Two Winters Past

EXT. HIGHWAY. MORNING.

A clear, Spring morning. Birds are singing. Sun is out.

We are overlooking a wide Valley. In the distance we see the Cooley compound. Smoke rises from the compound. The horde of monsters is still in the valley, moving south. There may be a thousand or more.

Zoom out to reveal VALENTINE standing at the edge of the highway, at a clear edge where the asphalt has collapsed and cleared the vegetation below.

REVERSE to wide angle of the highway with a closeup of VALENTINE on right of screen. A few cars remain where they stopped after the power disappeared. Some have sustained damage in the final crashes. All are covered in a layer of dirt that obscures all but a few smudges of the original color. VALENTINE clenches his teeth behind his lips.

VALENTINE goes to a sedan with the back door open. He looks inside.

CHLOE ISIS is lays inside. She uses a discarded coat as a blanket.

VALENTINE: Chloe, I think we should get going.

CHLOE ISIS: No.

VALENTINE: Chloe, come on. I know it’s hard, but we are still in danger.

CHLOE ISIS: It hurts to walk.

VALENTINE: I’ll give you my shoes. There are houses along the highway, we can find some new clothes.

CHLOE ISIS: You go.

VALENTINE: I’m not leaving without you.

CHLOE ISIS: Find new clothes. Bring them here.

VALENTINE is silent a moment.

VALENTINE: What did Chris teach?

CHLOE ISIS: I don’t want to talk about Chris!

VALENTINE: I know, but you like to, and it couldn’t hurt right now, could it?

CHLOE ISIS: (hesitates) Ancient Theology.

VALENTINE: Woah!

CHLOE ISIS: What’s that supposed to mean?

VALENTINE: Doesn’t sound like the type of guy to go charging into a city full of zombies.

CHLOE ISIS: They aren’t zombies.

VALENTINE: I know, but that’s what everyone calls them...

CHLOE ISIS: They’re not zombies. They’re alive. Something is controlling the bodies, and Chris believed it came from that confluence.

VALENTINE: The river did this?

CHLOE ISIS: Something in the river. Down in the muck.

VALENTINE: (wry smile) That’s crazy.

CHLOE ISIS: Crazier than zombies?

VALENTINE: You were his student?

CHLOE ISIS hesitates.

CHLOE ISIS:  At first.

VALENTINE: What do we do when we get to the river?

CHLOE ISIS: I don’t know. Did Chris ever get there?

VALENTINE: Downtown is completely overrun. No one can get in there. The zombies, they come from all around, and they fill up that park. Then they just stand there. There are thousands of them! And they don’t do anything. They just stand there... like they’re waiting.

CHLOE ISIS climbs out of the car.

CHLOE ISIS: Why didn’t you tell me this?

VALENTINE: I just told you.

CHLOE ISIS: Val, this is important! Do they attack?

VALENTINE: I don’t know, I don’t go over there. We stayed in a different part of the city, I only saw it once.

CHLOE ISIS: Everywhere else, the zombies have disappeared, how many are there?

VALENTINE: Hundreds. At least.

CHLOE ISIS: Waiting at the confluence.

VALENTINE: I guess I didn’t think about it. I went there only one time.

CHLOE ISIS: Val, this is amazing! This means Chris was right!

VALENTINE: That doesn’t mean we can stop it.

CHLOE ISIS: No, but it means we can try!