MONSTER WAR

Screenplay by Dorian J. Mortecai

EXT. DESERT, DAY

The hot sun shines down, burning the already scorching ground. Slowly, a GROUP OF PEOPLE comes into view -- eleven of them in all;

STAN -- 25. Tall, black hair. Kind of doubting.

MCQUEEN -- The oldest at 28, self reserved and shy. Moderate build.

CARLA -- 19. Tough, hardened. Long, brown hair and nerves of steel.

THRUSH -- 18. Wiry, nervous, skinny. A revolver hangs at his hip.

MITCH -- 20. Rough-featured, heavyset, wearing a brown, tattered sport coat.

KAREN -- 17. Five feet tall, black-haired. Easily frightened.

CORMAN -- 25. Small, thin. Wears large sunglasses.

Also with them are four hard-faced teens named Jake, Johnny, Wyman and Doc -- they'll of course be called upon later. Their clothes are torn and dirty, as if they'd been in a brawl.

KAREN
How much further is it, McQueen?

MCQUEEN
I saw it about three miles away. We shouldn't been much further now, Karen.

THRUSH
Good. We've been out here too long. We've barely got any water left.

Finally, they reach it; Built amongst the rocks and cliffs, looming tall and ominous is

A RESEARCH FACILITY

An enormous building, constructed mainly of concrete. It looks as though it might have been a missile silo at one point. The characters approach it.

MITCH
What is this place?

MCQUEEN
Abandoned military research facility. Used to be a nuclear missile silo but it was converted to a science outpost before the War.

CORMAN
I'll bet there's plenty of places to hide in there.

INT. FACILITY MEDBAY

The characters come through the hi-tech door into the the very hi-tech medbay. The room is lined with various rooms and cubicles, as well as articles of hi-tech medical equipment.

MCQUEEN
This is the perfect spot. We can hold out here until we can reach the City.

They search around the medbay a bit, knocking over a few pieces of equipment that look more than a little delicate. They find water and a bit of food in various places. Stan, walking by a barred window, notices something; he looks out the window, squinting into the sun. His face takes on a shocked expression.

STAN
There's someone out there!

The others rush to the window to see what he's talking about.

THROUGH THE WINDOW

we see what he's talking about:

A MAN.

Limping towards the facility.

MCQUEEN
We've gotta get him in here. Stan, Carla, you come with me. The rest of you, hold this room.

EXT. FACILITY, DAY

McQueen, Carla and Stan rush into the jagged rocks, scouring the area. They finally find the man; he's splayed about the jagged rocks, covered in blood. His breathing is shallow as he clutches a bloodstained shotgun to his chest.

MCQUEEN
(to the others)
He's still alive, but he must be hurt badly; he's covered in blood.

The man stirs weakly, gripping his gun tighter.

MAN
N-no... n-not mine... C-c-coming... they're coming...

MCQUEEN
What? What's coming.

The man grabs McQueen forcefully by the shoulder.

MAN
The Hydras.

Carla, McQueen and Stan exchange shocked looks.

INT. FACILITY MEDBAY

The group are gathered around the man, who's now clean with fresh clothes on. He's around twenty, with black-brown hair and a murderous glint in his eye.

MAN
My name's Ash. The Hydras ransacked my station about four miles from here. Everyone there's dead.

STAN
You said they were coming here.

ASH
Yeah. I think they followed me.

MCQUEEN
How long do you think it'll be before they find us?

ASH
I don't know. Could be days, could be a matter of minutes. But the important thing is to be prepared. What weapons do we have?

Carla steps forward, a box under her arm.

CARLA
I made a sweep of the complex and this is what I found.

She sets the box down on a table, opens the top. She begins to take out various weapons.

CARLA
We got twenty-two standard-issue pistols; eleven flare guns; A flamethrower with three full tanks; and we've got this pump-action shotgun with explosive-tip shells.

Ash takes the shotgun. While weapons are being handed out, the lights suddenly GO OUT.

KAREN
(hysterical)
What's going on?!? What happened?!?

Light permeates through the barred windows, illuminating the room with dull white sunlight. Corman walks over, leans on one of the barred windows while searching outside it.

STAN
It shouldn't cause any harm. I mean, we're safe in here, right?

Corman suddenly SCREAMS as he is pulled against the window, being lifted up by his back. Blood spews from his mouth as three powerful claws are FORCED THROUGH HIS CHEST.

KAREN
CORMAN!!!

Karen runs over just as Corman's spine SNAPS with a loud CRUNCH. The bars bend outward as Corman BREAKS IN HALF, getting PULLED THROUGH THE WINDOW. Karen is splattered with his entrails.

KAREN
NOOO!!!

She looks mournfully out the bent bars, and doesn't notice

A SKELETAL TAIL

coming up between her legs!

The tail wraps around her leg, and she's PULLED halfway out the window!

Ash runs to her, grabs hold of her arms. Seconds passed as they all try to pull the screaming Karen back inside. Finally, she's pulled back in, everybody falling in a heap on the floor. Karen sits on the floor, her pants torn to shreds. The others look ruefully at the gore-spattered hole in the wall that used to be a window.

INT. FACILITY MEDBAY -- LATER

The group is working on barricading the windows with tables and lab equipment. The improvised fortification doesn't look that trustworthy. Karen is sitting on a table, wearing new pants. She's rubbing her stomach.

MCQUEEN
I've gotta find out what caused the power outage. Maybe I can repair it.

McQueen walks over to a table, picks up the flamethrower. In the background, Karen lays down on her table.

KAREN
My stomach hurts.

MCQUEEN
I should be back in no time. (motions) Mitch, Thrush, come with me.

INT. FACILITY CORRIDOR

The pilot light of McQueen's flamethrower flickers gently in the darkness as the three men's boots clank eerily on the metal floor. Thrush and Mitch wield pistols. A few risky twists and turns get them to the electrical room. Mitch and Thrush stand guard while McQueen searches for the panel. When he finds it, he opens the dented, clawed steel plate.

MCQUEEN
(shocked)
Guys, look at this...

They run over, see what he sees:

THE CORDS HAVE BEEN CHEWED THROUGH.

They are all severed, fizzling. Worthless.

MITCH
Can you repair it?

MCQUEEN
No... I don't think so. But this means they're in the facility...

Almost on cue, a Hydra quickly lunges from its vantage point on the ceiling, cleanly taking Mitch's head from his shoulders. McQueen screams, opens up with his flamethrower. The Hydra grabs Thrush and USES HIM AS A HUMAN SHIELD! He's instantly incinerated. Meanwhile, McQueen is making a break for it. He runs past the monster, sprinting down the hallways. The Hydra is shrouded in shadow, but we SEE its silhouette as it BOUNDS after McQueen. The creature almost seems to have caught up with the man but he makes it to the elevator, and he frantically pushes the "UP" button. The Hydra gets its skull-like face in just as the DOORS CLOSE. The monster thrashes about, trying to get at the stranded man. McQueen braces his foot on the elevator door, aims his flamethrower right at the creature's head.

MCQUEEN
(screams)
TAKE THIS YOU UGLY SUNUVABITCH!

He lets loose, and the thing pulls out of the elevator doors, its head flaming.

McQueen slumps down in the elevator, breathing heavily.

INT. FACILITY MEDBAY

Ash cocks his shotgun.

ASH
We've got Level One secure, but they're apparently in the complex now.

He turns to the rest of the group, who are sitting on various pieces of machinery, checking their weapons. Karen is still lying on her table, and her stomach has strangely begun to swell up; she now looks about six months pregnant.

STAN
How the hell'd they get in?

ASH
That doesn't matter. What matters is that they're in here. And we've gotta make sure they don't get to us. I vote we go duck hunting.

CARLA
We can eliminate any Hydras that may be on Level One, and we can seal off the corridors the secure the Medbay.

ASH
Exactly. Who's going?

Everyone but McQueen raises their hands.

MCQUEEN
I'm going to stay behind and take care of Karen.

ASH
Good.

He cocks his other shotgun.

ASH
Let's rock.

INT. FACILITY CORRIDORS

Ash plods lightly through the hallway, making no small show of checking around the corridors. 

Elsewhere in the complex, the rest of them are searching in groups for the Hydras; apparently, Ash likes to hunt alone.

Back with Ash, he comes to a large-ish room. He walks through sweeping his guns to and fro as he goes. He stops, looks at his feet;

onto the floor is dripping a stream of GOO.

A Hydra suddenly drops from the ceiling, shrieking at Ash. The lone hunter screams, BLASTS the thing with his twin shotguns.

Elsewhere, the others hear the gun blast and run towards the source. When they find Ash, the Hydra's face already looks like a bowl of cranberry sauce.

CARLA
(to Ash)
You alright?

ASH
Yeah.

Suddenly, a TAIL pulls Jake to the ceiling, his gun going off repeatedly. When his limp body's dropped, it's clearly been decapitated. Reports echo as THREE MORE HydraS drop from the ceiling.

INT. FACILITY MEDLAB

Karen still lays on the table, but her stomach is considerably bigger -- like she's almost full term. McQueen sits beside her, dabbing her head with a damp cloth.

KAREN
McQueen... what's happening to me... I feel so strange... something inside me is growing...

MCQUEEN
I don't really know what's happening to you. But... Well, I was once a doctor. A pretty good one, too. graduated from medical school at seventeen, finished my internship in a year. My career was going great (significant beat) before the War. I lost everything... well, everyone did. Everything changed when the Hydras started to appear about a year after the War started. (beat) But the point is, I will do everything I can to help you.

Karen smiles, gives McQueen's hand an affectionate squeeze.

INT. FACILITY CORRIDORS

The posse rounds a corner, runs down the corridor. They come through a large, metal door.

CARLA
This is the last one till Medbay.

ASH
Let's get it closed.

They work at pushing the heavy doors shut, and when they've got it about half closed, a Hydra comes BOUNDING down the corridor, headed straight for them!

STAN
Company!

Just as the monster is upon them, they get the door closed. The Hydra SLAMS into the heavy steel door.

On the other side, the group holds the doors shut while Ash welds the seam. They are so distracted with the task that they DON'T SEE ANOTHER Hydra COMING UP RIGHT BEHIND THEM!!

The Hydras stalks toward the ignorant warriors, about to strike when --

Ash suddenly HAULS OUT his shotgun and BLOWS THE THINGS FACE OFF!!!

It slumps dead at their feet.

ASH
Let's go.

INT. FACILITY MEDLAB

The warriors enter, exhausted. They push the steel doors shut, but they don't weld it.

CARLA
Level one should be secure now, right?

ASH
That's the notion, yes.

McQueen comes into the room.

MCQUEEN
Guys, there's something you should know.

ASH
What is it?

MCQUEEN
(significant)
Karen's pregnant.

The warriors exchange shocked looks.

STAN
Are you sure?

MCQUEEN
(nods)
Ran tests and everything. She's definitely pregnant.

STAN
But... that's not possible. She wasn't even pregnant yesterday!

MCQUEEN
It's hard to believe, but you have to believe it. I'm a doctor and I know about these things.

STAN
BUT IT'S IMPOSSI --

BLAM!!!

Ash blasts the ceiling with his shotgun, quelling the argument.

ASH
Are we finished?

Silence.

ASH
Good. Now here's what it's gonna be. Everyone here's gonna get along, and I don't give a damn whether or not that's feasible with you people. We're all gonna have to chip in if we're gonna survive this.

With that, he goes into the other portion of Medbay, where Karen is laying. She's sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling. Her belly looks like she's overdue with twins. Ash rejoins the others.

ASH
(to McQueen)
How'd she get like that?

MCQUEEN
I don't know. What I do know is that this pregnancy is highly accelerated. Three hours ago she was six months pregnant. Now she's about nine. There's no logical explanation for it.

STAN
Well, the best thing for her right now is to let her rest. In the meantime, we have to figure out a way to survive this.

ASH
We sure as hall can't defend this place; they've got too much of it under their control.

MCQUEEN
(a thought)
We could try to make it to the City...

CARLA
What, on foot? They'd have us before we knew it.

MCQUEEN
No. I saw an armored transport down in the loading room. We could stash it with supplies and make our way to the City. The Hydras only live in the desert, so we'd at least have a defensible position.

ASH
I think it's a good idea.

CARLA
Me, too --

SCREECH!!!

One of the barricaded windows has just been torn open, letting in a HYDRA.

The first time we've actually seen it directly. The thing is about seven feet tall, skeletal and demonic. Sinews loop about its monstrous frame, executing in a bone-like tail. The face glowers like a skull, the razor-teeth dripping with slime. The Hydra SCREECHES at the warriors, who BLAST it away with their weapons. Suddenly, another gets in; this one loops its tail around Doc's midsection, tearing him in half effortlessly. The monster is torched by McQueen. Two more monsters tear their way into the room, one devouring Johnny's head as he convulses repeatedly. The creatures are met with gunfire.

ASH
(still fighting)
We need to get that barricade back up!

CARLA
Right!

Carla moves over to a large conduit, begins to move it into place. Suddenly, a Hydra's tail LASHES OUT, grabbing her by the leg and pulling her halfway out the window. A short struggle ensues as Ash PULLS Carla back inside, blowing the head off the attacking monster. Stan replaces the barricade.

Everyone's breathing heavily, their guns still smoking. Suddenly, Karen stumbles into the room, dazed. She's having a hard time standing, as she now looks like she's about eleven months pregnant. She mutters to herself wearily as she collapses, rubbing her swollen stomach.

MCQUEEN
I need to do an ultrasound scan immediately. We need to see what's happening to her.

INT. FACILITY EXAM ROOM

Steve and Ash carry Karen into the room. They deposit her with no amount of care onto an examination table.

STEVE
But there's no power. The machine won't work.

ASH
I've got an idea.

He leans down next to the ultrasound machine. He rips off a panel, pulling out some wires. Out of his pocket he takes a large flashlight. Striping the wires with his teeth, Ash rigs the machine to the flashlight battery. Impossibly, the machine comes to life.

Pulling Karen's shirt off her pregnant body, he lays the ultrasound probe on her stomach. On the machine's screen, a blurry image materializes. When it focuses, the other warriors are shocked -- THERE'S EIGHT FETUSES! 

The unborn are clearly inhuman - their faces are long, their bodies skeletal; HYDRAS.

Suddenly, Karen's eyes SNAP OPEN. She gasps, GRABS McQueen's arm, TWISTS it -- BREAKING HIS WRIST. McQueen cries out, cradles his broken arm. Karen jumps off the examination table, cradling her huge belly.

KAREN
(babbling)
You... you don't understand. It's not normal... They're not human! I want them OUT!

ASH
Karen, calm down. Just --

KAREN
(screaming)
NO! You can't KNOW! NO ONE CAN! I didn't want this. Get them OUT OF ME!

ASH
Karen, it's okay. Everything's gonna be fine.

KAREN
(breaking down
 into tears)
No it won't.

She suddenly cries out, clawing at her pregnant stomach. Something within her MOVES. Karen SCREAMS in agony, her belly moving violently. She starts to CONVULSE, and Ash and Stan each grab one of her arms, trying to keep her from hurting herself. Karen SHRIEKS incoherently as she begins to cough up blood.

HER BELLY SPLITS OPEN.

Ash and Stan jump back. Carla is sprayed with Karen's blood; she SCREAMS and puts a hand on her own stomach.

From the cavity in Karen's torso leap eight INFANT HYDRAS. Skeletal and red with Karen's blood, they begin to GROW INSTANTLY, changing from six inches to a foot in no time. 

STAN
(breathlessly)
Nothing grows that fast...

They suddenly realize they're in some pretty deep crap, and quickly exit the room. One of the infant Hydras jump at Ash, who liquifies the bloodstained cutie with his shotgun. He exits the room with the others, and they bolt the door. The rapidly growing monsters POUND relentlessly on the door, and it begins to BUCKLE. 

ASH
Loading bay! Hurry!

The warriors dash down the dark corridors, eventually making it to the loading bay. In the center of the room sits the ARMORED VEHICLE. It looks extremely powerful, heavily armored. With a mounted MACHINE GUN in side seat.

STAN
There it is! Hurry and fill it with provisions!

Stan runs over to the armored car, but before he reaches it, a HYDRA LEAPS form behind some crates! It GRABS Stuart, DEVOURS his head in an instant.

CARLA
STAN!!!

Ash hauls out his shotgun, BLOWS the monster's head off.

ASH
LOAD THE CAR!

Carla and McQueen load crates into the armored car as more Hydras burst into the room. Ash wastes them with his double shotguns.

McQueen and Carla get the last crate onto the truck. While still holding off the Hydras, they pile into the vehicle. Ash climbs into the gunner's seat.

With McQueen driving, they BLAST through the crates and THROUGH the heavy loading doors. Outside they are met with LEGIONS of HYDRAS. Without hesitation, McQueen BLASTS through them, crushing them under the heavy armored wheels. From the side seat, Ash GUNS a clear path through the oncoming hordes. Fighting against the rocky terrain, McQueen finally pilots them out of the thick cloud of monsters. Ash guns down the stray Hydras that may be following them.

Speeding free and clear into open desert, they make their way safely toward the City.

But...

INT. ARMORED VEHICLE

McQueen expertly pilots the armored vehicle to freedom. In the back, Carla sits hunched over in the corner. Slowly, she reaches, touches her stomach...

She lifts her shirt, revealing her PREGNANT STOMACH.

SMASH TO BLACK.