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LAND OF THE DEAD
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BY
GEORGE A. ROMERO
24 August 2004
ATMOSPHERE ENTERTAINMENT
ROMERO-GRUNWALD PRODUCTIONS
BLACK. THE SOUND OF CHANNELS BEING TURNED ON A TV. TITLE UP:
"SOME TIME AGO".
NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
It's hard for us here to believe
what we're reporting to you, but it
does seem to be a fact.
CLICK! In a corner of the BLACK SCREEN, A SMALL TV APPEARS.
On it, in BLACK & WHITE, A NEWSCASTER sits at an anchor desk.
NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
Bodies of the recently dead are
returning to life and attacking the
living.
CLICK! With each CLICK, the TV disappears, then reappears in
a new position ON SCREEN. CREDITS ROLL in the surrounding
BLACK.
NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
Murder victims have shown signs of
having been partially devoured by
their murderers.
CLICK! ANOTHER NEWSCASTER is on the TV now, sitting in a more
modern studio. The broadcast remains in BLACK & WHITE.
SECOND NEWSCASTER
Because of the obvious threat to
untold numbers of citizens, due
to the crisis that is now
developing this radio station will
remain on the air day and night.
CLICK! The second newscaster looks more and more disheveled.
SECOND NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
It has been established that persons
who have recently died have been
returning to life and eating the
flesh of the living.
CLICK!
SECOND NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
We must not be lulled by the
concept that these are our family
members or our friends. They are not.
They must be destroyed on sight.
CLICK! A THIRD NEWSCASTER, more haggard than the others, sits
at an ANCHOR DESK on a barren set, still in BLACK & WHITE.
THIRD NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
Every dead body that is not
exterminated becomes one of them.
It gets up and kills. The people it
kills get up and kill. They kill
for one reason. They kill for food.
CLICK!
THIRD NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
If this situation is allowed to
continue, there will be nothing
left. Nothing.
CLICK!
THIRD NEWSCASTER (CONT'D)
It's over. Finished. Finished. It's
their world now.
CLICK! IN ABSOLUTE BLACK, A SINGLE WORD FADES UP: "TODAY". A
SOUND FADES IN TOO. TCHICK! KA-TCHICK-TCHICKY-TCHICK! Soft.
Metallic. It makes us nervous.
EXT. UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
IN COLOR: A FULL MOON shines over a picture-perfect American
town. PEOPLE, seen in SILHOUETTE, stroll past quaint shops
whose signs promise RELIABLE APPLIANCES, WELL-MADE CLOTHES,
SOLID VALUES. A DINER has a neon sign that offers the "BEST
EATS IN TOWN". But something is wrong. The neon isn't lit.
Nothing in town is lit. Street lamps, windows, are all dark.
TCHICK! KA-TCHICK-TCHICK. That DISTURBING SOUND continues.
Some of the PEDESTRIANS drift into "UNIONTOWN PARK", milling
around a GAZEBO, where THREE "MUSICIANS" are struggling with
a trombone, a saxophone, and a tambourine. They can't seem to
make the instruments work, except for the tambourine player,
who is rattling out a few very unrhythmic beats. That's where
that sound is coming from. TCHICK! KA-TCHICK-TCHICKY-TCHICK.
A CLOSER INSPECTION REVEALS: The "MUSICIANS" are DEAD. So are
the "PEDESTRIANS". Flesh is rotting off their bones. The town
itself, which at first looked so perfect, is ROTTING TOO.
MIKE (O.S.)
They're trying to be us.
RILEY (O.S.)
They used to be us.
EXT. HILLTOP ABOVE UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
RILEY
(Worried) They're learning how to be
us again.
RILEY DENBO watches the town through binoculars. 32, made
rugged by realities, he has a heart beneath his tough
exterior. MIKE CONVERSE, 21, young and unseasoned, has the
eagerness and passion of someone young and unseasoned.
MIKE
No way. Some germ or some devil got
them things up and walkin'. But
there's a big difference between
them and us. They're dead!
EXT. "UNIONTOWN TEXACO" - NIGHT
DEAD TEENAGE COUPLE walks hand-in-hand near the gas pumps
of a defunct TEXACO STATION. The boy steps on the little hose
that BINGS when a car pulls in. Out of the building comes...
...AN ATTENDANT. It was once tall and handsome. Now his face
is a wrinkled map of death. He has lost its left arm. Dried
blood darkens the shoulder of its jump-suit, where the arm
was torn away. A "TEXACO" PATCH tells us the Thing used to
work here. Embroidery tells us his nickname was once "BIG
DADDY". He goes to the pump and removes the nozzle. Turns, as
if searching for a car to fill with gas. There is none.
MIKE (O.S.)
It's like they're pretending to be
alive.
EXT. HILLTOP ABOVE UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
RILEY
Isn't that what we're doing, son?
Pretending to be alive?
EXT. DUMP - NIGHT
THE SOUND OF GROANING WOOD as THREE heavily-armed GUERILLAS
push a large CRATE over a PRECIPICE into a deep GARBAGE PIT
below. FIVE SIMILAR CRATES lie amid the rubble.
Insects BUZZ. RATS crawl. HUMAN SKELETONS, most HEADLESS, lie
everywhere, no flesh left on their bones. Those with heads
show various wounds to their skulls. Except for one, which...
...suddenly, startlingly MOVES! Its bony arm reaches up from
the bottom of the pit toward...
...CHOLO DeMORA, a Latino in his 20s, handsome, roguish, and
confident...a bit too confident. He reaches over his shoulder
and unstraps a CROSSBOW.
CHOLO
Poor bastard.
WFFFFT! Cholo shoots the skeleton. His arrow goes completely
through the WHITE SKULL.
EXT. MOVING VAN - NIGHT
The doors of a beat-up WHITE MOVING VAN open. Cholo reaches
in, throwing back an oilcloth that covers ANOTHER CRATE.
GUERILLA
Whole lotta trash this week.
CHOLO
That's life, brother. A whole
lotta trash.
As the men tip the crate onto a dolly, MAGGOTS are revealed
in the darkness beneath, squirming in a POOL OF BLOOD.
(What's in that crate?)
EXT. HILLTOP ABOVE UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
RILEY and MIKE watch THREE DEAD THINGS lumber toward them
from the town below.
RILEY
They know we're here. They can
smell life. Smell blood.
EXT. "UNIONTOWN TEXACO" - NIGHT
THROUGH THE BINOCULARS: BIG DADDY replaces the nozzle in the
gas pump. Sensing something, it looks around. Up. His dead
eyes lock on Riley's. Big Daddy grunts. Responding to him...
EXT. HILLTOP ABOVE UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
...the THREE DEAD THINGS move up the hillside with more
determination.
RILEY
Glancing at Mike's guns) You any
good with those?
MIKE
Dunno. It's my first trip. Never
had to use `em before.
RILEY
Great. I'm out here with a guy who
can't shoot. Let's go.
Mike stands, turns, and...
...is GRABBED from behind by a ZOMBIE! It's not one of the
three they've been watching. This one wears the remains of a
CLOWN SUIT. Half its bulbous red nose has been eaten away.
Painted eyelashes make its stare alarming. Its ORANGE HAIR is
crawling with SPIDERS. It wrestles Mike to the ground. Opens
its lipsticked mouth. Is about to bite Mike's neck when...
...Riley FIRES his .45. BLAM! A bullet SHATTERS the Clown's
SHOULDER CAP. The dead thing is pitched backward, but seems
to feel no pain. It hunkers over Mike again.
Riley FIRES four more times. THREE BULLETS RIP into the
Clown's CHEST, NECK, CHEEK. Finally, the FOURTH PUNCHES A
HOLE above the thing's left eyebrow. The Clown DROPS.
Mike looks at Riley.
MIKE
Jesus. You can't shoot, neither!
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY and MIKE step into a tight, uncomfortable space.
Generators whir. Gears turn. The two men open a storage
locker and strap on ammo belts as...
...SOMETHING TERRIBLE LOOMS out of the shadows! It moves
toward Riley and Mike, who can't see it from behind the
locker. The LEFT SIDE OF THE THING'S FACE has been BURNED
AWAY. Only scar-tissue remains, and a single usable eye
bulging from a socket.
Riley turns. Sees the thing. And, surprisingly, he relaxes,
recognizing CHARLIE HOUK, a heavily-armed guerilla whose
intellect is as burned as his face.
CHARLIE
Tcha doin', Riley?
RILEY
Havin' a bad dream.
CHARLIE
I have bad dreams. Hell, yes. Just
look at me, you can tell that I
have terrible dreams.
RILEY
The town is full of walkers.
CHARLIE
Every town is full of walkers.
RILEY
These aren't just walking. They're
like...regular folks.
CHARLIE
But they're dumb, Riley. Hell, dead
folks is near as dumb as me!
RILEY
You learned how to make yourself
useful. That's what they're doing.
WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
They dumped the trash. Cholo's on
his way.
Riley and Mike look across the room in the direction of the
voice. Twenty feet away, a WOMAN sits at the controls of what
looks like a scavenged airplane cockpit that's outfitted with
a mixture of high- and low-tech equipment. She wears a black
leather jacket with "PRETTY BOY" emblazoned across the back.
MIKE
(Surprised) Pretty Boy's a dame?
RILEY
This one is. Last one was a guy.
MIKE
What happened to him?
Pretty Boy turns, poking her finger through a BULLET HOLE
encrusted with year-old BLOOD in the chest of her jacket.
PRETTY BOY
I kept his jacket. For good luck.
MIKE
Luck?
RILEY
Put some flowers in the graveyard.
Pretty Boy reaches out and flips a toggle switch on the
control panel. THOOMB! THOOMB! DEEP CONCUSSIVE SOUNDS can be
felt as much as heard as...
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
...RILEY, CHARLIE, and MIKE step out of A VEHICLE the size
of a city bus. The words DEAD RECKONING are painted on its
side. This is no bus. It's a war wagon, built of SCAVENGED
PARTS with a RIVETED STEEL SKIN. GATTLING GUNS protrude from
a MEAN-LOOKING SNOUT. A ROOF TURRET supports two FOURTEEN
INCH-CANNONS. Rotating lights SHINE in all directions,
piercing the night.
THOOMB! THOOMB! THOOMB! That sound again. MORTAR TUBES on the
vehicle's roof are launching FIREWORKS that BURST in the sky.
CHARLIE
(Looking up) `Flowers in the
graveyard'. Why do you call `em
that, Riley? I don't get it. These
here flowers ain't the kind you lay
down on the ground. These here are
sky flowers. Way up in Heaven.
RILEY
I love ya, Charlie. Know why?
Cuzz you still believe in heaven.
THE WHITE MOVING VAN rolls in and parks beside Dead Reckoning.
CHOLO jumps out with the THREE GUERILLAS from the dump.
CHOLO
You guys scope out the town?
RILEY
Looks like nobody's hit it before.
FOUR GUERILLAS get into an old T-BIRD CONVERTIBLE mounted with
machine guns. TWO OTHER ARMED MEN climb onto MOTORCYCLES. The
very night seems to GROWL as everyone starts their engines.
CHOLO
Ready?
CHARLIE
Always ready. Just look at me
you can tell I'm always ready.
CHOLO
I look at you, all I see's an idiot.
CHARLIE
I don't think that's all you see.
bet you see this iron, too.
Charlie is wearing four holstered sidearms, two shouldered
automatic rifles, a REMINGTON...and a sly smile that makes us
wonder whether he's an idiot or not.
CHOLO
Let's go have some fun.
RILEY
Ain't about fun, Cholo.
VROOOM! The T-Bird and the motorcycles pull out toward town.
RILEY
We go in, do our job, and get out,
all of us alive, okay? I don't want
any fuck-ups on my last day out here.
CHOLO
(Grinning) My last day, too.
Riley looks surprised. Cholo mounts a MOTORCYCLE, REVS the
engine, and heads out.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
YEEEE-HAAAAAAAA!
CHARLIE
What'd he do, hit the lottery or
somethin'?
RILEY
Somethin'. (Wondering) Somethin'.
Riley and Charlie start to get back into Dead Reckoning. Mike
follows, pausing to look up at the "sky flowers".
MIKE
Do those things really work?
RILEY
Yup. (Almost sadly) Stenches can't
take their eyes off `em.
EXT. MAIN STREET - UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
DEAD THINGS stand completely frozen in the middle of main
street, like statues, mesmerized by the FIREWORKS.
Only one figure is moving. BIG DADDY. He weaves between his
brothers and sisters, urgently waving his one good hand,
like Frankenstein's monster, as if to say "Bad! Bad!" He has
learned that fireworks bring danger.
A DEAD TEENAGE CHEERLEADER, holding filthy pom-poms, looks at
Big Daddy, unable to grasp what he's trying to communicate.
A SPEAR is DRIVEN through the Cheerleader's face! The spear
is held like a lance by HARRY, a guerilla who roars past on
his motorcycle hooting like a cowhand on round-up. Other
BIKERS rumble down the street, firing guns.
Big Daddy watches the Cheerleader fall. It throws its head
back and lets out a great HOWL.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD: RILEY recognizes BIG DADDY from the
gas station. He also recognizes the Thing's anguish as...
EXT. TOP OF MAIN STREET - UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
...DEAD RECKONING, mortars still shooting FIREWORKS, stops on
the edge of town. CHOLO pulls up alongside on his bike.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD: RILEY and MIKE watch the T-BIRD ROAR
down MAIN STREET. The FOUR GUERILLAS inside laugh gleefully
as they use the MACHINE GUNS to MOW DOWN HAPLESS ZOMBIES.
MIKE
I thought it was gonna be a battle.
This is a fucking massacre.
CHOLO
(Through an open hatch) Kid, these
are the toughest guys in the `hood.
You can't keep `em from wantin' to
get some chuckles.
Riley gives Cholo an irritated look.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Hey, not me, Boss. You told me not
to have any fun, I'm not having any
fun at all. (To Mike) Come with me,
kid. I'll show you the ropes.
Mike climbs out and gets on the back of Cholo's motorcycle.
RILEY
Where you goin'?
CHOLO
To get supplies. Essential supplies.
That's job our job, ain't it?
EXT. UNIONTOWN FOODMART - NIGHT
THE WHITE MOVING VAN pulls up to a supermarket. THE DEAD
THINGS in the parking lot, gazing at the FIREWORKS, barely
notice the vehicle. MARKSMEN keep the lot covered as
GUERILLAS carry CASES OF CANNED GOODS out of the supermarket
and into the van. The team has this down to a science.
RILEY'S VOICE comes over one Guerilla's hand-held radio.
RILEY (O.S. RADIO FILTER)
How's the food?
GUERILLA #1
(Into his radio) Lousy, but there's
lots of it.
EXT. UNIONTOWN SIDE STREET - NIGHT
DEAD RECKONING RUMBLES down a side street, its steel skin
reflecting the FLASH of fireworks.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
PRETTY BOY drives. RILEY stands beside her.
RILEY
(Into radio) Number Two, what's
your location?
GUERILLA #2 (O.S. RADIO FILTER)
D
rug store. Need an aspirin? I got
a million of `em.
RILEY
(Into radio) Antibiotics. We need
antibiotics.
GUERILLA #2 (O.S. RADIO FILTER)
We're set.
RILEY
(Into radio) Number Three?
EXT. UNIONTOWN GUN STORE - NIGHT
UERILLAS load boxes of ammo into a JEEP.
GUERILLA #3
(Into radio) Guns and ammo, Boss.
EXT. MAIN STREET - UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
HARRY, the biker with the spear, is making another run toward
a WALKER, who stands mesmerized by the fireworks, when...
WHAP! Harry is sent FLYING!
DEAD WOMAN, once pretty, wearing a softball uniform that
bears the NUMBER NINE, has used its bat to hit a home run.
Harry's riderless motorcycle fishtails up the street and hits
the side of a building.
Harry tries to get up. TWO DEAD THINGS attack him. Another
motorcycle, driven by ANCHOR, who looks like Popeye, RUMBLES
up in the nick of time.
ANCHOR
Harry, jump on!
Fighting off the Dead Things, Harry gets on and speeds away.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
PRETTY BOY turns a corner. Out the windshield, RILEY sees...
EXT. MAIN STREET - UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
...CHOLO and MIKE, on Cholo's bike, joining up with FOXY, a
red-haired guerilla on his own motorcycle. The three drive
toward the end of town.
RILEY (O.S.)
What the fuck?
EXT. UNIONTOWN STATE STORE - NIGHT
CHOLO SCREECHES to a stop at a LIQUOR STORE with MIKE and
FOXY. All dismount and start toward the entrance. They stop
as DEAD RECKONING pulls up and RILEY and CHARLIE climb out.
CHARLIE
Nothin' in there but booze. Booze
ain't essential.
FOXY
A jug of good Kentucky goes for
fifteen hundred back in town.
RILEY
(To Cholo) I'm not risking anybody's
ass just so you can pick up some
side money.
CHOLO
Not askin' you to.
Cholo and Foxy start into the liquor store. The doors are
wide open. All that can be seen from outside is darkness.
RILEY
Mike! Wait!
But Mike has followed the others inside.
INT. UNIONTOWN STATE STORE - NIGHT
CHOLO unstraps his crossbow and leads the way cautiously
into the dark space. Every subtle SOUND in the SILENCE puts
MIKE more on edge. His hand tenses on his gun as SHADOWS loom
in front of him. Shadows that could be zombies, but are not.
Behind the dusty glass doors of a once-refrigerated wall-
unit, Cholo sees a CASE OF DOM PERIGNON. He goes to the
refrigerator. Re-strapping his crossbow, he opens the door.
Reaches in for the case of champagne. His two hands grab it.
A THIRD HAND GRABS IT!
Cholo looks up. The refrigerator has no back wall. A DEAD
THING with a Manson-like SWASTIKA tattooed in the center of
its forehead has stepped in from the shadows of a loading
area beyond. It GRABS Cholo with a terrifying GROWL.
Cholo falls under the weight of the champagne, and the
weight of the Dead Thing, which drops on top of him. They
roll, struggling. The Thing holds Cholo in a death grip.
At the front of the store, Mike fumbles with his rifle.
Foxy shoots at the Dead Thing and misses.
Cholo PUNCHES the Thing with his free hand. The Dead Thing's
head recoils, but lowers again toward Cholo, the Swastika
looming, drooling teeth baring for a bite. Cholo's eyes
flash. It's the first time we've seen him scared.
BLAM! CHARLIE FIRES one round, right into the center of the
swastika on the Zombie's forehead. The Thing crumples.
MIKE
Nice shootin'.
CHARLIE
Good shootin'. Ain't no such thing
as nice shootin'.
A FOOT KICKS the Zombie off Cholo, who looks up to see...
...RILEY extending a hand to help him to his feet.
RILEY
Close one.
CHOLO
I'm still here, ain't I?
Everyone relaxes. Cholo picks up the case of Dom. The others
head toward the front of the store.
TILT DOWN TO THE FLOOR as their feet move past. In the gloom
behind stacks of cartons...
...A DEAD HAND appears. Reaching.
CHOLO
Shit! Look out, kid!
The hand grabs Mike around the ankle! Mike turns, raising his
gun. Too late.
A DEAD UNIFORMED POLICEMAN, the skin on half its face STRIPPED
DOWN TO BONE, RIPS A HOLE IN HIS LEG with its teeth!
Mike SCREAMS, staggers into a wall, and drops to a seated
position on the floor. Riley and Charlie spin around at the
sound of his cry. Cholo, closest to Mike, pulls his crossbow
and fires an arrow through the Zombie's head.
CHOLO
Fuckin' rookies.
Cholo tucks away the crossbow, grabs a box of Cohibas off a
counter, and runs outside with Foxy. Riley goes to Mike.
RILEY
(Kneeling) It's alright, son.
You're gonna be alright.
MIKE
No. I'm dead. You get bit by one
f those things and you become what
they are.
Riley wraps a strong arm around Mike and lifts him. Mike
quickly plants the barrel of his .45 under his chin and...
BLOWS HIS OWN BRAINS OUT!
Riley, stunned, lets the corpse slide to the floor. He looks
into the rookie's open eyes, devastated.
EXT. MAIN STREET - UNIONTOWN - NIGHT
THE WHITE MOVING VAN, THE T-BIRD, AND THE JEEP roll out of
town in a convoy. Trailing them, THREE SADISTIC GUERILLAS on
MOTORCYCLES ROAR past, firing...
...a HAIL OF BULLETS at A DEAD FAMILY on the sidewalk. The
MOTHER FALLS. Not shot. It has been GRABBED and SHOVED down
to the ground by...
...BIG DADDY! Who GRABS the little GIRL next, thrusting her
roughly behind the protection of a wrecked car. The FATHER is
last. Big Daddy grabs it from behind, by its hair, just as...
...ROUNDS from an UZI DRILL A DOTTED-LINE across the Father's
neck. Big Daddy is unhurt, but spattered with BLOOD. Not red,
greenish-black. The blood of the dead.
here's a RIPPING SOUND as the Father's NECK is PULLED APART
by the weight of its limp body. The body DROPS to the street.
The HEAD remains suspended in Big Daddy's hand. His face
contorts. His mouth opens and closes, trying to utter sounds.
Big Daddy drops the head, looking down at its befuddled eyes
with sympathy. After a moment, the sympathy is joined by
rage. Big Daddy lifts his right foot and brings it STOMPING
DOWN on the disembodied head, CRUSHING ITS SKULL.
The convoy ROARS off, leaving a cloud of exhaust. Big Daddy
sees Harry's downed motorcycle lying in the street. The butt
of an AUTOMATIC RIFLE protrudes from a saddlebag.
Big Daddy goes over. Pulls out the rifle. Tests the weight of
it in his hand. Curls his finger in through the guard and
pulls the trigger.
BLAM! A bullet ricochets off a brick wall. Big Daddy is
startled at first. Then, he relaxes, realizing the rifle's
power. With surprising dexterity, he slings the weapon's
strap over his head and across his chest, patting the strap
as if comforted by it. Turning, he looks toward...
...THE DISTANT GLOW OF A SKYSCRAPER that can be seen ON THE
HORIZON. That's the direction the convoy is headed. That's
where the bad men came from. That's where he wants to go.
REVERSE ANGLE:
With the city in the distance, Big Daddy starts walking.
NUMBER NINE falls into step beside him. Soon there are MORE.
None of them knows where they are going. Or why. All that
seems to matter is that they have a leader.
EXT. DEPOT - PRE-DAWN
DEAD RECKONING, emitting tendrils of HOT STEAM from twenty
steel nostrils, stands parked in a corner of a fenced-in
outdoor yard. (We don't see how big the yard is. Yet.) A
SEARCHLIGHT sweeps the darkness as GUERILLAS unload the
supplies they took from Uniontown and carry them toward...
...a set of RUSTY STEEL DOORS, above which is a FADED SIGN
that reads "SUBWAY (TO CITY)".
In the bustle of activity, HARRY, the biker who was attacked
in town, perspires as he helps unload. He looks ill.
RILEY walks past, handing out bottles of beer to the men.
RILEY
Harry. Beer?
Harry doesn't answer.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Harry?
Harry SPINS! GROWLS! LUNGES at Riley like a beast!
Riley has no time to reach for his gun. The Harry-Thing is
strangling him. SMASHING the neck of a beer bottle on the
snout of Dead Reckoning, Riley JAMS THE JAGGED GLASS into
the Harry-Thing's forehead. Its body drops to the ground.
PRETTY BOY
Got knocked off his bike in town.
Must have been bit.
Riley looks down at the body with a mixture anger and regret.
INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL - DAWN
A mile-long subway tunnel extends into BLACKNESS. A wide
PLATFORM runs the length of the tracks, at the head of which
A DERELICT TRAIN is parked.
A CARGO CARRIER pulls out, driving along the platform, its
flatbed piled with supplies, while ANOTHER CARRIER is being
loaded with boxes of food, pharmaceuticals, ammunition, and...
TWO BODY BAGS.
CHARLIE
Shit happens, Riley.
RILEY
(Blaming himself) Only if you let it.
The cargo carrier that was first to pull out drives into the
tunnel. CEILING LIGHTS spaced far apart STUTTER on and off.
Two guerillas, ANCHOR and MOUSE, who looks like a mouse, ride
on the open flatbed with the cargo.
The tunnel is filled with looming steel shapes that cast
menacing shadows. Mouse shifts nervously. Suddenly...
...PLINK! SOMETHING WET FALLS ON HIS FACE! He JUMPS.
Recovers. Wipes his cheek with his sleeve.
MOUSE
I hate going under the fuckin' river.
He takes out a joint. Lights up. The match FLARES. SPLAT!
Mouse and the match are soaked by WATER dripping from above.
EXT. THE CITY - DAY
RIVERS flank a TRIANGLE OF LAND where A CITY glows in the
sunrise. Once proud and prosperous, its buildings now seem
like tombstones. SEVEN BARRICADED BRIDGES span the rivers.
ANNOUNCER (O.S.)
Protected on three sides by mighty
rivers, the city stands as a monument
to man's ingenuity. At the center of
it all is Fiddler's Green.
INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL - DAWN
A TV MONITOR broadcasts views of A KITCHEN, A PLUSH LIVING
ROOM, A DEN with a VIDEO FIREPLACE.
ANNOUNCER (O.S.)
Luxury living in the grand old style.
Dine at one of three restaurants.
Look for that perfect gift in our
fabulous shopping mall.
he monitor shows a huge ATRIUM with shops and restaurants.
GUERILLA (O.S.)
They make it sound nice.
CHOLO (O.S.)
It is nice.
Holding his case of Dom Perignon and his box of Cohibas,
CHOLO looks with FOXY at a monitor mounted to a white-tiled
subway station wall. Down the tunnel behind them, the other
GUERILLAS unload supplies from CARGO CARRIERS parked on the
platform. A sign reads, "GOLDEN TRIANGLE/FIDDLER'S GREEN".
M
f
E
W
RILEY
(Approaching) Cholo.
Foxy moves away, leaving Riley and Cholo alone.
RILEY
Two people dead. That kid, Mike. He
should be here with us right now.
CHOLO
I didn't kill him. He got bit and
he killed himself. Same thing I
woulda done. And you!
Riley lunges at Cholo, takes hold of his shirt, and SLAMS
him against the wall.
RILEY
The fuck are you turning into, man?
CHOLO
e take money to do nasty shit.
Shit that nobody else is dumb
enough to do. We go in knowing the
risks. The kid did too. His number
came up, that's all.
RILEY
We take the risk to bring in things
people need. Not to make a few
extra bucks selling liquor. You
used to know that.
CHOLO
Everybody makes their own way.
everybody makes their own
fucking way!
Cholo shrugs out of Riley's grasp. Behind them, the guerillas
continue to unload cargo.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
y daddy...he picked fruit, penny-
a-piece. He never went for
anything, so he never had anything.
I'm gonna have a place, Riley. My
own place! And now I got enough
money to buy my way in.
ANNOUNCER (O.S.)
Isn't it time? Isn't it your time?
For Fiddler's Green.
Cholo looks up at the TV monitor. Riley follows his gaze,
seeing well-dressed PEOPLE sipping cocktails in a club room.
RILEY
You're dreaming, Cholo. They'd
never let me in. They'll never let
you in. We're the wrong kind.
The image on the TV MONITOR changes to an overhead view of
the city and its rivers. Animation draws a RED LINE along the
base of the "golden triangle", a zone known as "THE THROAT".
ANNOUNCER (O.S. CONT'D)
Bask in the security of a city
protected not only by its natural
boundaries, but by hand-picked
members of its own private militia.
EXT. THE CITY - "THE THROAT" - DAWN
In live action, not on the monitor, WEARY TROOPS, sloppily
uniformed, guard four rows of electrified, barbed-wire FENCING.
DEAD THINGS cluster by the DOZENS outside the barricades.
CORPSES hang all along the stretch, suspended on the barbs.
MILITARY WOMAN
Stench! Ten o-clock!
A WALKER lumbers in and touches the fencing. SPARKS FLY! The
Thing's flesh is literally COOKED! BOILS develop, POPPING
OPEN, emitting SMOKE. Still the Thing remains animated.
MILITARY MAN
Take its fuckin' face off.
UDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA! The Military Woman FIRES. The Thing is
decimated. Its body hangs, welded to the SPARKING barbs.
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN CENTRAL MALL - MORNING
CHOLO approaches a CHECKPOINT manned by TWO SECURITY GUARDS.
Setting down the champagne and Cohibas, he unstraps his
weapons and hands them over.
CHOLO
DeMora. Supply unit
SECURITY GUARD
What's in them boxes?
CHOLO
Essential supplies. For the man
upstairs.
l
The Guard takes Cholo's weapons and returns a claim check.
CHOLO collects his boxes and steps onto an escalator that
carries him up into an ENORMOUS ATRIUM. The "mall" we saw on
TV. SUNLIGHT splashes through glass walls onto box-planted
trees. Caged birds CHIRP seemingly in tune with the Chopin
that lilts over a sound system. SHOPPERS, expensively over-
dressed, stroll past stores. OTHER RESIDENTS lunch at
"outdoor" cafes. Cholo pulls out a kerchief and wipes the
smudges off his face, trying to make himself presentable.
EXT. "GOLDEN TRIANGLE" - MORNING
FIDDLER'S GREEN, a heavily protected HIGH-RISE in the center
of the city, dominates the skyline. It's where the Fat Cats
live, protected from urban decay. The building is surrounded
by unoccupied high-rises that define "the golden triangle", a
clean section in the center of the city. No ugliness in view.
RILEY and CHARLIE cross a manicured plaza to a CHECKPOINT
manned by TWO SECURITY GUARDS. Riley hands over his ID.
RILEY
Quittin' time, Deke.
SECURITY GUARD
(Holding up the ID) You're gonna
need this.
RILEY
(Walking on) Nope. When I said
quittin' time, I meant quittin'
time.
EXT. "GHETTO" - MORNING
RILEY and CHARLIE walk down a street into the city's "ghetto"
zone, which is lined with taverns, gambling clubs, strip
joints, like a boom town from Alaskan gold-rush days. BUYERS
and SELLERS lurk in the shadows, copulating, dealing drugs.
Riley is welcomed by nearly everyone he passes, greeting
them in return with a smile and a nod, handing some bills to
a FATHER with a YOUNG SON, patting an OLD MAN on the back.
CHARLIE
Wanna get a drink, Riley? Just
look at me, you can tell I could
use a drink.
RILEY
Later. Gotta see a man about a car.
Charlie follows Riley, who strides into...
...an alley, surprised to find a cadre of rough-looking
REVOLUTIONARIES, led by MULLIGAN, a defiant man who stands
on a soapbox. A small audience is gathered in front of him.
He takes a swig from a bottle of whiskey.
MULLIGAN
(Irish accent) How long are you
gonna let him push you around? If
there was enough of us...if you all
would join up with us...we could
pull him down off his throne!
Some of the people in the audience nervously shift their eyes
to the FIDDLER'S GREEN HIGH-RISE ten blocks away.
RILEY
You can't fix a place like this,
Mulligan. You just have to get out
of it.
MULLIGAN
We've got the firepower, Riley. If
you and your friends would come in
with us, we'd be unstoppable.
Mulligan holds out his bottle to Riley, who passes it to
Charlie, who takes a swig.
RILEY
Everyone's stoppable.
We hear the sound of a boy coughing. Mulligan's son BRIAN
stands behind him, looking feverish.
MULLIGAN
You alright, son?
BRIAN
I'm fine, dad.
As Riley starts past, he stops, pulls something from his
pocket, and presses it into Mulligan's palm.
RILEY
Antibiotics. For your boy.
Mulligan looks down with gratitude at a bottle his hand.
When he looks up again, Riley is gone.
EXT. GARAGE - MORNING
Turning a corner, RILEY and CHARLIE stop in front of a
rundown GARAGE with a tarp hanging down instead of a door.
Riley pulls it aside and looks in. A HOBO lies asleep on a
grease-stained floor, curled under some old newspapers.
RILEY
Where's the car?
HOBO
(Waking) What car?
RILEY
My new car. I paid for it. I was
here yesterday. There were two guys
getting it ready for me.
HOBO
There was nobody here this morning.
RILEY
Sonofabitch!
CHARLIE
What happened, Riley. Didja get
fucked?
Riley stands there, grim-faced.
RILEY
(A whisper) Come on.
INT. PENTHOUSE CORRIDOR - FIDDLER'S GREEN - DAY
ING! An elevator door opens. CHOLO, carrying the champagne
and Cohibas, steps out, walks to "PENTHOUSE NUMBER ONE", and
rings the bell. An instant after he pushes the button...
...the door is JERKED OPEN by TYLER KNIPP, 50-something, an
African American man in a white butler's jacket. Frightened,
he's wielding a SCISSORS, poised to strike.
KNIPP
(Lowering the scissors) Oh, Mister
DeMora. Mister Kaufman ain't home
and there's some shit goin' down.
No lie. I heard...
A SCREAM RINGS OUT down the corridor!
KNIPP (CONT'D)
I heard that!
ANOTHER SCREAM.
KNIPP (CONT'D)
Oh, man. Mister K. sure gonna be
upset about this.
Cholo drops his boxes and moves down the corridor.
KNIPP (CONT'D)
I called Security. They should be
here...
Cholo reaches the door to PENTHOUSE NUMBER TWO. It's locked.
ANOTHER SCREAM from inside. He FLINGS himself at the door.
The LATCH SPLINTERS out of the frame. The door BURSTS open...
INT. PENTHOUSE NUMBER-TWO - FIDDLER'S GREEN - DAY
...and CHOLO enters a dark foyer. The only light comes from
another room somewhere inside. A soft, rhythmic SQUEAK, like
a child's swing moving back and forth, ECHOES through the
apartment. It's an eerie, incongruous sound.
On guard, eyes straining, Cholo moves inside. The squeak gets
louder, the light brighter as he turns a corner and sees...
...a MIDDLE-AGED MAN, HANGING DEAD from a HOMEMADE NOOSE
suspended from a light fixture in the kitchen! THE BODY SWAYS
slowly, the harsh glare making the man's face even whiter
than it is. A toppled chair lies on the floor at his feet.
Cholo stands transfixed for an instant. And in that instant...
...HE IS GRABBED FROM BEHIND! He whirls, ready to kill, but
finds only a MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN, 60-something, wearing a
tailored suit and expensive jewelry, her perfectness
blemished only by her hysteria.
WOMAN
My Johnny, he killed himself, he
killed himself. My Johnny! My
Johnny!
Cholo shakes her, hard.
CHOLO
Keep it together, lady.
Behind them, in the kitchen, unseen, a dazed YOUNG MAN, walks
up to the hanging corpse. He rights the toppled chair and
steps on it, lifting a paring to knife cut through the noose.
YOUNG MAN
(Softly, to himself) Dad. Oh, Dad.
WOMAN
(To Cholo) Se-Security. Are you
Security?
CHOLO
No, I...
WOMAN
Then, for God's sake, who ARE YOU?!
She resumes her SCREAMING.
In the kitchen, the Young Man is slicing through the rope
when his DEAD FATHER'S EYES POP OPEN! The Young Man is too
busy with the rope to notice. THE HANGED MAN'S EYES BLINK.
Once. Twice. Three times. Its body TWITCHES. And then...
...the Hanged Man turns, making a move on the Young Man. The
motion increases the strain on the light fixture, which pulls
away, SPARKING, from the ceiling and CRASHES TO THE FLOOR,
along with the Hanged Man and his son.
The entire apartment is PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS. The woman
stops her screaming. Almost as soon as she does, a SNARL can
be heard from the kitchen, followed by another SCREAM, this
one coming from the Young Man.
Cholo rushes to a nearby fireplace and grabs a POKER and a
MATCHLIGHT, which looks like a pistol, but shoots FIRE from
its tip. He approaches the kitchen, using the FLAME to light
his way. In the FLICKERING GLOW, he sees...
...the Young Man lying on the floor. CHUNKS have been bitten
out of his neck and wrist. The body is CONVULSING in the last
moments of life. THE HANGED MAN IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN.
Cholo stands over the Young Man and stabs him in the head
with the poker, jabbing the point all the way through. The
woman SCREAMS again from the kitchen doorway.
CHOLO
Shut up! I gotta hear. Where'd he
go? Where'd the other guy go?
Silence. Cholo pulls the poker out of the Young Man's head.
SHUFFLING sounds. He follows them to the other end of the
kitchen, probing the darkness with his matchlight.
The sounds are LOUDER here. Cholo lifts the poker, ready to
strike. Just as he does...
...the back door of the apartment BURSTS OPEN and a SECURITY
GUARD lunges into the kitchen, rifle in hand.
SECURITY GUARD
(To Cholo) Drop it!
Cholo drops the poker and holds up his hands.
CHOLO
Hey, no problem.
TWO MORE SECURITY GUARDS come through the apartment's front
door and rush into the kitchen.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
No problem, no problem! But there
is a problem. There's a dead guy
walkin' around in here.
THE HANGED MAN appears without warning, attacking one of the
guards who just entered, BITING OFF half his left CHEEK,
including the EYE.
Before his partner can raise his gun, THE WOMAN GRABS IT FROM
HIM! Aims at the Hanged Man.
WOMAN
YOU SELFISH BASTARD! YOU LEFT ME
ALONE HERE!
She fumbles with the weapon, not knowing how to make it work.
The bitten security guard starts to lose all strength in his
legs. The Dead Thing holds him up, as if waltzing with him,
BITING HIM again and again.
Cholo takes the gun from the woman and shoots the Hanged Man.
BITTEN SECURITY GUARD
I need help. I need help!
Cholo kills the bitten security guard, too.
SURVIVING SECURITY GUARD
You...FUCK!
Cholo turns the gun on the surviving security guard.
CHOLO
You wanna talk about this? I did
what I had to do. I only did what I
had to do!
INT. "THE ARENA" - DAY
RILEY and CHARLIE step into the CELLAR of an old BROWNSTONE.
Dirt floor. Stone walls. The place is filled with smoke and
BUZZING with FLIES. As Riley and Charley turn their guns over
to TWO BIG BRUISERS inside, a TOUT named ROACH sidles over.
TOUT
(Eyeing the weapons) Supply run last
night, uh? Bet you have some money in
your pocket. I can show you how to
turn that money into more money.
RILEY
Roach. Where's Chihuahua?
TOUT
Maybe I can find him for you. Come
on in.
Riley is already in. He has pushed past the Tout and is
striding into a fog where GAMBLERS are rushing to place bets
with heavily-armed BOOKIES. We're reminded of a cock-fighting
joint in a Pancho Villa movie.
RILEY
Lot of action tonight.
TOUT
Gotta new kind of game.
Riley strides toward a cluster of BETTORS. A very tall man
stands among them, wearing a Texas Stetson that sticks up
high above all other heads, its peacock feathers poking even
higher out of a snake-skin hat band.
Riley grabs him and spins him around.
he man's feet are off the ground. Way off the ground. Far
from tall, he's a little person, who has been standing on a
platform, wearing a purple satin pimp-suit. He's a Latino,
who looks like a Chihuahua. And that's his name. CHIHUAHUA.
CHIHUAHUA
Put me down! Put me down!
RILEY
What happened to my fucking car?
CHIHUAHUA
What? They're fixing it up.
RILEY
I went over to the garage. Your
guys aren't there. The car's not
there. My dinero's not there.
CHIHUAHUA
Hey, this is not me. I did not do
this to you. I am your friend. Put
me down. Come on. I find out what
went wrong.
RILEY
Just get me the car, or they'll
carry you out of here inside that
fucking hat.
INT. BACKSTAGE - "THE ARENA" - DAY
In a dark CATACOMB, DEAD MEN are chained to the walls. WHAM!
A POLE shoots out. A NOOSE on the end encircles the neck of a
captive Dead Man and is cinched tight. TWO MEN hold the pole
while A THIRD sprays RED PAINT on the Thing's face. ANOTHER
DEAD THING is dragged in and sprayed with BLACK PAINT.
INT. BACK OFFICE - "THE ARENA" - DAY
Cursing in Spanish, CHIHUAHUA pulls a GLOCK out of a filing
cabinet and jams a magazine up its butt.
INT. CENTER RING - "THE ARENA" - DAY
RILEY and CHARLIE drift into a large room that's packed with
BETTORS hooting and hollering like football fans. They're all
jammed onto tiered wooden viewing stands arranged around an
IRON-MESH STRUCTURE that looks like a lion-tamer's cage.
Gates open. THE PAINTED WALKERS are thrust inside the cage.
Their nooses are released. The gates are locked behind them.
EAD RED, alarmed by the color of DEAD BLACK'S face, reaches
out and gently touches the paint. Its fingers come away with
blackened tips.
lack follows suit, staining its fingers red. Black licks its
hand, spitting when it identifies not blood, but something
distasteful.
BOOKIES drift among the spectators, taking bets with fists
full of cash.
CHARLIE
What are they betting on, Riley?
RILEY
Red or Black. Who's gonna win the
fight.
CHARLIE
What fight? Stenches don't fight.
TOUT (O.S.)
They do when there's food.
The TOUT sidles over.
RILEY
What's on the menu today? Cat or
dog?
TOUT
I told you. Today it's something
new.
CLANG! Another gate opens in the cage. A hush falls as
everyone awaits what will come. Including the Dead Men, who
gaze with anticipation at the opening. What comes is...
..A WOMAN! Alive, badly bruised, her dress in tatters.
Despite tarnish, she still looks sexy. Last night she was a
hooker known as SLACK. Now she's meat in a lion cage.
RILEY
Jesus fucking Christ.
The gate SLAMS shut. The Dead Things walk toward the woman.
Riley rushes off. Charlie follows.
lack backs up, hits the wall of the cage and, terrified,
starts to circle its iron perimeter. The Dead Men flank her.
Black is the first to touch her. The crowd HOWLS.
lack's terror turns to determination. She punches Black
three times in the face. The Thing recoils as she glides out
of its grasp.
RILEY and CHARLIE reach the BRUISERS who took their weapons.
RILEY
Give us our guns.
BRUISER
(Handing over the weapons) You
leavin'?
Riley cocks his M-16.
RILEY
In a little while.
In the ring, BLACK reaches for SLACK again. With one
lightning-fast move, she kicks it in the chest, sending it
flying into Red's arms. Red shoves Black aside.
Black makes another try for the woman. Red grabs its rival.
This time Black hangs on to Red's shirt. The two twirl around
in a staggering lampoon of a wrestling match.
Slack rushes to the side of the cage and starts to climb.
She's agile. Strong. But she almost falls as the cage SHAKES
with the force of...
...Red SLAMMING Black against the mesh.
On their way back through the arena, RILEY and CHARLEY push
through the crowd, trying to reach the center ring. A GOON
steps in front of them.
GOON
No guns in here!
Riley gives him a rifle butt in the face and moves on.
lack continues to climb the cage, almost out of reach, but
Black grabs one of her ankles, pulling her down and slamming
her to the ground.
Black hunkers, drooling, over Slack. As it is about to bite,
RAT-A-TAT! A short burst from Riley's M-16 shatters Black's
collarbone. Cheekbone. Skull. The Thing drops.
Red lunges for Slack. Riley kills it with another short BURST.
he crowd PANICS, stampeding toward the exit. Suddenly MORE
BULLETS FLY, this time from a GLOCK, FIRED by...
...CHIHUAHUA, who, in a rage, is pushing through the LEGS of
the fleeing crowd. He makes it to a clear spot and draws a
steady bead on a target...Charlie. Chihuahua pulls his
trigger. Riley beats him by an instant, FIRING the M-16.
Just as Chihuahua's gun GOES OFF...a LINE of BULLET HOLES
PERFORATES the little man's belly. The round from his Glock
misses Charlie completely.
Riley runs to the cage, where Slack stands, trembling, just
on the other side of the bars.
RILEY
You okay?
She nods gratefully.
Chihuahua is still on his feet. And now he is really pissed.
Not because of the holes in his gut, but because...
CHIHUAHUA
My suit! You fucked up my new suit!
Riley turns to Chihuahua, but doesn't have time to lift the
M-16 before...BLAM! The little man FIRES at him. Slack
delivers a powerful KICK into the flexible fencing, sending
Riley sprawling to the ground and saving him from...
...Chihuahua's round, which misses Riley...but HITS SLACK!
Spun around by the impact, she falls face down.
Chihuahua continues to FIRE. Riley Marine-crawls as bullets
PUNCH around him, SPARKING off the cage. Chihuahua keeps
coming, keeps FIRING, until...
...A SINGLE SHOT from Charlie's .45 shatters his skull. He
drops like a broken pinata.
Riley looks up, seeing TWO OTHER MEN with guns. Chihuahua's
GOONS. For a moment it seems as if a major shooting match is
going to break out. But before it does...
POLICEMAN (O.S.)
Hold it!
..FOUR POLICEMEN burst in. The Goons lower their weapons.
Riley runs back to the cage, BLASTS the lock on the nearest
gate, and rushes inside. Slack's body is lying on the floor.
He suspects she's dead. When her BODY MOVES, he suspects
worse. He plants the barrel of his M-16 against her temple.
SLACK
I'm alright, I'M ALRIGHT!
Slack uses her left arm to push herself up to a sitting
position. Her right arm is BLEEDING, up near the shoulder.
SLACK (CONT'D)
Fucker got my right arm. I'm a lefty.
They look into each other's eyes.
RILEY
Seen you around.
SLACK
Seen you around.
A POLICEMAN steps over.
PILLSBURY
The hell happened here?
RILEY
Somebody shot the little fat man.
PILLSBURY
Yeah, I see that. You're under
arrest.
INT. BOARD ROOM - FIDDLER'S GREEN - DAY
A UNIFORMED GUARD leaves CHOLO in a PRISTINE WHITE conference
room with glass walls overlooking the rotting CITY far below.
Cholo sets the case of champagne and the box of Cohibas on a
conference table. A SMAN stands in SILHOUETTE at the windows.
SILHOUETTED MAN
How was Uniontown?
CHOLO
Dead.
SILHOUETTED MAN
Death intrudes on us even in the
Green, I'm afraid. I heard about
what happened with my neighbors.
I'm grateful for your help.
CHOLO
brought you back some presents.
Cholo opens the case of champagne. He pulls a bottle out,
untwists the wire, and uses his strong thumbs to pop the
cork. FOAM runs.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
You probably want a glass, don't
you? Sure, a high-toned man likes
to drink out of a glass.
Cholo grabs a highball glass from a cupboard, pours champagne
into it, and brings it, overflowing, to the Silhouetted Man.
CHOLO
I got something else, too.
Cholo tears open the box of Cohibas. He picks up two cigars,
bites off the tips, puts one in his mouth, then, walking back
to the Silhouetted Man, puts the other in his mouth, lighting
them both with a wooden match that he strikes on his jeans.
F
SILHOUETTED MAN
Thank you.
CHOLO
No, thank you! Twenty grand. That's
what I got comin' for last night. I
never bothered to pick it up.
SILHOUETTED MAN
You didn't?
CHOLO
Nope. I left it in the bank. Your
bank. With all my other dough.
From all those other nights. I got
enough now to buy me a place.
SILHOUETTED MAN
You mean here? In the Green?
The Silhouetted Man steps away from the window. Expensively
dressed, in his early 60s, he is PAUL KAUFMAN. He sets down
the highball glass Cholo gave him, gets out a proper
champagne flute, and fills it from the bottle, smiling
politely at Cholo.
KAUFMAN
I'm sorry, Mister DeMora, but
there's a very long waiting list.
CHOLO
How long?
KAUFMAN
This is an extremely desirable
location. Space is limited.
CHOLO
You mean restricted.
KAUFMAN
Well, I do have a board of
directors, a membership committee
that has to approve...
A wave of incomparable sadness sweeps over Cholo's face.
CHOLO
I guess it takes more than money to
become a "member".
(
Y
KAUFMAN
Take my advice. Withdraw your funds
from the bank and spend them
somewhere else.
CHOLO
(Quietly) Don't do this to me. Don't
do this to me.
KAUFMAN
I'm sorry, but...
CHOLO
No, no, no. Three years! Three
years I been cleaning up after you,
taking out your garbage, and you
tell me I'm not good enough? You're
the one who's no good. You are no
fucking good. And you are gonna let
me in. You know why? Because I know
what goes on around here. How many
of your fucking "members" know
what's in that garbage I take out
for you?
Cholo lunges at Kaufman, grabs him by the collar.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
OU'LL LET ME IN OR I'LL...
Cholo feels the barrel of a .45 against his waist. Kaufman,
who has drawn the pistol from his jacket, is still smiling.
KAUFMAN
Maybe we should talk about this
when you're less excited.
Kaufman presses a button under the table. THREE SECURITY
GUARDS rush in, GRAB Cholo, and drag him away. Kaufman stops
one of the guards at the door.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
Softly) I won't be needing this
man any more.
INT. STAIRWELL - FIDDLER'S GREEN - DAY
HE SECURITY GUARDS lead CHOLO down the stairs. Cholo WHIRLS
like a Ninja. He SLUGS one guard, kicks another in the groin,
the third in the face, and escapes through a fire door.
INT./EXT. JAIL - AFTERNOON
RILEY RIPS off part of his shirt-sleeve and starts to bandage
the wound on SLACK'S arm. They are in a jail cell that has
brick walls and a small barred window facing a dark alley.
CHARLIE, stripped of all his guns, stares outside longingly.
RILEY
(To Slack) Why you? In that arena.
Why did the little fat man throw
you in with those things?
SLACK
It wasn't the little man. It was the
big man. The man upstairs. He's got
his fingers in everything down here.
If you can drink it, shoot it up,
fuck it, or gamble on it, it belongs
to him. He's just seein' that we get
a few cheap kicks so we don't go
thinkin' too hard about why he's
eating steak and the rest of us are
lucky to get the bones.
RILEY
Same question. Why you?
SLACK
They found out I was working with
Mulligan and his people. Tired of
eatin' off Cbones.
CHARLIE
What can you do? Every place is the
same.
RILEY
Places with people. I'm gonna find
me a place where there ain't no
people. North. Canada.
SLACK
Wherever you're going, take me
with you.
CHARLIE
He won't. Riley likes to be alone.
He might take me. Cuzz havin' me
around is pretty much the same as
bein' alone. (Glancing at Riley)
can make myself useful. And I
an shoot.
SLACK
I can shoot. And I can be pretty
fucking useful. I had training. I
was gonna join the Army. Up the
Green. Till somebody figured I'd be
a better hooker than a soldier.
RILEY
I don't need to hear your story.
Everybody's got a story, and I'm
tired of hearin' them all!
SLACK
What's your story, Riley?
They look at each other, clearly attracted.
RILEY
I said everybody has a story. That
was wrong. I don't have one. Daddy
was a preacher. Mama kept the
house. School. Engineering. Nothing
bad ever happened to me...(turning
away)...till everything changed.
SLACK
Everything changed for all of us.
Whether we had a story or not.
A SOUND outside the window. Charlie glances through the bars.
CHARLIE
Hey...
Riley and Slack look out the window. FOUR SECURITY MEN are
chasing MULLIGAN into the alley outside. They drive him like
an animal against a wall, club him, and drag him away.
RILEY
Mulligan.
RILEY instinctively reaches through the window's bars, but
there's nothing he can do. It's a helpless feeling.
CHARLIE
What are they gonna do? Kill him?
SLACK
Not right away. First, they'll try
to get what they can out of him.
About people like me.
Riley puts his hand on her back.
g
t
INT. BEDROOM - AFTERNOON
In a ratty bedroom, FOXY is wakened out of a snore by CHOLO.
CHOLO
We're taking the truck out. Get
he guys.
FOXY
Riley?
CHOLO
No, not him. Just the regular
guys. Know what I mean?
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
CRANE DOWN FROM A FADED SIGN, TONY'S AUTOMANIA, high above
what was once a car dealership, but is now a fenced-in DEPOT
full of VEHICLES. A huge WHITE FACE with black cartoon eyes
POPS into view, attached to a TEN-FOOT-TALL BODY emblazoned
TONY BALONEY. It's one of those vinyl ADVERTISING DUMMIES
that does the hula as air pumps through it. Tony's arms wave
wildly, like a giant zombie, comic yet oddly unnerving as...
BLAM! BLAM! Bullets hit it in the face and neck. GUS, a young
soldier, and his partner BARRETT, are shooting outside the
SALES OFFICE of the car-lot-turned-depot. A sign is printed
on the window. "BEST DEALS IN TOWN AND THAT'S NO BALONEY!"
BARRETT
(Handing Gus a five) You win. You
got him in the brain.
INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL - NIGHT
SCREECH! CHOLO pulls a CARGO CARRIER to a stop along the
platform of the tunnel. FOXY, PRETTY BOY, MOUSE, ANCHOR, and
SCAR, the youngest of the team, leap off the flatbed.
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
The steel doors under the "SUBWAY" sign open and CHOLO strides
out with his TEAM. A DEPOT GUARD steps forward as the doors
close and lock automatically behind them.
DEPOT GUARD
What's up, Cholo?
CHOLO
(Flashing an official-looking
paper) Takin' the truck out.
DEPOT GUARD
You just got back in this morning.
CHOLO
Nobody gets a day off these days.
DEPOT GUARD
(Taking Cholo's paper) Hey, wait a
minute this is from yesterday.
CHOLO
(Keeping his cool) Oh, I must have
given you the wrong one. Here...
Cholo reaches down, but not into his pocket. For his gun.
Just before he draws it...SHOTS ring out.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
What's that?
DEPOT GUARD
Relax. Just target practice.
EXT. DEPOT - TONY'S AUTOMANIA SALES OFFICE - NIGHT
GUS
Double or nothing?
BARRETT
Sure.
GUS aims his rifle at the jerking head of TONY BALONEY. As he
is about to fire, there's a SOUND at his back.
GUS
Quit scratching around back there.
You're tryin' ta fuck up my aim.
BARRETT
I'm just standin' here. I'm not
doin' nothing.
The SOUND comes again. From the woods that adjoin the lot.
Barrett grabs the handles of a KLIEG LIGHT mounted on a pivot
and swings it so that it ILLUMINATES the tree-line.
here's nothing there. Nothing but BRANCHES being slapped by
erratic gusts of wind.
Barrett pivots the Klieg light back to its original position,
jumping out of his skin when the bright white beam reveals...
A DEAD THING within arm's length.
Barrett FIRES! The dead thing DROPS OUT OF FRAME, REPLACED BY
ANOTHER. BLAM! Barrett SHOOTS again. This creature collapses.
It is also replaced by another, which is also shot, as...
BLAM! The top of Barrett's head is taken off by a rifle shot.
The rifle was fired by BIG DADDY. The barrel is still smoking.
In the darkness behind him stands NUMBER NINE. Behind Number
Nine are the SHUFFLING SHADOWS of many more dead things.
GUS SCREAMS.
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
CHOLO
What's that? Screaming practice?
GUNNER (O.S.)
Stenches! Jesus! They're all over
the place!
THE DEPOT GUARD turns and runs toward his men. CHOLO'S TEAM
unstraps weapons and gets ready for battle.
CHOLO
(Stopping them) Ain't our fight.
Stenches are making it easy for us.
Let's grab the truck.
HOLO and his team sprint across the lot to DEAD RECKONING.
A GUNNER at a machine-gun battery opens fire on the WALKERS.
Many of the rounds SPARK off the wire fencing.
INT. DEAD RECKONING NIGHT
CHOLO and his TEAM scramble into the vehicle.
FOXY
Should we send up some `sky flowers'?
CHOLO
No. Those things want to get in
here...let `em in.
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
THE WALKING DEAD march through MACHINE GUN FIRE behind their
"leader". BIG DADDY. He is the first to reach the fence
surrounding the lot. Pushing against the wire, he is soon
joined by NUMBER NINE. Then OTHERS. The FENCE COLLAPSES. The
Dead Things SWARM into the depot.
VROOOM! DEAD RECKONING pulls out. Rumbling over the section
of fencing the zombies pushed down, it drives into the night.
SOLDIERS abandon their stations and scatter, shooting wildly.
NUMBER NINE knocks one of them cold with its baseball bat.
The soldier falls, losing his M-16. BIG DADDY grabs the bat
and throws it aside. Picking up the soldier's M-16, he
presses the weapon into Number Nine's hands, even arranging
Number Nine's fingers on the trigger.
RATATATAT. With the gun aimed at the ground, Number Nine
fires a BURST that sends her into a spastic dance. The
soldier sits back up. Draws a pistol. Big Daddy grabs the
barrel of the still-firing M-16 and guides it along the
pavement to...
...the soldier's legs. Bullets march up his groin, belly,
chest, and, finally, head. He drops.
ANOTHER SOLDIER attacks. This time, Number Nine aims her
weapon purposefully and scores a direct hit.
OTHER DEAD THINGS SMACK at the steel doors that lead down to
the subway. They can't get through. Losing interest, they
drift slowly away, until their attention is refocused by...
...a GRUNT from Big Daddy, who is gazing toward the GLOW of
the FIDDLER'S GREEN HIGH-RISE across the river, closer now
than before. The city. That's where he wants to be. That's
where he's determined to go.
INT. KAUFMAN PENTHOUSE - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
KAUFMAN RIPS a TURKEY LEG off a cooked bird on a platter in
front of him and eats. Across the table sits one of his board
members, HARRISON SUTHERLAND. KNIPP enters.
KNIPP
Phone call, sir.
KAUFMAN
Thank you, Knipp. I'll take it.
Knipp brings a radio-phone to the table. Kaufman picks up the
receiver and lifts it to his ear.
KAUFMAN
Yes?
CHOLO (O.S.)
Kaufman?
Kaufman tenses, just enough for Sutherland to notice.
KAUFMAN
Ah. The one that got away.
CHOLO (O.S.)
You said we should talk when I was
less excited. I'm a lot less
excited now.
KAUFMAN
What do you want, Mister DeMora?
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO
I can't have a place in the Green,
fine. I'll go find another place.
But you know what I'm gonna need?
Money. I want my money out of your
bank. And I want the rest of the
money out of your bank. And if you
don't give it to me, I'm gonna blow
you out of your fuckin' ivory
tower. I've got Dead Reckoning.
INT. KAUFMAN PENTHOUSE - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
KAUFMAN
That's unfortunate.
CHOLO (O.S.)
Put the money on a boat and send it
across the river to the South Side.
Tenth Street Pier. One man to drive
the boat, no more. You've got till
midnight. Four hours. I won't be
there. Dead Reckoning won't be
there. But I'll know if it happens.
I'll know if it doesn't happen.
CLICK! CHOLO hangs up.
SUTHERLAND
Trouble?
KAUFMAN
In a world where the dead are
returning to life, the word
`trouble' loses much of its
meaning. (Beat) He wants money.
SUTHERLAND
Pay him.
KAUFMAN
We don't negotiate with terrorists.
There are other options.
INT. JAIL - NIGHT
CLANG! A FIDDLER'S GREEN SECURITY GUARD opens a cell door.
SECURITY GUARD
Which one of you is Denbo?
RILEY, CHARLIE, and SLACK exchange glances. What now?
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN BOARDROOM - NIGHT
KAUFMAN sips a Scotch. SUTHERLAND is present, with a middle-
aged board member named CHANDLER STYLES and CLIFF WOODS, who
is young and ambitious. All of them are nervous, pacing. A
door opens and RILEY is ushered into the room.
KAUFMAN
Mister Denbo. Come in. Can I offer
you a drink?
RILEY
I don't drink.
KAUFMAN
Well, then...please sit down.
RILEY
Nobody else is sitting. I think
I'll just stand here, like the
rest of you. While you tell me
why I'm standing here.
KAUFMAN
We need you to repossess a vehicle
that belongs to us. The vehicle you
designed, Mister Denbo. Dead
Reckoning has been stolen. By your
second in command. I want him
captured. Or killed. And I want my
two-million-dollar piece of
equipment returned.
RILEY
The truck.
KAUFMAN
Which has guns. Big guns. That
could do a great deal of damage if
he were to aim them at this city.
RILEY
Why don't you just send out your
troops?
KAUFMAN
I don't want to lose them. I could
send five hundred men against that
thing and they'd all come back in
body bags. It's your vehicle. Cholo
was your man. You might be able to
get close enough to...do what has
to be done. (Refilling his scotch)
Do this for me and I'll grant you
something in return. Residence in
the Green.
RILEY
Not me. That's what Cholo wanted,
and you didn't give it to him, did
you? That's why he's out there
waving a cannon at your ass.
Kaufman won't admit that Riley's right, but he looks at him
with a glimmer of respect.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Give me one of those vehicles, over
in the depot, weapons, and enough
ammunition to go north.
KAUFMAN
But...there's nothing up north.
RILEY
That's the idea.
KAUFMAN
Alright. You've named your price.
An easy one to pay.
RILEY
One more thing. My friends. They
go with me.
KAUFMAN
Take them.
e looks at Riley, a hint of desperation behind his eyes.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
an you find Dead Reckoning?
Quickly?
RILEY
How quickly?
KAUFMAN
By midnight.
RILEY
I have a way.
EXT. INDUSTRIAL STREET - NIGHT
DEAD RECKONING RUMBLES along a dark street, plowing into a
DERELICT CAR, knocking it aside and rolling it down a small
embankment, pinning THREE DEAD THINGS beneath.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO'S TEAM laughs raucously at the fate of the zombies.
CHOLO
(Tense) Knock it off!
EXT. INDUSTRIAL STREET - NIGHT
BIG DADDY steps out of the darkness, watching the lights of
DEAD RECKONING recede. He hears desperate SQUEALING coming
from under the toppled car.
He lumbers down the embankment. Pushes on one of the upturned
tires. He can't turn the car by himself. He looks back to the
road. Grunts.
NUMBER NINE and OTHERS OF BIG DADDY'S GATHERING FORCE hurry
to the car. They push. The car rolls over, freeing THE THREE
DEAD THINGS. One of them used to be a BUTCHER. Still wearing
a blood-stained apron, carrying a meat cleaver, he looks at
Big Daddy with something resembling gratitude.
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN WEAPONS STORAGE - NIGHT
SOLDIERS pass out monster weapons to RILEY, CHARLIE, and
SLACK. Riley straps on a K-90. Charlie turns one down.
CHARLIE
I like the iron I already got.
SOLDIER
This piece fires fourteen rounds
a second.
Charlie unstraps his own REMINGTON. A la Sergeant York, he
licks his thumb. Wets the sight. And BLASTS a COCKROACH
climbing on a wall twenty feet away.
CHARLIE
I don't norm'ly need fourteen rounds.
M
SLACK
I'll take that gun.
SOLDIER
Can you handle it?
SLACK
Better'n you. The safety's off.
he Soldier checks the gun. The safety is off. He clicks
it on and embarrassedly hands the weapon to Slack.
RILEY
(To Slack and Charlie) You guys
don't have to come out with me if
you don't want to.
Slack ties her hair back with a bandana. Checks her gun clip.
SLACK
I'd feel like a dick if I didn't.
CHARLIE
Me too. Just look at me you can
tell I'd feel like a dick.
SLACK
Some shit, ain't it? Goin' out to
save a place we don't give a fuck
about.
RILEY
It's not the place. It's the people
in it.
KAUFMAN (O.S.)
Mister Denbo.
Riley turns. KAUFMAN and SUTHERLAND enter with several OTHERS.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
Your friends are going out with
you. I want some of my friends to
go along, as well. (Turning)
Manolete.
AN HISPANIC MAN steps forward.
MANOLETE
That's how I am called...Manolete.
After the bullfighter.
KAUFMAN
Teahouse.
TEAHOUSE steps forward. A mean-looking Asian right out of
Mortal Kombat. He joins his hands, as if in prayer, and bows.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
Pillsbury.
PILLSBURY is a woman, a Sumo-sized Samoan, six hundred pounds
and seven feet tall, swaggering, decked out in a clatter of
fighting gear.
SLACK (CONT'D)
(Impressed) Damn.
Pillsbury speaks with a voice as deep as the Mindanao trench.
PILLSBURY
I come here to do sumthin'. Not
stann aroun'. Why we stann aroun'?
Less go do sumthin'.
EXT. 10TH STREET PIER - NIGHT
A LONG DOCK juts into the RIVER. DEAD RECKONING stops beside
it. MOUSE jumps out. CHOLO stands in an open hatch.
MOUSE
(Looking around nervously) Don't
leave me alone here long.
CHOLO
At midnight. Give me a call. Let
me know if we're rich or not.
Mouse nods, running off to hide in a BOAT SHED.
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
The steel doors to the subway tunnel open. RILEY and his TEAM
step out. The depot has been DEVASTATED. FIRES BURNING.
FENCES DOWN. Only TONY BALONEY moves, still waving spookily.
CHARLIE
Geez. Cholo made a mess.
RILEY
Cholo didn't do all this.
Clouds of thick black SMOKE from the fires BILLOW across the
depot, restricting visibility. Ever-shifting OPENINGS in the
clouds reveal glimpses of torn BODY PARTS.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Stenches have been at this place.
He leads the way into the depot, his M-16 at the ready.
Behind him, all eyes peer nervously into the smoke. Everyone
speaks in HUSHED tones.
MANOLETE
When the truck pulled out, it must
have knocked the fence down. That's
how they got in.
RILEY
That fencing was pushed in from
outside.
TEAHOUSE
You know how many stenches it
would take to do that?
RILEY
There's a thousand of them out
there for every one of us.
CHARLIE
Good thing we're smarter.
SLACK
Look who's talkin'.
RILEY
They're getting smart. I saw it in
Uniontown, last time out. They're
learning how to work together.
Thoughts darken. So does the SMOKE, which billows thicker,
virtually blinding the team. SOUNDS come. The MOANING of the
WIND. The POPPING of burnt metal and wood.
TEAHOUSE
What do they want?
Slack looks back as she walks. The zombies have taken down
another section of the depot fence, beyond which lies a
suburb. Beyond which is the river. Beyond which is the glow
of the FIDDLER'S GREEN HIGH-RISE.
SLACK
They want the city.
RILEY
The city is us. They're after us. We
pissed `em off one too many times.
O
MANOLETE
They'll never get across the river.
CHARLIE
Thank Heaven.
RILEY
Gotta love the guy. He still believes
in Heaven. Anyone got a radio?
Teahouse pulls a Motorola from his belt. Just as he tosses
it to Riley, they hear...GROWLING!
the team draws their weapons, standing in a loose circle,
their backs to each other, guns searching for a target.
Darting eyes peer into the void. MORE NOISES emanate from
somewhere. Everywhere. Slowly...
...Charlie unstraps his Remington. Licks his thumb. Wets the
sight of the rifle.
SLACK
(A whisper) Why do you do that?
CHARLIE
(Whispering back) Catches the
light. Right now it's moonlight.
Lets me see where I'm aimin'.
BLAM! Charlie FIRES! A single shot into the black smoke.
SLACK
The hell you shooting at?
CHARLIE
That thing.
DEAD MAN steps out of the smoke! Before anyone can react, it
grabs Slack's shoulder from behind! She whirls around. Pulls
away. Is about to shoot when she sees AN ENTRY WOUND on the
left side of the Thing's forehead.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
ff-center. But I got him.
The Thing relaxes its grip and drops at Slack's feet.
ANOLETE
(Hysterical) There's more of `em out
there. I can hear `em. THERE'S MORE!
There are SHUFFLING SOUNDS in the smoke. Manolete backs away.
Pillsbury grabs him. Slaps him, hard, across the face.
PILLSBURY
If they is more, we gonna need
mo guns. Pull `em out n'stann up
wid us, like de man you ain't.
Riley lifts Teahouse's Motorola and pushes "Send".
RILEY
Riley Denbo. Calling the Green.
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN BOARDROOM - NIGHT
LOSE ON: SUTHERLAND'S alarmed face.
SUTHERLAND
What?
A TROOPER, equally alarmed, is reporting.
TROOPER
Wiped out! That's what he said!
Denbo! He said the depot was
wiped out by stenches!
KAUFMAN
Thank you. Keep us informed.
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
RILEY and his TEAM move through DRIFTING SMOKE. VEHICLES are
scattered about. They stop at the T-BIRD. There are no keys
in the ignition.
CHARLIE
Gotta go get the keys, Riley.
Riley looks across the lot to the CHARRED RUIN of a shack.
Tire fires BURN around it. Debris smolders.
RILEY
Ain't no keys to get. Melted.
ANOLETE
Screw keys. Hot wire the fucker.
MANOLETE climbs in and goes to work under the dash.
PILLSBURY
He feelin' better since I hit `im.
Suddenly, CHARLIE draws his .45 and FIRES AT SLACK! BLAM! The
bullet buzzes just above her ear, blowing a WISP OF HAIR as...
...A DEAD OLD MAN BEHIND HER DROPS, a HOLE in its head.
SLACK
Thanks, Charlie. That was useful.
The WIND shifts and black SMOKE envelopes them.
MANOLETE
I can't see!
Riley pulls out a flashlight and shines it under the dash.
The team fans out around the T-Bird. The smoke is so thick
they can't make out anything. Including each other.
Charlie peers into openings that shift on the breeze. What
he doesn't see, what he can't see, is what's behind him...
..a FEMALE WALKER, wearing the soiled and tattered remnants
of a bridal gown. The fabric seems to glow in the smoke.
The bride shuffles toward CHARLIE. We see it coming. No one
else does. Just as it opens its mouth to bite...
BLAM! Slack SHOOTS! Her bullet cuts closer than the one
Charlie fired, CLIPPING OFF THE TOP OF HIS EAR before
DROPPING THE BRIDE.
SLACK
Even-Steven.
CHARLIE
Not! That hurt! I didn't hurt you!
Manolete fumbles with colored wires under the dash.
RILEY
Hurry up.
PILLSBURY
(Impatient) Yellow to red!
TEAHOUSE
What the fuck does a Samoan know
about hot-wiring cars?
PILLSBURY
Five thousand cars. Stole. Every
year in Samoa.
MANOLETE
Fifty thousand in Mexico.
PILLSBURY
Mexico got a million cars. Samoa got
five thousand. Every one. Stolen.
THE T-BIRD'S ENGINE REVS.
MANOLETE
I GOT IT! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!
Riley leads the team into the T-Bird. Manolete starts to get
out from under the dash. As TEAHOUSE settles into a seat by
the door...
...SOMETHING heavy and wet SMACKS his shoulder. It's a
FOREARM! It drops onto Teahouse as if thrown at him.
TEAHOUSE
God! Oh, GOD, WHAT'S THIS?!
Teahouse HURLS the bloody thing onto the asphalt. Shockingly,
the ARM SPRINGS BACK, THUMPING against Teahouse's face! A
twist of torn muscle, no thicker than clothesline, is keeping
the limb loosely attached to...
...A DEAD THING that has crawled beside the T-Bird. Lifting
itself, it BITES a large filet out of Teahouse's arm. CHARLIE
SHOOTS it.
Manolete climbs up behind the wheel and...VROOOOOM!...pedal
to the metal he pulls out of the depot. Slack glances at
Teahouse, then, wind in her hair, leans in close to Riley.
SLACK
(Softly) How long does he have?
RILEY
I had a brother. Real brother, by
birth. Bit. Hung on for six days.
Before he turned. I was the one had
to shoot him.
SLACK
And you said nothin' bad ever
happened to you.
RILEY
That happened to my brother.
SLACK
(Into his eyes) But you kept going.
RILEY
Got to, right?
SLACK
Yup. Dead is dead. And that ain't
you. And that ain't me.
Slack turns to Teahouse.
SLACK (CONT'D)
Sorry, man. I truly am.
She draws her .45, aims at Teahouse, and FIRES.
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN BOARDROOM - NIGHT
KAUFMAN paces with a cigar, passing SUTHERLAND, STYLES,
and CLIFF.
KAUFMAN
I recognize that some of you are
concerned. We've been threatened by
a disgruntled employee. I've sent
people out to take care of the
problem. However, should something
go wrong, I want to assure you that
measures have been taken. I've
established outposts. With food and
supplies to support us on our way.
CLIFF
On our way? To where?
KAUFMAN
Alternate sites have been chosen.
Air transport has been arranged.
For us and our families. As well as
necessary support personnel.
CLIFF
What about all the others?
Kaufman looks at Cliff, as if expecting him to understand.
KAUFMAN
All the others can be replaced.
by others.
CLIFF
But...
KAUFMAN
Cliff, let me talk to you for a
moment.
Kaufman leads Cliff into...
...an alcove on the far side of the room, shutting two pocket
doors made of sandblasted glass. Sutherland and the others
can't hear, but can see, Kaufman and Cliff in SILHOUETTE.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOORS: Kaufman leans close to Cliff,
smiling, his eyes blinking a bit too rapidly.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
You interrupted me. I was just
talking about how people can be
replaced. You don't want to be
replaced, do you?
CLIFF
(Nervous) No.
KAUFMAN
No, and I don't want to replace
you. You have promise. A day may
come when you earn yourself some
responsibilities. Right now, the
responsibilities are mine. All
the responsibilities. It was my
ingenuity that took an old world
and made it into something new. I
put up fences to make it safe. I
hired soldiers and paid for their
training. I keep the people on the
streets away from us by giving them
their games and vices. It costs me
money! But I spend it because the
responsibility is mine! Now do you
understand "responsibility"?
CLIFF
Yes, but...
KAUFMAN
No buts.
CLIFF
But...
Kaufman looks disappointed. Taking Cliff by the arm, smiling
again, he leads him over to an outer door and opens it. An
armed SECURITY GUARD stands in the corridor outside.
KAUFMAN
Take him out with the rest of the
garbage. I won't be needing this
man anymore.
At the conference table, Sutherland sees the light coming in
from the outer corridor, better defining the silhouettes as
the Security Guard drags Cliff away.
SUTHERLAND
(To Styles) Pretty soon it's going
to be one of us.
EXT. CARNEGIE - NIGHT
In an overgrown suburban street, a LAWN TRACTOR, driven by a
GARDENER in work clothes, drives back and forth, back and
forth, over a swath of dead grass. The gardener is DEAD too.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO watches the GARDENER through the windshield.
CHOLO
If I don't have this truck, I'm no
different to Kaufman than that poor
Mexican bastard out there.
CLOSE ON: CHOLO'S WATCH. 11:20.
FOXY
He's never gonna pay.
CHOLO
He knows it's his ass if he doesn't.
Cholo slides open a small window, grabs his crossbow, and
SHOOTS the Gardener in the head.
EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT
ANGLE ON: A SOLID WALL OF WOOD. BIG DADDY, NUMBER NINE, and
OTHERS OF THE DEAD push against it. The wood holds.
Big Daddy turns, surveying his troops. Focusing on the
BUTCHER. On the meat cleaver it has in its hand.
Big Daddy pounds on the wood, demonstrating. Points at the
meat cleaver. Pounds again. The Butcher gets it. Approaches
the wall.
HACK! The meat cleaver chops into wood, splintering it.
REVERSE ANGLE: from the other side of the wall as the wood
splinters to reveal BIG DADDY'S EYES staring through at...
...the FIDDLER'S GREEN HIGH-RISE, looming closer than it was
before, though it's still across the river.
EXT. MCKEE'S ROCKS - NIGHT
CLOSE ON: a small, electronic unit, the size and appearance
of a "Game Boy". AN LED SCREEN shows a BLINKING RED DOT
moving along a MAP.
RILEY (O.S.)
Turn left up here.
SLACK, driving the T-BIRD now, makes the turn. The car blows
through a deserted town, moving fast. Riley notices that
Slack is effected by the desolation she sees.
RILEY
How long since you been out here?
SLACK
Never been out. Lived in the city
since...it was a regular city.
RILEY
Pull over.
SLACK
(Surprised) Huh?
RILEY
You said you were going to make
yourself useful. Right now what I
could use is for you to pull over.
She does. The T-Bird stops along a road bordered by a MARSH
thick with tall CAT TAILS. Unexpectedly, Riley stands and
points his automatic at PILLSBURY and MANOLETE.
RILEY
I made a deal with your boss. Find
Cholo. I'm gonna do it. Keep him from
blowing up the Green. I'm gonna do
it, I don't want people to get hurt.
Bring back Dead Reckoning... Sorry.
That's where I stop. I didn't ask him
for much, just guns, ammo, and a car.
I've got the guns. I've got the ammo.
And if I find Dead Reckoning I'm
gonna have the best fucking car
that's ever been built, and I'm
taking it to Canada. If any of you
don't like that idea...
Riley reaches down and opens the passenger door. Manolete
looks out and sees the CAT TAILS MOVING. THREE WALKERS are
slogging through the marsh.
MANOLETE
Some choice.
PILLSBURY
Good choice. I like see Canada.
Pillsbury reaches out and slams the car door closed again.
RILEY
Charlie, keep these two covered.
Charlie pulls his .45.
Riley turns around his seat, glancing down again at the "Game
Boy" in his palm. The RED DOT has moved on to ANOTHER MAP.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Take a right onto Route Six.
Slack pulls out.
SLACK
This is what you were thinking
about all along. You got me out
here figuring I'm a boy scout, and
now you're telling me we're just
stealing a fucking car?
RILEY
You have a problem with that?
SLACK
No. I like the way you think.
CHARLIE
I like the way he thinks, too.
Just look at me you can tell I
like the way he thinks.
RILEY
Take another right.
SLACK
How do you know which way you're
going?
Riley holds up the "Game Boy". It BEEPS SOFTLY as the RED DOT
shifts onto another MAP.
RILEY
I built a homing device into Dead
Reckoning. If Cholo's anywhere within
fifty miles, we can track him.
EXT. ROAD - NIGHT
DEAD RECKONING stops on a long road, at the end of which
stands...
...a MILITARY COMPLEX. THE BEAM of a SEARCHLIGHT sweeps back
and forth over the buildings, a sign of life.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO checks his watch. 11:29. He speaks into a TRANSMITTER.
CHOLO
Mouse. Anything?
INT. SHED - 10TH STREET PIER - NIGHT
MOUSE stands in the shed, holding a transmitter of his own.
MOUSE
Not yet. No boat. No money. No
nothing.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
PRETTY BOY
I'm telling you, he's never gonna
pay.
CHOLO
That's why we're here.
CHOLO looks out the window to the searchlight sweeping over
the military complex in the distance.
INT./EXT. IMPALA - COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT
SLACK drives as RILEY monitors his "Game Boy".
RILEY
Shit. He's going to Ross Park.
SLACK
What's there?
RILEY
Powder magazine. Where they keep
the big boomers. Rockets. For Dead
Reckoning's cannons.
INT. SHED - 10TH STREET PIER - NIGHT
MOUSE looks at a GRIMY WINDOW as the SHADOW of a WALKER stops
just beyond the glass. Mouse FIRES a BURST shattering the
window and dropping the Walker.
Silence. Mouse takes a tentative step toward the window. A
SCRATCHING SOUND. SOMETHING climbs up onto the sill from
outside. Mouse raises his gun, but hesitates when he sees...
...it's a child. A GIRL SCOUT. It died at age nine, still
wearing its uniform. Now, it's voracious. It grabs Mouse's
gun-hand. The weapon FIRES harmlessly into the floor. Mouse
is about to be chomped when...
...a STALAGMITE OF GLASS in the top of the shattered window
drops, PIERCING the Girl Scout's head.
Mouse runs SCREAMING to the door, where he is grabbed by
another DEAD THING. And another. As he is TORN APART, he sees
that there are DOZENS MORE.
EXT. RIVER - NIGHT
CRANE UP TO REVEAL:
...AN ARMY OF THE DEAD LINING THE RIVERBANK FOR AS FAR AS THE
EYE CAN SEE.
CLOSE ON: BIG DADDY. Only the river now flows between he and
his goal: FIDDLER'S GREEN HIGH-RISE, so near and yet so far.
INT. KAUFMAN PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
WHAM! The door SLAMS behind KAUFMAN as he enters the foyer.
KNIPP emerges from the rear.
KNIPP
Any word from Mister Denbo, sir?
KAUFMAN
No. Pack us up. We might have
to be leaving.
KNIPP
In the helicopters?
KAUFMAN
We'll only need one of them.
INT./EXT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
PRETTY BOY eases the vehicle up the road to the complex of
buildings: ROSS PARK, a sprawling munitions depot.
The searchlight continues to sweep across the night, but NO
ONE is manning it. It's mounted to an automatic rotator on
the roof of the main building.
FOXY
Looks like no one's here.
The gates stand wide open. There's no sign of life.
CHOLO punches a button. The SIDE HATCH HISSES OPEN.
CHOLO
Foxy. You're elected. Get out there
and see what the fuck.
Foxy moves out through the open hatch.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Somebody go out and help.
SCAR grabs his weapons.
SCAR
I'll go.
EXT. RIVER - NIGHT
ONE OF THE DEAD TOPPLES face first into the water, dropping
out of sight. ANOTHER FALLS. BIG DADDY looks at the spot
where his brothers fell in. He looks for a long time, cocking
his head like a puppy trying to understand a high wind.
The first Dead Thing slowly rises out of the water. Then the
Second. They stand, waist deep, in the shallows.
Big Daddy gazes down at the water, a concept dawning. Then,
with grim purpose, he steps deliberately off the low wall.
Hitting the river, he manages to stay on his feet. Standing,
waist deep, with the others, he scoops up water with his one
good hand. Sniffs it. Tastes it.
He looks up. Sees the CITY LIGHTS REFLECTED ON THE RIVER. He
tries to express his thoughts. All that comes from his mouth
is a series of inarticulate moans. He's incapable of
transmitting his idea. So he does what he's been doing since
Uniontown. He leads. He walks toward the city. Out of the
shallows. Into deep water. Over his head.
INT. UNDERWATER - NIGHT
There are AUTOMOBILE TIRES, GARBAGE CANS, a rusted ANCHOR, a
sunken MOTOR BOAT, HUNDREDS of BEER BOTTLES...AND THOUSANDS
OF DEAD THINGS...WALKING...ON THE RIVER BOTTOM...following
BIG DADDY through the debris.
INT. TENEMENT - NIGHT
A knock on a door is answered by A MAN who looks a bit too
greasy to be important. SUTHERLAND is outside.
SUTHERLAND
How much is Kaufman paying you and
your men?
GREASY MAN
Four hundred a day. Each.
STYLES
I'll pay you five thousand a day.
Each.
EXT. T-BIRD - NIGHT
The car speeds down the road with SLACK at the wheel.
INT. T-BIRD - NIGHT
RILEY looks at his watch. 11:40.
EXT. ROSS PARK AMMUNITION DEPOT - NIGHT
The unmanned SEARCHLIGHT scans the yard, casting intermittent
shadows.
SCAR
This place is important. The men
here wouldn't just walk out.
FOXY
Maybe they had no choice.
FOXY and SCAR move toward a large STORAGE BUILDING where a
door swings in the night breeze, SLAPPING alarmingly against
the wall. Beyond the opening is a BLACK MAW, like a velvet
curtain, past which nothing can be seen.
FOXY (CONT'D)
There could be stenches in there.
(Readying his M-16) Got a flashlight?
Scar nervously pulls out a flashlight. As he CLICKS on the
BEAM, he loses his grip. The flashlight drops to the ground.
Scar reaches for it. His fingers tip it and it spins. The
beam WASHES across his shoes. Then Foxy's shoes. Then finds...
...ONE OTHER SHOE. Someone else's. Gasping, Scar grabs the
flashlight, shining the beam up onto what should be a leg,
but there's nothing left above its bloody shin.
PLIP! PLOP! PLIP! Beads of BLOOD hit the floor, dropping
from the DARK FIGURE of a SOLDIER who is approaching. Scar
aims the flashlight at the figure's face, recognizing...
SCAR
Brubaker! You okay? Where's the
other guys? What happened here?
Brubaker keeps coming. He has BULLET HOLES in his chest, but
they're not what's dripping blood. It's another half-eaten
FOOT that he's carrying. BRUBAKER IS DEAD. Foxy shoots him.
Foxy and Scar move into a hangar-like space. Pitch black.
Except for the mote-filled BEAM from Scar's flashlight, which
illuminates a supply of enormous cannon shells, lined up on
storage shelves. THE "JOHNSONS".
SIX DEAD SOLDIERS are hunkered in the shadows, EATING the
REMAINS of OTHER DEAD SOLDIERS.
Foxy grimly raises his weapon. As he squeezes the trigger,
the sound of the gunfire OVERLAPS into...
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
ANCHOR and SCAR wrestle TWO "JOHNSONS" into place.
CHOLO
That's good. That's all we need.
FOXY
(Sober) To blow up the Green.
INT./EXT. T-BIRD - HILLSIDE ROAD - NIGHT
THE T-BIRD rumbles along a road lined with large HOMES, once
prized for their panoramic views. RILEY'S "Game Boy" BEEPS.
The display shows the RED DOT moving along a MAP.
RILEY
Cholo's moving out. Looks like he's
heading right for us.
Riley looks outside. Beyond the homes he can see THE CITY.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Shit. Off this hillside...they can
shell the Green. Pull in! There!
SLACK pulls into a driveway, stopping the T-Bird in the
shadow of one of the houses.
RILEY (CONT'D)
They'll be coming up this road.
INT. BANK - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
In a walk-in STEEL-WALLED SAFE, KAUFMAN pulls out banded
STACKS OF MONEY and stuffs them into TWO PRADA DUFFELS.
EXT. BOAT RAMP - NIGHT
ONE HEAD RISES out of the river. It's BIG DADDY, rivulets of
water running down the creases of his face. Another head
rises. And another. NUMBER NINE and the BUTCHER ZOMBIE.
More and more heads break the surface. The water FILLS with
BODIES emerging from the deep. HUNDREDS OF THEM. The CITY
LIGHTS REFLECT off their wet clothes as the ARMY OF THE DEAD
clambers up a boat ramp on the city side of the river.
EXT. HILLSIDE HOME DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
RILEY and HIS TEAM wait in the shadows of the driveway they
pulled into. They HEAR the distant GROWL of DEAD RECKONING.
Looking over a hedge-row, Riley can see HIGH BEAMS advancing.
RILEY
(To the Others) Y'all stay here.
SLACK
You're goin' out there alone? You
need our guns.
RILEY
Dead Reckoning's got steel skin an
inch thick. You can't shoot your
way in. I'm hopin' I can talk my
way in.
MANOLETE
He's gonna steal the truck and
leave us here.
CHARLIE
Riley'd never do that. Just look at
him, you can tell he'd never do that.
RILEY
Keep an eye on the hatches. If I
get in, I'll try to leave one open.
Riley takes off. Charlie looks torn. He wants to go with
Riley, but he has to keep PILLSBURY and Manolete covered.
PILLSBURY
I like dat man. You go help `im.
I take care of dis sissy.
Pillsbury, moving fast for a big woman, POUNDS Manolete's
temple with a mighty fist. He drops like a lead weight.
EXT. ROOFTOP - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
The door to the roof opens and the GREASY MAN from "downtown"
steps out of a fire stair with ANOTHER GREASY MAN. SUTHERLAND
remains inside the door.
GREASY MAN
I don't know about this. I mean...
leavin' people behind...
SUTHERLAND
Kaufman was gonna leave people
behind. So we're leaving him.
The Greasy Men go trotting across the rooftop. As they climb
into TWO HELICOPTERS, we realize that they are PILOTS.
EXT. HILLSIDE STREET - NIGHT
RILEY walks down the road. The GROWLING of the diesels is
getting louder, the GLOW from the high-beams brighter. Riley
is startled by a NOISE behind him. He whirls around and sees
CHARLIE approaching.
CHARLIE
Everything's cool back there.
Riley is about to object, when DEAD RECKONING comes rumbling
around a corner a hundred yards down the street. Riley checks
his watch again. 11:52.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
Too late to send me back.
RILEY
Put on your Sunday smile. Try to
look friendly.
CHARLIE
I am friendly. Just look at me you
can tell I'm friendly.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
In the cab, PRETTY BOY eases off the gas. CHOLO looks out the
windshield as the headlights strike...
CHOLO
Denbo. And his idiot. (Beat) Stop.
Gimme the mike.
The vehicle crunches to a stop forty yards away. Pretty
Boy hands Cholo a microphone. Cholo speaks into it.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
How'd you get up here, Riley?
INTERCUT: BETWEEN THE STREET AND DEAD RECKONING'S CAB.
RILEY
Grabbed the T-Bird.
CHOLO
What are you doin' up here?
RILEY
Tracking you. With this.
Riley holds up his "Game Boy". Cholo looks surprised.
RILEY (CONT'D)
Truck's got a little transmitter in
her belly. Sorry I never told you.
CHOLO
You were always a smart guy, Riley.
Much smarter'n me.
RILEY
You went and took off without
inviting us along.
CHOLO
You weren't around to get invited.
Anyway, I figured you wouldn't
want in on this.
RILEY
We want in on anything you got goin'.
CHOLO
(To Pretty Boy) Open up.
FOXY
What're you, nuts?
CHOLO
Open up!
EXT. HILLSIDE HOME DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
SLACK and PILLSBURY watch from the shadows as a HATCH OPENS.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY and CHARLIE step on board. PRETTY BOY is at the
controls. FOXY, ANCHOR, and SCAR stand nearby. Charlie is
grinning like a badly scarred Cheshire cat.
CHOLO
The hell you so happy about?
CHARLIE
Riley told me to smile. So's you'd
let us come in.
CHOLO
I'd rather have you in here than
out there.
KA-CHUNK! Cholo lifts his crossbow, pressing a loaded arrow
up under Riley's chin. BLOOD TRICKLES.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Who's the smart one now?
Charlie is about to react when he feels Foxy's M-16 poking
into his back.
Cholo looks into Riley's eyes.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Thought you were gonna quit. Here
you are still working for the man.
Kaufman sent you out here, didn't
he? To get the truck back.
RILEY
Yes.
EXT. HILLSIDE HOME DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
SLACK and PILLSBURY creep forward, freezing as they see
RILEY with the crossbow at his neck. Slack aims her K-90 at
CHOLO, RUSTLING branches as she moves.
SLACK
That man pulls the trigger, he's
dead.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO cocks his head outside.
CHOLO
Who else is out there?
RILEY
Kaufman sent some guys with us.
We took care of `em. I know you
been up to Ross Park. Picked up
some Johnsons, huh?
CHOLO
Yup. Pretty Boy, set the cannons.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
With great WHIRRING SOUNDS, the vehicle's largest guns begin
to ROTATE slowly toward the city across the river.
SLACK
We're running out of time here.
C'mon, Riley. Make yourself useful.
MANOLETE begins to stir on the ground beside THE T-BIRD.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY keeps cool.
RILEY
Don't do it, Cholo.
CHOLO
Kaufman's got it coming.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
SLACK and PILLSBURY watch THE GUN TURRET continue to turn,
the cannon barrels angling toward FIDDLER'S GREEN.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
PRETTY BOY lifts a clear cover off a RED FIRING BUTTON.
RILEY
Hit the tower square, you'll kill a
lot of innocent people. Miss and
hit the city, you'll kill a lot of
our friends. Your beef's with
Kaufman, not them.
The turret on the roof GROANS as the cannons rotate.
CHOLO
He's killed a lot of our friends.
Every week we took out the garbage,
you and me. Every month I took out
Kaufman's garbage. People he wanted
off the streets. He turned me into a
goon and then he pissed all over me!
Foxy, keep `em covered.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
The turret stops, cannons aimed directly at the GREEN.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO moves to the RED FIRING BUTTON.
CHOLO
When the smoke clears, I'm gonna
roll in, hit the bank, take the
money, and pick up any other fancy
shit I can get my hands on.
RILEY
There won't be any fancy shit left.
And money burns.
CHOLO
Not when you keep it in a safe.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
MANOLETE pulls one of the MACHINE GUNS out of its mount on
the T-BIRD. Shouldering it, he creeps toward DEAD RECKONING.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
ON THE CONTROL PANEL: A CLOCK CLICKS DOWN TO MIDNIGHT.
4...3...2...1...CHOLO reaches down and pushes the button.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
The GUN BARRELS are cold. SILENT.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO punches the button again. Again. Nothing happens.
CHOLO
WHAT THE FUCK?
CHOLO'S eyes fall to the "Game Boy" in Riley's hand.
CHOLO
You did something, didn't you?
With your FUCKING TOY!
Riley pushes another button on the "Game Boy". Outside...
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
...TWO STEEL LOCKING RINGS swing up to cap the cannons. Just
beyond the barrels we see MANOLETE closing in on DEAD
RECKONING, raising his machine gun. A DEAD THING advances
behind him.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHOLO charges RILEY. Grabs him around the throat.
CHOLO
Fix it!
RILEY
Not a chance.
Riley tosses the "Game Boy" out the open hatch. Cholo reaches
out after it.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
MANOLETE has the machine gun aimed at DEAD RECKONING'S open
hatch. Where CHOLO is standing.
Out of the corner of his eye, RILEY sees Manolete's machine
gun barrel flash in the moonlight. MANOLETE FIRES! RATATAT!
RILEY PUSHES CHOLO OUT OF THE WAY JUST IN TIME! He drops from
the hatch onto the pavement, wounded in the shoulder.
The Walker starts to rip Manolete apart. Slack SHOOTS HIM in
the head. Then she and PILLSBURY open fire on the Walker,
destroying it.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
FOXY, distracted by the mayhem, lets CHARLIE get the drop on
him. ANCHOR and SCAR go for their guns. RILEY unslings his
M-16 and holds them at bay.
RILEY
Easy boys.
Riley looks at the clock on the control panel. 12:01. Charlie
follows his gaze.
CHARLIE
Geez. We just made it.
Riley CLICKS the transmitter on.
RILEY
Riley Denbo calling the Green.
INT. PENTHOUSE CORRIDOR - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
BING! KAUFMAN steps off the elevator, carrying his two Prada
bags full of money. A TWO-WAY RADIO in his pocket RINGS.
KAUFMAN
(Into radio, urgent) Yes?
RILEY (O.S.)
We got Cholo.
KAUFMAN
(Sagging with relief) I owe you,
Mister Denbo.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY
I'm glad you feel that way. Because
I'm taking your fucking truck.
INT. KAUFMAN'S PENTHOUSE - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
KAUFMAN rushes in with his bags, dropping them beside other
luggage that is already packed.
KNIPP
(Frightened) Mister Kaufman, sir. I
dunno what's happening, sir, but it
sounds bad.
The windows are sealed so the NOISE Kaufman hears is MUFFLED,
but it is definitely the SOUND OF DISORDER. He goes to a
window. Looks down and sees...
...flashes of LIGHT from gunfire. SMOKE rising from an
EXPLOSION. PEOPLE running. THE DEAD swarming into the city
like ants. A war has begun.
EXT. ROOFTOP - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
SUTHERLAND stands at the edge of the roof, looking down at
what Kaufman just saw.
SUTHERLAND
All this time Kaufman's been
worried about a revolution on the
streets. He never thought it would
come from across the river.
Sutherland, STYLES, OTHER BOARD MEMBERS, and their FAMILIES
get into the TWO HELICOPTERS.
INT. KAUFMAN'S PENTHOUSE - FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
THE SOUND OF RUMBLING. The CEILING VIBRATES, knocking tear-
shaped baubles off a CHANDELIER. The SOUND BUILDS in
intensity. Then suddenly eases off. Through the window,
KAUFMAN sees the things that caused the rumbling...
...TWO HELICOPTERS, SOARING off into the night.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
No. No. They can't leave. Not
without me!
KNIPP
I think they just did, sir.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - HILLSIDE - NIGHT
RILEY jumps out onto the street where CHOLO lies, bleeding
from the top of his left shoulder.
CHOLO
I hate you, Riley. There's
something about you I've always
fucking hated.
RILEY
(Smiling) Same here.
SLACK
Riley. Look out there.
Riley looks where SLACK is pointing. From across the river
comes a flickering ORANGE GLOW.
Riley moves to a spot where he can see between the houses on
the hillside. In the distance, FIRE rises from the city.
Cholo sits up, cackling.
CHOLO
I didn't have to blow the fucking
place up. Somebody else did for me!
RILEY
(Stunned) The stenches. They got
across the river. They got across
the fucking river. (To the others)
Get him inside.
PILLSBURY steps in and lifts Cholo easily to his feet.
CHOLO
Wait, wait, wait. What are we
doin'? Where we goin'?
RILEY
Back to the city.
CHOLO
Not this horse. You got the T-Bird?
I'll take that.
FOXY
Me, too.
FOXY jumps out of DEAD RECKONING and stands at Cholo's side.
Riley, Slack, and Pillsbury climb aboard. Riley looks down at
Cholo and Foxy.
RILEY
You guys'd be safer coming with us.
CHOLO
Nah, you'd never let me have any
fun.
RILEY
T-Bird's down that driveway over
there. Guns and ammo inside.
CHOLO
Thanks.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY closes the hatch. Blood trickles from under his chin
where Cholo stuck him with the crossbow.
SLACK reaches up and pulls off the bandana that holds back
her hair, which cascades down. She uses the fabric to clean
the blood off Riley's neck.
He looks at her, touched by the familiarity of the gesture.
SLACK
Almost lost you there.
RILEY
I don't get lost so easy. (To
PRETTY BOY) We gotta get across
the water.
PRETTY BOY
The bridges into the city are all
bricked up.
PRETTY BOY hits a button. A MAP appears on a MONITOR, showing
the "GOLDEN TRIANGLE" bordered by the rivers and the
barricaded bridges spanning them.
SLACK
We could blast our way through.
RILEY
Don't want to. If the stenches got
in, there's a war going on in the
city. We take any of those bridges
we'll end up right in the middle
of it.
Riley runs his finger along the monitor, outlining the
natural and man-made barriers that protect the triangle.
RILEY (CONT'D)
We've gotta come in above the
throat.
His finger continues down the monitor to "THE THROAT" at the
base of the triangle, where the long FENCE runs between the
two rivers.
RILEY (CONT'D)
What was built to keep folks safe
is gonna trap them inside. We've
gotta give them a way out.
EXT. FIDDLER'S GREEN - NIGHT
CLOSE ON: KAUFMAN staring out his PENTHOUSE WINDOW, aghast.
LICKS OF FIRE reflect on the glass. SOUNDS OF WAR can be
heard from far below.
EXT. "GOLDEN TRIANGLE" - NIGHT
In the pristine plaza that surrounds the building, WALKERS
swarm. CITIZENS run, screaming, including SOLDIERS, driven
from their posts, who SHOOT at the Dead Things.
CLOSE ON BIG DADDY. Who looks back and forth, as if torn, at
the FIDDLER'S GREEN HIGH-RISE, at the violence in the streets,
back at the building, back at the streets. A SOLDIER fires at
him! Misses. Big Daddy raises his rifle and blows him away.
EXT. HILLSIDE HOME DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
CHOLO and FOXY run up the road to THE T-BIRD. Seeing a WALKER
lurking ahead, they duck into the dark cover of the trees.
CHOLO
I got it.
WFFFFT! Cholo picks off the Walker with his crossbow.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Come on, let's go.
He slaps a hand on Foxy's back.
EXCEPT IT'S NOT FOXY! It's ANOTHER WALKER that has moved
between the two men. It grabs the hand that slapped him and
BITES it.
CHOLO
AHHH...FUCK!
Foxy, a few yards away, whirls, aiming his gun at the Walker.
Cholo is faster. With no time to reload, in agony, he pulls
a FISTFUL OF ARROWS from his quiver and DRIVES THEM THROUGH
THE WALKER'S FACE AND SKULL. The Walker falls. So does an
ominous silence.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
I can't fucking believe it. (A sad
chuckle) Nothin' works out. It's
like...the world is spinning around
and we're just...caught in the
wind. Nothin' works out. Some damn
thing always comes around the
corner and gets you.
Foxy aims his rifle Fat Cholo's forehead. Their eyes connect.
FOXY
Your choice.
For a moment, Cholo looks despondent. Then he forces a smile.
CHOLO
No, don't shoot. (A dark chuckle)
always wanted to see how the
other half lives.
Foxy lowers his gun.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Take the car and get outa here.
FOXY
I'll get outa here. You take the
car.
INT./EXT. DEAD RECKONING - RIVER ROAD - NIGHT
EAD RECKONING drives upriver. THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD: THE
CITY can be seen BURNING in the distance.
PRETTY BOY
The old J&L'll take us over. Right
outside the throat.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
A drawbridge spans the river. Or would span it if it wasn't
open, its rusted metal roadbed rising into the sky.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY
Gotta get it down.
PRETTY BOY
The controls are in that booth up
there.
EXT. CONTROL BOOTH - J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
RILEY'S POV:
A CONTROL BOOTH is built into the superstructure of the
bridge, about fifteen feet off the ground, on DEAD
RECKONING'S side of the river.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
RILEY jumps out of DEAD RECKONING. SLACK is right behind him.
RILEY
Get back in there. What are you
doing?
BLAM! She shoots a WALKER that has come out of the night.
SLACK
Making myself useful.
EXT. DEPOT - NIGHT
CHOLO jumps out of the T-BIRD and runs to the steel doors,
unlocking them with a mag-key.
INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL - NIGHT
CHOLO walks with determination along the deserted tracks
under the river.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
RILEY ducks under a caution gate at the entrance to the
bridge and starts across the roadway. Behind him...
...SLACK and CHARLIE stand, weapons ready, eyes alert for
danger.
As Riley runs...
...SOMETHING SKITTERS across the road, chasing him. Not a
zombie. Much smaller. A RIVER RAT.
Charlie draws his REMINGTON. Wets the sight with his thumb.
BLAM!
Riley stops running. Looks back to see what's being shot.
SLACK
You missed.
CHARLIE
Nope. I blew its ass off.
The rat is now half a rat. Its ass has been blown off. Yet
IT'S STILL RUNNING!
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
Just didn't hit it in the head.
SLACK
(Realizing) Jesus. It's dead.
CHARLIE
They all are.
SKREEEEEEEE! ZOMBIE RATS crawl up onto the roadbed. DOZENS.
Riley takes off away from them. Slack and Charlie hurry
closer, firing, trying to pick the critters off.
The rats reach Riley! Nip at his heels. He leaps. Swings onto
a girder. Climbs to the control booth. The rats don't follow.
Slack heaves a sigh of relief just before...
...SKREEEEEEEE! A second pack of rats scurries toward her!
She vaults over a railing, dropping several feet to...
...the riverbank below. But there are rats here too! Charlie
fires at them from above. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! FUR AND BLOOD
FLY. But there are too many. He can't shoot them all.
INT. CONTROL BOOTH - J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
RILEY reaches the control booth. Draws his .45, expecting
danger within. He steps through the opening...
...but nothing's there. Just a SPIDER WEB that sweeps over
his face as he moves toward a RED SWITCH that activates a
generator. He flips it. The motor roars to life.
He turns toward a giant lever that operates the roadbed. It
GROANS from disuse as he pulls it.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
RED LIGHTS on the caution gates BLINK, tinting the night.
The silence is shattered by a LOUD SIREN that ECHOES across
the river. The bridge's roadbed begins to CREAK down slowly.
EXT. RIVERBANK - NIGHT
THREE DINGHIES lie, upside down, next to the water's edge.
SLACK shoves one into the river, climbing onto its upturned
bottom. She pushes off. The boat doesn't budge. A tether
holds it within inches of the shore.
Slack pulls out a jackknife and goes to cut the rope, but...
...rats SNAP at her hands. Slack recoils, but keeps cutting.
Finally, the rope frays, enough for the boat to pull free.
Slack crouches on top of the upturned hull. No way to steer.
No paddles. The current carrying her away.
CHARLIE
Slack!
INT. CONTROL BOOTH - J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
Hearing the scream, RILEY looks out the control booth window
and sees...
...SLACK being taken downstream.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
RILEY bursts out of the booth, only to be confronted by...
...the BRIDGEKEEPER. Drooling. Dead. It grabs Riley, pushing
his head back toward the enormous GEARWORKS of the bridge.
Riley struggles. Bests the creature. Spins him around toward
the gearworks and...
...SSSNIPPPP! THE BRIDGEKEEPER'S HEAD is scissored off! It
drops with a PLUNK into the river below.
EXT. RIVER - NIGHT
SLACK, adrift on the boat, lies prone at the bow and begins
to paddle with her hands. One of which hits something long
and slimy. It looks like a snake!
But it's not. It's only a moss-covered rope. Slack grabs on.
Pulls hand over hand. It seems to take forever for the rope
to become taut.
A FACE BOBS OUT OF THE WATER!
Slack SCREAMS.
It's the BRIDGEKEEPER'S HEAD, its eyes blinking as it floats
off on the current.
The rope is attached to a stanchion on the opposite shore.
Slack's muscles strain as she pulls on it until...
...her boat reaches the stanchion and she jumps off, finding
herself at the same boat ramp the army of the dead used. The
river has carried her into the very part of the city Riley
and the team were trying to avoid. SCREAMS rise nearby. She's
in the war zone.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
THE BRIDGE IS LOWERING SLOWLY. Too slowly. RILEY scrambles
up the incline of the roadbed and calls back to CHARLIE.
RILEY
Bring her over as soon as you can!
Charlie pops back into DEAD RECKONING.
Riley climbs to the top of the descending roadbed and...
...LEAPS across the narrowing gulf to the other side.
He lands. Falls. Rolls. Gets to his feet and runs toward
Slack and the city.
EXT. "GOLDEN TRIANGLE" - NIGHT
SLACK runs past hysterical PEOPLE toward the FIDDLER'S GREEN
HIGH-RISE. BRIAN, Mulligan's young son, rushes by her in a
panic. Slack grabs him.
SLACK
Brian!
BRIAN
We can't get out! There's no way out!
SLACK
There will be. Come with me.
BRIAN
Daddy! Daddy's still locked up.
Slack runs off with Brian, past a MANHOLE surrounded by
canvas fences, "CAUTION" signs, and flaming OIL POTS. As
MAINTENANCE WORKERS scramble out of the manhole...
...DEAD THINGS close in. The Workers, unarmed, pick up the
ball-shaped pots and BOWL them at the Walkers. As the "balls"
roll, their FIRES SWIRL, making them look like flaming comets.
S
Some of the pots CRACK OPEN, creating POOLS OF FIRE on the
street. One of the "balls" remains whole until it smacks
against the feet of a Walker. Then it opens. And the Walker
is engulfed in flames.
Big Daddy looks at the Walker with sadness. He lifts his
rifle again and shoots the flaming creature in the head.
Big Daddy walks to the manhole. TOOLS are strewn around it,
pickaxes, sledges, chainsaws, and a pneumatic hammer which is
lying on the street...RATTATATTAT...still running.
Big Daddy looks at the FIDDLER'S GREEN SKYSCRAPER. His goal.
Finally in reach.
He looks down at the pneumatic hammer, and picks it up by the
handle. With the heavy tool vibrating in its hand, Big Daddy
walks toward the building.
He doesn't get very far before the hammer's electrical cord
is pulled out of the extension it's plugged into. The hammer
stops running. Big Daddy looks at it. Puzzles over its
stillness for a moment. Then...
...he looks at the building. At its doors, abandoned by
guards. Doors that are made of glass.
The barrel of an M-16 is planted against Big Daddy's temple
by a MILITIAMAN.
UDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA! The Militiaman FLIES BACK. It wasn't he
who fired. It was NUMBER NINE, standing nearby with her M-16.
The Militiaman lies on the ground, his dead eyes staring at
Number NINE in utter surprise.
Seeing what has happened, ANOTHER SOLDIER grabs a grenade,
pulls the pin, and is about to toss it at Big Daddy when...
...his HAND IS CUT OFF at the wrist by a meat clever held by
THE BUTCHER. The Soldier's hand, still clutching the grenade,
PLOPS into the street. The Soldier looks down in horror, then
collapses on top of his hand. A MUFFLED EXPLOSION makes jelly
of his mid-section.
Big Daddy continues to walk toward the building, carrying the
pneumatic hammer, as OTHER DEAD THINGS collect sledges,
pickaxes, lengths of pipe, and follow their leader.
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN ATRIUM - NIGHT
KAUFMAN and KNIPP, carrying the Prada duffles, rush out of an
elevator with FOUR SECURITY GUARDS. Kaufman carries a gun.
hey race into the street level of the three-story ATRIUM.
Chopin LILTS, caged birds SING. RESIDENTS SCREAM, running
crazily in all directions.
A bank of GLASS DOORS leading to the street is under assault
by WALKERS, ten deep.
KAUFMAN
They can't get in. Downstairs.
The car.
The Dead Things POUND at the doors. One Guard runs away. The
Other Three follow.
KAUFMAN (CONT'D)
Get back here! GET BACK HERE!
Kaufman FIRES THREE ROUNDS at the men! He's not a marksman,
but ONE of the GUARDS is WINGED. Whirls around and levels his
M-16 at Kaufman.
SECURITY GUARD
YOU STUPID OLD FUCK!
He's about to fire when Knipp steps in front of Kaufman.
KNIPP
DON'T SHOOT! (Grabbing Kaufman's
gun hand) Boss? Don't you shoot,
neither. We're all on the same
side. Least we're supposed to be.
SECURITY GUARD
I'm on my own side now.
The Guard takes off after his comrades.
CHOLO (O.S.)
Need some help, Mister K.?
Kaufman spins around to see CHOLO walking toward him across
the atrium.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Been bit, Mister K. I'm a dead
man, so I don't care about nothin'
no more. Still care about you,
though. I wanna make sure you come
to the same end as me.
LANG! CLANG! CLANG! The Dead Things at the glass doors are
POUNDING now with shovels, pickaxes, and lengths of pipe.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
They're going to get you, Mister K.
want them to get you.
Kaufman raises his gun and aims at Cholo, who aims back with
his crossbow.
CHOLO (CONT'D)
Put it down, old man, unless you'd
rather die right now.
BIG DADDY appears outside the doors. Uses his pneumatic
hammer to POUND at the safety glass.
Kaufman can't take it anymore. He bolts for a stairway door.
Cholo shoots. An arrows hits Kaufman in the back of his left
calf. Kaufman sprawls, dropping both his bag of money and his
gun, which skitters away. Knipp rushes over to help Kaufman.
KNIPP
Just let us go, Mister DeMora. Let
us get out of here.
CHOLO
(Calmly reloading) You can go,
Knipp, but not him.
Kaufman shakes Knipp off. His gun is ten feet away. He heads
for it. Dragging himself on hands and knees.
CRUNCH! The chisel on Big Daddy's pneumatic hammer is the
first tool to PENETRATE the doors. The glass doesn't shatter;
it COBWEBS into tiny crystals stuck together by a thin
plasticine coating. ALARM BELLS SOUND!
Puzzled by the sudden transformation of the glass into
something that looks different, Big Daddy drops the pneumatic
hammer and reaches out. The glass is different. It's soft.
Flexible. Big Daddy POKES HIS HAND right through.
Kaufman has almost reached his gun. Cholo shoots another
arrow. This one hits Kaufman in the shoulder.
KAUFMAN
You fucking spic bastard!
CHOLO
I think we should talk when you're
a little less excited.
Kaufman has a will of iron. He keeps going, gritting his
teeth against the pain, reaching out for his gun, as...
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! More tools PENETRATE the doors. More
HANDS POKE through.
Kaufman looks at his worst nightmare...Dead Things ripping
their way through the cobwebbed doors, invading his temple.
The commotion distracts Cholo just long enough for Kaufman to
lift his gun and FIRE nine rounds.
Most of the shots miss. TWO hit Cholo, one in the belly, one
in the heart. He is slammed against the wall, his glazing
eyes staring up into the atrium, the place he so desired.
It's the last thing he sees before he keels over, dead.
Knipp pulls Kaufman onto his feet. They look up to see...
BIG DADDY leading his army into the atrium. Kaufman aims and
FIRES. A BULLET HITS BIG DADDY in the upper chest, blowing
DEAD FLESH out of his back. The Dead Man feels no pain, but
it focuses on Kaufman and starts after him with purpose.
Kaufman sees something in Big Daddy's eyes. Something that's
not dead. Kaufman fires again. CLICK! He's out of ammo.
KNIPP
Boss. We gotta get outa here!
Knipp pulls Kaufman to a stairway door. They rush inside. The
moment they're out of sight, the Walkers forget about them,
moving on into the atrium. All except Big Daddy. That rage is
still in its face as he lumbers toward the stairway door.
EXT. J&L DRAWBRIDGE - NIGHT
TH-BOOOOM! The roadbed of the drawbridge drops into place.
VROOOM! DEAD RECKONING rumbles across the span.
INT. JAIL - NIGHT
KEYS TURN in the locks of cell doors, which SLACK and BRIAN
pull open. MULLIGAN and his REVOLUTIONARIES emerge. Mulligan
embraces his son and looks gratefully at Slack.
MULLIGAN
(To his men) Let's go get our guns,
boys.
EXT. NEAR THE "THROAT" - NIGHT
RILEY runs out of a line of trees. In the distance, he sees...
...the "THROAT", where much of the CITY'S POPULATION is
trapped, herded by HUNDREDS OF WALKING DEAD against the layers
of electrified fencing that were erected to protect them.
There's no escape. People are being TORN apart and EATEN. The
fencing SPARKS as bodies touch it and are ELECTROCUTED.
Terrible SCREAMS fill the air.
Riley hears the distinctive ROAR of DEAD RECKONING'S engines,
the CLATTER of its treads. He moves toward the sound as...
..a DEAD THING looms three feet away. Riley lifts his pistol
and puts a shell through the thing's skull. Blood flies,
taking on the sudden glow of a halo as it is BACKLIT by...
...the glare of DEAD RECKONING'S approaching headlights. The
dead thing falls to the road, where...
...it is turned to apple butter by Dead Reckoning's enormous
treads. Riley stands right in the vehicle's path.
PRETTY BOY (O.S. LOUDSPEAKER)
Get outa the way, Riley!
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD: RILEY looms larger and larger as the
vehicle closes in. He doesn't move. PRETTY BOY tries to turn
the wheel. Too late. RILEY DISAPPEARS!
CHARLIE
(Pure anguish) RILEY!
Three seconds later, Riley's figure comes scrambling across
the windshield, climbing up toward...
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
...the two fourteen-inch cannons on the vehicle's turrets.
RILEY
We gotta blow the fences!
PRETTY BOY (O.S. LOUDSPEAKER)
Johnson's are loaded!
RILEY
Yeah, but they're capped!
The barrels of the two fourteen-inchers are still capped.
DEAD RECKONING keeps rolling. RILEY climbs out onto one of
the cannon barrels.
WHAM! A WALKER grabs him by the leg from the road. Riley
blasts him with his .45. As OTHER WALKERS approach, he shoots
them with one hand, Rusing the other to uncap the cannon.
RILEY
Number One is clear! I'm going for
Number Two!
CHARLIE (O.S. LOUDSPEAKER)
I don't norm'lly need two shots,
Riley.
Riley turns. The road is now filled with WALKERS.
Standing ASTRIDE the vehicle, riding it as if it were a
living beast, Riley picks some of them of with his .45.
INT. FIDDLER'S GREEN PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT
FOOTSTEPS ECHO as KNIPP, carrying one of the Prada duffles,
helps the wounded KAUFMAN across an underground PARKING
GARAGE, a dark and spooky place, made more so by the SOUNDS
of distant SCREAMING. Kaufman disdainfully SNAPS OFF the
shanks of the arrows in his leg and shoulder.
The two men reach a stretch LINCOLN. Knipp BEEPS the doors
open and they get inside, Knipp behind the wheel, Kaufman in
the luxurious back compartment, where he pours himself a
scotch from the built-in bar.
Knipp starts the engine. The SOUND ECHOES big-time in the
concrete tomb.
KNIPP
(Looking at the fuel gauge) We
need gas.
Kaufman moans. Knipp steers the car slowly, carefully through
the shadows, pulling in beside a GASOLINE PUMP near the base
of a RAMP that leads up to the street. Knipp pushes a button
that pops open the gas tank. He shuts the engine off and gets
out, taking the keys, which have a Mag-Card attached to them.
He slides the Mag-Card into a slot, activating the pump. An
LED scrolls "Thank you, Mr. Kaufman". Knipp pulls the nozzle.
Freezes when he hears...
...FOOTSTEPS ECHOING. A DARK FIGURE is approaching through
the shadows.
Knipp drops the nozzle. Ducks into the car. SLAMS the door.
WHAM! A SINGLE HAND SMACKS against the driver-side window.
A FACE leans in behind the hand. A face full of rage. BIG
DADDY'S FACE.
KAUFMAN
Shoot it! Shoot the damn thing!
KNIPP
You didn't gimme no gun, sir.
Big Daddy moves to one of the rear windows. He can't see
inside. The window is tinted. He returns to the clear
windshield, looks back, at an angle, and sees Kaufman in the
rear compartment. Big Daddy recognizes him. From upstairs.
It's the man who shot him.
The Dead Thing looks up. Sees the gasoline pump. His hand
drops to the embroidery on its jump-suit..."Texaco". He moves
deliberately toward the pump.
KAUFMAN
Pull out! PULL OUT!
KNIPP
Sorry, sir. Keys are in the pump.
Big Daddy sees the nozzle on the cement. Picks it up, feeling
the familiarity of it. Pulls the trigger. Gasoline squirts.
The rage in his face turns to a kind of satisfaction.
Using the nozzle as he did the pneumatic hammer, Big Daddy
POUNDS on the windshield, three times, before the SAFETY
GLASS COBWEBS. He POKES the nozzle through the flexible
fabric and pulls the trigger until it locks. Gasoline FLOODS
into the car.
KNIPP (CONT'D)
Lord!
TCHUNG! Big Daddy pulls the driver side door open. As Knipp
tries to run, he is GRABBED by Big Daddy.
KNIPP (CONT'D)
LORD!
Big Daddy looks at the butler. Sniffs him. Then flings him
aside. Knipp is not his prey. With a glance at Kaufman,
cowering in the back seat, Big Daddy slams the car door and,
surprisingly, walks away. Up the ramp toward the street.
The nozzle remains stuck in the "fabric" of the windshield.
Gasoline continues to flow into the car. Kaufman crawls into
the front seat, wincing from his wounds, and KICKS the nozzle
out of the window with his good leg, getting soaked with gas
in the process. He opens the door. Limps to the pump. Grabs
the keys. As he starts back toward the car...
...WHAM! SOMETHING is standing right in front of him. It's
one of the WALKING DEAD. It's...
...CHOLO.
Kaufman shakes his head in disbelief.
KAUFMAN
N-no, y-you're dead. (Realization
dawning) Oh my God. You're dead!
THE CHOLO THING reaches for Kaufman, vengeance in its eyes.
Kaufman breaks for the driver's door. He never makes it. The
Cholo Thing grabs him and SLAMS him down across the hood.
Leans over him. Opens a drooling mouth. Kaufman whimpers.
BRRRUMBLE-UMBLE-UMBLE! The SOUND of a bowling ball.
Kaufman looks up. It's not a bowling ball. It's an OIL POT,
rolled down the ramp by Big Daddy. Kaufman SCREAMS. The fire
ball approaches the gas-soaked Lincoln, the gas-soaked
Kaufman, and...
...WHOOOMPH! Kaufman and The Cholo Thing are IMMOLATED. The
FIREBALL removes everything from sight, except a few floating
HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS, burning in mid-air.
THROUGH LICKS OF FLAME we see...Big Daddy is almost smiling.
EXT. "THE THROAT" - NIGHT
DEAD RECKONING approaches the electrified fences from beyond.
PRETTY BOY (O.S. LOUDSPEAKER)
Get back! Get back! We're gonna
blow the fences!
The CROWD screams and starts to clear the area.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHARLIE works a joystick. The cannon turret GRINDS above.
He takes aim at an area of the fences that is rapidly
emptying of people.
EXT. THE "THROAT" - NIGHT
The fourteen-incher turns toward the fences. RILEY rides it.
RILEY
Shoot!
CHARLIE
Okay, but you best get off the gun.
Riley leaps down. The instant he's clear...
KA-BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. The ELECTRIFIED FENCES are BLOWN APART.
In the dissipating SMOKE, RILEY is the first one through the
opening. Within seconds, CITIZENS start toward it, heading
the other way. Riley finds himself running against the tide.
Searching. Desperately searching. Behind the surging crowd...
...WALKERS appear, grabbing people. Dropping them to the
ground. Eating them.
Riley FIRES in all directions. WALKERS DROP around him. He
saves a WOMAN with a BABY...a YOUNG COUPLE...a PRIEST. CLICK.
He runs out of ammo. WALKERS close in. The situation seems
hopeless until...
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHARLIE hits a button on the console.
EXT. THE "THROAT" - NIGHT
PTOOOM! PTOOOM! FIREWORKS "BLOOM" in the sky.
HE DEAD THINGS gaze upward, mesmerized.
THE HUMANS ESCAPE.
RILEY finds himself standing in the midst of FIFTY WALKERS,
frozen like statues around him.
Other than the intermittent BOOM of the fireworks, SILENCE.
Out of which...
SLACK (O.S.)
(A whisper) Riley.
Riley turns.
Slack emerges from behind one of the immobile dead things.
Riley moves toward her...
...she to him...
...both of them weaving a cautious path between the statues.
They reach each other and embrace, surrounded by dead things
that don't even know they are there.
RATATATATATAT. GUNFIRE EXPLODES around them!
HAPLESS DEAD THINGS are MOWED DOWN the way they were back
in Uniontown. This time by...
...MULLIGAN and his REVOLUTIONARIES...who slaughter every
zombie in the area. BRIAN is shooting, too, raring to go.
When it's all over...
MULLIGAN
We could still use you, Riley.
Riley looks out at the city, where there is still scattered
distant gunfire. He looks at Brian, standing at Mulligan's
side, his innocent face speckled with the blood of the dead.
Riley shakes his head.
RILEY
It's all yours, Mulligan.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CITY - NIGHT
FIREWORKS EXPLODE. A ZOMBIE looks up toward the "blooms". A
strong hand grabs the collar of its shirt, pulls its gaze
away from the sky, and herds it onward.
The hand is BIG DADDY'S. He herds OTHERS along, too. A small
group of TWO DOZEN, including NUMBER NINE and the BUTCHER.
EXT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
One of the GATTLING GUNS RATCHETS into position, taking aim
at BIG DADDY.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
PRETTY BOY sits at the controls, about to push the firing
button when...
...RILEY grabs her hand.
RILEY
Stop.
Riley picks up a pair of binoculars and looks through the
windshield at BIG DADDY.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CITY - NIGHT
THROUGH THE BINOCULARS: BIG DADDY looks at DEAD RECKONING.
For an instant, his eyes meet Riley's, as they did in
Uniontown.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
RILEY lowers the binoculars.
RILEY
All they want is somewhere to go.
Same as us.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE CITY - NIGHT
BIG DADDY leads his band into the future.
DEAD RECKONING rolls into the future, too, but in a different
direction.
INT. DEAD RECKONING - NIGHT
CHARLIE
Canada. That's where we're goin',
ain't it, Riley?
RILEY
If no one has any objections.
ANCHOR, SCAR, and PILLSBURY all shrug. Riley looks at Slack.
SLACK
No, we'll take you along with us.
RILEY
I'll try to make myself useful.
(To PRETTY BOY) Take us North.
EXT. ROAD NORTH - JUST BEFORE SUNRISE
DEAD RECKONING growls off into the early dawn, a lethal
weapon...
...shooting off FIREWORKS worthy of Independence Day.
FADE TO BLACK.