggling against his confinement heighten. Scratching and pulling.
CRAZY MAN (CONT’D):
Nonononono... Please!
There is a sound, like an echoed digital whisper through burlap, and the Crazy Man falls silent.
CRAZY MAN (CONT’D):
I don’t want to go...
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2. |
Scene 2: 4:17
02:41
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INT. GERALD’S HOUSE - MORNING
Footsteps.
GERALD:
Ugh. I wonder if there’s a formula
for calculating how much you drank by the severity of the headache.
Fridge door opening, lighter lighting.
Pause.
ALICIA:
Good night then?
GERALD:
When did you start smoking?
ALICIA:
This morning.
GERALD:
Well, why the hell would you...
(There’s a scream outside, as if someone were running down the street)
Jesus, was that Ed?
ALICIA:
I don’t know. Was it?
Pause. Footsteps. Telephone being taken off the ringer.
ALICIA (CONT’D):
What are you doing?
GERALD:
Calling the police.
ALICIA:
Why?
GERALD:
Oh, I don’t know, maybe because our neighbor is running around screaming in the middle of...
(the sound of a busy signal)
...the night. Why are all the lights off?
ALICIA:
They aren’t. And it’s not. It’s
eleven in the morning.
GERALD:
What’s going on?
Pause.
ALICIA:
We need to talk.
Sirens in the distance.
GERALD:
Would you stop being so goddamn...
ALICIA:
Coy?
GERALD:
Yes! Coy! Or flip, or I don’t know.
Pause.
ALICIA:
Sorry. I’ve been a little stressed.
GERALD:
About what?
ALICIA:
At 4:17 this morning, electricity
went out.
GERALD:
Okay. No big deal.
ALICIA:
Except that there is nothing on the radio. No emergency broadcast channels or even CB’s. Check your watch.
GERALD:
My... oh, yeah, it... it’s stopped.
(Sound of a crushing cigarette)
It stopped at 4:17.
Footsteps, pacing.
ALICIA:
Why don’t you sit down.
GERALD:
Jesus, don’t you get it? A blackout is one thing, but if battery-driven go... oh, man. Oh, how did devices this happen?
ALICIA:
How did what happen?
GERALD:
It’s a fucking nuke, Alicia! EMP pulse, knocks out the electronics! Jesus, we should be...
Alicia is laughing.
GERALD (CONT’D):
This is funny to you?
ALICIA:
Gerald, honey, sit down. For a scientist, you sometimes ignore the data that’s right there.
GERALD:
What?
ALICIA:
If we were in the blast zone of a nuclear explosion, don’t you think it’d be a bit hotter in here?
GERALD:
Well... I am a biologist and... hey, how do you know so much about this?
ALICIA:
I know a lot of things. End of story.
GERALD:
End of story?
ALICIA:
One way or the other. Let’s take a step outside.
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3. |
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Door closing. The occasional scream in the distance.
ALICA:
Why’d you go out drinking last night?
GERALD:
You have to murder you darlings.
Stop. Scuff of a turnaround.
ALICA:
What!?!
GERALD (reproachful):
It’s... it’s a term. I think Faulkner said it. Like, when you write something, no matter how much you may like it, if it’s not working, then you have to get rid of it. ‘You must kill all your darlings.’
Scuff again. Walking continues.
ALICA:
So, I have some competition?
GERALD:
What?
(Laughs)
No, we were doing an experiment with Alcanivorax. It’s a bacteria used to clean up oil spills. We were trying to modify it to digest other man-made toxins.
ALICA:
Huh.
GERALD:
It was going great, like, a new field of Bio-remediation. And then...
ALICA:
It didn’t work.
GERALD:
It didn’t work.
ALICA:
Why?
GERALD:
There’s no messing with Alcanivorax. It’s a naturally- occurring bacterium that’s perfectly evolved to do exactly what it does. So, we offed the experiment.
ALICA:
Killing your darling.
GERALD:
And then got drunk.
(Beat... footsteps continuing)
What’s so funny?
ALICA:
The irony.
GERALD:
I don’t get...
VOICE:
Hello? Gerald! Alicia!
GERALD:
Is that Erica?
ALICIA:
For the time being.
GERALD:
Come on, she might need some help.
Footsteps, Gerald goes running off.
ALICIA:
Whatever you say... darling.
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4. |
Scene 4: It's So Cold
02:59
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EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - MOMENTS LATER
Footsteps, running closer.
GERALD:
Erica? What’s happening?
ERICA (out of breath):
Gerald, Jesus! Hold on...
Footsteps, calmer. Deliberate. Alicia.
ALICIA:
Hello, Erica.
ERICA:
Thank God the both of you are alright!
GERALD:
We’re fine, we’re fine.
ERICA:
I could just fall on my knees and pray, but...
GERALD:
Erica, take a breath. Were you mugged? Did someone break in?
ERICA:
Marc and me, we got out the candles and started joking. So used to just flipping on the television, I mean, could we still play board games? Did we know how?
(Laughs)
But then... then we heard someone scream. I mean, really scream. We’re some of the only folks left on the block who have a land-line anymore, so I went for it... but it was dead too.
ALICIA:
Where’s Marc now?
Silence.
Erica begins to whimper
GERALD:
Where’s Marc, Erica?
ERICA (sobbing):
I don’t know!
(sniffling)
I was getting us a cup of tea, and Marc was just looking out the window. I was just babbling on about something stupid, and she says ‘Honey, I think someone is in the yard.’ I ask who it is, and she doesn’t answer. I go into the living room, and he’s...just gone.
GERALD:
He went out to talk to him?
ERICA
No... no one was there. And I ran out the door... which was still locked... and I’ve been looking for her ever since. Please help me!
GERALD:
Hold on, I think I see someone just over there.
ERICA:
What?
GERALD (to Erica):
Behind you.
(to Stranger)
Hello? Are you all right? We could really use some help here...
A sound, like a skyscraper flying Mach 10 through the troposphere.
GERALD (CONT’D):
Ahhh...!
Erica screams, and we hear that echoe-y sound again.
Beat.
ERICA (SCREAMING):
Help me! Oh, God, it’s so COLD! I...
GERALD:
Where’d they go! Alicia!
ALICIA (deadpan):
Right here.
GERALD:
Are you okay?
ALICIA:
Yes. No. I don’t know. Let’s keep going.
Beat.
GERALD:
What?
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5. |
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EXT. GERALD’S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER
Footsteps, one heavy and the other scuffing. Someone is half- carrying somebody else.
ALICIA:
You’re in shock, honey, and I need you to help me.
GERALD:
It was... it was like a hole. A man-shaped hole in the air. But...it seems...
ALICIA:
Fuzzy.
GERALD:
Fuzzy! Yeah! Okay, put me down here.
ALICIA:
We should really head inside...
GERALD:
A minute... a minute...
Shuffling, sitting down.
Beat. Sirens in the distance.
GERALD (CONT’D):
Extra dimensional.
ALICIA:
Really.
GERALD:
That has to be it. I’m not real familiar with that area of expertise. I’m more cellular, but I’ve read theories. God, how do I explain it to you?
ALICIA (a tad miffed):
Huh.
GERALD:
Yeah.
Beat.
ALICIA (dead pan):
You could start how human perception is always based upon the five senses which, as it were, is already pitifully incapable of understanding the nuance of a three- dimensional world. Then you could go into how said perceptions would be downright useless by the introduction of a fourth- dimensional event. Be it an intelligence, a piece of technology, anything. You could be really cute, and sum it all up to little old me, by saying it’d be like a piece of paper describing to another piece of paper the shape of an apple.
Beat.
GERALD:
Uh... yeah.
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6. |
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EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - MOMENTS LATER
The sirens are picking up now. Slow, steady footsteps of Alicia and Gerald.
ALICA:
Intelligent Design is a comforting thought, don’t you think?
GERALD: Excuse me?
ALICA: Look at the sky.
(beat)
Billions of galaxies, infinite space, you could spend the lifespan of a species just getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’. Unless of course, you knew how to travel shortly.
GERALD:
You mean ‘quickly.’
ALICA:
No. I mean ‘shortly’. Anyways. Some
time ago, one race beget another. Like the cultures in your petri dish.
A woman runs screaming, not too far away. The sound of the Walker rushing, and she is gone.
GERALD:
Alicia, honey, what’s going on here?
ALICA:
And at the same time, a clock
started ticking. The scientists involved wanted to see, wanted to understand, and maybe by creating life, they could understand what created them.
An explosion, somewhere in the distance.
GERALD:
Fine. What’s the hypothesis?
Footsteps stop.
ALICIA:
Does that even matter right now? I
think it’s pretty clear right now that the conclusion didn’t live up to the expectations.
Another, muffled explosion.
GERALD:
I’m losing my god-damned mind right now! Okay! Fine! Doesn’t make any sense to...
ALICIA:
Scrap the experiment?
Beat.
GERALD:
Kill your darlings.
ALICIA:
Kill your darlings.
GERALD:
And you’re...
ALICIA:
One of them.
Beat.
GERALD:
So... Is that it? One of these things is going to do away with me? While you watch!?! End of story?
ALICIA:
No. Not for you.
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7. |
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8. |
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EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - MOMENTS LATER
There is no noise, only footsteps.
ALICIA:
Almost done, now.
GERALD:
Is it?
ALICIA:
Yes, you can hear it.
GERALD:
I don’t hear anything.
ALICIA:
Yeah... I guess you wouldn’t.
GERALD:
This is the end?
ALICIA (sighing):
Yes. No. Little of both.
GERALD:
You’re... you’re one of them.
ALICIA:
Yes.
GERALD:
The entire time that we’ve known
each other.
ALICIA:
...yes.
Beat.
GERALD:
So... we’re a joke.
The footsteps stop.
ALICIA:
No. I know it might sound strange. Even taboo. But I do love you, Gerald. I truly do. And it’s killing me. You never think about the end. Always assuming that you’re the exception to the rule. But then the end really does come. In horror and in the dark...
GERALD:
...But?
ALICIA
...but nothing. It’s happening. And there’s nothing you or I can do about it.
Beat.
GERALD
I can’t believe how quiet it is.
ALICIA
Should be. You’re the last human here.
GERALD:
Huh. And Dad thought I’d never amount to anything.
Alicia laughs.
GERALD (CONT’D):
What?
ALICIA (snickering):
No... no, I’m sorry. That just caught me by surprise. You could always make me laugh.
Beat.
ALICIA (CONT’D):
What are you thinking?
GERALD:
I’m not. I’m doing everything in my
power to not think about a damn thing. If you can turn the world off like this, what’s a guy like me going to do? Mount some brave resistance? Nah... I guess I know what bacteria feels like, when we purge a culture.
ALICIA:
Fitting.
GERALD:
Yeah.
ALICIA:
Do you hate me?
Beat.
GERALD:
No. Hey... (scuffling of shoes) Sun’s coming up.
ALICIA (sighing):
No. That’s our ride.
GERALD:
Our ride? I mean... really... It’s beautiful.
ALICIA:
I know.
GERALD
What’s going to happen to me?
ALICIA:
I made a deal. You will have to change. There will be... surgeries involved. But you will live. With me. If that is what you want.
GERALD:
And just leave it all behind?
ALICIA:
Yes.
GERALD:
End of story?
ALICIA:
End of story.
Alicia steps forward... but Gerald lags behind.
ALICIA (CONT’D):
Are you okay with that?
Beat.
Gerald and Alicia walk together, their footsteps becoming echoed, as if on steel.
END.
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