Two Winters Past

INT. TRAILER. MIDDAY.

Small living room with two small cabinets and two small chairs. IKE sits on one chair reading a magazine.

BLYTHE enters. IKE does not stand.

IKE: Sergent.

BLYTHE: That’s one hell of a salute.

IKE: I guess this means you’re moving back in?

BLYTHE: You didn’t give away my room yet, did you?

BLYTHE sits, looks at a magazine on the table.

BLYTHE: These were old when the world ended!

IKE: Turner happy to see you?

BLYTHE: Oh yeah.

BLYTHE tosses the magazine.

IKE: I heard Spider came back with you.

BLYTHE: Spider’s dead. Couple nights ago. She got bit.

IKE: Oh, man, I’m sorry. She was a cool chick.

BLYTHE: I found this girl when I was trying to lose some Triangles. Some old lady had her locked up. Bodies cut up and rotting all over the place. Cannibalism or something.

IKE: Cannibals? Here?

BLYTHE: Over in the Town’a Maine. I didn’t see anyone else.

IKE: Did you see the Swordsman? He came through, a week ago.

BLYTHE: He found me a few days ago. He says Muslims are coming. I still say it’s Cooleys we got to worry about. Two of them boys pushed a ripper through my front door.

IKE: You see them push it?

BLYTHE: I saw them in my bedroom trying to have their way with my girl!

IKE: The dead one?

BLYTHE: Show some sympathy.

IKE: Sorry man. Did you hear yourself? Got a real-life army coming up this way.  I didn’t come out here to scare off rednecks slapping each other upside the head.

BLYTHE: You’re killing me.

IKE gets up, feints and jabs at BLYTHE’s ribs. BLYTHE bats him away.

IKE: I came up here to fight. These damn Cooleys don’t want to kill each other, they seen too much of that already.

BLYTHE stands.

BLYTHE: You’re the one who saw to that.

IKE: Hey man, I was just following orders. We only shot at anyone who shot first.

IKE is lost in thought a moment. He sits.

IKE: Don’t joke about that. Fucking awful shit.

BLYTHE: Sorry, man…

IKE: We thought we’d build ranks easy. We had numbers for safety, we had food, but still people fought us everywhere we went. Families wanted to stay together. You can see only so many before you thinking there ain’t no United States left to have an army.

BLYTHE: Probably a thousand United States Armies out there now, just like ours.

IKE: A prisoner told me about the Castle. Turner gave a better offer.

BLYTHE: Where is that prisoner now?

IKE: I helped him best I could. Unfortunately he needed a little more help than that. Already bitten. I had to put him down before he bit my throat out. You working today?

BLYTHE: Gate duty first day back, then I’m digging a trench.

IKE: (laughs) You did piss Turner off.

Knock on the door.

BLYTHE: Nobody’s home!

GAMBLE (OS): Sprague wants to see you.

BLYTHE: (Standing) That’s never good.

IKE opens the door.

IKE: What’s he want?

GAMBLE: None of my business. Told me to collect the Sergeant.

IKE: Ain’t you supposed to salute?

Continued tomorrow