Infected – Episode Two:

Survival Out of Range

By

Sean Elwood

© 2006

seanel12@yahoo.com

INT. CITY – NIGHT

A few walking corpses stroll across the streets of the large city, kicking up trash and wandering past each other, ignoring one another.

The army truck driven by Tucker slowly and silently glides through the destroyed city. A few zombies linger towards the large vehicle, but are left behind.

INT. ARMY TRUCK – NIGHT

Tucker concentrates on the street while Drake rolls down his window and sticks his rifle out. He fires a shell into a zombie’s chest, blasting it off its feet.

DRAKE
Damn it, I missed.

TUCKER
Don’t bother. They’re not that many out there so don’t waste your ammo.

DRAKE
Relax, I’m just having some fun.

TUCKER
How can you take in the joy of shooting people?

DRAKE
Well they’re already dead. Where’s the harm in that?

TUCKER
Jesus Christ you’re messed up.

EXT. TRUCK – NIGHT

Tucker slows the truck down. In front of them is a large roadblock. A few abandoned cars block the road.

INT. TRUCK – NIGHT

Tucker turns the truck off.

DRAKE
Just drive over them, man.

TUCKER
This type of truck can’t do that.

DRAKE
What, so this truck can go off road and on rocky terrain but it can go through a couple of cars?

TUCKER
Apparently not.

EXT. TRUCK – NIGHT

They get out of the truck and walk over to the cars. Drake breathes into his hands and rubs them together. They’re breath is getting visible.

TUCKER
It’s getting cold out so we better hurry.

DRAKE
We can’t move these cars.

TUCKER
It’s not that hard to push them. Just hurry up so we can get out of here.

They walk over to one of the cars and begin pushing it as hard as they can. It crawls over towards the side of the street and they finally stop pushing it. Drake, out of breath, leans against the trunk of the car.

Tucker walks over to the other car that blocks the road and gets in the pushing position. He looks back at Drake, who continues to rest.

TUCKER
Come on.
DRAKE
Can’t we just take another route?

TUCKER
No. Now come on.

Drake shakes his head and walks over to the car. They begin pushing. As they roll it to the other side, a zombie hiding under the car grabs one of Drake’s legs and chomps down on it.

He screams in pain and falls back. Tucker pulls out a pistol but Drake quickly takes care of it by blowing the zombie’s head off with his shotgun.

Drake continues to moan and scream in pain and Tucker kneels down next to him, observing the bite.

TUCKER
God damn it. Drake you’re going to have to stop screaming.

DRAKE
God, those things bite as hard as hell!

TUCKER
I need to get that bandaged. Let’s get to the truck.

Tucker picks Drake up. As they turn around, they come face to face with three zombies, all fresh with only a few bite marks and pale faces.

Tucker sets Drake down and pulls out his pistol, getting each zombie in the head. They fall over and Tucker helps Drake to the truck.

DRAKE
The bleeding isn’t stopping.

TUCKER
I don’t care, just buckle up!

Drake buckles his seatbelt and Tucker runs over to the driver side of the truck. He opens the door and looks back, seeing an army of the undead coming for them.

He gets in and turns the car on.

INT. TRUCK – NIGHT

TUCKER
Shut your window!

Drake looks in the side view mirror and sees the zombies coming up against the truck. He quickly begins to roll up the window.

Just as it is about to close, one of the zombies walks over to his side and grabs the window, its increased strength stopping the window from rolling up and making the window crack.

The glass shatters and the shards rain on Drake. Tucker slams on the pedal and the truck screeches off, the zombies ignoring the dust they are left in.

EXT. SCHOOL – DAY

BEGIN DREAM SEQUENCE

Darren, Hannah, Sherry, Ben, and Carl are running towards the school entrance. Carl is carrying Ben in his arms and a group of zombies follow them.

CUT TO:

They get to the entrance and open the doors, the zombies closing in on them.

END DREAM SEQUENCE

INT. SHELTER – NIGHT

Darren shoots up, hyperventilating and perspiring immensely. Everyone else in the shelter is back asleep. He grabs a book lamp from his mom’s hand and switches it on.

He wipes the sweat off his forehead and stands up. He uses the light from the book lamp to search his way through the people sleeping on the floor of the shelter.

INT. HALLWAY – NIGHT

He silently shuts the door behind him and rubs his forehead, letting out a long, deep sigh. He walks over to the water fountain and is about to take a drink when Carl interrupts him.

CARL
It’s almost light out.

Darren steps away from the fountain.

DARREN
You usually an early man?

CARL
It’s a habit. I always had to wake up early for work.

DARREN
What did you do?

CARL
I worked at some crappy job in downtown. I’m glad I am away from it now.

DARREN
But which is better? Working at some job you hate, or staying in a room full of dozens of people with dead people walking around?

CARL
(Shrugging)
They’re both the same.

Darren chuckles and he walks over to the entrance of the shelter. The entrance is guarded by army men dressed in raincoats when it is barely drizzling outside.

DARREN
I keep on having this weird dream.

CARL
About what?

DARREN
It always starts out with the same people at the same time: you, me, Hannah, my mom and brother. We’re running away from some place, I don’t know what.

Darren steps away from the entrance.

DARREN (CONT’D)
We’re running up to my high school; those things chasing after us. I keep having it over and over again.

CARL
Maybe it’s a sign?

DARREN
Oh please. I don’t believe in that foreseeing crap or whatever.

CARL
You don’t have to.

Darren leans against the wall across the entrance of the shelter. He slides down the wall and sits down, resting his arms on his knees. Carl sits down next to him.

CARL
So...do you...or did you...have a dad?

DARREN
My mom and dad split up two years ago. It turns out my dad was seeing another woman at his work, my mom found out, and they got a divorce.

CARL
Did your mom ever remarry?

DARREN
Nah, she didn’t feel like going through another marriage. She was afraid that Ben and I would go bad, start doing drugs and hating the step dad and disobeying the mom, like they do in the movies.

Darren looks up at Carl.

DARREN (CONT’D)
What about you?

CARL
Nope. I’ve been single for about half a year now. I can’t blame them though; I can be a big asshole when it comes to dating.

Darren lets out another sigh and begins fiddling with the book lamp.

CARL
So do you like that one girl?

DARREN
Who? Hannah?

CARL
Yeah.

DARREN
Well...

CARL
It’s okay, I won’t tell.

DARREN
Who’s there to tell? The people in there don’t know us and everyone outside is dead.

CARL
Exactly.

INT. BUS – DAY

It’s very early dawn. Max and Valerie lie in their own seat, staring up through the emergency exit on the ceiling of the bus. The door of the exit as been ripped off and they look at the stars that being to disappear in the light of the oncoming sunrise.

VALERIE
Isn’t it beautiful?

MAX
Too bad it has to be on a day like this.

Valerie sits up and looks at the back of the bus, the zombie body still there.

VALERIE
What are we going to do about that?

MAX
We better throw it off the bus before we catch some kind of disease or something.

VALERIE
I’m not touching that thing...

MAX
Don’t worry you don’t have to.

Max walks to the back of the bus and begins dragging the body towards the front. A cell phone drops out of the zombie’s pocket. As Max quickly throws the body off the bus, Valerie picks up the cell phone.

She begins dialing in a number and Max come back on, shutting the door.

MAX
What are you doing?

VALERIE
I’m calling my house phone, to see if my husband picks up.

Barely audible, their answering machine is heard on the cell phone. Valerie redials the number and the answering machine comes on again.

MAX
Look if nobody answers then they must——

VALERIE
I don’t want to think about that right now, Max.

MAX
Maybe they were able to make it out of the city or something. Try his cell phone.

VALERIE
He doesn’t have one. He hates cell phones.

She dials the number one more time and the answering machine comes up again. She closes the phone and throws it against one of the windows. She collapses in one of the seats and buries her face in her hands.

Max walks over to her and kneels down in front of her, pulling her hands away from her face gently.

MAX
Look, look at me. When we get off this bus, the first place we will go to is your house and see if we can find them. Alright?

Valerie nods and sniffs. She looks outside and checks for life.

VALERIE’S POV

It’s gotten brighter out, and there are no zombies in site. The fires have gone down and everything is still.

BACK TO SCENE

VALERIE
There isn’t anybody or anything out there. It’s all clear, now’s our chance.

MAX
No I think it’s best we stay here.

VALERIE
We should leave before those things come back!

Valerie stands up and walks down the aisle. Max gets up and searches through the toolbox.

MAX
Okay hold on let me just get us something to guard ourselves with and——

Valerie opens the door and steps out when she is engulfed with the living dead. They swarm around her and begin grabbing at her. She screams and tries to kick them off.

Max jumps down from behind her and pulls her back, hitting a few closer to her with a hammer, keeping them back. He pulls her in and the zombies begin swarming into the bus.

He kicks the first in line back, knocking the rest down like bowling pins. He grabs the handle and pulls the door shut, the zombies trying to break through the door.

Valerie runs to the back of the bus, but trips and falls. She slides to the emergency exit at the very back and comes face to face, guarded between thick glass, with a half decayed zombie.

She screams and gets up, the zombie banging on the door with the others.

VALERIE
Where did they come from?

MAX
I don’t know!

VALERIE
It’s like they were waiting for us or something.

Max looks around and watches the zombies. He does a complete 360 degree turn, staring at the undead that try and break in.

MAX
God, you’re right Valerie...

VALERIE
What?

MAX
They were waiting for us! They planned this whole thing out! They’re working together.

INT. TRUCK – DAY

Tucker drives the truck through the deserted streets of the city.

DRAKE
Ah! It hurts!

TUCKER
Hold on, we’re going back to the shelter.

DRAKE
No, no I’m not going to last that long! This hurts like Hell!

TUCKER
I’m on my way there.

They come towards the city hospital.

DRAKE
Let’s stop there.

TUCKER
We’re not stopping there, you’re going to be——

DRAKE
Tucker, just do what I God damn say!

TUCKER
Alright! We’ll go there. You better thank me when we’re done though.

DRAKE
Just remember Karma, Tucker. Something good is going to happen to you out of this.

TUCKER
Sure. Whatever.

INT. SHELTER – DAY

LIEUTENANT JAMES TAYLOR, a man in his mid 50’s, with his gray hair slicked back and dressed in a full Lieutenant outfit, walks up to the woman who was bitten by her daughter. An officer stands next to him.

JAMES
Excuse me, ma’am?

MOTHER
(Still traumatized)
Yes?

JAMES
We need to talk to you.

OFFICER
She’s been bitten, sir.

JAMES
Will you follow us, ma’am?

The officer helps the woman up. Darren and Hannah watch as they lead the mother out of the room.

JAMES (O.S.)
Do you have any other family members in here, ma’am?

MOTHER (O.S.)
No, it was just my daughter and me...

HANNAH
I wonder what they’re going to do to her?

DARREN
Whatever it is they don’t want anyone else to know about it.

Sherry walks over to Darren and Hannah.

SHERRY
Come on, Darren, we’re having breakfast.

DARREN
Okay, Mom. Hey is it alright if Hannah eats with us?

SHERRY
Oh, hello.

DARREN
Oh, yeah, right, Mom this is Hannah, Hannah, my mom.

They shake hands.

SHERRY
It would be great if you ate breakfast with lunch.

HANNAH
Well I was going to eat with my parents——

SHERRY
Invite them also.

Hannah walks off and they walk over to their cot.

BEN
Mom I’m hungry!

SHERRY
I know, sweetie, they’re coming around with our food.

Ben whines and Darren sits on the cot.

SHERRY
Hannah seems like a pretty nice person.

DARREN
She is.

Hannah walks in with her mother, JULIE TABER who as short, brown hair and a petite body. Her father, GARY TABER, is a tall man; his blonde hair slicked back and has a well-built body.

HANNAH
Darren, Ms. Cantrell, this is my mom, Julie, and my dad, Gary.

Everyone shakes each other’s hands.

SHERRY
Well, all they’re serving here is sandwiches so we got a few.

Gary walks over to Ben.

GARY
And who’s this little fellow here?

BEN
(Insulted)
My name’s Ben and I’m not little.

JULIE
So is you’re husband around?

Sherry pauses for a moment. Darren looks uncomfortable.

SHERRY
My husband and I split up a few years ago.

JULIE
Oh I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to——

SHERRY
No, no it’s fine. The bastard probably deserves all of this anyways.

The group becomes silent and they eat their sandwiches solemnly. Sherry clears her throat and sits up straight.

SHERRY
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.

They continue to eat.

SHERRY
Excuse me for a moment.

Sherry stands up and walks away. Darren calls after her, following her. The rest stare at each other shyly.

Sherry walks over to a corner of the shelter and rests her head against the wall. Darren walks over to her, staying about three feet away from her.

DARREN
I miss Dad too, Mom.

SHERRY
(Turning around)
Oh I know you do, sweetie. It’s just that this whole thing is beating down on me. My parents are dead, the last I heard of your Aunt Alicia was when she called me from the hospital when she was going into labor...I’m just really scared now.

DARREN
Don’t worry, Mom, I am too, and so is everyone else in this place. You have to stay cool and not worry, like you were earlier today.

Back to the other four, Ben messes with his sandwich, poking at it and tries his best to look sick.

GARY
Hey I wonder what they did with that woman. The one who was bitten by her daughter?

The four stare at each other in concern.

POW!

INT. BUS – DAY

Max and Valerie struggle to keep broken windows up and keeping them shut as the zombies continue to shake the bus. Max runs over to the back of the bus and makes sure the emergency exit isn’t loose or coming open.

MAX
This thing isn’t going to hold if they keep pounding on it!

VALERIE
What are we going to do?

Valerie runs over to the front of the bus, holding the door handle and struggling to keep it shut.

VALERIE
Isn’t there a way we can get this bus started and drive out of here!?

MAX
Nah the bus is dead. We’re trapped in here!

EXT. BUS – DAY

The zombies continue to pound on the sides of the large, yellow school bus, putting deep dents in it. Some bang on it so hard, their skin begins to split, smearing blood on all over the side.

The roaring of a low helicopter catches one of the zombies’ attention. It’s an army helicopter flying in towards the city.

The zombie growls and watches the helicopter go deeper into the city. It begins stumbling away from the bus and towards the direction of the chopper, getting the others’ attention.

INT. BUS – DAY

Max and Valerie watch the zombies leave the bus and disappear down the street, leaving the area totally silent.

VALERIE
Where are they going?

MAX
I don’t know. Probably a place with food...And lots of it.

EXT. TRUCK – DAY

Tucker jumps out of the truck and runs over to the other side, pulling Drake out. He yelps in pain as Tucker’s grip accidentally slips, dropping Drake to the hard pavement.

DRAKE
What the hell man!?

TUCKER
Will you stop your whining?

DRAKE
Have you been bitten by these things? Huh?

Tucker ignores Drake’s bickering and turns to the hospital. He stops and they both stare up at the towering building, almost every window cracked or broken, the cement cracking and the grass almost as dead as the zombies around them, sending chills down both of their spines.

Trucker walks up towards the hospital, using the cracked and destroyed pathway.

EXT. HOSPITAL ENTRANCE – DAY

He walks up to the entrance, the glass doors shattered and blood sprayed on the walls and ground.

TUCKER
This is stupid. There’s a first aid kid back at the shelter——

Drake grabs Tucker’s collar in anger.

DRAKE
We have guns, let’s just go in and get out.

Tucker sighs in fear and takes a step in through the broken door, stepping on shards of glass that crackle beneath his feet.

INT. HOSPITAL – DAY

Tucker has Drake’s arm over his shoulder, holding him up while Drake limps with him.

TUCKER
I’m not sure this is the smartest place to be at.

DRAKE
Just find the nearest room.

Tucker pulls out a flashlight and turns it on, shining the beam down the hallway they are walking through.

They reach the first room, the door shut. Tucker sets Drake down against the wall and walks over to the door. Just as he opens it, a DOCTOR jumps out at him with a scalpel, letting out a loud scream.

Tucker jumps out of the way and the doctor runs into the all, quickly turning around and moving into the middle of the hallway, lowering his arm with the scalpel.

Tucker has his .45 automatic pistol pointed at the doctor who is trying to catch his breath.

TUCKER
Calm down, man, we’re not going to hurt you.

DOCTOR
We’re not the only survivors...

TUCKER
Who else is in there?

A hand suddenly bursts through the doctor’s chest, and then a long, rotting arm comes into view. The hand holds a slowly beating heart, getting slower and slower the more it stays out of the doctor’s body.

The doctor grunts a little and falls to the ground, the zombie’s arm easily sliding out from the man’s body. The zombie takes a bite out of the man’s heart, but is quickly stopped when Tucker begins shooting at the zombie.

He shoots the zombie in the chest, letting out a full magazine of bullets, each hit getting closer to the head. Finally, one bullet penetrates the zombie’s eye, and the corpse drops to the ground.

DRAKE
Holy crap...nice shooting.

TUCKER
I told you this place wasn’t safe. Let’s just hurry up and get you patched up.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY

They walk in and are stopped by a woman’s voice. DAWN LIGHT (22) cowers in the corner, her mascara streaming down her face and dressed in a nurse’s outfit.

DAWN
I told him not to go out there! I told him it wasn’t safe!

TUCKER
Drake, search through the cabinets for a first aid kit.
(To Dawn)
Hey, are you okay?

DAWN
I told him that it wasn’t safe, and we should just stay in here. And now look what happened to him!

DRAKE
I found a kit.

TUCKER
(To Drake)
I’ll be there in a minute.

DAWN
Those things were everywhere! They got everyone!

TUCKER
Well, honey, look, there will be more of those things if you don’t stay quiet.

DAWN
(Beginning to cry again)
Please don’t make me go back out there. I don’t want to go back out there.

TUCKER
There’s a shelter near here. We’ll take you there.

DAWN
I don’t want to leave. Please don’t make me leave!

Tucker sighs and walks over to Drake who is taking out bandages and tape. He rolls Drake’s pant leg up, exposing his bite.

He grabs a cotton ball and begins dabbing at the blood, cleaning around the bite. Drake looks away, trying to maintain his composure.

Drake looks at Dawn who is still hanging out in the corner of the room.

DRAKE
Who was that? Out in the hallway?

DAWN
That is...was Dr. Johnson. He was a really nice man. He saved my life.

DRAKE
Oh really? How?

DAWN
He pulled me away from those things when they surrounded me. He couldn’t save anyone else though. Everyone else was gone.

TUCKER
I don’t get it.

DRAKE
Get what?

TUCKER
He pulled her away from those people, saving her from getting killed. And now, just a few minutes ago, he was killed. What happened to Karma then, Drake?

Tucker tapes the bandage to Drake’s leg and rolls the pant leg over it.

He gets up and walks over to the door, slowly shutting it. Drake gets one last look of the doctor’s body before the door is shut all the way.

TUCKER
Karma’s just a load of bullshit that only idiots believe.

He walks over to the sink and grabs a paper cup. He fills it up with water and is about to take a sip when Dawn quickly walks over and slaps the cup out of his hand. 

DAWN
No, no, no! Don’t drink the water!

The cup falls to the floor and water splashes everywhere.

DAWN
You can’t drink the water!

TUCKER
Why not?

DAWN
You mean you don’t know?

DRAKE
Know what?

DAWN
No body knows what’s in it or how it got in there, but there is something in the water that made people turn into those things out there.

DRAKE
How do you know?

DAWN
I’ve seen it happen! There is something in the water that is killing the people and bringing them back to life!

TUCKER
What so it’s like an infection or virus or something?

DAWN
I don’t know.

DRAKE
Uhh...Tucker...

TUCKER
Yeah?

DRAKE
I...I don’t think the people know about this at the shelter.

TUCKER
Shit...damn it! We have to tell them!

DRAKE
We’re not going back out there, man.

TUCKER
We have to! We have to tell them before it’s too late!

DRAKE
I think it already is...

EXT. SHELTER – DAY

The helicopter the zombies began following lands next to the shelter. They turn it off and the pilots and more officers get out, carrying bags full of supplies.

INT. CITY – DAY

The zombies are walking down the street, passing flipped over cars and kicking up trash and litter. They’re walking towards the direction of the shelter.

INT. SHELTER – DAY

The officers get inside the shelter and begin bringing the supplies to the victims. One of the officers runs up to Lt. James.

JAMES
How many supplies did you bring in?

OFFICER
We found enough food to support everyone, but there weren’t many bottles of water.

JAMES
Don’t worry about that. We have water fountains. Put the extra food and water in the storage room.

OFFICER
Yes sir.

JAMES
Oh, and tell the other officers when they’re finished to stand guard outside.

INT. CITY – DAY

There are over a hundred zombies scattered throughout the streets, almost all wandering in the same direction.

JAMES (O.S.)(CONT’D)
It’s going to be a long day.

FADE TO BLACK