Graveyard Gods By Matthew Orobko Early Concept Draft --------------------------------- Cast Of Characters: (Subject to change) Alex Kim Janice Mike Gary Otto Fade in: Ext. Morningside Cemetery – Night A blanket of mist covers the horizon of a cemetery. The gravestones appear lopsided and crooked. Suddenly, a group of five teenagers appear. Their silhouettes appear of the thick blanket of fog. We hear the voice of Kim. Kim: Alex, what are we doing here? Alex: Oh, quit complaining. Gary: I want to know what we’re doing here to. Alex: I just think this place is cool at night. Mike: I think I’m drunk. We see one of the teenagers throw a beer bottle. It crashes against a tombstone. The teenagers begin to walk. Alex, leading the way, stops in front of a small opening in the forest. Alex: Ok, here we are. Janice: What the fuck are we doing here? Alex: I want to show you something. Gary: Well what? Alex: I have to show you one at a time. The group looks at each other. They can’t help but realize that it sounds intriguing. Mike: Well, are you going to show us? Alex nods his head and points to Kim. Kim doesn’t seem to notice. Alex: I’ll show you first. Kim: Ok. Alex extends his hand. Kim grabs his hand and they walk into the woods. Alex: It gets kinda creepy here, doesn’t it? Kim: I guess. Alex: Especially on Halloween... The others are helping Gary. Gary’s drunk and they help him hobble to a gravestone. The others wait for Alex and Kim to stop. Back in the woods… Alex stands behind Kim. Alex: Kim, we’ve been dating for a few months now. Kim: So... Alex jumps on Kim. Kim starts screaming. She begins hitting him on the head, trying to bat him off. Back in the yard... Gary sits on the gravestone. The others continue to wait for Alex and Kim. Mike: What do you think they’re doing in there? Janice: Fucking. Mike: I heard from Carlos that Kim hasn’t put out yet. Janice: I’m sure Alex is going to change that. Back in the woods... Kim is trying to beat Alex off of her. Alex doesn’t budge, he continues to advance. He rips her shirt off. Kim screams. Back in the yard... The three suddenly perk up once they hear the scream. Janice: What the fuck? Gary doesn’t seem to notice. He looks back into the mist. He sees a shadow running towards him, through the mist. Gary: Hey... Mike looks back. He notices the shadow. Mike: Who is that? Back in the woods... Kim finally pushes Alex away. She gets up and begins running out of the woods, crying. Back in the yard... Mike and Janice are now staring at the shadow. The shadow screams something and gestures with its hand. Shadow: Run! Run! The three teens notice there is a shotgun in the shadow’s other hand. Mike begins to back up. Mike: Let’s get out of here. Back in the woods... Kim still runs through the woods with her shirt unbuttoned. Alex gets up and runs after her. Back in the yard... Kim comes out of the woods. She sees Mike, Janice and Gary watching the shadow with the shotgun run towards them. Kim: What’s going on? Gary: Where’s Alex? Kim: That creep tried to rape me. Who’s that? Mike: I really think we should get out of here. Back in the woods... Alex runs and takes a handgun out of his pocket. He continues to run. Back in the yard... The shadow reaches the group, breathing heavily. He holds a shotgun. Man Holding Shotgun: Get out of here now! Mike: What’s wrong? Suddenly, Gary screams. Gary: What the fuck? The group looks back. They see a group of shadows walking towards them. The shadows move slowly and they limp. Man Holding Shotgun: We need to leave. Alex bursts out of the woods. He fires a shot at Kim. The shot hits her in the leg. She falls down. The group picks her up and they begin to run. Alex: What’s the rush? Alex looks at the shadows, slowly moving towards him. Alex: Holy shit. Where are you going? Alex begins to run after them. The group of people help Kim along. They come to a graveyard shack. They enter and shut the door. Alex runs right up to the door. Alex: Why won’t you fuck me, Kim? What’s wrong with me? Alex begins pounding on the door. Int. Graveyard Shack – Night The people help Kim onto a wood table. The man with the shotgun rips a sleeve off his shirt and ties it tightly on Kim’s leg. Kim screams. Mike: What’s going on? Ext. Morningside Cemetery – Night Alex continues to pound on the door. Alex: Open the fucking door! Alex suddenly hears moans. He turns around. To his horror, and the audience’s, he sees a group of walking zombies. The zombies shamble up to him. Alex screams. Alex: What the fuck? Alex turns back around. He pounds on the door. Int. Graveyard Shack – Night The group hears the pounding and moaning. Mike runs up to the man with the shotgun. Mike: Tell us what’s going on! Man With The Shotgun: Your friend’s dead. Kim: He’s not our friend, anymore. Ext. Morningside Cemetery – Night Alex continues to scream. He jumps up and grabs onto the roof. He pulls himself up to the roof and sits. Alex watches as the horde of zombies pounds on the door and the walls of the shack. Int. Graveyard Shack – Night The group stands around Kim, making sure she’s ok. The man with the shotgun stands by the door, listening to the zombies pounding on the door. Man With The Shotgun: They’re probably getting hungry. Gary: Who is getting hungry? The man with the shotgun pulls a smoke out of his pocket and lights it. He looks at the teens. Man With The Shotgun: The name’s Otto. I’m the caretaker here. What are you kids doing here? Mike: Well, Alex... Otto: Alex is the kid that’s out there. Mike: Yeah. Well, he said he had something really cool to show us. But he just tried to rape Kim. Otto: Kim’s the pretty one on the table? Kim: Yeah. Kim smiles and blushes. Otto begins to load the shotgun. Otto: What we’re dealing with are hordes of the undead. Gary: Zombies? Otto: Or lack of a better word, yes. Mike: What? Otto: For the past couple of years now, every Halloween night they come alive. And they get hungry. Kim: There’s no such thing as zombies. Otto: Oh really? Why don’t you just hop on over here, open the door and have a look see. Kim recoils and feels ashamed. Otto: Truth is, zombies are as real as you and me. And they’re just outside that door, trying to get in here. Mike: You have a gun, you can kill them. Otto: Do you know how many bodies are buried here? Mike says nothing, Otto: I didn’t think so. There’s close to 200. Now, I only have about 17 shots left. The odds that we can kill them all are pretty slim. Janice: Alex had a gun. He fired one shot. Otto: A handgun like he had can hold six bullets, that leaves it with 5. In total we have 22 shots. 22 zombies would be killed. What about the other 178 of them. Gary: You mean we’re stuck here? Otto puffs his cigarette. Kim lies on the wooden table. Janice sits in the only chair that’s in the shack. Mike stands and listens intently. Otto: As far as I can tell yes, we’re stuck here. The group of teens sigh and close their eyes. Ext. Graveyard – Night Alex sits, petrified, on the roof. He watches as the gruesome flesh-eating horde try and knock the door down. The zombies’ faces look extremely gruesome. Some have decomposed faces. Some are missing limbs. Black liquid flows from some of their mouths. They are hungry. Int. Graveyard Shack – Night The teens each have a look of horror on their face. Otto: I don’t know how long that door is going to last. Mike can’t take it anymore. Mike: Well we have to do something! Janice: Like what? Mike: We could make a run for it. Otto: That is not an option. We only have one gun. It’s at least two miles to the road. We’ll never make it. Mike: One gun is all we need. If we run fast enough we could make it. Gary: What about Kim? She can’t run worth shit. Otto: Your friend has a good point. Janice: It looks like we’re staying here. Mike sits on the floor and leans up against the wall. Mike: What if Alex is still alive? Gary: What if he is? Mike: He could run to the road for us. Janice: How? Mike: He’s got a gun. We DO only need one. He could run fast enough, dodge them and get help. Otto: I doubt he’s still alive. Gary: He might be, I didn’t hear any gunshots. Otto: Well if he is alive, he’s probably hauled ass to town already. Kim: Maybe he’s hiding in the forest. Otto: Well so what if he’s alive, he’ll never make it. Mike: He might. Kim: We have to try and make contact with him. Mike stands up and begins yelling Mike’s name. Otto puts out his cigarette. Otto: Shut up. Mike stops and sits down again. Ext. Graveyard – Night The zombies continue to bang at the shack. The camera moves around to the back of the shack to reveal, a gravestone poking out of the ground right up against the shack. The shack was built on top of an old grave. The camera moves to the roof of the shack. Alex sits on the top watching the zombies. Suddenly, he see one of the zombies trying to climb up it. Alex fires a shot, the bullet hits the zombie right between the eyes. Blood splatters all over the place. Int. Shack – Night The teens and Otto are shocked to hear the gunshot. Gary: Alex! Ext. Graveyard – Night The zombies take a break from pounding on the door and begin to surround the dead zombie. They begin feasting on it. The sound of zombies eating flesh makes our stomachs churn. Alex vomits. The puke rolls down the roof and drips on a zombie’s head. The zombie looks up and opens his mouth. The vomit drips into the zombie’s mouth. Alex vomits again. This time, it catches all of the zombie’s attention. All the zombies look up and begin to climb the shack. Alex backs to the end of the roof. He begins to scream. Int. Shack – Night The group looks up at the ceiling. The hear Alex ruffling on the roof. They hear the sound of Alex scampering. Then, the sound of Alex screaming. Mike: Alex! Alex! Ext. Graveyard – Night Alex climbs to the edge of the roof. He sees the zombies reach the top of the roof. The zombies are now crawling on the roof, towards Alex. Alex backs to the end of the roof. He falls off and hits the ground with a thud. Alex: Shit! Alex gets up and dusts himself off. He looks around. There are no zombies around him. Alex begins to slowly walk around the shack. He peeks around the corner. He sees a huge crowd of zombies coming towards the shack. Alex pounds the wall of the shack. Int. Shack – Night The group hears Alex banging. They move to the wall Alex is banging. Kim lies on the table. Gary: Alex? We hear Alex’s voice, muffled and filtered. Alex: You guys need to let me in. Mike: Go around to the front. Kim hears this. Kim: No! Don’t let him in! Alex: I’m sorry, Kim. Gary turns to Kim. Gary: He says he’s sorry. Kim shrugs her shoulders. Mike: How many bullets do you have? Alex: 4 I think. Otto hears this. Otto: Shit! That’s not nearly enough. Janice: Alex, listen. Can you go to the front? Alex: No, the place is fucking full of these things. There’s a huge crowd that’s headed right for us. Otto walks to the front door. He leans against it. Mike: Alex, you need to get inside. Alex: I can’t. Otto turns to the group. He appears to have an idea. Otto: Tell him to check how many of them are in the front. Janice: Go see how many of those things are in the front. Alex: Ok. Ext. Graveyard – Night Alex slowly creeps around the shack. He peeks around the corner and sees a group of six zombies. In the background a large group of zombies begin stumbling towards the shack. Alex returns to the back. Alex: There’re six. We here Otto’s voice, muffled and filtered. Otto: A re you sure there aren’t anymore? Alex: I think so. Suddenly, a thick, black liquid drips on Alex’s head. Alex: What the fuck? Alex gets it off his head. The black liquid drips off his hand and onto the ground. He looks up, he sees a zombie peeking over the roof. Otto: Son? Are you ok? The zombie groans and falls to the ground. Alex backs up, he screams. The zombie crawls towards Alex. The zombie groans and sinks his teeth into Alex’s ankle. Alex screams. He unloads the four bullets in the zombie. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The zombie falls down dead, for sure this time. Otto: Son? Alex’s ankle has a huge chunk of skin missing from it. Blood flows. Alex: The fucker bit me, man! Otto: We need to get you inside now! Int. Shack – Night Otto talks to Alex through the wall. The others listen to Otto’s gutsy plan. Otto: Ok, move to the side of the shack. Wait for us to kick the door open. When the door flies open, the zombies should back away, that’s your cue to run the hell in here. Ok? Ext. Graveyard – Night Alex sweats and stares at his gaping wound. Alex: I sure hope it works. Ok. Alex moves to the one side of the shack. He watches the zombies weakly try and knock the door down. Suddenly, the door flies open. The zombies stagger back, falling over each other. Alex darts inside. A fast zombie crawls into the shack. The door is closed on his neck. Int. Shack – Night The zombie struggles to get inside. Otto tries to close the door. Alex limps towards the table. Otto takes out his shotgun and aims with one hand. Otto pulls the trigger. The bullet hits the zombie square in the head. The head explodes. Blood splatters. Otto opens the door and kicks the zombie body out of the doorframe. The other zombies try to get in. Otto turns back to the group of teens. He notices that Alex’s leg is bleeding. A stream of blood flows from the door. Otto: Get him on the table to. Mike, Gary, Janice, and Otto help Alex onto the table. Alex lies right beside Kim. Kim doesn’t even look at him. Otto props Alex’s leg onto a chair. He rips his pant leg off and sticks hi hands right into the wound. Alex screams in horror. Otto: This is bad. He took a pretty good chunk out of you. Alex: I have no bullets left. Alex tosses the empty handgun onto the floor. Alex: I wasted all of them on the fucker the bit me. Otto: Well, we still have the shotgun. Janice: Where were you? Alex: I was on the fucking roof. Kim: It’s good your alive. Otto sits on the floor, in front of the door. Gary: Jesus. Mike: Well, Alex can’t do anything. He’s got no gun and his leg is fucked up. The teens look at Otto. Otto: I ain’t running out there. I’m 50 years old. I’m slower than a snail. Janice: Well someone’s gotta go. Kim: It should be a guy. Janice, Kim, Alex, and Otto look at Mike and Gary. Mike: Gary’s still a bit drunk. Gary: I’m not drunk. I can go. Mike: I’ll go. Gary: No, I will. Mike: Gary, don’t be stupid. Gary: Oh, and it won’t be stupid if you go? Look, you’re the smartest one here. If you die everybody will die. Mike thinks. Mike: Gary, if you want to go, then go. Nobody’s holding you back. Gary walks to Otto. Gary reaches his hand out. Otto gives Gary his gun. Otto stands up and moves out of the way. The teens watch from the back of the shack. Gary grabs the door handle. Otto pulls him back. Otto: Just remember, son: When you’re gone this cabin’s unarmed. Hurry back! Otto steps aside. Gary looks back at the rest of the teens. Gary kicks the door down. He dodges the first three zombies and then the door is closed. The teens try to listen for anything, nothing. Otto: If he does die on the way to town, we won’t have a gun. Mike: He’ll make it. Alex: Oh yeah? What makes you so fucking sure? Kim: Shut up, Alex. Otto: All of you kids shut up! The group falls silent. Otto: So, I guess we just wait. Mike: Yep. Janice: Yep. Kim: Yeah. Ext. Graveyard – Night Gary runs past all the zombies. Some of the monsters try to go after them, but they’re to slow. Gary talks to himself, always keeping his shotgun poised. Gary: I’m stupid. I promise I’ll never drink, I’ll never drink again! Gary seems calm. A zombie jumps right in his path. Gary doesn’t stop and fires a shot, the bullet goes right through him, the zombie falls down, dead. Gary doesn’t lose a step. Gary continues to walk. Gary: Why me? Int. Shack – Night The group of people are huddled around the table. They are in conversation to keep themselves busy. Mike: I like football. Janice: Ballet. Alex: Ballet is not a sport. Kim: Oh, and fishing is? Suddenly, Otto pipes up. Otto: What about golf? Golf is the sport. Mike jokes. Mike: What’s that. Ext. Graveyard – Night The shack is now completely surrounded. The zombies beat on the shack, trying to get in. The camera pans around the shack. It reveals the crooked tombstone, leaning against the shack. It reminds the audience, once again, that the shack is built over an old grave. The zombies moan and groan, they’re starving. Gary runs like the wind. He dodges the bumbling zombies and has only shot once. Then, Gary trips over a tombstone. He hits his head on another, he is knocked out. A wide shot reveals a large group of zombies heading in the direction of the unconscious Gary. Int. Shack – Night Mike and Alex are sleeping. Kim is dosing off. Otto and Janice are wide-awake, scared to death. Suddenly, the door is pounded on heavily. Mike and all of the others wake up. Janice: Gary! Otto carefully opens the door. An anxious zombie tumbles in. The teens back up to the wall. Alex: Oh shit! Alex and Kim can only lie. In the background, a large group of zombies begins to enter the shack. Otto backs up and grabs the chair. Otto slams the chair on the zombie’s head. The zombie gets knocked out. Otto kicks the zombie away and shuts the door. The entire group backs up to the wall. There is an unconscious zombie lying on the floor of their only hope of surviving. Alex: Otto? Otto continues to stare at the zombie. Otto: I know there’s a zombie on the floor. We have no weapons, what am I supposed to do? Mike: Use one of the legs from the chair. You could stab him in the heart. Alex: It’s not a fucking vampire, Mike. Otto: No, no, no! Forget that shit. If a stake through the chest could kill you and me, then it could kill these things. Pause. Nobody moves. They continue to stare at the zombie. Kim: Shouldn’t somebody... Otto: Ok, ok. Suddenly, the zombie begins to groan, it moves its arms. Otto walks briskly towards the zombie and picks up a wooden stake. He drives it through the chest of the zombie, the zombie is dead. The group continues to stare at the dead corpse. Ext. Graveyard – Night The camera is close on Gary’s face. He opens his eyes. Gary sees in horror as a pack of ravenous zombies try to rip his stomach in two. Gary screams in horror. He fumbles to get the shotgun and pulls the trigger. The bullet hits a zombie in the side of the face, it falls down dead. The other zombies scatter. Gary gets up, still screaming and continues to run. He watches as his intestines begin to fall out. He screams and falls to his knees. Gary looks back and sees the zombies continue to walk towards him. Gary screams and gets up and again, his intestines fall out. Gary collapses again, facing the advancing pack of zombies. He raises the shotgun to his chin and pulls the trigger. Gary falls down, dead. A wide shot reveals the horde of zombies closing in. Int. Shack – Night Janice: Where the hell is Gary? Otto: He’s dead. Mike steps forward, looking mad. Mike: How the fuck would you know? Otto: Listen. The group seems puzzled. They listen to silence. Alex: I don’t hear anything. Otto: Exactly, they moved. They have a fresh kill. Janice: Shit! Kim: What the fuck are we going to do? The group of teens backs into the shadows. Otto stands by the door. Ext. Graveyard – Night The camera shows the tombstone against the shack. It reminds, once again, the shack is built on an old grave. Int. Shack – Night The teens are asleep. Otto stands guard. Suddenly, he hears the floorboards creaking. The floorboards burst open and a zombie comes into the shack. The teens awake and freeze with fear. Otto steps up and pushes the zombie. The zombie lunges and takes a bite out of Otto. Otto screams and falls to the ground. Words can be heard through the gurgling of blood. Otto: Help...me... The teens are frozen with fear. The zombie snaps Otto’s head. He falls to the ground. The zombie turns and comes towards the kids. Mike backs into the corner. Janice falls to the floor and curls into a bawl. The zombie pushes the table away. Alex and Kim fall off the table and onto the floor. The table falls onto Alex and Kim. The zombie lunges at Janice, she screams. Mike runs for the door and opens it. As soon as the door is opened a zombie comes a rips him apart. The zombie in the shack finishes off Janice and stumbles out side. Alex and Kim breathe heavily and look at each other. Alex: How’s your leg. Kim: I think it’s ok. Yours? Alex: Ok. Alex looks at the opened door, no zombies are in sight. Alex: We can run. Kim: Run, are you nuts! Alex: Well, what else are we going to do? Pause. Kim thinks. It takes her a while before she arrives at an answer. Kim: Ok. Alex and Kim rip the table off of them. They support each other and run out of the shack. Ext. Graveyard – Night Alex and Kim run. Various zombies are scattered amongst the graveyard. Alex and Kim limp along, getting closer to the exit. The come across a shotgun lying in Gary’s dead hand. Alex picks it up. He falls, Kim continues limping. A crawling zombie jumps on to the fallen body of Alex. It begins crawling up his body. Kim: Alex! Alex: Go! Go now! Alex throws Kim the shotgun. Kim catches the shotgun and cries. She starts limping away. She passes all of the lingering zombies. Kim comes to the gates. She begins to climb over it. She can’t. Kim falls and tries again. She falls again. Kim begins to cry. She falls down and leans against the closed gate. Kim looks up and sees a huge horde of zombies heading towards her. She stops crying and looks straight at the camera with menacing eyes. She raises the shotgun and loads it using the pump action. -The screen goes black- We hear the shotgun being fired again and again. Then we hear the moans of a group of zombies. Finally, the last thing we hear, are Kim’s bloodcurdling screams, as the zombies eat her alive. T H E E N D ©2002 matthew orobko