The Wanderlings of South Jude - by Stroogie

GWC Community GWC Writer's Forum
#41

(Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to editorialize, but I feel a Reader’s Discretion notice must be posted here. I’m actually a little nervous about this scene, as the material may bother some. Trust me when I say it all plays out in the end.)

But as the two figures get closer, it’s quickly easy to tell that they’re not the Joggers. They are a young man and a woman, 20-years-old tops, marching down opposite sides of the street and yelling at each other.

The young woman, JULIE, looks about four months pregnant and carries a baseball bat. The young man, TYSON, wears a wife beater and oil-stained jeans.

The first words of their argument that can be made out are:

TYSON
…lazy bitch!

JULIE
Come here and say it,
bastard! Come here and say it, big
tough guy!

TYSON
I don’t gotta come nowhere! I’ll
go home and lock your lazy ass out
of the house!

JULIE
You try pushing a bowling ball out
your crotch and call me lazy! Come
here and say it and I will
own you!

TYSON
You gonna kiss our baby with that
mouth?

JULIE
I will own you!

Julie shrieks like a banshee and swings her bat. Tyson ducks, but she catches him on the return swing. Flailing, he head-butts her in the stomach, and she stumbles back.

JULIE
Bastard! You hurt the baby!

TYSON
(sincerely apologetic)
Ohmuhgod, I’m sorry, is he okay?

JULIE
She’s a girl, asshole!

She raises the bat for a death blow.

SETH
HEY!

Seth’s voice rings out like a rifle shot in the night. He’s standing in the Truck bed behind Julie, holding onto the bat to keep her from swinging. Neither Tyson nor Julie have noticed the others until just now.

TYSON
What the hell do you want?

SETH
You need a ride?

TYSON
Piss off.

Julie knees Tyson, and he doubles over. She leaves her bat with Seth and takes off down the street.

SETH
Hey, come back! You’re going to
get lost!

Tyson staggers after her.

TYSON
You hear the man? You listening to
me? Bitch, you’re not so tough
without your big woody!

SETH
(calling after them)
Either of you two seen a dog?

Tyson and Julie head off into the night, neither of them paying any more attention to Seth.

SHAREENA
How the hell are those two
together?

JOE
Love hurts?

SHAREENA
I mean, physically, smart
ass. Without disappearing.

A POLICE SIREN WHOOPS once, and red-and-blues flash. A patrol car pulls up beside the Truck, and a cop, 40ish and bulky, gets out. His name tag reads: BRADLEY.

BRADLEY
You kids know you’re not supposed
to be riding in the back of a
pickup truck?

SETH
Sorry, officer, we–

BRADLEY
I’m looking for a couple that
might’ve passed this
way. Screamin’ at each
other. Seen ’em?

JOE
They went that way!

Joe points down the street, and in the distance they hear:

TYSON (O.C.)
Ow! Bitch!

BRADLEY
I’m gonna catch ’em this time.

He heads for his car, knocking on the window of the Truck on his way.

BRADLEY
(to the Truck)
You get your kids into a safety
belt and get ’em home! It’s late!
(to the kids)
You kids keep outta trouble!

JOE
(saluting)
Yessir, Officer!

Bradley hops into his patrol car and drives off, and Seth and the crew watch him go.

SETH
(to Joe)
We should have brought him onboard.

JOE
He’s got no clue. Not everyone
knows they’re lost.
(to Shareena)
That’s how they’re together.
(slaps the side of the Truck)
Giddyap!

The Truck starts up again, leaving the strange scene behind.

#42

Music: The Rescue Squad

MONTAGE - THE RESCUE SQUAD
Short scenes of Seth and company picking up a few more lost ones:

The PLAYER: a black, 16-year-old boy sits on the curb
cradling his basketball. He looks up fearfully as the
Truck’s headlights bear down on him. Seth’s hand reaches
out.

The CAP’N: a scrawny bum with a Navy cap takes a seat
on the back of the Truck, a little alarmed at his motley
company.

PARTY GIRL: a disheveled teenage girl stares blankly at
Seth’s outstretched hand, until he finally just grabs her.

SMOKES: a young James-Dean-wannabe flicks aside his
cigarette to board the Truck.

EXT. TRUCK BED - NIGHT
Seth plays with a length of twine, tying various knots in it. Emily stands watch. Party Girl pounds buttons on her cell phone, but apparently in vain. She gives up and sulks.

PARTY GIRL
Who’s driving this thing?

EMILY
Probably aliens.

PARTY GIRL
(to Seth)
Are you a Boy Scout or something?

SETH
Hell no.

SMOKES
Too organized for you, huh?

SETH
Something like that.

JOE
We prefer disorganizations.

Party Girl and Smokes stare at Joe funny.

PLAYER
Can’t you navigate by the stars or
something?

SETH
There’s no stars in South
Jude. Too much light pollution.

PARTY GIRL
Light pollution?

SETH
Streetlights. Porchlights. Electric
lights twenty-four seven. They
drown out the starlight like a loud
radio. We’re lucky we can see the
moon these days.

PLAYER
Guess we should all move to the
jungle and wear loincloths.

SMOKES
(to Party Girl)
I’m game if you are.

She gives him a disgusted look.

JOE
The Wanderlings…

Now everyone looks at Joe again.

JOE
That’s our disorganization! The
Wanderlings of South Jude!

The Cap’n smiles.

CAP’N
He’s a poet and didn’t even realize
it!

The Cap’n laughs at his non-joke, and Joe with him.

#43

Music: Creepers Jeepers

EXT. BUCCANEER LANE - NIGHT
The Truck drives down a one-way street.

Up ahead, a green Jeep sits parked halfway on the sidewalk. The Truck pulls up beside it, just a few inches away. A girl’s huddled on the front passenger seat.

SETH
(to Joe)
You know her?

JOE
That’s Casey. There should be two
other guys with her.

Seth leans out of the Truck and raps on the window. CASEY, the dark-haired 18-year-old girl inside, jumps.

JOE
Casey, it’s me, Joe! Where are
Scott and Jason?

Casey scoots back from the window, silently panicked.

SHAREENA
She doesn’t look so good.

SETH
I’ll get her out.

Seth gets out of the Truck and circles around to the driver’s side of the Jeep.

SHAREENA
Are the keys in there? We could
use a second car.

Seth hops into the driver’s seat and shuts the door. Casey scoots away from him.

SETH
Hi, Casey, I’m Seth. We’re the
rescue squad.

She throws a beer can at him, nicking his forehead.

SETH
Ow! Stupid girl!

Seth finds the keys in the ignition and turns them, but the Jeep doesn’t start. He turns to the Wanderlings and shrugs.

SETH
I think it’s outta gas.

Behind Seth, a dark gray Jogger appears at his window. Casey screams.

SETH
(to Casey)
Shut up!

And WHACK! The Jogger punches the window and cracks the glass. Seth screams and hops into Casey’s seat. WHACK! The Jogger punches again, and the window bends inward, crackling.

SHAREENA
Seth, get outta there!

Casey screams non-stop as Seth reaches past her to the manual window control. He gets the window rolled down a crack, but Casey’s frantic kicking knocks him aside.

SETH
Cut it out!

Joe and Shareena reach through the partly-opened window as if trying to pry it open with their fingers. Seth scrambles for the manual control again. The Jogger punches a fist-sized hole through the driver’s window.

Seth gets Casey’s window fully open. He starts shoving her out into the Wanderlings’ hands.

SETH
Go! Get out!

The Jogger’s arm pokes through the hole it’s made and fumbles for the door lock. Seth kicks it, and it retreats.

Casey’s gotten halfway out of the Jeep window.

From the gap between the Truck and the Jeep, a dark gray pair of Jogger hands darts up and grabs Casey around the head. She screams, and the Jogger tugs her under.

The gap between the Truck and the Jeep isn’t big enough for a girl, let alone a Jogger, to slide into, but Casey is there one moment and gone the next, right out of Joe and Shareena’s hands and into oblivion.

Her SCREAM reverbs up and down the street.

The first Jogger gets its arm through the driver’s side window again. Seth backs up to the passenger window and kicks the hand, but the creature seems to be immune to the pain now. Behind Seth, the second Jogger’s hands appear at the passenger window, reaching up from the gap and grasping the window edge.

Its fingers brush the bare skin of Seth’s shoulder.

Seth jumps and retreats to the center of the Jeep, then climbs into the back seat as both Joggers reach inside. The first Jogger unlocks the driver’s side door and swings it open.

Emily rushes from the Truck with the baseball bat.

JOE
Emily, no!

Emily charges the first Jogger and swings. The Jogger catches the bat and yanks it from her hands, tossing her aside. She lands dazed on the pavement.

SETH
Emily, get back in the damn Truck!

The newly-weaponed Jogger taps the bat against the pavement, feeling its weight.

#44

And out of nowhere, a SCREAMING PERSON runs between Emily and the Jogger.

The Screamer jumps and dances around like a lunatic, wearing a painted mask and decked out in bits and pieces of wild flare like a Goth kid/Voodoo witch doctor crossbreed. The Jogger cowers, backing away from Emily. A swarm of Screamers suddenly surrounds the Jeep and the Truck, all of them shouting and screaming and raising a hellish ruckus.

Seth kicks open the rear door of the Jeep, hops out, grabs Emily’s hand, and runs with her back to the Truck.

The two Joggers turn as if to run, and they disappear. They reappear a few yards down the road, standing as if they were running, but not actually moving. Like a time lapse photo, they disappear and reappear, each time moving farther down the street, until they “run” away into the darkness.

The Screamers whoop and holler in victory.

SHAREENA
Where did they go?

One of the Screamers takes off his mask. He’s dressed in black, plus all the crazy flourishes of the other Screamers; a tall, lanky, long-haired, red-headed kid with a shaggy goatee. He’s fierce and angry, 17-years-old, and as he’ll announce in a moment, his name is LARZ.

LARZ
Back to Hell, where they came from.

Seth stands up in the back of the Truck. He keeps Emily behind him.

SETH
Who are you?

LARZ
Aren’t you going to thank us?

SETH
How do you all stay together
without disappearing?

LARZ
We just saved your asses from the
Creeps. I think that entitles us
to some gratitude.

SETH
How did you make the Joggers go
away? How long have you been out
here?

LARZ
Nothing? No respect at all, ladies
and gentlemen?

SETH
Have you seen a dog?

LARZ
I see a big truck with plenty of
room.
(to the Screamers)
Company–sic ’em!

The Screamers close in on the Truck, but its engine growls with an almost animal roar, spewing a torrent of smoky exhaust like squid’s ink. The Screamers back away.

Seth glowers at them from above, lit by red tail lights.

SETH
You don’t get near us till you tell
us who you are and how you got out
here.

LARZ
I’m Larz. We’re the South Jude
Screamers. How we got here…
that’s probably as long a story as
yours. I’ll tell it on the other
side of that tailgate.

But Seth isn’t budging, and so the two boys stare at each other over crossed arms.

SHAREENA
(to Seth)
In case you didn’t notice, the
Truck ain’t moving. And I feel
safer when the Truck is moving. So
are you two done, or should I fetch
a tape measure while you drop trou?

Seth gives her an icy glare, but she’s breached his stubbornness.

SETH
(to Larz)
Get in.

One of the Screamers starts climbing up, but Larz stops him.

LARZ
(to Seth)
Wait a damn tick. Who the hell are
you?

JOE
(stands up next to Seth)
Us? We’re the Wanderlings of South
Jude. Welcome aboard.

Seth looks funny at Joe. Joe just grins. The Screamers board the Truck.

#45

EXT. TRUCK BED - NIGHT
The Truck is crammed with over a dozen passengers now. The Wanderlings sit slightly apart from the Screamers–about half-a-dozen of them, mostly teenaged, decked out like Larz. For now, call them PETEY, SUSIE, EDDIE, LUCY, SCRUBBY, and JILL.

Only Joe and Eddie, chatting in the middle of the Truck bed, seem to cross the line between groups.

Seth and Larz sit up in the front of the bed, beneath the window, pow-wowing.

LARZ
There’s a million ways to beat this
thing. One time I had Petey tie a
string around my wrist and hold the
other end while he stayed out on
the street and I walked up to a
house. I made it all the way to
the front door without shifting.

SETH
I’ve already figured out how to get
us back to our houses, but first I
want to make sure we’ve got
everybody. Is this your whole
group?

LARZ
Yeah, for now.

SETH
What do you mean for now?

LARZ
I mean they come and go sometimes.

SETH
Why? What keeps you all together?

LARZ
Hell if I know. Sometimes I lose
one of them for a couple nights,
but they always come back to me.

SETH
So you’re the anchor.

LARZ
Just like you.

SETH
It’s not me. It’s the Truck. And
the gloves.

LARZ
Then maybe I should wear the
gloves.

SETH
Let’s just get everyone home.
(stands; addresses the
Wanderlings and Screamers)
Listen up! We’re going home! I
need everyone to picture your
family or whoever it is you live
with, and then we’ll tell the Truck
to find them.

SHAREENA
Are you sure this is gonna
work? What if I go to bed and wake
up out on the streets again?

SETH
Whatever’s happening doesn’t seem
to affect people who stay
home. Have any of you met anyone
who vanished right out of their
house?
(negative answers all around)
Right, then. We all left our
houses and couldn’t get back. If
we can get home and stay home till
morning, maybe all this stops.

JOE
What about the Creeps?

SETH
The what?

JOE
That’s what they call the joggers.

SETH
Okay. What about them?

JOE
They’ll still be out here, even if
we get home.

LARZ
If they come after you, make like a
schitzo and they’ll back off.

SETH
That’s your strategy? Pretend like
you’re crazy and scare them away?

LARZ
The Creeps don’t like
crazy. Whatever it is they’re
looking for in a victim, it ain’t a
fractured mind.

SHAREENA
That explains so much.

LARZ
Oh yeah, Goth kid’s crazy, it all
makes perfect sense now. Thanks,
I’ve never heard that one before,
bitch.

SETH
Enough. Shareena, you’re up
first. Let’s get you home.

SHAREENA
(stands up)
Okay, what do I do?

SETH
Try putting your hand here–
(gestures to the roof of the
Truck’s cab)
–and picturing your family.

Shareena does it. With her hand out on the Truck’s roof, she closes her eyes and concentrates.

SHAREENA
Take me home to Auntie Em.

Giggles bust out through the Wanderlings. Seth is not amused.

SHAREENA
I’m sorry, I had to.

SETH
Just picture your mom or dad.

SHAREENA
My mom. Find my mom.

The Truck rolls to a stop at a crossing, flashes its right turn signal, makes the turn, and continues down the next road. Shareena takes her hand away, looking hopeful.

She smiles at Seth, and he smiles back. Larz stands up behind him.

LARZ
You got string?

#46

EXT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - NIGHT
The Truck sits idling in the driveway of a one-level ranch-style home. Seth and Shareena stand just outside the Truck; Seth is tying twine around his wrist, and Larz, sitting in the Truck, holds the other end.

SETH
I don’t see how this is going to
work. A leash didn’t keep my dog
attached to me.

LARZ
Just trust me. Otherwise, you risk
not coming back. And no one wants
that, right?

Seth finishes the knot and takes Shareena’s hand.

JOE
Bye, Shareena.

SHAREENA
Bye, Joe.

Hand-in-hand, Seth and Shareena walk up to her house. Larz unspools the twine as they go. They make it to the front door without incident.

SETH
Do you want me to go in with you?

SHAREENA
I don’t want to wake her. Thanks
for everything.

SETH
Good night.

Shareena slips inside and shuts the door. Seth walks back to the Truck, Larz winding up the twine as he goes. As Seth boards the Truck, he says to Emily:

SETH
You’re next.

EMILY
I don’t want to go home.

SETH
Emily, if you want to run away from
home, that’s fine, but you’re gonna
have to do it on a night when
there’s no monsters. Okay?

Emily relents with a grunt. She puts her hand on the cab.

EMILY
Take me to my dad.

The Truck backs out of Shareena’s driveway and heads down the street.

EXT. EMILY’S HOUSE - NIGHT
Emily’s house is on a slightly nicer street in South Jude. Lots of cultivated yards and picket fences. The Truck sits parked on the side of the road while Seth, linked again to Larz by the twine, walks Emily across her front lawn.

SETH
Do you have a key to get in?

EMILY
I ran away.

Seth takes the point, but a quick glance shows that her second-floor bedroom window is still open.

SETH
Come on, up you go.

Emily climbs onto his shoulders.

SETH
Get yourself up there and into bed,
and they’ll never know you were
gone.

Emily grabs the roof and pulls herself up. She climbs through the window.

SETH
Good night.

Emily shuts the window without a word.

Seth shrugs and walks back toward the Truck. He’s halfway across the front lawn when he hears Goose barking in the distance. He stops to listen. The barking stops.

But then Emily throws her window open.

EMILY
Seth! Nobody’s home!

Seth runs back.

SETH
Where are they?

EMILY
I don’t know. Nobody’s here! My
mom and my dad and my sister are
gone!

SETH
Can you come downstairs and let me
in?

Emily hears something over her shoulder, inside the house.

EMILY
Dad?

She leaves the window.

SETH
Emily? Emily, who is it? Is
someone there?

She doesn’t answer or return to the window. Seth looks in at a first-floor window.

Inside, a Creep runs past.

SETH
Aw hell.

Seth runs back across the lawn and calls out to the Truck:

SETH
Go find Shareena!

He pulls the twine off his wrist as the Truck starts up.

JOE
What’s wrong?

SETH
Get Shareena!

Seth flings the twine at Larz, and the Truck takes off, trailing string behind it. Seth turns back and charges toward Emily’s house.

SETH
Don’t shift, don’t shift, don’t
shift…

He jumps and grabs the roof, pulls himself up, and climbs into Emily’s window.

#47

That’s it for now! Check back again on Monday for the next installment. And if you haven’t already, read it with music.

#48

Okay–I like these kids. They’re a nice group. Funny, snarky, but also quite self-sacrificing and honorable…and I’m honestly worried for the girl in the jeep. I hope she comes back.

I do think, though, that you need a threatening moment BEFORE the montage that assembles the wanderlings (maybe having Joe, Seth and Shareena meet the Screamers BEFORE the rest of the Wanderlings are assembled?). Up until the confrontation at the Jeep the whole thing was starting to feel like a bunch of kids hanging out after curfew (since the only joggers we’ve met before then were vanquished pretty quickly and several pages ago).

Oh, and do the kids need to use the word “bitch” so much? I’m not too keen on that.

Otherwise, keep it up!

#49

<snip>

SETH
See these gloves? These are magic
gloves. I can touch people without
disappearing.

…except Joe wasn’t wearing the gloves. Perhaps being in the truck has the same protective effect, and maybe you’re planning to explain it later, but it would make more sense if the characters at least wonder about it at the time.

I have to agree here. That whole sequence sort of drags a bit. At first, I was willing to concede that it would play better visually than as text, but I think Armando has it exactly right.

Oh, and do the kids need to use the word “bitch” so much? I’m not too keen on that.

Yes, mix it up a bit. There’s so much other profanity to choose from. :stuck_out_tongue:

One thing I noticed: only black people are specified as such. That just struck me as… awkward.

Otherwise, loving the direction this is headed. Serious tension to leave us with at a weekend cliffhanger!

#50

Thanks for the great feedback, guys. This is helping me out like you wouldn’t believe. I have a few questions based on your questions, to help me think more about the points you’ve raised.

I had considered a momentary appearance by a Creep during the Rescue Squad Montage, but skipped it for time’s sake. Perhaps I’ll rewrite that back in. I don’t want to overuse my villains too early in the story. Do you think that’s a valid concern, or is it more important to have the reminder that it’s a dangerous world out there tonight?

I’d like to have the Wanderlings established before the Screamers show up—especially Seth, Shareena, and Joe—but did anyone feel it was too convenient that Larz and company popped up to save the Wanderlings from the Jeep Creeps when they did?

Yeah, that’s a bit of a problem. In most scripts I’ve read, I think it’s kind of assumed that if you don’t specify any ethnicity at their introduction, then the character is white (except for perhaps Morgan Freeman’s character in The Shawshank Redemption, who was originally Irish; and Morpheus in The Matrix, whose ethnicity was not specified, but was portrayed by Lawrence Fishburne so powerfully that I doubt anyone else could have created that character so well).

South Jude is supposed to be of mixed ethnicity and class (even if perhaps, they might not get along outside of the story in this script), so I wanted to establish at least a couple of for-sure African-American characters in order to have that diversity. BUT…Living in an archaically segregated town like St. Louis, I’m particularly concerned about my ability to portray a character like Shareena in a natural and fair manner. Please raise red flags if anything in the script strikes you as untrue or stereotyped (even a “positive” stereotype, like the Tough Black Chick).

Fair point, and it got me thinking. Does anyone remember movies of yore, like The Goonies, when kids used real swears like S-bombs and such? How much do you think is too much? I purposefully stayed away from f-bombs in the script, and I’m not saying my characters are foul-mouthed creatures, but I want to be true (and I certainly want to use the whole arsenal;)).

Duly noted. And a correct conclusion on your part, Badger. Fail on my part. It’s only going to get weirder from here, folks, so please call out any logic glitches you find. I think I have the situation worked out enough that it makes sense for the needs of the story, but I’ve had this thing knocking around in my head for going on four years now, and there may be assumptions I’ve made that in fact don’t make sense, especially to those reading through for the first time. I certainly hope it doesn’t turn into a clusterfrak by the end.

Uh-oh :o. Please reference Reason #5 in the [“Why It Sucks to Be a Joss Whedon Fan”](http://www.cracked.com/article/166_5-reasons-it-sucks-being-joss- whedon-fan/) article.

#51

Music: Rumble in the House of Emily

INT. EMILY’S HOUSE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
Dead quiet. Seth picks his way across Emily’s dark bedroom.

SETH
Emily? Where are you?

He steps out into the hallway and flips open a pocketknife. He pads down the hall.

He catches the light sound of a scuffle in a nearby room, and slips through the door.

MASTER BEDROOM
The covers are tousled, as if someone was in them just a minute ago. At the end of the room, the light from the master bathroom cuts a yellow chunk out of the darkness.

A shadow flicks across the bathroom light. Seth approaches, sidles around the door.

A Creep stands at the bathroom sink, peering into the mirror at its blank, featureless face. It cranes its neck and traces its dark gray jawline with its finger. It’s like watching a cockroach wonder what it would look like with
lipstick.

Seth sets his jaw, grips his knife, steps ever-quicker toward his prey…

And Emily bursts upon the scene screaming. She knocks Seth aside and charges the Creep.

The startled Creep whirls on Emily, but Seth grabs her and throws her out of the bathroom. He charges the Creep in the same movement and slices it across the face.

The thing screams like an old woman with her throat cut. Seth’s momentum carries him into the Creep, and together they crash into the bathtub. The shower curtain rips down as they fall in, flailing. The Creep claws at its torn skin while Seth thrashes to get away. He finally pushes off and rolls onto the floor, and the Creep rises to its feet.

It peels off its damaged face.

The Creep stares down at Seth with a facsimile of his own face. Identical except for paler skin and hair shorn short like a cancer patient’s.

And a fresh slash from cheek to eye.

He speaks, and his voice moves out of sync with his lips.

SLASH
Help us…

Seth loses his cool. He drops his knife and lurches out of the bathroom on all fours, stumbling to his feet, careening off walls as he flees the master bedroom.

THE HALLWAY
The abominable doppelganger–call him SLASH–bolts after Seth like a shot. He overtakes him in the hallway, grabs his wrist, and spins him around. His other hand goes for Seth’s head, but Seth stops him with a gloved hand.

Seth screams in rage at his adversary, and Slash mimics him back.

Locked hands-in-hands, the two tussle down the hall toward an open closet. They topple backwards into the closet, disappearing as if into a bottomless pit…

BRIEF WHITE-OUT.

INT. SETH’S HOUSE, KITCHEN - MORNING
Everything’s a little fuzzy, like a memory. Seth’s mom is cooking, and his dad is packing his briefcase at the table.

Seth marches in from the back door stone-faced.

MR. JARVIS
Morning, Seth, you’re up early.

Seth keeps walking.

MRS. JARVIS
Seth, your father just said good
morning.

Mr. Jarvis shrugs it off and heads out the back door. Seth is just exiting the kitchen when Mr. Jarvis stops halfway out the back door at the sight of something.

MR. JARVIS
Oh, no…

And then Seth charges out the kitchen door and straight into Slash…

#52

FRONT HALL
Seth and Slash tumble out of a closet on the ground floor of Emily’s house. Seth lands on top and holds Slash down by the wrists. Pale, colored light falls over them from the stained-glass on the front door.

SLASH
Help us.

Suddenly, Emily leaps over them. Seth turns to see her launch herself at another Creep behind them.

She’s got shaving cream smeared across her face, and she’s screaming and flailing like a madman–the whole Larz/Screamer shtick.

The second dark gray Creep wields a baseball bat, the one that passed from Julie to Seth to Emily, and now to the Creep who shall be called BABE.

Babe is only briefly startled by Emily, and raises his bat to crush her.

Seth drives his knee into Slash’ ribs, hops to his feet, grabs Emily’s hand, and whisks her away. They flee past Babe and through a swinging door into the kitchen.

INT. SHAREENA’S BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON
Except it’s not the kitchen. The sun outside the window hasn’t set yet. Loud music blasts from a bedside boombox, and Shareena’s holding a basket of laundry–her waitress dress is on top–wearing t-shirt and shorts. She screams at their entrance.

Seth and Emily duck out.

INT. HALLWAY, LARZ’S HOUSE - EVENING
They’re in a hallway again, but it’s not Emily’s house. The hall is narrow and floored with old shag carpeting.

Immediately questioning what he’s seen, Seth re-opens the door and looks in. It’s an empty bedroom, but not Shareena’s.

SETH
Holy shit, what’s happening now?
(looks at Emily)
Is that shaving cream on your face?

EMILY
I’m foaming at the mouth, like a
crazy person.

SETH
Squeeze your lips together.

She does, and he wipes the shaving cream off with the edge of his shirt.

Now Larz walks up behind them.

LARZ
What the hell are you doing here?

Startled, Seth spins and swings. Larz dodges, and Joe, standing next to him, catches the punch in the ear.

JOE
Mother–!

EMILY
Joe!

JOE
Little girl!

SETH
What the hell are you doing here?

LARZ
I asked first.

SETH
I told you to go to Shareena’s.

LARZ
We did.

Slash and Babe round the corner.

LARZ
Oh, shit!

The four Wanderlings dive through the nearest door and slam it shut.

INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - EVENING
Joe has a huge bedroom. A big four-poster bed, walk-in closet, a nice desk with a shiny computer, and a bookcase beneath the window seat looking out a bay window into the front yard.

JOE
Oh no. No, no, no.

On the desk next to the computer is a spread of newspapers with a half-assembled model kit of a space shuttle on top. Around the room proudly stand several models of rockets, spacecraft (fictional and non-fictional), planetary dioramas, and the like, all hand-constructed and displayed on shelves and bookcases and every flat surface.

LARZ
(to Joe)
This your place?

JOE
No, no, no, no, no!

Joe flees for the walk-in closet as BANGING begins on the bedroom door. The others chase after him.

#53

INT. EMILY’S BEDROOM - EVENING
Instead of the walk-in closet, they find themselves in Emily’s room. Except now the lights are on, and by the general hustle and buzz of voices, someone’s home. A bespectacled girl of fourteen pokes her head into the room.

EMILY’S SISTER
Mom and Dad are leaving. They say
to stay in your room until they get
back.

EMILY’S MOM (O.C.)
Emily, listen to your sister!

Emily grabs a stuffed animal, plops onto her bed, and sulks.

EMILY’S MOM (O.C.)
Emily?

EMILY
Yes, ma’am!!

The front door slams shut downstairs. Emily’s Sister leaves. Party Girl, Player, and Petey run into the room.

PARTY GIRL
Ohmygod, what the hell is going on?

SETH
Where is everyone?

LARZ
We lost a couple to the Creeps.

Outside, Emily’s parents car–a blue sedan–leaves the house. She goes to the window to watch them.

SETH
So everything that was happening
out there is happening in here now?

Emily crosses the room to the light switch.

PARTY GIRL
How do we get out of here?

Emily flips out the lights, and Party Girl screams.

SETH
Emily, what are you doing?

Emily shoulders her backpack as she crosses back to the window. She pushes it up and swings a leg out.

SETH
Hey! No you don’t!

Seth and Larz grab Emily and pull her in. She screams in objection.

JOE
Emily, wake up! You’re with us
now!

Player flips the lights back on.

Babe is standing in the open closet doorway.

PLAYER
Shit!

The Wanderlings flee the room, with Joe dragging the half-aware Emily–

INT. HALLWAY, LARZ’S HOUSE - EVENING
Seth slams the door shut behind them. Larz, in the lead, bumps into a tall, red-haired man. It’s his dad.

LARZ’S DAD
Larz, I’m sorry. You know we only
want the best for you, and if we
didn’t think this was good for you,
we wouldn’t even consider it.

He raises a bottle of pills, lid opened.

LARZ’S DAD
Now please, take–

Larz sweeps his Dad’s hand aside, scattering pills everywhere. He knocks his Dad over and charges ahead.

LARZ
(to the Wanderlings:)
C’mon, let’s go! Next door!

The Wanderlings follow. Seth gets abreast of Larz.

SETH
Was that your dad?

LARZ
He’s not real, right? These are
all just illusions from the night
we left our houses.

They pass through an open doorway.

#54

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE, KITCHEN - EVENING
A 40ish black woman sits at the kitchen table drinking iced tea. She looks tired. Her shoes–business-casual pumps–lay on the floor beside her, and a red vest drapes the chair behind her. Attached to the vest is a gold nametag with a hotel logo and the name “DOROTHEA” on it.

JOE
I lost Emily.

Seth turns to look. He and Joe are the only ones besides Dorothea in the kitchen.

SETH
Dammit.

Shareena enters, wearing her waitress uniform and carrying her shoes.

SHAREENA
Oh good, you’re home. I can take
the car.

DOROTHEA
I didn’t think you were working
tonight. I was going to take us
out.

SHAREENA
We can’t afford to go out, Mom. I
picked up an extra shift so we can
finish getting the car fixed.

SETH
Shareena–

Joe holds him back.

JOE
Let it play. It’s real to her.

DOROTHEA
The car will run fine for one more
week. We need a night
off. Besides, don’t you have
homework?

SHAREENA
(putting her shoes on)
I’ll finish it on my break. Maybe
we can go out next week. We can
celebrate getting the car fixed.

DOROTHEA
You sure know a good time.

SHAREENA
I’m doing this for us, Mama.

DOROTHEA
And I want to do something for us,
too. I really wish you’d stay home
tonight, Sweetheart.

Shareena stops tying her shoes and looks at her mother.

SHAREENA
You were planning something.

DOROTHEA
Your father’s in town. At the
hotel.

SHAREENA
You saw him?

DOROTHEA
I wasn’t at the desk when he
checked in. He called later and
said we should get together.

SHAREENA
Is he on his meds?

DOROTHEA
I don’t know. He said–

SHAREENA
You don’t know? That’s the first
question you ask, Mom! Right
before: “Where the hell have you
been for six years?”

DOROTHEA
He just wants to visit. Maybe he
wants to explain himself.

SHAREENA
He can explain himself to a lawyer
when we stick him for child
support.

Shareena rises, collects her things.

SHAREENA
I am taking the car and going to
work, and you are staying here
tonight.

DOROTHEA
Shareena, don’t be this way.

SHAREENA
What other way should I be?

She heads for the garage door. Seth and Joe follow.

SHAREENA
It’s a short shift, so I’ll be back
by midnight. You should call our
lawyer in the meantime. Maybe even
the police.

DOROTHEA
Shareena, I love him.

SHAREENA
(opens the door)
Too bad.

Just before she swings the door shut, Seth and Joe leap out with her.

INT. CREEP HQ
It’s a garage, but not Shareena’s. A single overhead bulb lights the place with an unnaturally powerful white radiance, bleaching out everything beneath it. Creeps swarm everywhere–in all shades of featureless monochrome, from white to gray to black–milling about, examining contraptions on metal tables doing God-knows-what.

A big white tarp covers something in the middle of the garage, and it’s receiving the bulk of their attention. They look like a gang of ghostly grease monkeys tinkering with some sort of infernal engine.

And around the edges of the room stand South Judians–Casey and Officer Bradley, among others–somnolent and unaware, but with eyes wide open. Before each one stands a Creep with its fingers stuck through their skulls, fiddling around and studying.

Seth, Shareena, and Joe move in SLOW MOTION, eyes gawking in horror, bodies turning back to the door. The Creeps don’t seem to have noticed them yet, but they can’t seem to move fast enough to escape. Joe gets his hands on the doorknob, turns it, pushes the door open. Shareena backs into him, they stumble backwards. Seth shoves on them both. The three kids stagger backwards out the door, still staring, still gazing at the peculiar work going on before them. Seth pulls at the door, slowly swinging it shut.

A white Creep wearing a surgeon’s reflector looks up from its work. Even without a face, we know it’s looking at us.

Seth shuts the door.

END SLOW MOTION.

#55

Music: Out of the Fire and Into the Woods

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - EVENING
Remarkably, they’re back in Shareena’s house. Dorothea sits at the kitchen table, head in her hands.

SHAREENA
I left her. Oh god, I left her all
alone…

Dorothea sits up and opens her eyes.

They emit two bars of white light like a pair of headlights. Like a certain Truck’s headlights.

DOROTHEA/TRUCK
Do not help them.

Dorothea’s voice lacks the inflection of her real personality. It comes out somewhere between a bored newscaster and a kindergartner trying to read big words aloud.

SETH
Is that you?

DOROTHEA/TRUCK
We are not used to your bodies. We
do not like your words. There is a
barrier between our world and
yours. It is forbidden to cross
it. The ones you call Creeps broke
it. Do not help them.

SETH
We hadn’t planned on it. Do you
know how to fix things?

DOROTHEA/TRUCK
We do not like this way of
communication. We will find
another.

She closes her eyes and puts her head down.

SHAREENA
Momma, I’m sorry!

The kitchen light goes out.

LARZ (O.C.)
Mom, Dad, I love you, but…

LARZ’S DAD (O.C.)
But what, Larz?

INT. LIVING ROOM, LARZ’S HOUSE - EVENING
A light comes up, and in they’re in Larz’s house now.

Larz’s Dad sits with a red-haired woman, LARZ’S MOM, on the sofa. They’re holding each other and looking sad and confused. Larz kneels in front of them, clasping their hands. A couple of Screamers stand behind him, clueless.

LARZ
(to his parents)
I don’t know why I do the things I
do. But I know I don’t want
pills. Please trust me.

LARZ’S MOM
You hurt people, Larz.

LARZ
I don’t mean to–

SETH
Larz, wake up!

He kicks Larz in the chest, knocking him away from his parents.

SETH
C’mon, get up! We’re finding a way
out of here!

Larz shakes it off and gets up. His parents have disappeared from the sofa. He motions for the Screamers to follow him.

SETH
Everyone stick together. Hold
hands if you have to.

Joe and Shareena grab hands. Down the hallway, Emily and Player step halfway out of a door.

EMILY
Seth, down here!

PLAYER
We’re all in here!

Behind them, Slash and Babe jog down the hall.

The Wanderlings stampede down the hallway, scoot through the open door, and slam it shut behind them.

#56

INT. JOE’S BEDROOM - EVENING
Everyone who’s survived so far is here: Seth, Shareena, Joe, Larz, Emily, Player, Party Girl, Petey, Susie, Eddie, Lucy, Scrubby. They’re missing Jill, Smokes, and the Cap’n.

Joe is not happy to be here. He seems to be panicking again.

JOE
Aw, no.
(to Seth)
Why don’t we ever end up in your
house?

The BANGING comes at the door again, threatening: THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, BANG! THUMP, THUMP, BANG!

SETH
Don’t sweat it. We’re going out
through your window.

Seth opens the blinds and looks out.

SETH
That’s South Jude out there. I
thought you lived in Westfield.

JOE
I do.

BANG! BANG! THUMP!

SHAREENA
I don’t think we’re really in
Westfield.

Seth pulls at the window, but it won’t open.

SETH
Is there a trick to this?

JOE
Just open it.

THUMP! THUMP! CRASH!

Larz tries to help, but nothing happens.

JOE
I went out this way when I
left. There was nothing wrong with
them then.

The door creaks open. Several Wanderlings scream. A tall, ruggedly good-looking man enters the room. Except for his hair color, he looks nothing like Joe, but he is in fact JOE’S DAD.

JOE’S DAD
You know, if your momma keeps
banging on walls like that, I’m
gonna have to build her a padded
house.

Joe’s eyes glaze over, and he leaves the Wanderlings to sit at his desk. He slips into the trance-like task of working on his model space shuttle in the pool of light from his desklamp. He doesn’t respond to his dad.

Joe’s Dad walks up and claps a hand on his son’s shoulder.

JOE’S DAD
Hey Joe, whadya know?

JOE
Hi.

JOE’S DAD
You okay? Your momma seems to have
lost it out there.

JOE
Yeah.

JOE’S DAD
Sometimes she loses it so often I
think she ain’t never had it.

JOE
Right.

JOE’S DAD
(sincerely)
Hey kid, I’m making a joke. Cheer
up.

Joe’s Dad kneels and puts a hand on Joe’s shoulder. He leans into the warm pool of the desklamp.

JOE’S DAD
Look, I apologize for your
mother. She shouldn’t be like
that. But you gotta be
strong. Can’t let her get to
you. I know that’s the way I
raised you, right?

Joe nods.

JOE’S DAD
I know it’s been hard for you since
we moved outta South Jude. You’re
getting frustrated in school, and
you ain’t made a lotta friends out
here. That worries me. It
does. But the business is going
real well, and pretty soon you’re
gonna be the son of a rich man. It
won’t matter if you’re not good at
nothing, ’cause you’ll have
everything you want. It’ll all be
fine. Trust me.

Joe picks at his model.

JOE’S DAD
You trust me?

JOE
(about his model)
I’m good at this.

JOE’S DAD
Sure, kid. Sure.
(stands)
I’m gonna go take care of your
mother.

He heads for the door.

JOE
Don’t forget your wedding ring.

Without taking his eyes off Joe, Joe’s Dad reaches into his pocket, finds his wedding ring, and slips it on his finger.

He turns back to the door, stops at a shelf, and picks up a model space shuttle. Now Joe finally turns to look at his father. His dad turns the model over in his hand.

JOE’S DAD
Paint ain’t right.

With the arm of a major-league pitcher, Joe’s Dad throws the model against the wall. It connects with a crunch and splits into pieces.

JOE’S DAD
I ain’t buying you any more of this
shit.

He opens the door, and Slash and Babe stand flanking it in the hallway like British palace guards.

#57

Joe’s Dad leaves and shuts the door. Scrubby and Petey dive for the door and lock it just as the Creeps on the other side start banging away at it again.

SHAREENA
Joe!

Shareena steps toward Joe with a sympathetic look on her face, but Seth stops her.

SETH
Let it play out.

Joe hops out of his chair and ducks under the bed. He comes back out carrying a 12-pack.

A HORN HONKS outside.

INSERT - THRU JOE’S WINDOW
It’s the Green Jeep, waiting for him.

BACK TO SCENE
Joe opens the bay window–with ease this time–and tosses the 12-pack out.

SETH
Everybody out the window!

A Creep fist punches through the bedroom door, and Scrubby gets grabbed by his head and pulled through. The other Wanderlings scurry for the window as his scream dies.

Joe, still not awake, climbs out the window. The Green Jeep is gone, and Joe stands there, confused, while the Wanderlings begin dropping out of the window behind him.

The bedroom door crashes open, and Slash and Babe charge in. Seth pitches a paperweight at them from Joe’s desk, and Babe swings, connects, shatters the thing into dust.

Seth leaps out the window.

Goose BARKS outside in the distance, from beyond the trees across the street.

SETH
Everyone into the woods!

Joe’s not moving.

SHAREENA
Wake up, Joe! Wake up!

JOE
Where did they go? Where did they
go? Don’t they want me?

Seth and Shareena follow his eyes to the spot where the Jeep used to be. The Truck sits there instead, wailing on its horn. Joe panics.

JOE
Where are they? What do I do?

SETH
Look at me! Your name is Joe,
you’re in South Jude, and you’re a
Wanderling! Now wake up!

Party Girl looks up and screams. A pale gray Creep stands on the roof looking down upon them like an evil, hungry Superman.

SETH
RUN!

Bunches of Creeps swarm from around both sides of the house, stampeding towards the Wanderlings, cutting them off from the Truck.

The Wanderlings flee across the grass. Slash and Babe exit the bedroom window and lead the charge, and from other windows, more Creeps pour like monochrome army ants, all shades of gray, black, and white.

The rooftop Creep springs from its perch and takes down Susie.

Running for their lives, some holding hands, the Wanderlings race downhill, across the street, and toward the tall line of trees waiting to hide them. The Truck’s HORN becomes a pitiful wail as it peels away from Joe’s house to escape the Creeps without the Wanderlings.

The Wanderlings spill into the woods, the trees whipping past as they hurry deeper into their safety. The Creeps don’t seem to follow them in, but the Wanderlings just keep running.

Joe trips and hits the dirt. Shareena falls over him. The rest of the Wanderlings crash to a halt. The trees are thinner here. They have room to see each other, but the moonlight is pale and filtered through the treetops.

Goose’s barking subsides to a distant, muffled noise.

No one says speaks. They lean against trees or double over with hands on their knees, panting and catching their breath. Joe moans on the ground.
Seth drops down next to his friend to check on him. Joe rocks back and forth, and his moans get louder, more choked, more pained. Seth grabs him by the shoulder. Joe sucks in breath in a deep gasp, and then…

JOE SCREAMS: a resonant, aching, furious howl. Seth and Shareena grab him as if to keep him from blowing himself apart, and the other Wanderlings wince as if shocked by a sonic boom.

Joe gets it all out and slumps over. The night goes silent again, save Goose’s distant siren call.

#58

WORM’S EYE VIEW - THE SKY
The stars actually make an appearance out here, scattered through the fingers of the tree branches.

A soft grinding noise whispers through the quiet of the woods.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
A SERIES OF SHOTS, as the Wanderlings build their camp:

A twisting stick.

A wisp of smoke rising from a curl of brush.

Seth’s face lights up, literally, as his work catches on.

The Wanderlings’ hands sweep brush from the dirt around the growing fire.

SETH (V.O.)
We’re safe.

The campfire burns steadily. Joe shimmies another stick into the comforting blaze.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Dark house after dark house. Only the bright lampposts in their front yards hint that there could have once been souls inside. The streetlights lining the roads of the neighborhood light the way for no one in particular.

Seth and Larz crouch at the edge of the trees, looking out at their barren neighborhood.

LARZ (V.O.)
We should get as far away from here
as possible.

The Wanderlings’ discussion takes place in voice-over during the next few scenes, which do not necessarily play out in chronological order.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Shareena sits against a log in front of the fire, staring.

SETH (V.O.)
Let’s just rest awhile.

The other Wanderlings clear brush from around the campfire, leaving a bare space of dirt. Joe and Eddie roll another log in front of the fire to sit on.

Seth directs two or three Wanderlings in raising a tent from a bedsheet and clothesline.

SETH (V.O.)
We’ll set up camp, and I’ll find us
some food. We’ll figure out what
to do later.

Shareena keeps staring, thinking.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
In an abandoned back yard, a row of store-bought tiki torches flicker like the last boozy guests at a party long ended. A shadow passes in front of them. It’s Seth.

One-by-one, he snatches up the torches and scurries off. Nearby, Larz watches vigilantly from the edge of the trees.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Joe takes a tiki torch from Seth and plants it in the ground. Seth plants the next one a few feet away. One-by-one, they ring the campsite with them.

Shareena gets up from her thinking spot.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Bedsheets hang in two rows of clotheslines in another lonely yard. Seth walks through, harvesting the sheets from the lines and wrapping them up into a bundle in his arms.

He hears a SCREAM and freezes, one hand clutching a bedsheet. The sound is distant, but chilling. The Creeps are still out there somewhere, taking victims.
Seth rips the last of the bedsheets free, sending clothespins bouncing into the air, and runs for the woods.

#59

Music: The Shareena Hypothesis

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Shareena grabs a bedsheet off the pile. Party Girl and Lucy, working on another tent, look at her suspiciously.

Shareena unfurls the sheet and spreads it out on the dirt.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
Why is it safe here?

Inside a tent, Emily rolls around and stretches, enjoying her privacy and freedom. She peeks out the front flap and spies Shareena, working on her strange project on the other side of the campfire.

PARTY GIRL (V.O.)
Who cares? It’s stopped.

Shareena picks up a long stick and thrusts it into the bedsheet. Emily watches, curious.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Joe uses a walking stick to mount a small hill at the edge of the woods. As he crests the top, red-and-blue police flashers light up his face.

Larz stands at the top already, peering out through the trees. Joe joins him.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
We think we know the streets. We
each have a map in our heads of
what it’s supposed to look
like. But out here, we have no
notion of where we’re supposed to
be.

SETH (V.O.)
Except for me.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
That’s different. You feel at home
out here.

Out on the street, Seth approaches an abandoned patrol car. It’s halfway off the road, and the driver’s side door hangs open. Seth stops in front of the car and looks back at the other boys.

Emily’s standing between them.

Seth frowns and motions for Emily to go back.

Larz and Joe notice her and shush her back into the woods. She scowls as she leaves.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
I think as long as we believe that
we are where we’re supposed to be,
we’re all right.

Seth crawls into the car and digs around. He comes out with a flashlight, flips it on and off. It’s barely alive. He looks at the other guys and shrugs.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
We tie each other together.

And another SCREAM rips through the air. Closer. Male.

A revving ENGINE roars and growls. Sounds like the Truck.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
On our own, we push each other
apart.

Seth leaves the patrol car and walks out onto the street. Larz and Joe whisper-yell for him to come back.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Emily leaves the tent, approaches Shareena. Picks up a stick off a pile.

Shareena has two corners of the bedsheet nailed down with sticks, and she jams another into the third corner.

She sees Emily and points her to the fourth corner. Emily obeys and pegs the corner down.

Shareena surveys her work, then picks up more sticks.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Seth rounds a bend and stops. Four Creeps stand at the next intersection, one on each corner. They stand silent and sentry-like. They don’t even seem to notice him.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
The Creeps are poking into our
heads, trying to figure out how our
world works, maybe.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Shareena and Emily jab more sticks into the sheet, creating a grid pattern.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Seth looks down the street the other direction. Another set of Creeps watches that intersection, too.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
But they’re only looking at the
parts of the world that we made,
the stuff we know. The home we
broke.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Shareena and Emily have finished planting sticks. Shareena walks among the sticks, unrolling the ball of twine as she goes, wrapping it once around the top of each stick.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
The woods are wild. The Creeps
can’t touch it.

#60

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Down another street, Creeps stand at regular intervals beneath the streetlights. At the far end of the street stands the Truck. But Seth’s not crossing the gauntlet of Creeps to get to it.

Seth backs slowly away towards the woods.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
The last inch of twine slips from Shareena’s fingers as she finishes her grid. She turns to survey her work once more.

OVERHEAD SHOT. Shareena, Emily, Seth, Joe, Larz, and the rest stand around Shareena’s grid, which from above looks like a giant, empty crossword puzzle with all white squares.

SHAREENA
They’ve made a net.

EMILY
(in awe)
Like a spiderweb…

SETH
(following her train of
thought)
If your prey keeps disappearing,
spread out and you’ll catch them
wherever they go.

LARZ
Is that even possible? There are
dozens of streets in South Jude.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
OVERHEAD SHOT. A dim flashlight beam dances over a backyard BBQ grill. It’s piled with ribs, brats, and chicken as if abandoned mid-cookout by the Rapture.

LARZ (V.O.)
Four Creeps at every intersection,
plus a few along every road,
that’s…that’s a lot of
Creeps. How many of them are
there?

JOE (V.O.)
Maybe some of us are them now.

Seth nearly dives into the BBQ. Behind him, connected by the ubiquitous twine, Joe and Larz follow.

SHAREENA (V.O.)
The question is, what do they want
us for?

LARZ (V.O.)
The question is, are we gonna wait
around long enough to find out?

Camera at the boys’ level now.

Joe opens a cooler next to the BBQ pit, and Seth sweeps the meat off the grill and into the cooler. Larz stuffs a brat into his mouth, and then grabs a can of lighter fluid and an electric lantern.

Seth’s flashlight goes dead, so he tosses it aside. He and Joe grab the cooler, heft it, and start running for the woods. Larz is already ahead of them.

They hear a SCREAM in the distance. Joe’s end of the cooler bumps into Larz.

LARZ
(mouth full)
Hey!

JOE
Go faster!

LARZ
(barely intelligble)
Follow slower!

SETH
Get the dick out of your mouth and
run, Larz!

They scurry across the grass and into the woods.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Back to the overhead shot above Shareena’s grid.

SETH
We should eat.

He turns and heads for the campfire.