Chapter Text
[The school bell rings and a crowd of students exit Nockfell High School, chatting and laughing, all too excited for the upcoming weekend. Sal and his friends Larry, Ashley, Todd, Maple, and Chug were walking together, making their way to the buses.]
LARRY: What're your plans for this weekend, Ash?
ASHLEY: Oh, nothing. You guys doing anything?
SAL: Why'd you ask just Ashley, Larry?
[Larry elbowed Sal in the arm and Ashley giggled.]
LARRY: I'm just being nice, bro!
SAL: Okay, okay! No, we don't have plans.
[They all enter the bus. It's rowdy and loud in the front, so they take their squad to the back. Ashley and Maple sit in one seat together, Sal, Larry, and Todd manage to squeeze each other into one, while Chug takes a seat all to himself.]
[Travis is sitting in one of the seats, alone, just looking out the window. The group doesn't really take notice of him.]
MAPLE: I'm free tonight. We should get together.
CHUG: I wanna beat that one level on your Gearboy, Sal. I'm so close to the final boss.
SAL: That sounds fun.
TODD: I'll see if Neil can come over. Hopefully he’s feeling better today.
ASHLEY: Oooh! Hanging out with your boyfriend, huh?~
TODD: [blushing] Stop teasing me.
SAL: Migraines go away after a day or two. I’m sure he’ll be better today.
[The bus began moving and heading to each of its destinations. Maple and Ashley were having a conversation in their seat and the boys were screwing around in theirs. As the bus approached Travis's house, one of the many houses in Nockfell Homes, he stood up and began getting his things together. As he was on his way out, Sal spoke up]
SAL: Bye, Travis! Have a good weekend.
[Travis just turned to look at him with a confused expression. Without a word he exited the bus.]
LARRY: What the hell was that?
SAL: Nothing.
LARRY: It didn't look like nothing.
SAL: I just said goodbye to him.
LARRY: Gross, dude!
SAL: You're gross!
TODD: He's right, Larry. You are pretty gross.
LARRY: Shut up, Todd.
TODD: But saying goodbye to Travis is kind of strange. He's a jerk, isn't he? Your worst enemy?
SAL: Yeah, well, maybe he's not as mean as you think he is.
LARRY: What are you saying?
SAL: I don't know, can we drop it? I was just being nice, chill out.
[Larry scowls and dips into his seat.]
[Scene changes to Travis walking up to his house, hands gripped tightly on his backpack straps. Going home at an approaching weekend was torture to him. Two full days with his father wasn't really something he was excited about. As he entered, he was surprised to find that his father wasn't anywhere to be seen. After setting his backpack down, he entered his living room to find him sitting on the couch with a twisted face, as if he was in pain.]
TRAVIS: Sir?
MR.PHELPS: [pained] Good, you're home. [he groaned and held his stomach.] Don't just stand there, get me some damn Pepto Bismol.
[Travis just stood there, stunned to see his father in this vulnerable state.]
MR.PHELPS: Didn't you fucking hear me?! Get me some damn medicine!
[Snapping out of it, Travis goes into the kitchen and opens up a cupboard. While searching for the Pepto Bismol, he suddenly wrinkles his nose, seeming to smell something rancid. He ignores it.]
[He finds the bottle of medicine and goes back into the living room, where he hands his father the medication.]
MR.PHELPS: Don't look at me like that, you little shit. Get your damn chores done.
TRAVIS: Yes, sir.
[Travis walks back into the kitchen and turns on the faucet. It splutters something green and Travis groans in disgust, then it flows normally. And with the sound of rushing water the scene turns back to Sal and the gang on the bus.]
[The bus pulls next to the driveway of Addison Apartments, and the squad exits the bus.]
SAL: You guys go ahead with Larry. I have to get my Gearboy from my apartment.
ASHLEY: See you there, Sal.
[Sal waits outside the elevator as the group goes into the basement. Out of nowhere, he felt his head go light, and suddenly, everything went black.]
[Then, he found himself in a long, circular hallway. Or… some sort of tunnel. Green water lapped at his feet and the walls were slick with green slime.]
???: Y__ ha_e __ st_p _t S__. T__ R_d _ye_ _n_ec__o_.
SAL: The… what?
???: Th_I_n__ct_o_. T_e Arc_bi_h_p _a_ __g_n _o r_vi_e t__ d__kn__s.
SAL: Who are you? Why are you telling me this?
[a low noise emits from beyond the tunnel. It sounded like an animal. The darkness moves as a figure begins to walk towards Sal.]
???: _’m ____y, S__. _t’s t__ la_e. It’_ n_t __fe _n__or_.
[He felt himself come back. The elevator dings as it arrives back up.]
SAL: …
[He reaches his floor and enters his apartment. His father is in the kitchen, just finishing a cup of water.]
SAL: Hi, Dad.
HENRY: Hey, buddy. How'd school go today?
SAL: It went great. Everyone's at Larry's. I'm just gonna get my Super Gearboy.
HENRY: Sounds fun, bud. Say hi to Lisa for me.
SAL: I will.
[Sal goes into his room and grabs his Super Gearboy off his bed.]
SAL: Gizmo, be good while I'm gone.
[No answer.]
SAL: Gizmo? [still nothing] Well, if you're hiding, I'll just see you later.
[He leaves his room to find his dad on the couch. He's got a pained expression on his face.]
SAL: Dad?
HENRY: Hmm? Yeah, kiddo?
SAL: You feeling okay?
HENRY: Yup. Just feeling a little sick in the stomach. Don't worry about it, sport.
SAL: [hesitant] Alright, I guess. I'll see you later.
HENRY: See you, Sal.
[Sal leaves his apartment.]
[He enters the elevator and goes downstairs into the basement. There's chatter in Larry's room, so he makes his way there. He enters and all his friends let out a welcoming yell. All the uneasiness in Sal's stomach evaporates as he sees his friends all hyper and happy.]
SAL: Hey, guys.
ASHLEY: What took you so long, Sal?
SAL: Talked to my dad a bit.
LARRY: A bit? What, did he wanna know every single detail about your day or something?
SAL: No. We just talked a little. He said he was sick, but it's probably nothing.
LARRY: My mom said she wasn't feeling too hot either.
ASHLEY: I hope there's nothing going around.
LARRY: Think they swapped spit and made each other sick or something?
SAL: Ew, gross Lar!
LARRY: What? You never know! I always see them giggling at each other, they've probably kissed at least once.
SAL: Yeah, but picturing my dad kissing your mom is making me sick.
LARRY: Heh, yeah it's pretty gross. Now hand over the Gearboy.
CHUG: Hey, I called dibs first, Larry!
[Cuts to the Phelps home. Mrs. Phelps is over by Mr. Phelps on the couch, holding his head. Travis is standing in the kitchen, having just finished sweeping the floor. It's dark outside by now, so Travis goes into the living room to shut the blinds.]
MRS.PHELPS: You're burning up. Just try to rest, okay, sweetheart?
MR.PHELPS: [angrily] I'm trying.
[Travis begins shutting the blinds. He takes a quick glance at his father to look at his features. Dark circles under his eyes. Sweaty. Something dark forming at his cheeks. It looked... green.]
[Suddenly Mr. Phelps let out a pained yell, convulsing on the couch. Mrs. Phelps let out a startled yelp and Travis backed up a bit. Mr. Phelps gripped his stomach and his groans mutated into low growls and moans, like those of an awful beast...]
MRS.PHELPS: Kenneth, are you oka—
[Mr. Phelps gripped Mrs. Phelps arm in a quick motion. His eyes were dull but his movements were wild. In a second his face was in her shoulder and Mrs. Phelps let out an agonized scream as the blue of her dress grew purple with blood. Her neck was being eaten alive by Mr. Phelps. Travis was frozen in fear, a look of incredible distress on his face. The screams faded, and Mrs. Phelps fell on the ground with a thud, bright blood pooling from her neck. Mr. Phelps turned slowly to look at Travis, who was breathing hard.]
[This can't be real.]
[Scene goes back to Larry's room. Sal and Larry are chilling on the couch. Chug is trying to defeat the one level and Maple and Ashley are cheering him on. Todd is trying to text Neil but he hasn’t gotten a response. It gives Sal an uneasy feeling.]
SAL: Larry?
LARRY: Yeah, bro?
SAL: I need to tell you something.
LARRY: Oh, okay, shoot.
SAL: Before I went to my apartment, I had one of those black outs again.
LARRY: Oh jeez, those again? Are you alright?
SAL: Yeah. But this time someone talked to me.
LARRY: What?
SAL: Yeah. It was weird. And I was in some sort of tunnel.
LARRY: What did it say?
SAL: He said… he said, “You have to stop it. It’s too late, Sal.”
LARRY: Stop what?
[Suddenly, a loud clattering noise is heard from behind the door and the chattering goes quiet. Everyone stops and turns towards the door. A low groan emits from behind it.]
TODD: What the hell was that?
MAPLE: Was that Mrs. Johnson?
[Without a word, Larry reached behind his beanbag, and he pulled out a bat layered in duct tape. He must have hit it too hard once and it snapped in half, which he repaired it with way too many layers of tape.]
LARRY: Can’t be too careful.
[Larry stood up and so did everyone else. This was Addison Apartments; anything weird could happen. So they wanted to see for themselves what could be behind that door. Larry turned to all of them, a finger up to his lips, silently telling them to be quiet.
[Larry neared the door, bat in hand, and an eerie silence grew over the group. Another low groan was heard. Larry reached for the doorknob, hand slightly trembling, and turned it.]
[When he opened it, Lisa Johnson was waiting in the dark.]
LARRY: Mom?
[Lisa let out a low moan. Darkness engulfed the outsides of her eyes, her cheeks, and her forehead was green and red. Her neck was torn open with a huge bloody bite mark.]
LARRY: What the fuck...?!
[In the shadows, Henry appeared, groaning with blood smeared onto his face.]
SAL: Dad?!
LARRY: Wh—
[Lisa suddenly let out a low, deep howl, lurching forward to grab Larry. Reacting quickly, he swung the bat and hit her hard in the head, throwing her to the side and onto the ground.]
MAPLE: Larry, what the hell?!!
LARRY: Zombies!
Sal: What?!
LARRY: THEY'RE FUCKING ZOMBIES!!
[Lisa is quickly getting back onto her feet and Henry is stumbling towards the group.]
ASHLEY: What should we do?!
LARRY: RUN!
[Scene changes back to Travis, where his father is now quickly on his feet, stumbling swiftly towards him. Travis lets out a scream, backing away quickly into the kitchen. He looks around frantically for something to hit him with. He grabs the broom, not turning his back on his father.]
MR.PHELPS: [deep voice] COME HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!
[Travis wacks Mr. Phelps over the head with the broom and he stumbles into the counter. Dishes drying on the counter fall off and crash onto the ground. While Mr. Phelps is trying to regain his balance, groaning and growling, Travis runs out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.]
[The scene changes to Larry and the rest of the group running towards the elevator. Larry frantically presses the button to the elevator as his groaning mother gets closer. Finally, the door opens and they all rush inside, barely holding all of them at once. As Ashley is mashing the door close button, Larry defends the group by swinging his bat back and forth at Lisa and an approaching Henry.]
LARRY: Mom, I'm sorry!
[Lisa just groans, staring blankly at Larry.]
[Finally, the door closes and the world goes quiet.]
[the scene changes back to Travis in the bathroom. It's silent except the sounds of his heavy breathing. He grips the broom as he catches his breath. It's silent. No sound.]
[The sink in the bathroom is spitting a green, slimy substance. It reeks of infection. There's no place to escape out of the bathroom, so the only way he'll be able to get out is through the front door. It's just a way away from the bathroom.]
[Gripping the broom, Travis, as quiet as he can, opens the bathroom door, peeking out into the foyer.]
[Nothing.]
[His father, or whatever that thing he turned into, is nowhere to be seen. He silently walks out of the bathroom, breathing shakily.]
[He takes a few quiet steps closer to the front door.]
[Still nothing.]
[He takes a few more steps. The shadows are still. The silence is so strong he can hear his own soft breathing. But, the eerie, dark house stays quiet.]
[He takes a few more steps, nearing the front door and reaching for the doorknob.]
MR.PHELPS: [appearing behind him suddenly] There you are.
[Travis screams as his father grabs him from behind, his arms hooked around Travis’s chest, holding him in a tight grasp.]
TRAVIS: NO! WAIT!!
[He wrestles and thrashes against his father’s grasp, frightened for his life, but Mr. Phelps is unnaturally stronger than him.]
MR.PHELPS: [deep voice] Don't fight it.
TRAVIS: PLEASE I DON'T WANT T—
[He lets out an ear-splitting scream as Mr. Phelps bites into his neck, ripping skin and sending streams of blood down his shirt. He drops the broom as his neck is eaten by his father.]
[The scene cuts to the sound of screeching tires as Larry presses on the gas, his friends all clustered in his mom's van. A group of groaning infecteds is behind, stumbling towards the escaping vehicle. Those in the car are Larry, Sal, Ashley, Todd, Chug, and Maple.]
LARRY: We got everyone?!
ASH: Yeah, I think so!
TODD: Zombies! In Addison Apartments! I shouldn't be nerding out right now, right?!
SAL: Todd, that was my dad! My dad was one of those zombies! Of course, you shouldn't be nerding out right now!
LARRY: And my mom. Jesus Christ, my fucking mom...
[Sal and Larry are silent but overwhelmingly distraught. Their parents were gone or too far gone to save. They saw the signs and didn't do anything to stop it. Everything was wrong and they wanted to wake up in a different world like this was a terrible dream.]
TODD: ...I'm sorry. God, what are we gonna do?
LARRY: They're going to infect Nockfell now that they're free. I'm driving to the Homes. Maybe we can warn them before the zombies can get there.
MAPLE: What if they're infected too?
LARRY: There's no way, Maple. They won't be able to get there before us.
ASHLEY: The thing I don't get is how they're infected in the first place. Was there already a zombie roaming around somewhere that just happened to be in Addison Apartments?
TODD: Then how did that zombie get infected?
ASHLEY: Oh, I don't know Todd, maybe it just suddenly appeared out of thin air! Maybe that happened!
LARRY: You guys better stop arguing or I'm turning this car around!
SAL: Back to the zombies? Really?
LARRY: ... It'd be better than having to face this mess.
[All the passengers glance at each other, the weight of this seemingly new, awful world lowering onto their shoulders.]
[Larry drives into the Hillside District, slowly heading to the Nockfell Homes. The houses they pass are dark, the only light illuminating the yards is from the van's headlights.]
SAL: I don't feel too good about this, Larry.
LARRY: Just wait.
ASHLEY: I agree with Sal, none of this feels right.
[Larry just grumbles, continuing to drive.]
SAL: Come on, Larry.
LARRY: I'm not gonna leave just yet. Everyone is probably asleep.
MAPLE: Probably.
CHUG: Or they're infected already.
LARRY: [he turns around to yell at them.] Would you guys just---
ASHLEY: LARRY, WATCH OUT!!
[A man suddenly appears on the road as Larry turns around to yell at his friends. He turns around sharply as Ashley shouts at him to stop, and he presses hard on the brakes. The tires screech, but he’s far too late as he hits the man, sending him flying across the road.]
LARRY: SHIT!!
ASHLEY: OH MY GOD!
[Larry frantically puts the car in park and unbuckles his seatbelt, stumbling out of the car. Sal grabs the bat and follows him from behind.]
LARRY: SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!
SAL: Is he dead?!
LARRY: I don't know, dude!! I hit him pretty hard!
[Ashley and Todd exit the car while Maple and Chug watch from a distance, in the back seat.]
ASHLEY: [from a distance] Nice going, Larry!
LARRY: [yells back at her] Shut up! If you guys hadn't been backseat Zombie 101ing me I wouldn't have hit him in the first place!!
ASHLEY: If you didn’t have such a short temper you wouldn’t have taken your eyes off the road to yell at us!
SAL: Wait, I think I've seen this guy before.
[Sal turns him over to look at him. It's Mr. Phelps.]
SAL: Yeah. I’ve seen him before… I just… can’t figure out where.
LARRY: Sal, whatever you're doing, I don't think it's important right now!
SAL: It's the priest at the Phelps Ministry.
LARRY: Who cares, dude?!
ASHLEY: [walking over] Who is it?
TODD: [alongside Ashley] Is he okay?
SAL: Where have I seen him before?
LARRY: I don't know man!
SAL: And why’s he out so late at night? And not with anyone else?
[Ashley and Todd approach.]
SAL: He would've seen our headlights, too. It's as dark as hell out here.
LARRY: So what, he wanted to get hit with a car?
SAL: Yeah, but what for?
LARRY: Maybe he heard about the zombie outbreak and decided to get out of here while he still could.
ASHLEY: Wait, is that Travis’s dad?
LARRY: Oh yeah, I totally forgot his dad was a preacher. I don’t feel too bad about hitting him anymore.
SAL: Larry!
LARRY: What? I’m sure Travis will forgive me later.
TODD: Let me take a look at him for a second.
[Todd takes out a tiny flashlight from his pocket. He shines it on Mr. Phelps's face. His darkened eyes and bloody mouth is more defined now in the bright light.]
TODD: Damn.
LARRY: He's a zombie!
ASHLEY: Oh no.
LARRY: Were we too late? How is he already infected?!
SAL: Or was. I think he's dead.
ASHLEY: Aren't zombies already dead? Maybe he's just dazed or something.
[the group moves away from the body from that comment.]
TODD: I don't see any bite marks on him.
LARRY: You're right. Fucking weird.
ASHLEY: Then how is he a zombie?
TODD: I... I don't know.
LARRY: God, if this thing is airborne...
TODD: Unlikely.
ASHLEY: And we'd be infected already, Larry. It's caught by contact or something.
TODD: Bites, but he's not bitten, so what else could there be?
[Something shines on Mr. Phelps’s chest. Sal takes notice.]
SAL: [to himself] ...What’s that…?
LARRY: It's gotta be airborne. We're dead, Todd! Dead!
TODD: Larry, we're not dead!
ASHLEY: Does this mean everyone else...
MAPLE: [from the car] Guys!
TODD: We're a little busy, Maple!
MAPLE: No, guys, look!
[The four of them look up, and they instantly fall back as they realize that the shadows around them are moving.]
TODD: I hate to be that one guy, but! We’ve got company!
[The sounds of tearing and thudding metal is heard from the car. Maple screams and the four turn to see a horde of zombies surrounding their vehicle, gripping on the side mirrors and tearing at the doors.]
LARRY: HEY!
[Larry sprints toward the car, and in one fell swoop suckerpunches a zombie that was about to rip off a car door. It stumbles into another, causing a domino effect and leaving three of them stunned on the ground.]
SAL: Larry!
LARRY: WE'RE LEAVING!!! GET IN THE CAR NOW!
[Ashley, Todd, and Sal run from the body of Mr. Phelps to the car, just before the other zombies can reach them.]
[Chug hits a zombie with a quick punch as it was about to grab Maple from inside the car. All of them rush inside and shut the doors, just before the zombies tried to climb in. The infecteds close around them, pressing their hands and faces against the glass.]
LARRY: BUCKLE THE FUCK UP!!
ASHLEY: GO, LARRY!
[Larry throws the car into drive and presses HARD on the gas, launching them down the street and away from the horde, who were either run over or pushed away by the force of the car.]
[For all they knew, they were the only ones left, not infected by this horrible disease. How could the world change so quickly?]
[It suddenly cuts inside the Phelps home, where the bright lights of the car rush past the kitchen window. It's quiet. It shows Travis, laying on the ground on his stomach, his right arm outstretched, his left shoulder drenched in thick blood. The floor is covered in green and yellow sludge.]
[He jumps awake, gasping, and the scene goes black.]