I am Legend

In six days--less than a week--the world turned

upside down. San Francisco became a war zone.

Do you know what people do when you tell them

they no longer have rights? That an individual is

powerless? They fight. It was ludicrous to think

mankind would just roll on its back and comply.

I saw my neighbors--people I've known for years--

become bloodthirsty savages. Infected, uninfected,

it didn't matter. We were all driven mad. The survival

instinct went ballistic. Food, guns, medicine, blood

--it all became priceless. Worth killing for. Those

who had became the targets of the had nots.

A city of five million people. Within a month more

than half were dead. Six weeks later, about ten thousand

like me. AB Negatives. We were all determined to

(MORE)

NEVILLE (cont'd)

live. But we didn't gather together. There was no

unity. It was every man for himself. Trust had

been abolished. By the end of the year, it was me.

Just me.

ANNA

How? How did you do it?

NEVILLE

I remained calm. It's the great secret of survival.

When all around is chaos, when everyone is driven

to the brink of insanity... relax.

ANNA

(a confession)

Don't you... Don't you wish, sometimes,

that you died too? With everybody else?

NEVILLE

Every day.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. A sensor ALARM. Neville bolts to the surveillance center. Scans the monitors for signs of activity, but finds nothing.

NEVILLE

I'm going to the roof. Stay here.

He grabs a rifle and heads up the staircase. Anna moves to the videotapes. Curious to find a certain something...

EXT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - ROOFTOP - NIGHT

Neville surveys the area with binoculars. For a brief moment, he thinks he SEES SOMEONE going over the far fence. He raises the rifle scope, but finds nothing.

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

VIDEO IMAGE. Neville's wife, ELLEN, playing in a park with daughter GRACE. Home video. Happy times.

NEVILLE'S VOICE

Turn it off.

REVEAL ANNA. Watching the tape. She turns to him...

ANNA

She was beautiful.

NEVILLE

Turn it off, Anna.

ANNA

What happened to her...?

NEVILLE

TURN IT OFF.

He MOVES to the TV and presses the wrong button. The image won't go away. Angry, disturbed, he frantically tries to shut it off, then YANKS the plug out of the wall.

NEVILLE

Don't do that again. Ever.

He shuts off the other electronics.

NEVILLE

You should get some sleep.

ANNA

What about you?

NEVILLE

I'll be fine. I get about two or three

hours just before dawn.

ANNA

You sure?

NEVILLE

Go to bed, Anna. Please.

She heads upstairs. Steals a glance at him, but he isn't looking at her, he's looking at his reflection in the blank TV screen.

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT - A FEW HOURS LATER

Anna sleeps. An angel. REVEAL NEVILLE standing over her.

DISSOLVE TO:

Neville lies on a mat on the floor. Staring at the ceiling.

FLASHBACK TO:

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - DAY

ELLEN stands at the living room window, anxious, nervous. OUTSIDE, ARMY HELICOPTERS fly overhead. The streets are virtually deserted. Dusk is approaching. And the curfew. Ellen checks her watch. The Land Rover SCREECHES into the driveway. NEVILLE hurries into the house carrying a big gym bog. Ellen opens the door and LOCKS it once he's inside.

ELLEN

Where were you?!

Neville draws the curtains.

ELLEN

You have a phone in the goddamn car.

NEVILLE

Kitchen door locked?

ELLEN

What?

NEVILLE

IS IT LOCKED?!

Neville opens the bag revealing a MACHINE GUN and clips of ammunition. Ellen is paralyzed by the sight of it.

NEVILLE

Where's Grace?

ELLEN

Asleep.

NEVILLE

How's she doing? Is she...

ELLEN

Bob!

NEVILLE

WHAT?

ELLEN

Where did you get it?

NEVILLE

One of my students is in the National

Guard. He gave it to me.

ELLEN

Gave it to you?

NEVILLE

I traded him.

ELLEN

Traded what?

NEVILLE

Blood. My blood. There's some kind of

rumor going around that transfusions of

AB Neg can keep you safe.

ELLEN

Is that true?

NEVILLE

No. But he thinks so.

ELLEN

For God's sake, what if they find out?!

Do you know what they'll do? They're

killing people who hide guns!

NEVILLE

Just SHUT UP, Ellen. Okay?

They stop when they sense Grace in the room. She's staring at them with dark, glassy eyes. Emaciated, clearly infected. She just looks at them--as if their fighting was her fault.

GRACE

Daddy? I'm scared.

Neville feels an overwhelming sadness. He moves to her just as she faints.

THE IMAGE DISTORTS. A few days later. We MOVE with Neville into a DARKENED BEDROOM...

NEVILLE

Ellen?

He SEES his wife, sitting on the edge of the bed. Her wrist is BLEEDING and the weak Grace is drinking from the wound. A guilty Ellen explains to her horrified husband...

ELLEN

She needs it, Bob. And I'm not afraid.

What is meant to pass will pass.

THE IMAGE DISTORTS. TWO C.D.C. MEN IN BIOHAZARD SUITS enter the house. A BIOHAZARD-SUITED NATIONAL GUARDSMAN stands watch. The C.D.C. Men see Grace's dead form. Neville stands in a corner, very near the edge of shock. One of the C.D.C. men turns to him, his voice electronically distorted...

C.D.C. MAN ONE

It's just the two of you, sir?

NEVILLE

Yes. My wife died last week.

They load Grace into a body bag and carry her to the door. OUTSIDE, a GARBAGE TRUCK waits. More GUARDSMEN. More GARBAGE TRUCKS on every street. The distraught Neville, maintaining composure, moves to his pre-customization Land Rover.

NEVILLE

I'm coming with you.

C.D.C. MAN ONE

That's not allowed.

NEVILLE

I'm AB Negative. Besides, you can't stop

me. I still have that right.

THE IMAGE DISTORTS. Neville's Rover stops outside the ARMY GOLF COURSE--the MASS BURIAL SITE. The GARBAGE TRUCK unceremoniously dumps its cargo. The body bags fall. A BIOHAZARD-SUITED WORKER carrying a large HOSE sprays the corpses with GASOLINE. Another WORKER tosses a TORCH over the side and the pit ERUPTS IN FLAMES. Neville watches in horror, the crimson fire reflected against his skin.

THE IMAGE DISTORTS. Neville in his HOUSE. He UNLOCKS the door to the master bedroom. KNOCKS a warning...

NEVILLE

Ellen? It's me.

He pushes into the room and we SEE a terrified Ellen huddled in the corner clutching the machine gun. She is pale and emaciated. Sweating, paranoid. Infected.

ELLEN

Are they gone?

NEVILLE

(tenderly)

They're gone, sweetie.

He kneels beside her. Eases the gun out of her tight grip.

NEVILLE

It's okay...

ELLEN

Is she...?

NEVILLE

She's gone, honey. It's over for her.

She's at peace.

Ellen begins to sob. Desperately hugs him.

ELLEN

Oh God, Bob. Just kill me. Please.

It would probably be best, but the idea is anathema to him.

NEVILLE

I can't do that.

THE IMAGE DISTORTS. The CEMETERY. Working quietly and in darkness, Neville slips past SECURITY and carries Ellen's dead body to the TOMB. INSIDE THE CRYPT, he lays her to rest. She's dressed in her WEDDING GOWN. Neville places her within the stone coffin and kneels in prayer.

NEVILLE

I love you, Ellen. I will love you forever.

CLOSE ON HER FACE as the stone coffin lid slides into place.

THE IMAGE DISTORTS. San Francisco in ruins. Buildings and cars on fire, crashed helicopters smoldering in the streets. HORRIBLE CRIES of pain and thirst.

NEVILLE'S HOUSE. The first crude barricades up.

INSIDE, Neville sits in a chair in the center of the room, empty bottles of LIQUOR at his feet, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Dirty, unshaven. The machine gun resting in his lap. He just stares. Waiting. FISTS POUND AGAINST THE DOOR,. GLASS BREAKS. ARMS REACH INSIDE.

He waits. A small band of HEMOCYTES breaks through the front door. Neville readies the machine gun, stands. Calm. The terrifying creatures move toward him. Six, maybe eight. And he sees the leader's face...

Ellen.

Skin translucent, body muscular, almost naked--the wedding gown stripped away. Her eyes are icy, dead. Long claws extend from her fingertips. She smiles at her husband...

ELLEN

Robert...

Neville raises the gun to his eye. Takes aim. Ellen and the Hemocytes are upon him. He looks into her lifeless eyes. Hungry for him. I knew you would come, Ellen. I knew.

NEVILLE

God forgive me.

And he OPENS FIRE.

END FLASHBACK.

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT

Neville SCREAMS as he comes awake from his nightmare. He lashes out at imaginary attackers. Utterly terrified. Anna JUMPS from her bed and tries to calm him...

ANNA

Robert! It's okay!

He flails, but she holds him. He leans into her, sobbing.

ANNA

It's okay...

They both receive something from the embrace. A connection. A necessary thing. A simple human need for touch, for understanding. He looks into her eyes. She gently touches his face. They kiss. Deeply, passionately.

They make love with deep emotion, sensitivity, and passion. As if they were proving to each other and to themselves that they are still human, that they can steel feel.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING

Neville prepares breakfast for Anna.

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - MORNING

Carrying a tray, Neville quietly enters and delivers breakfast-in-bed to her. Sunlight streams in through the window-slits. She leans against him and he holds her.

EXT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - DAY

Neville and Anna walk the perimeter. Hesitantly, she reaches out and takes his hand.

ANNA

Would you ever leave here?

Neville doesn't answer. He spots something entwined in the barbed wire over the main gate. He lets go her hand and climbs up a series of ladder steps nailed into the wood on the interior of the gate posts. He reaches the top and pulls out a piece of clothing...

A little boy's BLUE PARKA.

NEVILLE

How'd this get up here?

Unseen by Neville, Anna is frozen. Her eyes fixed on the parka. Color drains from her face. Neville drops to the ground and examines the dirty, tattered coat.

NEVILLE

Must've been a bad wind last night.

He turns to Anna, who is still fixed on the parka.

NEVILLE

What's wrong?

ANNA

Nothing.

She smiles and kisses him.

ANNA

Let's go inside.

INT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY

In a series of DISSOLVES, they make love all afternoon.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. NEVILLE'S HOUSE - ROOFTOP - DUSK

Neville stands in the crow's nest, eyes on the horizon. A vibrant red-and-purple sky. Massive clouds. Breathtaking. Neville exudes a sense of peace. A beguiling tranquility.

ANNA'S VOICE

Robert?

He turns and sees her. She wears a simple, pretty dress and a scarf around her neck. Very feminine. Ellen's.

NEVILLE

You look beautiful.

ANNA

Dinner's ready.

She goes to him and he holds her. Has she been crying?

NEVILLE

Are you sad?

ANNA

No. No.

She kisses him. Looks at his dirty hands and clothes.

ANNA

You should wash up.

Her smile seems genuine. He obeys and heads downstairs.

NEVILLE

Yes ma'am.

Anna hesitates.

ANNA

I'll be right down.

I just want to look at the sunset.

Neville smiles and descends. when he is out of sight, Anna's smile fades. She appears distraught, torn. She undoes the SCARF and ties it high on the crows nest, like a flag.

A signal.