Two Winters Past

EXT. COUNTRY. MORNING.

We hear first the sound of a motorcycle engine. The roar is heavy.

CLOSEUP: Truck along with a motorcycle tire rolling on cracked asphalt. Zooming out as the bike dodges a discarded vehicle. Continue zoom to reveal BLYTHE driving. Behind him KAY has her arms wrapped around his waist.

The sky above is diffused white, streaked blue as the clouds have begun to break up. Signs on the roadside read ‘low-flying airplanes.’ The end of the runway is a titanic earthen mound on one side of the road. The other side drops into a valley so deep that the road is even with the tops of the fir trees below.

We pass a pond at an intersection. BLYTHE continues without stopping, down the road into the conifer trees beyond. Houses were hidden there. The yards are now overgrown and the windows are dirty and broken.

BLYTHE stops the bike in the driveway of a white house. Forest marks the borders of the yard.

BLYTHE dismounts.

BLYTHE: If we go any further on this thing, they’ll shoot us on sight. Only one people got motorcycles, and they ain’t our friends.

BLYTHE helps KAY off the bike.

KAY: How does it work with no electricity?

BLYTHE: You got me. Motorcycles are old, older than batteries, and somehow those Triangles figured out how to make it work. Turner will probably have the guys rip this thing apart to see how it ticks.

KAY: Can we leave it here?

BLYTHE: I’ll come back for it.

They walk. Beyond the houses the trees open up again.

From here, we first see the Castle.

EXT. CASTLE. MORNING.

A chain link fence marks the yard, barbed wire across the top. Road leads to a gate that is closed and guarded by two men in black suits. Inside the gate we see a paved road that leads up the hill to a long line of dump trucks shoved nose to tail. The gaps between the trucks have been covered with sheet metal and plywood. Soldiers walk the walls.

Helicopter over. Dump trucks form a half-circle completed against a tall, artificial-looking hill covered with an exceptionally green grass. Inside we see prefab structures and a half-dozen mobile homes arranged around a parade yard.  A handful of soldiers spar with wood-axes. On the flagpole, the Stars and Bars still fly.

Soldiers in black watch the approach from concrete crenelations built on the hoods of the truck.  They carry shotguns and have wood-cutting axes strapped across their backs. Several men are pointing and shouting at Blythe.

BLYTHE: Welcome to the Castle.

KAY: You cut down all these trees?

BLYTHE: This was a garbage dump! No shit, three acres completely clear and leveled. We pulled those dump trucks into a circle and built some structures on the inside. If anything gets through the chain link fence, we can close off the gate between the trucks, and the place is impenetrable. That’s why we call it the Castle. A lot of the guys already had experience in construction.

CLOSEUP: KAY grows agitated. Her eyes dart about.

BLYTHE: You’ll need to see Sprague first. He clears everyone. You might get a couple shots.

KAY: (nervous) Who is Sprague?

BLYTHE:  He’s the doctor. He takes care of everyone.  After what happened with that old lady, he’s going to insist on a physical.

KAY is increasingly panicked.

KAY: Don’t tell him about her. Don’t tell him about Vic.

They reach the chain link fence, where GAMBLE and FRANK are waiting.

BLYTHE: I have to tell them, that’s the rule.

KAY: No. No, forget it, I don’t want to go in!

BLYTHE: What are you talking about?

KAY: Thank’s for your help, I’ll be fine on my own.

KAY darts away, but BLYTHE is quicker, bear-hugging her as she dashes past.

KAY loses all control, fighting and kicking against him. Some of her noises are close to words.

GAMBLE: What the fuck, Blythe?

FRANK: You been hanging with Cooleys or something?

BLYTHE: Help me man, she lost it!

GAMBLE and FRANK help subdue KAY.

BLYTHE: Be careful! Be careful, don’t hurt her!