Day of The Dead

Day of The Dead   
FADE IN:

1 EXT. THE EMPTY STREET OF A CITY - DAY

 No people. A FEW CARS AND TRUCKS are parked at odd angles,
 abandoned. A TITLE FADES IN, one phrase at a time.

  FIVE YEAR...
  SINCE THE DEAD FIRST WALKED.

2 EXT. THE CITY - DAY

 We hear THE SOUND OF A STRONG WIND. DEBRIS flutters through the
 streets. A LARGE ALLIGATOR slithers into frame, stops and
 looks around.

 MONTAGE: as MORE GATORS explore the empty streets, knocking
 over GARBAGE CANS, upsetting the MANNEQUINS in A DEPARTMENT
 STORE WINDOW. A GATOR crawls out through the open doors of AN
 ABANDONED BANK. LOOSE BILLS are dragged along under the
 animal's tail. They flutter away on the WIND.

3 EXT. THE CITY - DAY

 GATORS crawl over A '79 CADELLIC. A FEMALE SKELETON sits
 slumped over the steering wheel. In the back a BABY'S BONES are
 strapped into AN INFANT'S SAFETY SEAT. One of the gators THUMPS
 its tail maddeningly against the windshield. ANOTHER TITLE
 APPEAR:

  FLORIDA - 1987

4 EXT. THE CITY - DAY

 CLOSE ON A SECTION OF PAVEMENT as we hear THE SOUND OF SLUGGISH
 FOOTSTEPS approaching. A SHADOW appears at the bottom of the
 frame. It gets longer and takes on the shape of a man.

 TIGHT ON THE AFTERNOON SUN, blinding us. Into the FOREGROUND
 lurches THE FIGURE which cast the shadow. Glare obscures all
 facial detail until the head jogs into position directly in
 front of the fiery ball in the sky. Then we see its hideous,
 dead eyes, its blue-grey colour, the blackened wound where a
 large portion of jaw has been ripped away. This is a ZOMBIE! A
 MUSIC CHORD SOUNDS and THE MAIN TITLE APPEARS:

    DAY OF THE DEAD

5 EXT. THE CITY - DAY

 HEAD CREDITS ROLL over A MONTAGE: the CITY STREETS are now
 populated by the WALKING DEAD. In every shape, size and colour
 they wander, without purpose, up and down the avenues, in and
 out of buildings. The city is theirs, they have inherited the
 place. Man, in his human form, seems to be gone.

 As the CREDITS END, we CUT TO:

6 EXT. A MAIN STREET - DAY

 We are looking down from a HIGH ANGLE. The corner of A TALL
 BUILDING is in the FOREGROUND. A CORPSE is dangling from A
 NOOSE. It's been dead for some time. It's mostly bone now, its
 blackened flesh picked clean by scavenger birds and harbour
 rats. A SIGN flaps against its chest cavity. Its hurriedly
 scrawled message reads: TAKE ME, LORD! I LOVE YOU!

 THE ROPE BREAKS suddenly and THE CORPSE FALLS out of frame.

7 EXT. THE STREET - DAY

 We're at GROUND LEVEL now...SMACK!!! THE CORPSE HITS THE
 PAVEMENT and SHATTERS as though made of potter's clay. BONES
 bounce over a wide area. THE SIGN is carried off by the WIND.

8 EXT. AN ABANDONED MARINA - DAY

 THE SIGN gallops across the grass of A HARBOUR PARK towards the
 water where A FEW DERELICT BOATS sway in the WIND.

 Slowly, THE SOUND OF A MOTOR FADES IN.

9 EXT. THE MARINA (CLOSER ANGLE) - DAY

 A FISHING BOATS, old and sea-worn, chugs into the harbour.

10 EXT. THE MARINA (CLOSE ON THE FISHING BOAT) - DAY

 There are people on board, THREE MEN AND TWO WOMEN. They look
 like guerilleros from somewhere in Latin America. They're
 heavily armed, unshaven, covered with months worth of jungle
 crud. They are obviously exhausted. They gazeup to the city.
 Their deep-sunken eyes are too war-weary to show much emotion but
 we can read their despair.

    TONY
  Another dead place. I tol' you. Let's
  get out to the islands.

    MIGUEL
  The radio signals were coming from this
  area.

    TONY
  Not from the city. In every city it's
  the same. Dead. Let's get out to the
  barrier islands. If there are survivors
  sending those signals that's where
  we'll find them.

    MIGUEL
  Plenty of time for the islands. The
  rest of our...life...on the islands...I
  think.

 Miguel is drifting. The sight of the dead city has pushed him a
 few inches closer to the brink of insanity. He catches himself
 and comes back toward reality.

    MIGUEL
  We gotta see if there are others here.
  We came all this way. We're gonna check
  it out.

11 EXT. THE MARINA (AT THE DOCKS) - DAY

 CLOSE ON THE OPEN GASOLINE RECEPTACLE in the hull of AN
 ABANDONED BOAT. A WOMAN'S HANDS shove a LENGTH OF HOSE down
 into the hole.

 The woman, MARIA, puts the other end of the hose to her mouth
 and sucks the air out.

 At ANOTHER DERELICT BOAT, TONY sucks on ANOTHER HOSE.

    TONY
  Ptoooo! Nothing! Dry as a bone. No gas.
  Let's get outa here.

    MIGUEL
  Check them all. And check the tanks
  under the pumps.

 MIGUEL and the other two guerilleros, SARAH AND CHICO, start to
 walk up the dock towards the harbour park, toward the city.
 MIGUEL has AN ELECTRONIC BULLHORN in one hand, his AUTOMATIC
 RIFLE ready in the other.

12 EXT. THE HARBOUR PARK - DAY

 THE TRIO of refugees move across the grass. The WIND blows
 DEBRIS around them as they stare towards the downtown
 buildings. MIGUEL lifts THE BULLHORN to his mouth.

    MIGUEL
  HELLO. IS THERE ANYONE THERE? HELLO.
  HELLOOOOOOO....

13  EXT. THE CITY - DAY

 MONTAGE: as THE WALKING DEAD hear that human VOICE. Throughout
 the city they turned towards THE SOUND, at once confused and
 excited.

    MIGUEL (o.s.)
  HELLOOOOOOOOOOO....

 THE DEAD start to GROAN hungrily, almost pleadingly. All over
 the city their VOICES RISE.

14 EXT. THE HARBOUR PARK - DAY

 It comes to MIGUEL AND THE OTHERS as A MASSIVE WALL OF NOISE,
 THE SOUND of hundreds-of-thousands of damned souls moaning on
 one solid voice. The sound of hell on earth.

15 EXT. THE MARINA (AT THE DOCKS) - DAY

 TONY AND MARIA hear it as well and feel the familiar grip of
 cold fear. Maria makes the sign of the cross.

    MARIA
  Dios mia.

    TONY
  I tol' him. I tol' him this is a dead
  place. Like all the others.

 CUT TO:

16 EXT. THE CITY (FROM THE WATER) - DAY

 We see the place FROM A GREAT DISTANCE. In the FOREGROUND THE
 FISHING BOAT, with all five REFUGEES back on board, chugs into
 open waters.

 CUT TO:

17 EXT. A SMALL PRIVATE DOCK - DAY

 Away from the city, this dock is wooden, rickety. DERELICT
 BOATS rust at their moorings. THE FISHING BOAT is tied-on at
 one end of the pier and THE GUERILLEROS are moving through the
 area, scavenging. This time CHICO helps MARIA with the SIPHON
 HOSES. TONY lingers sullenly near the fishing boat which has
 its motor still idling.

 MARIA'S SIPHON HOSE is stuffed into the gas tank of A LARGE
 TRAWLER. She sucks on the hose and, unexpectedly, foul tasting
 liquid fills her mouth.

    MARIA
  AY! GASOLINA! GASOLINA!

 Without warning, A FIGURE pops up from behind the side wall of
 the trawler. He reaches out and grabs the woman, pulling her
 against the boat, his arm around her neck, a pistol to her
 head.

 TONY sees the action. He dives into the fishing boat, crawls
 over to his RIFLE and scrambles towards the pilot's controls.

 With a lightning move, MARIA pulls A KNIFE from her belt. She
 wrenches around and PLUNGES THE BLADE INTO HER ATTACKER'S
 CHEST. The man staggers back, screaming. MARIA breaks away and
 runs across the dock. THE MAN FIRES HIS PISTOL wildly.

 MARIA IS HIT IN THE ARM. She tumbles forwards onto the decking.

 TONY reacts, OPENING FIRE WITH HIS AUTOMATIC.

 BULLETS RIP INTO THE ATTACKERS CHEST: HE FALLS OUT OF THE
 TRAWLER onto the dock, but TWO MORE GUNMEN appear behind him,
 mean-looking desperadoes with RIFLE SPITTING LEAD.

 TONY ducks as low as he can. He grabs the controls and pilots
 the fishing boat along the edge of the dock toward the downed
 woman.

18 EXT. THE PRIVATE DOCK - DAY

 MIGUEL, SARAH AND CHICO react to the gunfire. They draw their
 WEAPONS and look for cover.

 They are at the far end of the dock, their backs to the sea.
 There is a WORK SHED nearby. BULLETS WHIZ past them as they
 charge towards the wooden structure. They make it there safely
 and they begin to RETURN FIRE. A gun battle ensues between the
 two groups.

19 EXT. THE PRIVATE DOCK - DAY

 MARIA, her ARM BLEEDING, rolls off the dock and into THE
 FISHING BOAT. TONY guns the engine and the boat pulls out into
 open water.