Say Goodbye To America/ Special 8

Tears
Matt: AAUGGHH!

Matt yells in pain one more time before passing out. Garrett looks at Todd with a puzzled look. Before questioning Todd’s motives, he shoots the two biters walking ever so slowly closer to the small group

Garrett: What the absolute fuck was that? You took his Goddamn arm off!

Todd: I thought it would stop the infection from spreading. I thought I was helping

Garrett: Only thing you’ve done is chop off an arm of a perfectly capable man. You know, I have half a mind to shoot you where you sta-

Aaron: Gentlemen, we do not need this. What we need to do is get back to the truck. Ryan is waiting for us, he has supplies in the truck we can use to help Matt. (softly) We must move quickly and quietly, though

The group quickly, yet quietly shuffles their way into the woods near the mall. Once the biters appear far behind, Aaron begins to run as fast as he can, followed closely by Garrett and Phillip, both carrying Matt, and all three covered in excessive amounts of blood. Aaron stops right where the woods meets a small road. Todd looks at what awaits him. A large, white box truck, similar to those he would despise on the interstate, was their ride

Todd: Aren’t these, I dunno, slow?

Hannah: They are slow, but we can bring as many people as we want in these. If we bring large items back, we can place them in here

Phillip: Where did you get it?

Garrett: One of the members of our group, Jack West, he drove these for a living. Said it made him feel important

Todd: Hated driving behind these things, but always wanted to ride in one

Aaron: Today’s your lucky day.

Aaron taps the side of the truck

Aaron: Hey Fish! Come on out, we need some supplies!

The passenger door swings open and a thin, medium height man steps down. His hair is short, cut almost buzz like. His shirt looks recently and perfectly pressed. His pants seem like they just came out of the department store. His look throws off Phillip and Todd, who exchange glances

Fish: What do you have a problem wi-- Holy Sweet Mother of Fuck! What happened to Matt?

Garrett: He was bit, so Beardy here chopped his arm off

Fish looks towards Todd

Fish: To stop the infection?

Todd: Hopefully

Fish: Well, I hope you did it in time. It works. There are supplies in the passenger seat. I’ll fix him up quickly and then we can go

For a thin man, Fish is easily able to carry Matt’s limp body to the front of the truck, open the door and hop inside with the comatose young adult. The others, led by Aaron, open the back of the truck and file inside. The only things there are several mattresses, signifying previous long trips

Phillip: So… this community of yours is well stocked

Hannah: What makes you say that?

Phillip: Your driver’s clothes, the way he looked. You all look like you’ve been through hell several times over. His hair looks recently cut, his shirt was ironed. You must be well off

Aaron: Wonderful observations. my good man

Phillip: Just one question

Aaron: What is it?

Phillip looks at Todd, who looks back

Todd: Can we join you?

Aaron: Well, here we are! Apex, North Carolina. Gated community of almost sixty people. Supplies to last two years if everyone ate like their next meal was their last, if every sip made them thirster, if every book here was a single page in the biggest book ever, we’d have eight copies. Basically, what I’m trying to say is, we are living the high life. It seems the end of the world turned out okay for some of us

Phillip: This place is beautiful! Where do we stay

Garret: Hold on a minute. You need to speak with our leader to see if she thinks you are okay for this community. Todd, you go first. She’s in the big building there. Fish will take you. Phillip, take Matt with me to the Doctor’s two doors down, and stay with him

Todd: So… why the nickname “Fish?”

Fish: sighs You know that TV show Barney Miller from the 1970s?

Todd: No

Fish: Well, there was a character on it named Detective Phil Fish. My dad loved that show so much, he made my middle name is Fish. Timothy gets to be Timothy Jonathan West II and Jack gets to be Jackson Henry White. Instead of a real name, I get the last name of a TV show character. Such is life. Ms. Anderson is in there. I’ll knock

Knock knock knock

Fish: Mizz Anderson! We have one of the two new people I spoke of

The door swings open

Garrett: Doctor Hill! We’ve got a problem!

Phillip and Garrett rush in with still passed out Matt in their arms

Elizabeth: What happened?

Garrett: We met two new folks, Frank was devoured, Matt got bit, one of the two cut his arm to stop the spread of infection. According to Fish, it works

Garrett places Matt on the table while Elizabeth checks his pulse with a stethoscope.

Garrett: Oh, um, Dr. Hill, this is Phillip James. He was one of the two survivors we met who helped us out of the mall

Phillip puts his hand out to shake Elizabeth’s. She shakes back but gives him a confused look

Elizabeth: Were you the one who--?

Phillip: Cut off his arm? No.  I wish I was, it seems ingenious

Elizabeth: Well, I hope he doesn’t bleed out. Fish did a good job placing the bandage

Garrett: I need to go see Aaron and bring in the supplies

Garrett exits the Doctor’s house, leaving Phillip and Elizabeth all alone

Phillip: So, were you a doctor before the whole “end of the world thing”

Elizabeth: I was a nurse, but I hoped to be a doctor

Phillip: How many patients have you had since society fell?

Elizabeth: Counting Matt… three. It’s a rather safe community we live in. One gunshot wound to the arm after thieves attacked, and the other was just a broken leg. In the whole time we’ve been around, I’d say we’ve lost… six members. Mostly to biters coming out during a bad run. Frank would be the sixth

Phillip: You’ve been here since the beginning?

Elizabeth: Yes. Jenny, Aaron, Garrett, Tracy, Tim West and I were the first to think of making Apex our apocalyptic home. Jenny’s husband and Aaron’s brother were some of the first to put up the wall. They were also the first two to die. Biters broke in two weeks in. Jenny was in a deep slump, but she pulled out of it

The door swings open

Jenny: Ah, Mr. West, how wonderful to see you.

Fish: The pleasure is all mine, Mizz Anderson. And, uh, this is Todd Andrews, one of the two who helped us in the mall. I assume you heard about Frank

Jenny: I did, and it is a shame. … Oh well come now, get out of the cold. Mr. Andrews, you and I need to have a talk

Fish: I’ll leave you to it. Have a good day now

Fish walks out the door as Jenny motions for Todd to take a seat. She plants herself across from him

Todd: What is this place anyway? How did you, survive?

Jenny: It just, happened. Put up walls, invited good people in, kept bad people out. We got lucky. We found many places to scavenge for supplies. We haven’t had a break-in in… two months now. I’d say two months. Any other questions?

Todd: Phillip and I would like to join

Jenny: Well, that’s what you’re here for. I need to see if you’d be fit to be a part of our community. Let’s start, shall we? Ok… Firstly, have you had to kill any living person since the beginning?

Todd: Yes

Jenny: How many?

Todd: Two

Jenny: Why?

Todd: First one was a thief who shot one of ours. The other was a girl who was being devoured. I put her down

Jenny: And… Matt’s arm. Why did you cut it off?

Todd: Thought it could slow the infection

Jenny: Ok. On to question two

The door swings wide open

Dimitri- Evening, Dr. Hill. How’s Matthew doing?

Elizabeth- He’s stable. I feel no sign of any infection. But when he wakes up, I’ll know for certain

Dimitri- What do you think of these new guys, Phillip and Todd?

Elizabeth- They seem nice. They haven’t met the whole town yet

Dimitri- Well, neither have I

Elizabeth- You’ve been here for a week. Maybe Jenny should hold a town get-together. You’ll get to know people

Dimitri- Hmm. Never really liked people. I’m only here for the protection

Elizabeth: Too late

Elizabeth walks out of her office to talk to Jenny, leaving Dimitri with semi-comatose Matt

Matt: >cough, cough cough<

Dimitri: Uh… Dr. Hill! Dr. Hill!

Phillip comes running into the Doctor’s office

Phillip: What’s wrong?

Dimitri: It’s Matthew! He was just coughing

Phillip: Okay, let me see

Dimitri: Are you a doctor?

Phillip: Nope

Phillip checks Matt’s pulse and feels his forehead

Phillip: His heart’s still beating. He doesn’t feel warm

He smacks Matt’s knee hard enough to make it move

Phillip: And he’s reflexing. That’s all I can do. Phillip. Phillip James

Phillip reaches his hand to shake Dimitri’s

Dimitri: Dimitri Vanderbilt

Phillip: I heard the shouts and figured I should run in and help. Doc’s not in so…

As soon as he says this, Dr. Hill walks in and is met with three pairs of eyes

Matt: Doctor, what happened? And, where’s my left arm?

 

Credits:
Todd Andrews

Phillip James

Aaron Meyer

Garrett Smith

Jenny Anderson

Ryan “Fish” West

Elizabeth Hill

Matt Graham

Dimitri Vanderbilt

Deaths
None