The Wanderlings of South Jude - by Stroogie

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#61

Music suggestion: The BBQ

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Bacchanal. The fire flares up as Larz shoots it with lighter fluid. Everyone oohs and aahs. The Wanderlings scramble for the food, knocking it out of the cooler, picking meat up out of the dirt and biting right in. Fingers grab chicken legs and ribs, getting saucy and sticky. Teeth tear meat from bone. The Wanderlings can barely breathe, they’re eating so fast. They giggle drunkenly as their empty bellies finally fill up.

Emily approaches Seth, who’s digging for drinks in the cooler.

EMILY
Is there grape soda?

Seth draws a beer out.

SETH
Uh…
(digs back in, brings out a
diet cola)
…here, have this.

Emily takes it with some disappointment.

Shareena lies contentedly next to a log, one hand on her stomach.

SHAREENA
I can’t move. If the Creeps find
us, I’m screwed.

Slouched next to her, Joe tries to laugh, but it hurts. He’s too full. The whole gang sprawls around the forest floor, quietly digesting.

Larz stands up with his lantern.

LARZ
So who’s up for a walk?

SETH
You’re kidding, right?

LARZ
(grabs a tiki torch)
Don’t get me wrong. These are nice
digs. But they’re shit if the
Creeps find us. I’m heading out of
these woods into the next county
and seeing if we’re past the
threshold of the madness.

SETH
We shouldn’t split up. And you
shouldn’t head off into woods you
don’t know.

LARZ
Then come with.

SETH
We’re safer here. The shifting’s
stopped, at least at this spot. If
the Creeps wanted us, they’d have
found us by now.

LARZ
You don’t know that. You don’t
know shit. It’s your bright idea
that sent us on that Scooby Doo
chase through Hell House, you know.

SETH
And then I got us out here. Where
we’ve been safe for the past two
hours. Has anyone here been able
to stay in one place for that long
since this whole thing started?

LARZ
I have to remind you, I guess, that
before you came along, me and mine
were doing fine. People always
came back to me, remember? Now
pardon me, but I don’t want to just
sit around. I think it’s safer the
farther we get from the epicenter
of Creeptown. And anyone who wants
to follow me is welcome to.

SETH
(stands)
We’re not splitting up.

LARZ
You don’t get to say that for
everyone. You’re not in charge.

SETH
Fine, then we vote. Everyone goes
with the majority.

LARZ
All right. Everyone for getting
the hell outta South Jude–

Seth sits down. Petey stands up with Larz. So does Lucy. And Party Girl.

PLAYER
(to Party Girl, sitting next
to her)
You realize either me or you goes
off into the woods, we die first.
(she looks puzzled)
Blonde chick. Black dude. Catch
my drift? Sit your ass down.

She sits. That’s two standing for Larz; the rest of the Wanderlings stay put.

LARZ
Et tu, Eddie?

Eddie squirms, the only Screamer still sitting.

JOE
(to Larz)
What do you think South Jude will
look like from the outside?

Larz looks puzzled. He doesn’t understand the question.

JOE
I mean, if it’s true that the
effect only goes so far, once
you’re outside and you turn around
and look back, what does a chunk of
the world that’s all twisted up
look like? If we’ve been repeating
the same night over and over, what
has the rest of the world been
doing all this time? Maybe they’re
looking at South Jude and seeing a
bubble of night that won’t
fade. Maybe it’s freaking them
out, and they’re about to do
something. Maybe they want to nuke
us.

Player and Party Girl stand up.

JOE
(to Seth)
Sorry.

LARZ
Five to five. We’re even.

SETH
If we stay here, eventually the sun
will rise. That’s the one barrier
none of us has been able to cross.
Once we do, I think it’ll get
better.

LARZ
You don’t know that sunrise is
gonna fix things. The Creeps
aren’t vampires, they’re just
monsters. No reason they can’t
follow you into the daylight.

SETH
No reason they can’t follow you
into the next county.

SHAREENA
There’s another way we haven’t
mentioned.

They all look at her.

SHAREENA
We go back. And fight.

PARTY GIRL
Are you fucking nuts?

SHAREENA
We know they can be hurt. Seth
slashed one up pretty good.

LARZ
And there’s about a hundred times
more of them than there are of
us. And they can make us vanish
with a touch.

JOE
And put their fingers in our
brains.

That earns him a “shut-up” glare from both Seth and Shareena.

SHAREENA
I’m just sayin’…my mom’s back
there. And they’ve probably got
her. And I don’t like that image.

SETH
C’mon, Shareena. You’re not
serious.

She sits silent, resolute. Seth sighs dramatically, crosses to the other side of the campfire. He now makes a triangle with Larz and Shareena.

SETH
All right. We stand our ground
here and wait for sunrise; we run
away; or we go back into Hell.

He stands, awaiting their decisions. Petey and Lucy move to Larz’s side. Joe, Emily, and Eddie move to Seth’s side. After a moment’s deliberation, Player and Party Girl leave Larz and join Seth.

Shareena sits alone.

It’s six against three against one, Seth’s favor.

SETH
That it then?

Seth sits back down at the fire.

SETH
Some of you probably haven’t slept
in days. You should give it a try
now.

Their bodies relax. They begin to settle around the fire. All except Larz.

SHAREENA
I didn’t expect to win. I just
wanted to make the point.

Larz turns and walks away from the camp site, lantern held up.

SETH
Larz!

Petey and Lucy follow him.

SETH
Larz, don’t go! We can’t split up!

LARZ
People always find me
again! You’ll see!

Larz, Petey, and Lucy disappear into the trees and the darkness beyond.

SETH
Dammit, Larz!

Seth kicks one of the pegs on Shareena’s grid, knocking it askew. He plops himself back down at the fire. He pulls off the Gloves and slaps them to the ground.

The Wanderlings hold their breath, waiting for the shifting to start, but everything stays still. They shuffle about like kids trying not to disturb Daddy.

#62

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
The starry sky. The moon has passed out of sight. Seth and Joe sit silently in front of the campfire. Joe’s tossing picked-over chicken bones into the fire.

JOE
So, if I follow the Big Dipper to
the North Star, I can always know
what direction I’m going?

SETH
(disinterested)
More or less.

Joe stops trying, and shuts up.

SHAREENA (O.C.)
You shouldn’t have kicked him.

SETH
Who?

Shareena’s standing by the fire.

SHAREENA
Larz. In front of his parents.

SETH
He was caught in a bad dream.

SHAREENA
You let the rest of us play out.

No reply. Seth throws a chicken bone into the fire.

SHAREENA
Come here, I’ve been thinking.

She leads him back to her grid. She straightens out the stick he kicked, then picks up another one. It’s forked on one end. She holds the forked end and jams the straight end into the bedsheet.

SHAREENA
I don’t know what Larz has, but I
know crazy, and I know he’s got
something. He says the Creeps
won’t touch him, and that everybody
always comes back to him?

At this, she twists the stick. The sheet begins to wrap around it, and other sticks bend in toward the twists. They pull on the twine, warping the entire grid.

SHAREENA
I think the Creeps are looking into
our minds, trying to fix what they
broke. But Larz’s mind is a
mess. He’s like a black hole.

A few of the sticks pop out of place and fall over. Shareena lets go of the “Larz stick” and takes the Gloves from her apron.

SHAREENA
You’re like an anchor. Larz drags
people along. You keep us
steady. You keep going with your
gut and using your Boy Scout
skills, and we’ll keep following.

SETH
I’m not a Boy Scout.

SHAREENA
(ignoring him)
But you start abusing that trust,
playing favorites with who you
trust, throwing hissy fits when
anyone disagrees with you, we drop
you like a plate of hot shit.

She stands with the Gloves held out.

Seth takes the Gloves, silently.

In the background, Joe and Eddie watch Seth and Shareena’s exchange, trying to eavesdrop.

#63

Seth returns to the campfire, brushing one of the tents open on his way.

SETH
Everybody up.

Player and Party Girl pop out.

SETH
Who wants to go find Larz?

PLAYER
Say what?

SETH
I said we’re not splitting up, and
I meant it.

JOE
If you leave the camp, what happens
to us?

EMILY
(from inside her tent)
I don’t wanna go. I’m tired.

SETH
You don’t have to go. I could
maybe go by myself, but I don’t
think that’s safe.

SHAREENA
I think what Joe means is, how do
we know we won’t start shifting as
soon as you leave the camp?

SETH
Then I guess everyone has to come.

PLAYER
Why don’t you make with the hocus
pocus and conjure some more Gloves?

SETH
I didn’t make the Gloves. The
Truck did.

JOE
The Truck made them because you
were there.

PLAYER
(to Seth)
I’ll bet you did it. I bet you
could make anything, if you really
wanted. Some guns, or armor, or
lightsabers, or something.

JOE
Maybe it only works when you have a
great need.

EDDIE
We have great need of lightsabers.

SETH
Look, are you all coming or not?

SHAREENA
Yeah, we’re coming.

The Wanderlings climb out of their tents, pull on their shoes, grab torches. Shareena helps Emily to her feet. Joe and Eddie hoist the cooler between them.

SETH
(disapproving)
Joe…

JOE
We’re gonna get hungry on the
way. And it’s not that heavy
anymore.

Seth shrugs approval, grabs a torch. He looks skyward.

SETH
Everyone see those stars?

They look up.

SETH
You can’t see them on the
streets. But just take a good look
at them right now, and if we get
separated, you follow them back
here.

They murmur assent. Seth returns his gaze earthward. Joe is looking at him.

JOE
Seth, why are you out here?

Seth looks a question at him.

JOE
We saw why the rest of us ran
away. But we never saw the inside
of your house.
(sincerely, not accusatory)
What’s your problem?

Seth takes a moment. The Wanderlings stand like tourists awaiting their tour guide’s next story.

SETH
My dog died this morning. And I
keep thinking I see him
everywhere. Maybe that makes me
more crazy than anyone else out
here. But I followed him into
these woods, and we’ve done all
right since then. I think this is
where we’re supposed to be. If we
find Larz and bring him back and
wait here till sunrise, I think
everything’s going to be okay.

JOE
How long till sunrise?

SETH
A couple of hours. It should be
getting light pretty soon.

JOE
Then let’s go.

Seth leads the way into the woods.

#64

That’s it for this today. The story will finish up next week, Monday and Wednesday, in two big installments. Thanks for reading, everyone!

#65

Wow, I’ve been unable to come over and read for a few days, so I just had a ton of reading to get through. Let me say, you write one hell of an action scene, Stroogie. The way you handle tension in the “hell house” sequence is, I think, terrific. I’m not, however, feeling the camp stuff as much. It feels anticlimactic after such a tense scene which, really, felt like the final act of the movie. When we switched to the voice over (which I’m not crazy about either. I’m not a filmmaker or film student or anything, but I’ve read and seen enough movies and things about making movies to know that voice over is a very tricky technique that feels clicheed more often than not. Be careful!) and the more restful scenes in the camp I just felt like it’s a new episode in a TV show, not the next act in the film. This kind of goes hand in hand with my earlier comment about the jeep fight and how it needed to come earlier: I’m not totally feeling the fights, structurally. If you move them around a little bit (and shorten some scenes in the process. This is starting to feel pretty long) I think you might find a tightness of structure that will increase the tension you’re so good at creating.

Storywise, though, I have no qualms. I am dying to find out what’s going on, especially now that I’ve seen the Creeps. And like I said, you’re damned good at creating tensions and writing exciting fight scenes (not to mention writing young characters, which I can’t imagine is easy).

#66

You’re very perceptive about the voice-over exposition, Armando. I’ve gone back and forth with how much I need to explain the phenomenon that’s affecting South Jude–both practically, inasmuch as how they come to understand and defeat it–and thematically, as in what the effect says about and means to the characters. Let me know by the end of the story if you feel any loose ends that haven’t been explained or fleshed out properly. Or conversely, if anything’s explained TOO much. I’d be glad to lose the voice-over if it turns out to be uneccessary.

Meanwhile, I’m glad the “hell house” thing worked. That was tough to work out, balancing the action/chases with the emotional scenes. Gratifying to know that it seems to have come together.

So here’s part 7. Many apologies for the late posting. I got a little finicky and fiddled around with rewriting parts of it before putting it up, but I shall let it play as it stands. Come back on Wednesday for the grand finale.

#67

EXT. THE WOODS - NIGHT
The Wanderlings follow Seth with their torches like a procession of monks.

SERIES OF SHOTS:
A few shots in a row show Eddie handing Seth bright knick-knacks, strips of cloth, and other conspicuous pieces from his Screamer getup. Seth ties the ornaments to tree branches that the Wanderlings pass.

EXT. THE WOODS - NIGHT
Joe and Player switch off carrying the cooler. Joe takes the torch from Player. Emily sidles up to Joe.

EMILY
I wanna carry the torch.

JOE
I’m taller.

EMILY
Yeah, by like three inches.

SHAREENA
Em, be nice.

SETH
Oh, no…

Seth’s looking at the woods ahead. Larz’s lantern sits askew on the forest floor, beaming its lonely electric light in a pale sheen across the dirt.

Seth picks it up and calls out:

SETH
Larz! Larz?

The other Wanderlings join in. They spread out a bit–but not too far–calling into the trees.

Goose BARKS in the distance. Seth freezes. The others are still calling Larz.

Goose BARKS closer. Seth whirls, thinking he’s right on top of the dog.

The Wanderlings give up. Eddie and Player plop the cooler down. Joe sits on top of it defeated. Seth stands some distance off, still holding the lantern high.

SHAREENA
(to Seth)
We lost him. We should go back.

But Seth stays put. He turns around and sees Goose, standing a few yards away into the trees. Seth stares, stricken.

PLAYER
You catching something in the wind?

SETH
You all don’t see him, do you?

SHAREENA
I’m sorry, Seth. I’m sorry I made
it sound like your fault. But Larz
made his own decision.

SETH
I don’t mean Larz. I mean Goose.

Joe stands up.

JOE
Your dog? Is he here?

SETH
I don’t know. I see him, but…

JOE
Where?

SETH
Over there.

They all look.

SHAREENA
Nothing.

JOE
Doesn’t mean there isn’t
something. We all saw shadows and
memories in the house. It could
happen out here, too.

SETH
But I really thought he was
real. I came out looking for
him. I forgot he was dead.

JOE
He led you here. Maybe you should
let it play.

Goose sits patiently, tail gently wagging, tongue panting, waiting for Seth to follow him.

SETH
(to the Wanderlings)
You can find your way back? You
can use the stars, and our
landmarks?

SHAREENA
We’ll do it. You go do what you
have to do.

Seth hands the lantern to Shareena.

SETH
Thank you.

He plunges forward, torch aloft, toward Goose. Goose turns and trots off into the woods.

As Seth and Goose work their way deeper into the trees, the watching Wanderlings fall away behind them.

#68

Music: Grandpa’s Campfire

EXT. THE WOODS - NIGHT
Seth follows Goose deeper into the woods, maybe deeper than the woods actually are, past line after line of trees, up and down rocky hills.

The trees get thicker, and for a moment, Seth loses Goose.

Seth comes to a creek. On the other side, just up the hill from the bank, stands Goose, framed in the moonlight.

Seth crosses the creek on stepping stones, and Goose barks and wags his tail in anticipation as he gets closer.

Seth arrives on the other bank and drops to his knees in front of Goose. Arms wrapped around the dog, face buried in his fur, he sits, reunited dog and master.

Seth comes up for air from the hug, and Goose immediately trots away. Seth follows. Goose approaches a tight line of trees and goes inside.

Seth walks through the trees…

EXT. THE OLD CAMPSITE - DAY (AT FIRST)
A sunlit clearing. Birdsong. On the other side of the clearing is a campsite in front of a large pond. GRANDPA sits in front of a campfire with LITTLE SETH (8 years old).

Goose joins them. Older Seth watches.

The little boy is folding a piece of paper. He lifts the final product over his shoulder and tosses it–the paper airplane crashes to the ground.

GRANDPA
You threw it too hard. I told you
to take it easy. Go on, try again.

Little Seth picks up the paper airplane, holds it over his shoulder again.

GRANDPA
Now gentle, let it catch the air.

Little Seth throws again, softer now, and the plane takes off like it’s got an engine. It indeed catches the air, and soars over the older Seth’s head and down a hill. Little Seth yelps with delight and takes off after it. Goose runs
with him, right past the older Seth, who’s smiling.

Now Seth and his Grandpa are alone.

Seth sits on a log across the fire from Grandpa. Fish cooks over the fire. An old khaki tent, a rifle, and a knapsack sit behind Grandpa. Geese honk and swim out on the pond.

SETH
I can hear things out here. Out on
the streets there’s nothing. No
birds, no wind, no insects.

Grandpa hands Seth some fish.

SETH
No thanks. I ate already.

Seth watches, enamored, while his Grandpa eats breakfast. Goose returns to the campsite and curls up at Grandpa’s feet.

SETH
I miss you. I know it’s been two
years. But no one knows what to do
anymore. Rick lost his job and
moved back in with his wife and
kid. The twins are officially ADHD
and on medication. Stacy got
herself knocked up. Mom quit her job
to stay home and help take care of the
babies and Grandma–who doesn’t remember
that you’re dead. And Dad works 70
hours a week to support us all. I
mean, I got my job at the
campgrounds, but that’s not feeding
anyone.

Strangely, while Seth’s been talking, the day has turned from cool, foggy morning to high noon. The sun is on the move.

SETH
Oh, and Uncle Ed and Aunt Penny
still can’t have kids. I guess
there’s nothing you could have done
about that. I guess there’s
nothing you really could have done
about any of it. But we always
seemed to know what to do when you
were around. You could always tell
us just what we needed to do. You
solved all our problems and made
all our decisions.

Long shadows stretch under the moving afternoon sun.

SETH
Why didn’t you teach any of us how
to do that? Why’d you leave us
this way? Didn’t you want us to
grow up? Didn’t you want people to
say, “There goes the family of
Ronnie Jarvis, a strong bunch of
people?” Or did you just want us
to be lost without you? I don’t
understand.

Dusk is falling. Grandpa finishes the fish. He clasps his hands and stares intently at his grandson, listening.

SETH
It’s all gone to hell now, and I
don’t know what to do. I keep
trying to help and make the right
decisions, but I keep losing
people. Nothing works.

The purple sky fades to navy blue. The sun disappears, and the firelight deepens the crevices of Grandpa’s face, flickering off deep blue, wet eyes.

SETH
What am I doing wrong? How am I
supposed to figure this out? Why
am I trying to be like you?!

It’s dark. The moon has risen to its place. Crickets replace the geese for nature’s background music. Seth rises to his feet, completing his Grandpa’s harangue.

SETH
I don’t know what parts of you to
keep and what to let go of.

#69

Seth catches his breath. Grandpa leans over, picks up a second knapsack next to his own, and tosses it across the fire. It hits the dirt a few feet past Seth. Stitched onto a panel is the name “SETH” in caps.

Seth reaches for the bag. He stops, comes up short.

Goose whines, and gets to his feet. He’s got a leash attached to his collar.

And the end of the leash is wrapped around Seth’s wrist. Tangled, really, as if several feet of leash were bandaging his arm.

Seth goes to work on the leash, but it’s tight. He can’t get a single strand loosened. He tugs at the leash to get Goose to move.

SETH
(angry)
C’mon, Goose!

But Goose plants his paws and won’t budge. The knapsack remains out of Seth’s reach. Seth yanks and wriggles and strains, but neither dog nor leash will move. Seth growls loudly in frustration, almost feral.

The campfire flares up, scaring Seth. He falls on his butt. Grandpa backs away a safe distance. Goose growls now. He’s not liking this.

Seth rolls across the ground, dragging the leash into the fire. He stops as the middle of the leash smolders. Grandpa pats Goose’s neck to calm him while the leash burns.

The last strands of the leash flake away. The leash falls, hits the dirt, and disappears.

Seth stands and rubs his free arm. Goose shakes himself as if he’s just stepped out of the water.

Seth picks up the knapsack. When he turns back to the fire, Grandpa’s standing in front of him. He looks tired, but speaks warmly.

GRANDPA
You have everything you need.

Seth clutches the knapsack tight and nods.

GRANDPA
Get everyone where they belong by
sunrise.

Grandpa returns to the other side of the fire. He picks up his own knapsack–labeled “RONNIE”–and swings it over his shoulder. He picks up a bucket of dirt next to the fire.

SETH
Let me.

Grandpa hands the bucket to Seth. Then he turns, and with Goose, walks down a slope to the pond’s edge. An old gray boat sits in the water. Goose hops in, and Grandpa climbs in after him. He pushes off and rows away.

Seth pours the dirt over the fire. A rush of smoke and dark dust fill the frame.

BLACK OUT

#70

EXT. THE WOODS - NIGHT
Joe lies asleep on top of the cooler. Larz’s lantern sits on the ground nearby, revealing by its pale light that Joe is completely alone. The light dims, flickers, disappears.

It’s nearly pitch dark now.

SETH (O.C.)
Joe. Joe, are you all right? Wake
up, buddy. Where is everyone?

Groaning. Sounds like Joe.

SETH (O.C.)
Joe, are you drunk? Get up. Come
with me.

JOE (O.C.)
I can’t see.

Faint brushes of movement, pale against the dark.

SETH (O.C.)
Yes you can. Your eyes can see
black and white at night. Don’t
look for color. Just look for
spots of light and dark.

The outline of Seth, beside the outline of Joe, sitting on the cooler.

JOE (O.C.)
There’re Creeps in the woods.

SETH (O.C.)
I know. We have to run.

POV - SETH THRU THE WOODS
Trees whisk by in pale black-and-white. Here and there, tiny green dots glow on the forest floor, like spots on dice thrown into the woods.

SETH (O.C.)
Where did everybody go?

JOE (O.C.)
Emily had to go potty. Then there
was screaming. And running. I
hid.

One of Eddie’s ornamental landmarks. Seth snatches it off the tree.

JOE (O.C.)
What’re those green things?

SETH (O.C.)
Fireflies. They’re sleeping.

JOE (O.C.)
Seth, did I screw up?

SETH (O.C.)
Nobody screwed up. We just have to
find each other.

Seth grabs up another landmark.

SETH (O.C.)
We’re gonna make our own net.

EXT. WANDERLINGS BASE CAMP - NIGHT
Still in pale black-and-white. The fire’s died out.

Seth opens his knapsack, hands something to Joe.

SETH
Take this.

Seth snatches up several sticks from Shareena’s grid.

Behind him, a line of Creeps enters the camp, arm-in-arm like a chorus line. It’s hard to tell if they unlink arms to slip around the trees, or if they pass through the very trees themselves.

JOE
Seth!

Seth reaches into his knapsack and whips out a SILVER FLASHLIGHT. He clicks it on and aims it at the Creeps, and several of them freeze in the spread of golden light.

SETH
Joe, do it!

Joe aims the flashlight Seth gave him, slows down more Creeps in the light.

They don’t seem to be in pain–not like vampires in sunlight. The light simply frustrates them. Just long enough for Seth and Joe to back out of the camp and run.

POV - SETH THRU THE WOODS
The flashlight beams bounce ahead as Seth and Joe run through the woods.

EXT. CASILDA LANE - NIGHT
The street is familiar. It’s the place Seth first found Goose.

Seth jams a stick with an ornament on it into the ground next to the road.

SETH
I know this street. This is
Casilda Lane.
(to Joe)
Give me another.

Joe hands him another ornamented stick.

Seth runs into the woods, and Joe follows.

#71

POV - SETH THRU THE WOODS
Racing through the woods…

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Seth plants another landmark.

SETH
I know this street. This is Badger
Drive.

And now, INTERCUTTING between running through the woods and planting landmarks:

Seth and Joe stand beside the abandoned patrol car, still flashing its red-and-blues.

SETH
This is Valkyrie Street!

RUN thru the woods.

Seth and Joe stand at an intersection. Joe holds the Creeps back with his flashlight while Seth plants the landmark.

SETH
Cage and O’Hara!

RUN.

SETH
Wolf Street!

RUN.

By the picket fences of Emily’s street.

SETH
Talos and Thott!

RUN.

In front of Kimberly’s house, with the flowered walk.

SETH
Bayolo Road!

RUN.

SETH
Kitty Drive!

RUN.

SETH
Buccaneer Lane!

Across the street, Eddie waves his arms. Creeps approach from either side, and Seth and Joe hold them back like the waters of the Red Sea. Eddie runs through the middle to the safety of his friends.

RUN.

EXT. RANGER STREET - NIGHT
Seth marks a spot next to the bus stop.

SETH
Ranger Street!

Shareena enters the frame and hugs him, exhausted.

The Truck pulls up, washing over the Wanderlings with its bright headlamps.

SETH
(to the Truck)
Are you all right?

The Truck’s headlights begin to flash, flickering in a strange rhythm. The Wanderlings squint. The flickering stops. Seth speaks up with an accusing tone:

SETH
The Creeps were after us. You were
too far away. We were worried
about you.

SHAREENA
(to Eddie and Joe)
What just happened?

EDDIE
The Truck told us we shouldn’t have
left it behind–in Morse Code.

JOE
You know Morse Code?

EDDIE
What? I was a Boy Scout.

The Truck flickers another message. Seth stands before it like a petitioner. Eddie translates for Shareena and Joe.

EDDIE
“Do not…worry…for us. We are
…the Protectors…Trust us…and
help us.”

SETH
I do trust you. But I need you to
help me. I have a plan, and it’s
working, and–

EDDIE
“Not…another plan…from
you… You…will
help…by…staying…where you
are.”

Suddenly, Larz stands up in the back of the Truck.

LARZ
Seth! They found me, and they
won’t let me go!

The Truck jerks forward, and Larz falls out of sight. The Wanderlings jump back as the Truck flashes another message.

SHAREENA
What did they say? What did they
say!

EDDIE
“We will finish this. We are the
Protectors.”

No sooner is this said than chains flicker across the Truck’s headlights, and with an awful scraping and clanking, they wrap around the Truck.

Behind it approaches a line of Creeps, carrying tiki torches.

SETH
Emily…

Emily’s leading the Creeps, arm-in-arm with Slash and Babe. The Creeps have changed. They aren’t all blank and featureless anymore. Some have developed new and piercing eyes. Many have distinct noses and ears. A few even have short hair, and some seem to have tried on articles of clothing–a jacket, a pair of pants, a cap, shoes.

None of them have real human fleshtone, though–they’re still gray or black or white. They look like half-dressed zombie paper dolls.

The Truck growls and revs, but it’s stuck tight in its chains.

Larz screams and climbs over the cab of the Truck, sliding down the hood and onto the ground in front of the headlights.

The Creeps overtake the Truck and advance on Larz. But they stop inches from grabbing him and suddenly crane their necks as if in pain. Slash even screams, a subhuman, choking sound.

Slash is the only Creep with any fleshtone, but he’s still pale. Babe’s face is formed but eyeless like a mannequin. All he wears is a chain from shoulder to hip that straps his baseball bat to his back. He unsheaths the bat now and
cocks back to demolish Larz.

EMILY
Larz, go away!

Larz simply vanishes.

SETH
Emily, what are you doing?

SLASH
She’s with us now.

EMILY
Red Rover, Red Rover, send Eddie
right over!

Eddie’s jerked as if by an invisible rope, flies past the other Wanderlings, and disappears into the Creeps. All that’s left is his scream, and his flashlight.

Seth, Shareena, and Joe link arms, aim their flashlights at the Creeps, and back towards the woods. The Creeps slow down in the light, but Emily’s unaffected.

EMILY
Red Rover, Red Rover, send
Shareen–!

SHAREENA
Shut up, you little brat!

The Wanderlings turn and run.

#72

Music: Seth Vs. Babe

EXT. RUNNING THROUGH THE WOODS - NIGHT
Flashlight beams mix with black-and-white as the Wanderlings flee through the woods.

Emily and her Creeps march arm-in-arm like a line of Frankenstein monsters after their prey.

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT
Emily and her Creeps slow down. They seem to have lost the trail.

Perched in the trees above, Seth, Joe, and Shareena hold their breaths.

The Creeps spread out a bit, holding their stolen torches out for a better look into the shadows.

Seth, Joe, and Shareena, each hiding in a different tree, press themselves close to the trunks.

Babe stands beneath Joe’s tree, looking around.

Joe’s sweating. His bandanna’s soaked. He clutches his stomach.

Babe sniffs the air.

Shareena watches Joe double over. She looks to Seth. Seth makes the “been drinking” gesture. Shareena turns back to Joe and makes a “What the hell?” face.

Emily gestures for her Creeps to regroup. They relink arms. Only Babe lingers for a moment, for a final sniff.

Joe leans his forehead on a branch, breathes deep.

The Creeps walk away.

It’s dark again.

Shareena clicks her flashlight on, just in time to see Joe heave over his branch with a gurgle.

SETH
Joe, get your flashlight!

Babe’s climbing up Joe’s tree.

Joe vomits again. His flashlight tumbles from the tree.

Babe swings up into the branches, dodging the flashlight.

Seth drops from his tree.

Shareena aims her flashlight wildly, trying to nail the beam to Babe through the intervening branches. The light flickers across Joe’s eyes and makes him squint.

SHAREENA
Joe! Get outta there!

Joe sucks in air and wipes spittle from his lips. He scoots along his branch, further out from the trunk.

Babe climbs onto Joe’s branch and stands up.

Joe moans.

A flashlight nails Babe in the face, smacking the back of his head against the tree.

On a neighboring branch, his back up against the trunk, Seth rears his arm for another blow.

Babe staggers. Silver blood leaks from a silver crack in his skull. He topples off the tree.

Babe snags Seth’s ankle on his way down, and Seth yelps as he’s pulled off.

Joe grabs Seth’s hand, keeps him from falling.

Babe hits the dirt.

Shareena’s down there, waiting for him, flashlight aloft.

Babe rolls to his feet and runs.

Seth drops himself to the ground and takes off after Babe.

Babe runs wildly, frantic, leaping and staggering over rocks and roots.

Seth pursues with flashlight aimed on target like a laser.

Babe swings his bat. It whistles as if nearly reaching sonic speeds.

Seth ducks. Swings his flashlight. CRACK.

Babe goes down. Swings again.

CRACK. Seth’s light flashes up and down.

SWING. CRACK. Babe’s hand raised in vain defense. Seth’s face lit in bursts of fury.

Shareena swings. CRACK.

Joe swings. CRACK.

The baseball bat, broken in two, rolls away into the dirt. Babe’s body, sticky with silver, sprawls in a creek.

The Wanderlings catch their breath to the calming sound of the trickling water. Their flashlight beams heave up and down in their hands.

EXT. CREEP HQ - NIGHT
Emily, Slash, and the other Creeps return to the Garage. Emily turns to see three beams of light, golden in the cool night darkness, reaching up from the woods.

EXT. STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
Larz–staggering, wide-eyed, and disheveled–sees the light too. He stops, drinks it in, and plows ahead.

#73

Check in on Wednesday for the big finale, and enjoy a bonus bit of music to prime your pump.

Music: Approach to the Inmost Garage

#74

EXT. BACKYARD BBQ HOUSE - NIGHT
CLOSE UP on a garden hose, trickling clear water. Joe drinks from it.

Seth sits next to Joe, waiting for him. This is the house where the Wanderlings snagged the BBQ and cooler.

Nearby, Shareena waves her flashlight around, seeing what she can see.

JOE
I’m sorry I screwed up again.

SETH
You saved me. You’re fine.

Joe tears off his bandanna, revealing the wound still unhealed beneath. He dunks his head under the hose.

JOE
I’m a drunk and a coward. I almost
got my brains skewered, and I could
have taken you with me.

SETH
You’ve done a lot of good tonight.

JOE
Just makes the bad stuff look
worse.

Seth looks out at the view. Past the woods, the sky is turning from black to light purple.

SETH
You know, before now, I just
assumed the sun would rise every
day. I was never very thankful for
it. I can’t imagine what it’s been
like for you, dreading the
sunrise. Hating the start of
another day in hell. It’s not
supposed to be that way.

Shareena comes over, smiling. She sits next to them, and listens while Seth speaks to Joe.

SETH
You remember how it is here. No
one in South Jude even crosses the
street to say hello to each other,
especially if you’re poorer or
darker than them. Until tonight
happened, we all sat in our houses
stewing in our dysfunction. None
of us deserves to have made it this
far. But we’ve had Creeps and
Screamers and cops and Protectors
and ghost dogs after us, and now
suddenly the rules have changed in
our favor. The sun is on the move,
and the Creeps can’t stop it. We
have a chance. We’re a little less
lost than before, and I think
that’s enough. So you can sit here
and keep hating yourself, or you
take up your light and fight back.

Joe says nothing. His face hints nothing. He wrings out his bandanna and pulls it back on.

Shareena grins big.

JOE
What are you smiling about?

SHAREENA
I wanna show you something.

BACK PORCH
Shareena, Seth, and Joe stand on the railing of the back porch. Shareena aims her flashlight into the second-story window.

CLOSE-UP, BEDROOM WINDOW
The flashlight beam moves across the window. When the light hits the bed, a sleeping child appears. When the light passes away, the bed looks empty.

BACK TO SCENE
Shareena beams with the thrill of discovery.

SHAREENA
We couldn’t see them. Neither
could the Creeps.

She hops off the porch and runs. Seth and Joe hop after her.

EXT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - NIGHT
Shareena shines her beam into a window.

Her mother lies in bed calmly asleep.

SHAREENA
She’s okay. She was always okay…

#75

Music: The Breaking of the Garage

EXT./INT. CREEP HQ - NIGHT
The garage door sits open, beaming its white light into the night like a newly landed UFO. The Creeps’ HQ is larger on the inside than it looks on the outside.

Emily watches a jet black Creep with red goggles–call him the MECHANIC–crawl out from under the tarp-covered machine.

The Mechanic pulls a lever. The machine chugs a few times. Then nothing.

Slash stands next to Emily.

SLASH
(to Emily)
Can you fix it?

Emily just looks bewildered.

SLASH
You have a great deal of power now
that you’re on our side. If you
want to come with us, find a way to
fix it.

Behind Slash, the Truck sits silently captive against the wall, chained down.

Eddie, Player, and Party Girl now stand among the somnolent South Judians in a file around the edges of the garage with Creeps poking fingers into their skulls.

The SURGEON–the white Creep wearing the reflector–is working on Eddie. Emily watches him.

Outside, three beams of golden light approach the garage. Slash and several Creeps snap to attention and line up protectively at the entrance.

Seth, Joe, and Shareena stride up the driveway, flashlights wielded.

Emily joins Slash and the others. The Wanderlings stop several feet away.

Seth tosses Babe’s broken bat at Emily and Slash’s feet.

EMILY
Red Rover, Red Rover, send Seth
right over!

Nothing happens.

SETH
We’re already here, Emily. Would
you like us to come in?

The Wanderlings’ flashlights flicker from Creep to Creep. Slash and the others wince and squint in the light, unable to advance on their prey.

EMILY
Stop it! Stop it!

Seth, Shareena, and Joe walk through the line of Creeps, pushing them aside. Once they’re through, Seth walks up to the Surgeon, knocks him upside the head with his flashlight, and holds the light right up to Eddie’s face.

SETH
Eddie! Wake up!

Eddie stumbles forward into Seth’s arms, suddenly wide-eyed and gasping.

SLASH
Make them stop!

EMILY
Seth, go away!

The Wanderlings instantly lock arms. The whole interior of the garage shimmers and shakes. The bright white light flickers. Seth seems to writhe as his friends hold him tight. Even the Creeps wobble.

Then it stops. Seth stands up. Several of the Creeps look woozy.

SETH
We’re taking everyone home.

Behind him, Shareena and Joe turn to the other captive Wanderlings.

#76

SHAREENA
(to Player)
Chester, wake up!

JOE
(to Party Girl)
Lili, wake up!

SLASH
Stop it! We need your help!

From here on out, Slash pleads his case while the Wanderlings go from friend-to-friend, waking them up, batting Creeps out of their way as they go. The overhead lights keeps flickering, allowing the flashlights to better pierce the sleeping eyes of the captive South Judians.

SETH
Wake up, Kimberly!

JOE
Jason!

KIMBERLY, host of the party Joe attended, and JASON, driver of the Green Jeep, wake up.

SLASH
The Protectors lied to us! They
said there was nothing beyond the
barrier!

SHAREENA
Deb!

DEB is another waitress, a frizzy-haired woman in her forties. She wakes up and stumbles alongside Shareena. Shareena goes to the man next to her, who wears the orange vest of a construction worker.

SHAREENA
Hank!

There are more construction workers, truck drivers, and working folk past the now awake HANK.

SHAREENA
Deb, help me out!

Deb goes to the next one.

DEB
Dan!

DAN the truck driver wakes up. Shareena and Deb continue down the row, waking up their regular diner customers.

SLASH
They said there was nothing but
cold and dark! But we broke
through!

Freed South Judians are passing Slash like a lost man on a busy subway platform. One after another, more join the ranks of the awake.

SETH
(to the South Judians)
We’ve marked the streets. You can
get home now. Just stick together!

SLASH
We crossed the barrier and we found
you!

SHAREENA
(to the South Judians)
Your families are safe! They’re
asleep at home.

SETH
(to the South Judians)
Just wait until sunrise, and you’ll
see them again!

SLASH
We want to stay here! We want to
be like you!

JOE
(to Slash)
What the fuck would you want that
for?

SLASH
You don’t even want to go home, do
you? You don’t even belong here.

While Slash confronts Joe, Seth comes across a few South Judians who are not going to wake up. Smokes, Casey, and a handful of others–they’re all standing limp with dried blood coming out of their ears. Seth touches Casey’s face for a moment to make sure, then moves on.

SLASH
(to Joe)
In our world, there is only the
mind. In our world, you can do
anything you can think. We created
our machine by thought, and now
your minds have broken it–your
mind most of all, little man. But
now that our world has leaked into
yours, we could show you how to do
powerful things. You would not be
small and broken anymore. If you
help us.

JOE
I think that barrier sounded like a
good idea.

Behind Joe, Officer Bradley wakes up the young bickering pregnant couple.

BRADLEY
Tyson! Julie!

They pop awake. Joe grabs Tyson on his way out.

JOE
Take care of her.

He pushes Tyson along and out the garage.

Emily’s gotten lost in the crowd and shoved outside. She runs into Larz, who appears to have just stumbled up the driveway.

EMILY
They’re afraid of you. They said
you’re like a bomb.

LARZ
Go home, kid. Please. Get far
away from here.

He walks past her, against the flow of escapees.

The Surgeon, reflector cracked, leaps up behind Seth and plunges his fingers into the back of his skull.

Larz enters the garage, and instantly Slash whirls on him and screams. The light flickers wildly. Creeps everywhere double over holding their heads. Sparks explode from the machine under the tarp. Smoke pours into the garage.

Larz screams now, in pain himself.

The Surgeon goes stiff and falls to the floor, releasing Seth.

Joe, Shareena, Deb, Player, Party Girl, Eddie, Bradley, and the last few escapees flee the garage. Those Creeps who are still on their feet flee with them.

Seth grabs Larz and tries to pull him out. Larz drops to his knees and shrugs Seth off, pushing him away.

Seth stumbles and rolls out of the garage. The last thing he sees before the Creeps’ lair goes dark is Larz, meeting his eyes with a knowing look. This is his choice.

And then there is only the smoke.

#77

On the ground next to the Seth are Slash and the Mechanic. Beyond, the streets of South Jude swarm with escapees hurrying home. Some of them are pursued by delirious Creeps.

An engine growls. Headlights pierce the smoke. A length of chain snaps out of the garage and falls to the driveway.

SLASH
You made them angry…

Seth leaps to his feet, turns to the other Wanderlings.

SETH
Get everyone home. Now.

The headlights blaze from the darkness in a white fury, and the Mechanic bursts into flame. An instant later, he is dust on the driveway.

SETH
NOW!

EXT. THE STREETS OF SOUTH JUDE - NIGHT
A SERIES OF SHOTS, as the people of South Jude return home:

Seth, Shareena, and Joe split up at the intersection of Kitty Drive and Grey Feather Road, each leading a pack of South Judians. They wave their flashlights to hurry their followers on.

The diner patrons rush past a Wanderling marker.

Player/Chester and Party Girl/Lili race down the street hand-in-hand.

Behind Chester and Lili, a pale gray Creep falls beneath the tires of the Truck.

Seth leads a pack of kids down Bayolo Street, pointing them to their homes as they go. Kimberly hurries down the flowered walk of her house, barrels through the front door, and slams it shut.

Jason stops to look at his battered Jeep. Joe pushes him on. A Creep vanishes in flames beside them, and the Truck roars by.

Shareena waves as Hank mounts the steps to his house. He waves back and slams the front door shut behind him.

Lili slams her front door shut.

Chester slams his front door shut.

Dan slams his front door shut.

EXT. WOLF STREET - NIGHT
Tyson, Julie, Cap’n, and Bradley run with a flailing Creep behind them. The Creep goes down as the Truck overtakes it, but then the Truck rushes past them and clips Bradley.

Bradley rolls to the ground, and the Truck squeals to a stop.

EXT. BAYOLO DRIVE - NIGHT
Eddie catches up to Seth on Bayolo Drive.

EDDIE
Seth, they’re taking out everyone!

EXT. WOLF STREET - NIGHT
The Truck pulls a three-point turn to face its new prey.

Tyson pushes Julie into the arms of the Cap’n.

TYSON
Get her home!

The Truck approaches fast.

EXT. BAYOLO DRIVE - NIGHT
Eddie’s delivers his horrible news to Seth.

EDDIE
Creep or human, we’re all going up
in smoke!

EXT. WOLF STREET - NIGHT
Cap’n takes Julie’s arm and hurries her away. Tyson waves
his arms at the Truck.

TYSON
Hey, you bastards! Over here!

The Truck pursues Tyson down the street. Cap’n pulls Julie in the opposite direction.

JULIE
(to Cap’n)
No, Daddy, I’m not leaving him!

Tyson runs like a track star with the Truck behind him.

EXT. BAYOLO DRIVE - NIGHT
Seth grabs Eddie by the shoulders.

SETH
Can you get the rest of them home?

Eddie nods. Seth takes off.

EXT. WOLF STREET - NIGHT
Tyson roars in fury as the Truck overtakes him, and he goes up in flames.

Julie screams in sync with her husband’s scream, and Cap’n holds her close as they run.

EXT. O’HARA STREET - NIGHT
One of the more rural roads near Tyson and Julie. Seth runs
along, flashlight aloft.

He winces, then raises a hand to the back of his head.

Five points of blood ooze up from his skull where the Surgeon dug into him.

EXT. DEB’S HOUSE - NIGHT
Shareena and Deb quickly hug before Deb hurries inside her dumpy little house. Deb slams the door shut.

EXT. KITTY DRIVE - NIGHT
Eddie ushers Lucy up to her house, and practically pushes her inside.

EXT. O’HARA STREET - NIGHT
Seth’s gait slows. He blinks hard. Tightens his jaw. He slumps to the ground.

The flashlight cracks and rolls away.

#78

Music: Homeward Flee

EXT. JASON’S HOUSE - NIGHT
Jason, the last of Joe’s charges, slams his door shut. Joe runs off, hopping over a Creep crumpled on the curb.

EXT. CAGE AVENUE - NIGHT/DAWN
Eddie, standing in the doorway to his house, takes a last look around. Everyone’s inside. He closes the front door. The screen door swings with a creak and shuts with a snap.

The street stands silent. The pale glow of morning is coming.

EXT. ALLEYWAY - NIGHT/DAWN
The Truck plows ahead, tossing up trash as it flies past dumpsters.

Officer Bradley steps into the light, bloody and staggering, and wielding half a broken baseball bat. He swings.

SMASH!

EXT. O’HARA STREET TO GREY FEATHER ROAD - DAWN
Seth lies facedown on the asphalt.

Joe and Shareena roll him over.

SHAREENA
Take his feet.

Shareena and Joe lift Seth between them.

SHAREENA
Which way from here?

JOE
Two blocks north, and then another
west.

They get moving. Joe has to walk backwards, and Seth sways and bumps between them.

The Truck’s headlights appear with a short screech as it wheels around the corner far behind them.

SHAREENA
Oh god…

They scurry faster.

CLOSE-UP ON THE TRUCK
The Truck’s left headlight is smashed in. The other is splattered with blood, partly obscuring the right headlight like a Rorschach blot.

BACK TO SCENE
The Truck bears down on the Wanderlings.

JOE
Down here!

They cut through an alley. The Truck roars by. They hear it squeal to a stop, and then it backs up into view. They’re only halfway down the alley when the Truck turns into it.

Shareena moans. The Truck’s light is warming the backs of her legs. They’re beginning to blister, and her waitress skirt is giving off smoke.

JOE
Switch! Switch! Switch!

They get to the end of the alley and spin around. Immediately, Joe’s bandanna bursts into flame. They both scream. Joe whips the bandanna off his head, then picks Seth back up. They hurry down the street.

The Truck blasts out of the alley, turns sharply, and follows them. They’re already at the end of the block and turning the corner. The Truck revs forward, rolling across a lawn as it cuts the corner short. It rockets off the
sidewalk and shudders as it returns to the road.

SHAREENA
We’re almost there!

They’re on Grey Feather Road now. Seth’s house is just a few houses down. From the front, with the burning light behind him, Joe almost looks like he’s glowing. His face is steely and resolved, but his eyes are tearing up.

SHAREENA
Just a little more!

Joe wails and falls, and all three of them topple to the ground.

The light brightens, overtaking them.

Joe rises to his feet, holds out his hands.

JOE
STOP!!

Without a squeal of tires, the Truck stops in the middle of the road. Its headlight goes out. The engine backfires once. And then it’s silent.

Joe drops to his knees. Shareena grabs him, and they hold each other, catching their breath over Seth’s body.

SLASH
I told you you could do it.

Joe and Shareena whirl on Slash, but they have very little energy to wield their flashlights. Slash holds his hands up in surrender anyway.

SLASH
We thought we could rule you. You
seemed so fragile, your minds
trapped inside your bodies. But
your world was made for you, not
for us. We never felt pain before
we came here. We didn’t understand
anger, or fear, or hate, or
deception, or all the other things
the Protectors kept from us.

He kneels down beside Seth.

SLASH
What do you call this? When one of
you takes pain for others?

SHAREENA
It’s love.

Slash slips his hand behind Seth’s head. Shareena makes to stop him, but Joe holds her back.

SLASH
(to Seth)
I could never be like you.

Slash clenches the bloody hair on Seth’s head. Slash arches his back in pain, his eyes roll up. And five spouts of blood trickle from the back of his pale head.

Slash drops to the ground, dead.

Seth wakes up, slowly.

Joe and Shareena lean over him, smiling.

They look back at Slash. He and the Truck are gone.

EXT. GREY FEATHER ROAD - DAWN
Seth walks home, held up between his two friends.

#79

Music: Laying To Rest

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. JOE’S PARENT’S BEDROOM - DAWN
Blurry light comes through the curtained windows, casting the contours of furniture in bluish silhouettes. Joe’s parents lie asleep naked in bed.

The phone RINGS. Joe’s Dad stirs. RING. He rolls over. RING. Grabs the phone. Mumbles.

JOE’S DAD
’lo.

JOE (V.O.)
Dad?

JOE’S DAD
(groggy)
…the hell?

JOE (V.O.)
Dad, it’s me, Joe…I’m calling to
say goodbye.

Joe’s Dad is either too groggy or hungover to fully react.

EXT. THE DINER - DAWN
Deb pours a cup of coffee for her patrons and yawns deeply.

JOE (V.O.)
Are you awake?

Joe’s goodbye continues over shots of South Jude in the sunrise.

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
The bluish-gray light of pre-sunrise morning dimly warms the living room.

Shareena’s shadow falls over a man asleep on the sofa in his clothes. It’s SHAREENA’S DAD.

His shoes sit neatly on the floor beside him.

EXT. KIMBERLY’S HOUSE - DAWN
Standing out front by the trash cans at the curb, Kimberly hangs her head, disheveled and still in the clothes she was wearing last night.

JOE (V.O.)
It’s not safe for me there anymore,
Dad. I have to go.

KIMBERLY’S FATHER holds up a trash bag full of beer cans, shaking them at her as he lectures her. Cop cars pass by, and Kimberly’s Father quickly stashes the bags in the trash can.

EXT. TALOS COURT - DAWN
The news truck passes by, tossing newspapers as it goes. A
paper lands at Emily’s house.

JOE (V.O.)
I’m not telling you where I am.

EXT. CHESTER’S HOUSE - DAWN
Chester opens the door, steps cautiously outside. Blinks in the sunlight.

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
Shareena stares down at her dad like she can’t decide whether to shout him awake or pat him on the head.

JOE (V.O.)
Maybe not ever.

EXT. LARZ’S HOUSE - DAWN
Larz’s parents stand outside speaking to a couple of police officers. The officers take notes, while Larz’s Mom clings to his Dad.

JOE (V.O.)
It’s going to keep you up nights.

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
Shareena leans down and picks up a pill bottle from the end table, examines it. She looks satisfied, relieved.

EXT. LILI’S HOUSE - DAWN
Lili opens her bedroom window. She sees Chester standing outside his house across the street.

JOE (V.O.)
Or maybe you’ll just forget me.

They wave at each other.

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
Shareena, barefoot now, pads down the hallway.

EXT. CASILDA STREET - DAWN
Officers prowl around Bradley’s abandoned patrol car. One looks inside, perplexed and worried.

EXT. FURPEY COURT - DAWN
Emily, frazzled and without her backpack, wanders down the street.

JOE (V.O.)
Until one night, when you finally
start to drift off…

A car stops behind her suddenly. She turns.

JOE (V.O.)
…and you’re half awake and half
dreaming, like now…

It’s a blue sedan. EMILY’S PARENTS, clothed in rumpled evening-wear, burst out of the car. She waits as they swoop in and scoop her up.

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
Shareena enters her mother’s bedroom, where her mother lies asleep. She smiles and pulls off her apron.

EXT. ALLEY - DAWN
A pair of paramedics carries a covered stretcher toward their ambulance. A broken, bloody baseball bat lies nearby.

JOE (V.O.)
And you remember…

EXT. JULIE AND TYSON’S HOUSE - DAWN
Julie sits on the porch swing, dazed and red-eyed with tears. Cap’n holds her.

JOE (V.O.)
I want you to remember…

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
Shareena crawls into the bed and curls up next to her mother.

INT. JOE’S PARENT’S BEDROOM - DAWN
Joe’s Dad lies in bed with the phone pressed to his ear.

JOE (V.O.)
…that I love you.

EXT. GRUMPY MAN’S HOUSE - DAWN
Grumpy Man waddles down his walk to pick up the paper. He stands up, paper in hand, and suddenly notices tire tracks torn through the corner of his unkempt lawn.

#80

Music: The Last Sunrise

INT. JARVIS HOME, KITCHEN - DAWN
Joe sits at the kitchen table within the swirl of the bustling Jarvis family, eating breakfast.

JOE
Tell Mom the same thing for me,
okay?

Joe waits a moment for a response, then hangs up.

INT. SHAREENA’S HOUSE - DAWN
Shareena closes her eyes, and for the first time in days, falls asleep…

EXT. JARVIS BACKYARD - MORNING
Mr. Jarvis, in his robe, shovels dirt onto a small, fresh grave.

Behind him, the back door opens, and Seth steps out. Mr. Jarvis keeps shoveling. Seth bends over and picks up a brick nearby. The name “GOOSE” is scratched into it.

Seth places the brick as Mr. Jarvis drops the last of the dirt on the grave.

They stand together, and Seth slips his arm around his dad. They lean on each other.

Above them, the sun finally rises over South Jude.

FADE OUT

THE END