Two Winters Past

Scene 5

EXT. FOREST. MORNING

Fade in on a low shot of woods, looking up a hill toward a dilapidated garage. Rusted vehicles and debris spill from the broken doors. A desiccated human corpse lays in the dirt. VALENTINE steps into view and camera pans up and zooms out to encompass him. He wears earth-colored clothes and carries an assault rifle. VALENTINE ascends the path to the garage. He looks around, picking up unusable pieces and tossing them aside.

POPPER (OS): We could shoot you before you shoot us.

VALENTINE throws up his hands, steps into the light.

VALENTINE: I was just walking through. I’ve been trying to find people. If you can spare some food or a place to sleep, I'll appreciate it. Otherwise, I'll keep walking.

GRANT: This is Lembek territory. You’re trespassing.

VALENTINE: I'll try to pay any tax, but I don't have much.

GRANT enters. He is short with dark hair and carries a shotgun.

GRANT: (Laughing) A tax? You hear that, Popper? Where you from?

VALENTINE: Parlor City.

GRANT: Are you still trying to collect money off each other back in the city. That’s probably what got us in this mess in the first place!

VALENTINE: Whatever you want to call it. I don’t have anything.

GRANT: What about that gun?

VALENTINE: It’s empty. I’ll trade it. I don’t know how to use it anyway.

POPPER enters. He is huge, and carries an assault rifle.

POPPER: Why don’t we just take it?

VALENTINE: It’s the only thing I have. If you’re going to rob me, you might as well kill me.

POPPER: (to GRANT) Check it.

GRANT takes the gun, checks the bolt.

GRANT: It's true.

POPPER: If a Lembek found you, he’d kill you for sure.

VALENTINE: I don’t know Lembeks. I hiked out yesterday. Things are bad.

GRANT: Parlor City’s overrun.

VALENTINE: Just Downtown, gangs have the rest. Look, I haven’t eaten since last night. If you want to sit around talking, can you give me a slice of bread or something.

GRANT takes a plastic bag of nuts from his pocket and tosses them to VALENTINE. VALENTINE devours hungrily.

VALENTINE: I can’t remember the last time I ate walnuts.

GRANT: Don’t get greedy now, I ain’t had any neither.

VALENTINE: Where did you get this?

GRANT: Lembeks got a secret storehouse they think nobody knows about. Well, I found it, and we just left.

VALENTINE: Is there more? I can help you carry if you will hook me up with some supplies.

GRANT: That would be great! I’m Grant, this is Popper.

VALENTINE: I’m Valentine.

ALL shake hands. VALENTINE sits on a tree stump to savor nuts. POPPER and GRANT stand.

GRANT: Good to meet you.

POPPER: I don’t think we should go back just yet. I heard a lot of noise. Could be Lembeks.

GRANT: Could be zombies.

VALENTINE: You call them zombies?

VALENTINE takes another handful of walnuts and hands them back to GRANT.

GRANT: What else you going to call them?

VALENTINE: Not zombies. They’re not dead. You shoot them in the heart, shoot them in the head, they die. Shoot them in the lungs, it may take a few minutes, but they die. Just don’t seem to mind pain at all.

GRANT: Zombies.

VALENTINE: No!

POPPER: You ever kill one?

VALENTINE: In Parlor City, you’ve got to kill as many as you can.

GRANT: We can’t sit here. You done eating yet?

VALENTINE: Yeah, let’s go.

FADE TO BLACK