MILKMAN

Copyright ©

FADE IN:

INT. LIVING ROOM - EARLY MORNING

A mediocre television screen glows, lighting the small living area with artificial radiance. An ANCHORWOMAN appears on screen. Her eyes scream horror.

						ANCHORWOMAN
Lock your doors... bolt the windows... barricade yourself in as best as you possibly can. They could be in your area within a few hours. They may be in your area as we speak. Help is on its way... help is coming.

The anchorwoman shuts her eyes. A tear slides down her cheek. She nods putting her finger to her earpiece and stares back into the camera.

						ANCHORWOMAN
						(beat)
This will be our last broadcast until further notice. Do not leave the house... I repeat, do not leave your home. Help will come to you.

She takes a deep breath.

						ANCHORWOMAN
						(beat)
This is Annette Redfield... staying calm... staying safe.

White fuzzy snow breaks onto screen. Crackling from the TV blares around the room.

ALBERT BIRKIN sits sleeping on a sofa in front of the TV. His eyes flicker open, focusing immediately on the snowy TV. His pupils adjust.

He glances around the room, suddenly fixating on a wall clock. It reads 5:34am.

						ALBERT
				Shit!

Albert splits himself from the couch. Switching off the television, he exits the room in somewhat a rush.

EXT. STREET - MORNING

In a small, milk carrier vehicle, Albert drives along an elongated suburban street. The sun is peeking its head over the top of houses and the street is lifeless.

The vehicle breaks and halts near the curb. Albert dismounts the open air vehicle and walks around to the back of it. He stares at the stacks upon stacks of milk bottles, ultimately picking up a stack.

Albert yawns moving away from his milk van, down a driveway to the house doorstep. He picks out a milk bottle, places it on the doorstep and walks away.

Walking further down the street to the neighbouring house, Albert notices a couple of people staggering slowly way down at the bottom of the road. A little guffaw escapes out of Albert’s mouth.

						ALBERT
				Drunks...

Pulling his attention back to his job, Albert walks down the next driveway and places a milk bottle onto the doorstep. As he raises from the step he spots and stares puzzlingly at the door, which has been barricaded with large planks of wood.

						ALBERT
				What the crap...?

EXT. STREET - MORNING

Albert drives down the street in his milk vehicle. He hums to himself as he closes in on the stumbling drunks on the road. He lets out another guffaw as he stares at them.

Suddenly, a car races over the horizon of the street and takes both drunks out with one swift blow. The car passes the milk van and a very shocked Albert.

The two people lie motionless on the ground.

A quick moment of hesitance passes. Albert jumps out and runs toward the bodies.

He slows down and stands above the bloody corpses of two, lifeless beings. Albert looks closer. Their bodies look rotted and dead. They look as though they’ve been dead for a long while.

						ALBERT
				Jesus Christ...

Studying closer and closer, Albert is forced back as one of the bodies, the body of a middle-aged woman, begins shaking.

						ALBERT
				Are you okay?

Her eyes snap open. They wander slowly in their sockets until they reach Albert... an extremely stunned, mouth fully opened, shaking with fear, Albert.

An extensive groan from the dead woman snaps Albert out of his state. He steps back as her ugly, bloodied up self raises itself from the tarmac.

						ALBERT
				Jesus... what are you!?

The woman begins to slide her feet along the ground toward Albert. Raising her arms full length, she attempts to grab him. He leaps back from her a few steps.

Albert witnesses as the other body, the body of a middle-aged man, rises from the tarmac. He copies the woman and slowly slides his feet and body toward Albert.

						ALBERT
				Whoa!

Without hesitance, Albert runs back to his small milk van. He gets into the drivers seat and starts the engine. The zombified man and woman edges closer to the vehicle but Albert wastes no time and puts foot to pedal.

Driving uphill slightly, the accelerating isn’t great. Albert decides that going around the man and woman would be best. Doing so, some of his milk falls off the back with the force.

Albert drives past the slow, brainless beings and over the horizon of the street.

EXT. MAIN STREET - MORNING

Several slowly staggering zombies wander the large Main Street of a big town. Boarded up shops and abandoned cars are seen as Albert drives by.

The zombies try to grab a hold of the milk van as it passes them. Albert watches each one with much caution and fear.

EXT. POLICE STATION - MORNING

Albert steps out of his milk van. Stands in front of the local police station, he scans around to find the street is completely dead of life.

INT. POLICE STATION - MORNING

A darkly shadowed office brightens with the opening of a door. Albert looks in through the opening and slowly searches the office.

Scattered papers, disturbed computer monitors, overturned chairs and tables are all that can be seen. Albert enters and closes the door behind him.

It’s dark. Albert sees a switch to his right and flicks it. The lights flicker on.

						ALBERT
				Hello...? Is anyone there?

Rummaging of papers is heard coming from behind a cluster of desks. Albert prepares himself.

A man pops up. He’s wearing a postman’s uniform. He’s rugged and still carries his post sack.

						POSTMAN
				Good morning.

Albert steps forward with slight confusion.

						ALBERT
				What’s going on?

The postman steps over the cluster of overturned desks.

						POSTMAN
				Everyone’s gone nuts.

						ALBERT
Is that what it is? Seems a little more serious, doesn’t it?

						POSTMAN
Does it? I don’t know. I tried to post three letters this morning on Main Street and was attacked by three strange men.

						ALBERT
Forgive me if this sounds a little out there but... did they not strike you as those zombie creatures you see in x-rated films?

						POSTMAN
Zombies...? You think they’re zombies?

The postman sees something on the ground in front of him and picks it up. It’s a key chain with several keys attached.

						ALBERT
Well, they don’t die very easily... and are incredibly slow.

The postman smiles at Albert.

						POSTMAN
				Slow and stupid perhaps...?

The postman walks past Albert to a door. He places a key in it and seemingly locks it.

						ALBERT
				What are you doing?

The postman turns to Albert.

						POSTMAN
				Locking away a zombie...

						ALBERT
				There’s one in there!?

The postman walks by Albert again to a door at the other end. He fiddles with the keys.

						POSTMAN
It attacked me when I arrived here... but I threw my bag around for a while and it eventually knocked the damn thing into that cupboard.

He continues to search through his keys whilst examining the key hole in the door. Albert walks closer to him.

						POSTMAN
I’ve been searching for these keys in the dark ever since. And now that I have them...

The postman chooses a key and places it in the keyhole. It unlocks. He looks to Albert with an insanely looking grin and opens the door. It reveals a wall of shotguns, rifles and handguns together with ammo boxes and clips.

						POSTMAN (CONT’D)
I can shoot the shit out of those things and get out of this freak infested town.

The postman looks to Albert as he grabs a shotgun off the wall.

						POSTMAN
Oh, I’m Barry by the way... Barry Spencer. I’m the postman.

Barry holds out his hand to Albert. Albert gives him a long, slow handshake.

						ALBERT
I’m Albert Birkin... the milkman.

Barry and Albert complete the handshake and Barry helps himself to more ammo and guns.

						BARRY
How weird all of the law enforcers and keepers of the peace are killed first and it’s up to a postman and milkman to save the day... or world. I wonder how far this thing has gone...

Albert walks to the weapons cache beside Barry. Barry hands him a shotgun and an ammo box.

						BARRY
I think you’ll need this, Albert.

Albert stares at it for a moment.

						ALBERT
				Thanks.

EXT. POLICE STATION - MORNING

Albert closes the police stations door. He carries a shotgun. Barry, wielding a shotgun in hand with two holstered pistols and a rifle on his back, steps forward away from the building looking to the road with mild disappointment.

Albert begins to walk toward his milk van.

						BARRY
					(unimpressed)
				Is that yours?

						ALBERT
				It is.

Albert hops in and starts the engine. Barry stares.

						BARRY
				I’d rather walk.

Albert looks to Barry.

						ALBERT
With all that equipment you’re carrying, you’ll pass out before we get to the next street.

Barry checks his equipment making sure everything’s sturdy.

						ALBERT
I’m not carrying anything.

Barry stares some more, eventually getting in the passenger seat.

The milk van pulls off. The milk bottles in the crates rattle. Barry looks over his shoulder to them.

						BARRY
						(beat)
Can I trouble you for some milk Albert... to wet the old whistle?

Albert glances over his shoulder.

						ALBERT
						(beat)
Can’t see the harm in it now... help yourself.

Barry helps himself to a bottle of milk with a smile.

EXT. MAIN STREET - MORNING

Albert steps on the breaks all of a sudden as he turns the corner to Main Street. Barry spills his milk all over himself.

						BARRY
Fucking Christ Albert! I nearly threw the whole bottle down my neck!

Albert stares ahead with shock written all over. He’s stunned. Barry wipes himself off.

						BARRY
				What’s going on?

Barry notices Albert’s expression. He doesn’t need anything more to trigger off his alarm. Barry grabs his shotgun and cocks it. He stares forward.

Standing twenty foot or so away from the two are around fifty zombies. They’re all stood still together, swaying back and forth side to side, staring at Albert, Barry and the milk van.

						BARRY
						(calmly)
				Open fire, shall we?

Albert gazes at Barry, mouth open.

						ALBERT
						(beat)
I don’t think you have enough bullets Barry, do you?

						BARRY
				You don’t think so?

						ALBERT
I think we should turn around Barry.

						BARRY
I’m afraid Main Street is the only way out of town.

Barry looks to Albert with an insane, eyes wide open, grin.

						BARRY
Go out with glory in a hail of bullets Albert?

Albert glances over to the zombies. They start to slide themselves toward the milk van. Albert shoots his gaze right back to Barry.

						ALBERT
Barry... they don’t have guns... they’ll just eat us alive. We’ll be going out in a bloody hail of gore and decapitation.

		BARRY
The glory! Think of the glory!

Albert watches as Barry, insane in his stride, leaps out of the milk van toward the incoming zombies. 

Barry stops a few feet away from them, looks back to Albert with the biggest grin, and cocks his gun once more facing his weapon to the nearest zombie.

						BARRY
This is what you get for eating my family!

Barry blows a hole in a zombie’s chest. It still stands. He pulls the trigger again blowing its head clean off its shoulders. Barry giggles. He lets rip on all the others closing in on him. Heads explode left and right. Blood splatters everywhere.

Albert pulls away in his milk van. An opening on the right side of the road sees him pass Barry. He slows and stares as Barry’s shotgun runs dry on ammo. 

Barry throws the shotgun at a zombie and pulls out his holstered pistols. He goes nuts with them.

Albert drives away. The zombies are completely overwhelming Barry, his pistols having less effect.

Albert looks into his side mirror and with horror, watches as the zombies grab Barry and begin to tear him apart and chomp on his flesh. Barry screams.

						ALBERT
				Jesus!

Albert pulls himself away from the image yet the screams maintain as he continues to drive down the deserted Main Street road.

EXT. BURTON REED TOWN EXIT - MORNING

The milk van drives slowly past a sign. It reads: “Thank you for visiting Burton Vickers”.

On the left, a barn is fully ablaze. Black smoke fills the sky around it. Albert slows and leaps out of his vehicle upon hearing screaming.

Albert runs toward the barn with his shotgun.

EXT. BARN - MORNING

Fire clings onto hay stacks and fences. The large barn is covered with it. Albert stops, feeling the heat.

						ALBERT
						(shouting)
				Hello!? Is anyone there!?

Another scream comes from within. Albert hesitates.

Suddenly, the large front barn door explodes into little pieces of burning wood. A tractor bursts out from inside and halts soon after. Albert runs to it.

The tractor is burning. Albert sees a man fall out from it and onto the ground. He helps this farmer to his feet and away from danger.

Albert lays the farmer carefully on the grass.

						ALBERT
				Are you hurt!?

The farmer coughs violently. He stares into the eyes of Albert.

						FARMER
				My daughter’s are still inside.

Female screams reverberate from within the barn. Albert reacts immediately and runs toward the massive opening.

INT. BARN - MORNING

A scream overlaps another scream. Albert enters the large barn. Its flaming inside but everything is visible.

Albert sees two young girls hiding in the corner. They’re screaming for life as three zombies, in which two are burning, stumble towards them.

Albert cocks his gun and steps forward when a zombie attacks him from behind. Albert is knocked down to the ground. He fires a shell into the still standing zombie rapidly. Its head explodes into pieces. Albert’s stunned but regains himself quickly.

The screams overlap again. Albert jumps to his feet and runs toward the zombies. He fires his shotgun. A zombie goes down. He pulls the trigger again. Another zombie falls. Albert pulls the trigger one last time and -- CLICK!

The flaming zombie stops, his attention fully on Albert who stops in his stride and throws his empty shotgun to ground.

Albert thinks. The zombie approaches him. He scans what’s left of the barn and notices a pitchfork standing against a nearby wooden pillar.

Albert retrieves it. He stares at the zombie with hatred and builds up courage. 

Albert screams, steps forward, pulls back the pitchfork with both arms and pierces the zombie in the head. The zombie crashes to the muddy ground, the pitchfork wedged in its skull.

The two girls cower as Albert steps up to the zombie and pulls the pitchfork from its head. Blood spurts out of the head like a fountain. Albert stares at the girls.

						ALBERT
C’mon... this place is about to go.

The girls run to Albert. He grabs them, holding the pitchfork in one hand. They begin to scamper for the opening.

EXT. BARN - MORNING

Albert runs out of the barn with the girls. The barn begins to crumble yet it stands tall.

They scurry over to the farmer who sits up. His eyes widen as his girls are returned to him safely. The three hug.

Albert stands tall with a blackened face, pitchfork in hand, and a hero’s pose to him. The family look up to this hero figure, shadowed by the blaze of fire on the barn behind him.

						GIRL
				Who are you?

Albert hesitates. He stares at them grabbing the pitchfork with both hands.

						ALBERT
						(beat)
				I’m the milkman.

Albert steps away from them. He walks toward his milk van sitting in the middle of the road.

The family watches him but quickly turn their attention to the barn, which collapses and burns to the ground with a crashing bang that’d wake the dead.

FADE OUT: