Post by MSS Productions on Oct 30, 2020 0:59:44 GMT
The shot opens to the symbol of the One World Government but only sits there for a few moments before the face of Phillip Lamont appears on the screen. Wearing his glasses and over the top smile, the man bids welcome and good morning to the world in that chipper way only he can.
Phillip Lamont: “Good morning world! I am Phillip Lamont here with all your greatest moments from around the world, all brought to you for your own personal entertainment on behalf of our benefactors, the One World Government!”
Phillip smiled a big, plastered on smile and brought his hand up beside him where a square box appeared, a video already playing inside. The woman who had been living in the bank vault in City #1 was shown standing in the middle of an empty street struggling with a man dressed in all white beneath the burning glare of the street lights.
Phillip Lamont: “Roselyn Richards was discovered on a midnight scavenge when she was trying to get back to the bank she has been using for a safehouse. As you all can see, one of the Saints ran across her and tried to apprehend her.”
From somewhere outside the screen as the shot pulled back to reveal an old fashioned living room, came a scuffing chuckle of disbelief. The shot turns to find Lesli Moren brushing her teeth wearing a pair of sweatpants and a half top, her messy hair up in a ponytail sticking out from the side of her head.
Lesli Moren: “‘Apprehend’”
She scuffed again, this time making air quotes.
Lesli Moren: “The Saints are no more than thugs! Felix Salar the most of all!”
Phillip Lamont: “...But when he tried, he found that the little vixen had a lot more fight in her than he had anticipated.”
The shot turned to the screen as Lesli stopped brushing to watch, the end of the toothbrush hanging out of the corner of her mouth. The woman on the screen eats a back hand that drops the blonde woman to her knees on the street. She looks up, the camera zooming in on her blackening eye and busted lip, but before the man can strike again, she thrusts her arm forward, driving a small bladed knife into his groin.
Lesli Moren: “YEA! GO GIRL!”
Phillip Lamont: “Brutal! Absolutely brutal.”
There was a light hearted amusement to his tone, as if he was commenting on a game show. The shot then shifts to in front of a pair of buildings where men with assault rifles and a painted woman were walking another woman with red hair from the buildings.
Phillip Lamont: “Also, a lot of you may have missed last night but it appeared as if Felicity Yanc was in the company of Misfits second in command, the woman known simply as Lady, late last night. Those of you who have been watching us for a while know that Lady’s real name is unknown, she was one of those born in the City and appeared a few years ago to step into the spotlight beside Blink when he formed the Misfits.
And the woman with her, a lot of you may remember was a contestant herself a year ago. She lost her pass in the southern part of the City and, as you know, no one is allowed to pass the gate without one so she was unable to leave. She had since become one of Felix Salar’s wives.”
The shot shifts back to Lesli whose mouth opens slightly in shock. No sooner had the words left him then a loud slam could be heard. A few moments later her door swung open. The camera swings around to find Leann Perry dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a half top, her make up already done and her hair up in a neat bun.
Leann Perry: “LESLI! GET….Oh, you’re up.”
Lesli slowly turned her eyes to Leann and then back to the TV.
Lesli Moren: “Did he just say….”
Leann Perry: “Good, you’re watching. The second I saw it I came running.”
Lesli Moren: “If he loses his pass….?”
Leann Perry: “He’s stuck there.”
The camera shifts back to the television as the screen changes from the video of Lady and Felicity to one of the casinos the Misfits used as a base. The shot rushes forward into the screen changing slowly to day as it does.
The shot stays on the outside of the building as the small caravan of cars rolled by the entrance to the casino and around the corner. It follows them around to a garage door that rolls up, turning into the door just as the cars begin to travel down a ramp leading under the building with the words “The City” appearing over the cars as they begin down the ramp.
The cars continue down the ramps and into a parking garage where they all park one by one. The doors opened and the men with the rifles all stepped out followed by the passenger door of the front car opening and the booted feet and stockings of Lady appeared. From the backseat came another pair of slender legs, with the camera following them up to the red haired Felicity Yanc.
The shot follows the red haired Felicity as she is led into the casino proper with Lady walking behind her. Two men at the doors leading inside pull the doors open when they approach, revealing the interior of the casino, now turned into a hideout for the Misfits. Felicity looks around with a look of disdain at what she sees.
Felicity Yanc: "Ya’ll need a serious interior decorator.”
Lady: "No yapping, Little Bunny.”
The painted woman snapped and shoved the red haired woman in the small of the back.
The two made it through the hideout to the door at the rear of the central floor where two men stood watching the women as they approached.
Guard #1: "That doesn’t look like Becca Calaway, Lady….”
Guard #2: "Blink isn’t going to be happy.”
Lady waved a hand and the two men pulled the doors open revealing the man sitting behind his desk. The two women cross the threshold of the door and Lady turns, looking at the two men and smirking beneath her makeup.
Lady: "You should be a little more concerned about me not being happy.”
The two men looked at one another apprehensively and she snapped her teeth shut at them before slamming the doors shut. She turns to find Felicity standing with her hands folded over the fanny pack and Blink looking up at her.
His head was down, but the painted woman could see the gold of his eyes looking up at her. His hand was closed around the hilt of his signature knife that was resting tip down on the desk. He looked from Lady to the red haired woman and back.
Blink: "That…”
He began and lifted the blade motioning with the tip to the red haired woman
Blink: "Doesn’t look like a seventeen year old brown haired girl to me, Lady.”
Lady moved to speak but Felicity stepped forward and opened her arms in greeting.
Felicity Yanc: "Alas, I am not but do not judge your second to harshly, Blink.”
Blinks golden eyes turned from the painted woman to the red head beside her. His hand moved the blades tip back and forth across the wood of the desk. Finally he pursed his lips and pulled the knife up into his palm with a flick of his twist.
Blink: "Arlight.”
He said leaning back in his chair, toying the blade tip back and forth over the thumb of his other hand.
Blink: "Convince me.”
Felicity Yanc: "Do you know who I am, Blink?”
Blink: "Naturally.”
He told her looking up from his thumb briefly.
Blink: "It’s the only reason we are still talking.”
Felicity Yanc: "I can offer you something far more valuable than some random little girl.”
Blink looked back up at her and then let out a barking laugh, throwing his head back with mirth. Felicity looked a bit taken back by this response which only made Blink laugh harder.
Blink: "I know that your freak circle you call Saints think I’m an idiot, but did Felix really think sending in one of his wives for a little....extra curricular...negotiation was going to change anything?”
Felicity looked a bit taken back by the suggestion that she would have slept with him but when she looked to the side at Lady, she didn’t find female companionship. She found someone loyal only to Blink who would split her skull if she so much as disrespected him.
Felicity Yanc: "No, that isn’t what I was suggesting.”
She said looking back at him from Lady.
Blink: "Okay, you have my attention.”
Blink kicked his feet up and motioned to her with the knife before bringing it back and going back to pressing it gently against his thumb.
Blink: "Go. Convince me not to have Lady send your head to Felix as a message for fucking with the borders.”
Felicity swallowed down the lump in her throat and gave a small nod.
Felicity Yanc: "What If I told you that I could tell you the exact moment that Felix is going to be off balance and dealing with internal struggle?”
Blink: "I’d call you a liar and call Felix desperate.”
Felicity stepped forward but had her arm grabbed by Lady. For so small a woman she seemed to have a hell of a grip. The red haired woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of yellow paper surrounded by clear laminate that was folded over in the center.
Blink motioned with the blade in his hand, curiosity alight in his eyes and Lady released her. After taking the object from her the camera shifts to an image of what it actually was. A yellow slip of paper laminated around the edges that said the person holding this after spending thirty days in The City was authorized to gain extra food rations.
Blink whistled in amazement and leaned back holding the paper up in his free hand.
Blink: "And where did you get your pretty little hands on this?”
Felicity Yanc: "Felix has a bunch of them. He trades them to the guards on the wall in exchange for allowing his contraband shipments to slip through.”
When she saw the look on his face she let out a barking laugh.
Felicity Yanc: "What? Did you think I was gonna stay here forever, Blink?!”
Blink: "And what’s stopping me from just...taking this and sending you back to Felix as a message?”
Felicity Yanc: "Because you aren’t stupid. You think people don’t know you want to control what Felix controls? You do that and you lose your only shot.”
The golden eyed man sat behind the desk, toying the tip of the blade around in a circle around his thumb.
Blink: "Say you’re right? What would you want in return?”
Felicity Yanc: "The girl you’re looking for? Help me find her and give her to me.”
Whatever Blink was expecting, that wasn’t it. The shock caused him to slip and slice open his thumb. Letting out a pained grunt he put the bleeding digit between his lips, all the while staring at her.
Felicity Yanc: "You help me get to Becca Calaway and I’ll tell you exactly when I’m going to make my move. And I promise you, Felix will be so focused on trying to find one of his most trusted soldiers and his wives he’ll never even be aware that you’re moving in until it’s too late.”
Blink watched the red haired woman in silence for a moment then looked up to the painted woman standing behind her.
Blink: "Find her. Bring me Becca Calaway.”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “You still can’t get anywhere near the gate without more weapons, John. And after that dust up you won’t wanna go anywhere near Misfit territory.”
The shot shifted to a street filled with light in the late morning sun. As it turned up and looked down the street, a shadow passed over the ground and it spun around and found nothing but an empty street and alley.
Voice of John Moren:: “What’s the nearest cache that isn’t controlled by the Misfits?”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “You aren’t gonna like it.”
Voice of John Moren:: “Will I like it more than an army of pissed off Misfits?”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “Probably not...no.”
The camera turns upward in time to see a figure launch himself from the building to the camera’s left, heading right. The shot shifts to the other rooftop as two military combat boots land with ease and the figure jogs across the room heading northeast.
The shot follows him as he moves from rooftop to rooftop, careful to avoid making too much noise or making any jumps that would have been too much for him. As he lands the last of a series of jumps, the camera spins around to look around the city and based on where the walls were? He was heading toward the center of the city.
Voice of Becca Calaway: “The nearest weapons storage house that isn’t in Misfit territory is here.”
John Moren: "Here? Kid, didn’t you tell me to avoid that area like it had the plague? Cuz, it kinda does?”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “It’s the only shot that is left.”
John lands on one of the roofs and makes his way to a balcony down a fire escape but when he reaches the fifth floor and passes a window the sound of a shotgun chambering a slug gives him just enough warning to throw himself past the window which explodes with glass shards amidst a huge concussive boom.
Voice: "God damn fucking freaks just won’t leave me alone!”
The sound of another slug being racked into a shotgun rings out and John pressed himself into the wall beside the window, brushing glass off his shoulder. A figure appears in the window beside him, a figure dressed in dirty blue jeans and a dirty shirt.
Voice: "Got you didn’t I, you disgusting fuck.”
The barrel of the shotgun breaks the plain of the window and John snatches it with a hand. Bringing the hand up the shotgun detonates with a loud concussion ripping into the top of the window just before the barrel connects with a dark skinned face. As the figure falls back from the blow, John yanks his arm forward ripping the shotgun from the man’s grasp.
The gun was quickly turned around in his grasp and John racked a shell in before lowering the weapons on the man on the ground. The man was dark skinned with dreadlocks and was staring up at John as if he had never seen anything like him before.
Man: “You’re...You’re...not one of them.”
John Moren: "You fucking think!?”
Man: “Look, I’m sorry….”
The man tried to sit up and John planted a boot on his chest forcing him back to the floor and leveled the barrel of the shotgun on his face.
John Moren: "Who, exactly, were you shooting at?”
Man: “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you….”
The man’s eyes suddenly turned to the ruins of the window and went wide giving John all the clues he needed. He spun around and squeezed the trigger blind, as the man had done to him. John knew fear when he saw it. The shot caught a man-like creature in the chest sending it into the railing of the fire escape and over the edge.
The thing’s skin had been covered by agonizing looking lesions, the hair had all but fallen away from his head leaving him bald and his eyes had taken on a milky white appearance. It’s skin was grayish with parts that hung off the body as if it was too big for the bones beneath it.
John Moren: "She wasn’t kidding about the freaks out here…”
Man: “We gotta go...now.”
John’s attention now back on the man who had tried to shoot him, he leveled the shotgun back on him.
John Moren: "You stay right where you are.”
Man: “You don’t get it! They travel in packs!”
The sound of dozens of feet hitting the metal of a fire escape was all John needed. His head came back around to see the fire escape shaking back and forth, as if it was vibrating. Not from someone shaking it from below, but from so many sets of running feet on it all at the same time.
Man: “We gotta go!”
The man shouted and turned onto his stomach, crawling himself into a run. As he passed the door leading further into the apartment building he grabbed a duffle bag, much like John himself had received and an automatic rifle.
At the door he stopped and found John still standing by the window.
Man: “COME ON! If we don’t get a head start we’re both dead!”
John heard the human cries of pain and hunger and immediately turned and sprinted through the door behind the man. The camera watched them both turn down a flight of stairs and begin down them. When they disappeared from view, the window was suddenly so filled with bodies it blocked out the light from the other side.
Three dozen of the strange mutated men and women came into the room, all clambering over one another to get inside. Once inside, they made a beeline for the hallway and the stairs.
The shot shifts to a hallway where the man and John appeared down a set of stairs with the man running out in front. He ducks into a room on the right and John follows, just crossing the doors threshold to see the man slip through the bathroom to the room on the to her side.
Man: “The barricades should slow them down!”
John Moren: “Barricades?!”
As he comes out of the second adjoining room he looks back to find book cases, desks and shelves stacked around and stop one another in the hallway. As they disappeared into another room, the group of mutants slammed into the barricade and true to his word, it did slow them down, but only by a few seconds before their sheer number ripped it down.
Down another set of stairs, they moved to another floor where the man zigzagged through the rooms leading to another set of stairs. All the while the creatures charged in behind them, unphased and untiring it appeared.
On the bottom floor, John burst through a door and found the front door of the lobby of the apartment wide open. As he moved toward it, a dark skinned hand closed around his shoulder and yanked him into a doorway.
The room was filled with old broken washing machines that the man and John now crouched behind. The man held his finger to his lips telling John to be silent as the thundering of the running feet grew louder. John tightened his hand on the shuttle of the shotgun, about to rack a shell in and the man shook his head without a word.
Don’t make a sound.
Together they waited until the sounds were completely gone, faded into the distance. Then and only then did the man come out of his hiding spot behind the washing machines. He crossed the lobby and looked outside, finding the crowd of mutants running toward the center of the city again. He ducked back inside and blew out a deep breath.
After a moment, a hand bumped his shoulder and he found himself staring at his shotgun held out in the hand of John. He shook his head and chuckled.
Man: “Nah, keep it, Man. You may need it being this close to the source.”
John Moren: "Thanks….Name’s John. Day 8 of my contest.”
Man: “Oliver. I’m on….Hell, I wanna say day 20? Got three kid sisters and our parents passed. Not enough food to go around.”
John shook his head and sighed. He’d heard that so many times.
John Moren: "Medical pass for my….girlfriend’s...brother for his heart.”
Oliver: “Sorry about the whole….”
Oliver mimicked the shotgun blast and John snorted shaking his head.
John Moren: "Don’t stress it. I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes.”
Oliver: “Where you headed?”
John made a face and motioned toward the way the group had just done.
John Moren: "That way. Looking for a hardware store on 76th and Hardison.”
Oliver: “Mason’s hardware?”
John Moren: "Yup. That’s the one.”
Oliver: “It’s been picked pretty clean last time I was in that area. Whatcha looking for there?”
John didn’t answer, instead setting the shotgun against his shoulder he offered one final set of parting words and began to head the way the group of gray skinned mutants had disappeared.
John Moren: "Stay safe.”
The shot shifts from outside on the street to a shot of the huge structure used by the Saints as their base of operations. The shot stays on the outside of the building for a few seconds before shifting inside and into what appeared to be a courtyard of sorts.
What had once been an outdoor yard for rest and relaxation had been transformed into something different. Bleachers had been created in a near full circle around the exterior yard. In the center of it was a large enclosed steel cage without the ceiling allowing everyone who sat high up to see inside through the gaping hole. The inside of the cage was made of what had once been a white mat but was now so stained with blood it looked a dingy brown.
The little mini-amphitheater was filled with dozens upon dozens of men and women, all of whom were wearing some variation of the white outfit known by which the Saints distinguished themselves.
Inside the actual cage, two women were fighting, one of them a lot more beat up than the other. The fight, however, was short lived as the less brutalized woman made quick work of knocking the other out, much to the adulation of the cheering crowd.
As the woman raised her arms in victory every eye in the area turned to a platform sitting directly in the center of the courtyard above the large double door entrance. The platform was set up like the rest of the bleachers, simply larger. It was made up of two seats with a comfortable amount of space between them and room for a handful of people to stand.
The reason all eyes turned to the platform was the doors opening revealing the huge frame of Felix Salar. He held a drink in one hand and the other hand up to all of those watching, a cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth. The blonde Hayley Calaway stood beside him in a rich gown of ivory with diamonds around her throat, though she didn’t wave.
Felix Salar: "Are we enjoying ourselves?!”
Felix asked into a microphone built into the front of the platform like a podium. To answer his question the group in attendance roared in approval and Felix raised his glass in response.
Felix Salar: "Good! I promised you entertainment and I have provided. I have always provided!”
Another roar came from the crowd as the camera shifted to show the second woman being dragged out of the cage by her wrists. The shot returned to Felix who motioned with his free hand down to the cage.
Felix Salar: "And now for the moment you have all been waiting for. He arrived in our home 31 days ago but like so many others here he lost his pass to the mutations that roam the center of it. Ladies and gentlemen….Grant Lincoln!”
The double doors below the platform opened and the jeering began. The man who walked out was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top but looked more like an accountant than a fighter. He was slender with a receding hairline. He walked out, looking more than a little unsure about what he was seeing around him with the shot staying on him only briefly before shifting to inside the cage where a huge mountain of a man was waiting. He was shirtless with a bald head and bulging with muscles.
Felix Salar: "Now, Grant!”
Felix leaned over the edge of the platform to look down at the man.
Felix Salar: "This is really very simple. You don’t even have to win. You just have to survive. You last 2 minutes inside the cage with Goliath and you get a pass of your choice from the Saints personal collective and an escort to the gate.”
The man he called Grant looked at the monster in the cage and swallowed down the lump in his throat.
Felix Salar: "There are rules of course. If you touch the cage to leave? You get shot. If you try and climb out? You get shot. You don’t make it 2 minutes and quit? You get shot.”
Felix grinned that sinister grin and put the cigar back in his mouth, talking around it with that muffled tone.
Felix Salar: "Good luck.”
The shot shifts down into the courtyard and the man who was slowly approaching the gate door. He made his way in and the door slammed behind him causing his head to spin around at the sudden metallic crashing. When his head came back around it was too late. The mammoth Galiath was behind him and took him by the head in both hands.
He began to shake the man back and forth like a rag doll while Grant began to scream in agony. As he screamed the shot pulled back to Felix who was now sitting in a chair beside Hayley with his eyes on the cage and the cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Felix Salar: "Little bastard isn’t gonna last twenty seconds.”
Felix shot up and yelled down at the cage.
Felix Salar: "Put up a fight, you fucking weasel!”
Hayley didn’t say much as she watched in silence. Felix dropped down beside her, his eyes still on the man screaming in the cage as Galiath tossed him across the ring by the head..
Felix Salar: "You seen Thomas lately.”
He asked without warning, and though she didn’t look at all perplexed outwardly, the sudden sound of a heart beat in her ears told her, and the audience, how nervous she was.
Hayley: "He came to see me about Felicity a few days ago. Asked me if either of us had seen her.”
Felix Salar: "Strange. He didn’t come to me.”
Felix turned his gaze from the man trying to crawl away from the hulking figure to the blonde sitting beside him. His gaze was intense and penetrating.
Felix Salar: "You two aren’t...backsliding, are you, Hayley?”
Hayley let out a little laugh and shook her head, reaching out to affectionately touch his forearm.
Hayley: "Of course not, Dear. You know I would never do that. He probably didn’t want to come to you until he actually had something to show for it. You know how dedicated he is to his job.”
Felix bit down on the cigar in his mouth and let out a grunt, as if he accepted her explanation and turned his eyes back to the cage.
Felix Salar: "He comes to you again, you tell him to come to me. I don’t need any rumors floating around about you two. You know what happens to those who betray me.”
At the moment he said the words and turned his gaze back to her, a loud, piercing scream came from the ring followed by a loud wet crunching sound. The camera shifts quickly back to find the hulking Goliath literally standing with one foot where Grant’s head had once been.
It was now just a bloody puddle.
Felix rose from his chair and once again all eyes in the courtyard turned to him. The crowd let out a loud roar and Felix held out his hand for Hayley. Once she took it and stood the two exited back through the door where, once in the hallway, Felix turned one way and Hayley the other.
Once she got to the end of the hall, she glanced behind her and saw it was empty. Quickly she ducked into one of the rooms and pulled a square phone from her pocket and dialed. Bringing the phone to her ear she mumbled.
Hayley: "Pick up. Pick up. Pick up….”
After nearly a dozen rings a groggy voice answered.
Thomas: "....What do you want? I had a late night tracking Felicity.”
Hayley: "You need to speed this up.”
Thomas: "I’m going as fast as I can, Hayley.”
Hayley: "He knows…..”
The voice on the other end of the phone was no longer groggy when it spoke. Thomas’s voice was clear and focused. The idea that Felix was on to them got his full, undivided attention.
Thomas: "What do you mean he knows? What did he say?”
Hayley: "He came out and asked me when the last time I saw you was and if we were….backsliding…”
Thomas let out a big happy sigh and his voice lost a lot of the tenseness.
Thomas: "So he was concerned you were cheating on him.”
Hayley: "Is this a joke to you?! Do you have any idea the danger we’re in?!”
Thomas: "Hayley...we’re planning on leaving the City with our daughter and leaving him completely vulnerable to being attacked by anyone in the City. And you think I am underestimating the danger? Seriously?”
Hayley: "....”
The blonde woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked down at the floor.
Hayley: "Just...please hurry? I think we’re running out of time…”
The shot shifts to an empty street, barren of life, activity, or cars. The only figure on the street was that of John Moren who walked down the middle of the road with the shotgun on his shoulder. Though the camera did shift with his eyes into the windows of the buildings and the shops making out huddled masses inside the safety of the darkness inside the buildings.
The mutated people sleeping no doubt.
The shot shifts back to the street as John passes an intersection, with the camera catching the signs 76th and Hardison and as it did Becca’s voice returned.
Becca Calaway’s Voice: "When you find Mason’s Hardware, you are gonna see a bank directly across the street….”
John continued down the street, making nearly no sound as he did until he came to the hardware store and could see through the window, Oliver had been right. The place was nearly picked clean. His eyes then turned to across the street and found the broken windows of the bank sitting exactly where she said.
John Moren: "Kid knows her shit.”
Becca Calaway’s Voice: "There is gonna be a deli to the left on the end of the street, follow that around….”
John’s eyes followed the invisible girl’s words to the broken windows of the deli. He made his way past it with the camera shifting to look inside and found one of the strange gray skinned people standing in the middle of the room staring out at the road.
The shot shifts back to John as he comes to the end of the street and Becca’s voice returned.
Becca Calaway’s Voice: "....turn down the street and halfway down you are gonna come to a boarded up building that used to be a dry cleaner. Around the side of the building is a little catch for a ladder to drop down for roof access. You’ll miss it if you aren’t looking for it.”
Her voice was cut off at the last second as the gray skinned figure slammed into John’s back. The force of the impact threw him to the side into the side of the building shoulder first but the thing held on. Long fingers dug deep into the muscle of his shoulder blade but John reached up, driving the butt of the shotgun into the man’s face, sending him falling off John’s back.
John turns and levels the shotgun down on the man shaped thing and fires point blank into its chest. Blood and bone splatters across the pavement and the wall of the dry cleaners but it isn’t until after that John realizes how bad of an idea that may have been.
The screaming shrieks come from every direction and nearly every building the instant the report begins to echo around the streets.
John Moren: "Fuck.”
He turns toward the alley where the ladder is supposed to be, muttering to himself.
John Moren: "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
When he gets to the spot between the two buildings, he finds the ground has been overgrown with vegetation and no sign of any kind of level or switch. The first of the gray skinned former people comes around the corner sprinting at him and meets the blast of the shotgun, sending it back into the one coming in behind it, sending them both into the street.
Two more come from the other side of the alley and John swings around catching one in the chest with another blast, and the other in the shoulder and neck, sending both of them to the ground. As he does, one of them hits him from behind biting and scratching, but John turns with the momentum, throwing it over his shoulder to the ground where he brings down a boot onto the things face with a wet crunch.
As he turns to look for the lever again another appears from just off camera, coming in and slashing across his face, opening up three large slashes across his cheek and nose. When he brings the shotgun up it clicks and the thing comes forward again. He grabs it by the wrist yanking it into the wall and bringing the butt up to crush the things head against the wall.
As he does, the butt of the shotgun hits the lever, hidden in the overgrowth releasing the ladder, which comes down taking another in the head as it reaches for John. The force of the ladder coming down crushes the things head sending it to the pavement hard. John turns and begins up the ladder in a hurry with the things all gathered below him trying to get up at him. At the top of the ladder, he collapsed to his back panting, the gun discarded onto the rooftop beside him.
John was covered in blood, wounds leaking across his face, shoulder and arm but it wasn’t enough to slow him down. He rolls to his other side and makes his way across the roof where a small skylight stood open. Ducking into it, he found a rope leading down. At the bottom of the rope the dry cleaner shop had been all but cleared out and the room was filled with boxes upon boxes of weapons, taken from what appeared to be the same gun shop according to the logos on the boxes.
As he moved from box to box he found that a lot of them were empty. Along the back wall he found a large duffle bag, which he laid atop one of the boxes and cut a large hole in the end of. By the time he was done raiding the room, while the strange mutated things outside banged on the walls, the duffle bag was packed with multiple shotguns, three assault rifles, two long range sniper rifles and packed to the brim with ammunition boxes of all types.
Getting out proved to be a bit more problematic with the strange creatures all around the building. John moves to the front of the store and begins to very carefully, and very quietly, pry the boards loose on one side. Once he has all of them off one side of the broken windows he moves to the other side of the building where the alley stood on the other side of the wall.
The empty shotgun in his hand began to bang hard on the wall as John began to shout, loudly. The camera shifts to the outside of the building to show all the gray skinned creatures all coming around the side to find the source of the sound. John uses this chance to slip out through the loosened boards and slip back around the building to the street, all the while leaving the boards up.
The shot follows him down the street away from the building until the sounds of the creatures had all but vanished. As he neared the spot where it had all started however, that changed. The door that he and Oliver had left sat off to his left but his attention was drawn to his right where the sounds of a handgun going off was coming from around a final corner.
The shot stayed with John as he continued down the street and when he arrived at the intersection turned with his gaze to find a group of the strange gray skinned men and women all trying to get up a set of stairs leading to the roof of a long closed restaurant.
John Moren: "Oh, I’ve had enough of these fucking things.”
John growls and drops the bag to the ground with a gentle thud, though not enough to bring attention back to him. He drops to a knee with Oliver finally spotting him as he comes up from the bag, driving the magazine of one of the assault rifles into its home.
Unlike zombies, the gray skinned mutated people don’t require headshots and as John sprays the entire group with bullets from the assault rifle, they go down. By the time he’s done not a single one of them was left standing and Oliver came down panting. He was limping on what appeared to be a newly wounded knee.
Oliver: “Can’t say I was expecting to see you again.”
John Moren: "What can I say? These little pricks really got on my bad side.”
Oliver: “Yeah...they tend to do that.”
Oliver’s eyes fell on the bag and slowly his eyebrow raised.
Oliver: “Well, someone wasn’t going to the hardware store.
John smiled a bit of a sheepish smile and pulled the bag up but when he was about to throw it over his shoulder he let out a sigh and dropped it back to the ground. He fished out one of the long range rifles and held it out to the dreadlocked man, along with the assault rifle he’d used to take out the group of mutants.
Oliver took them wide eyed in shock, which only got wider as John piled boxes of assault and sniper ammo into his arms.
John Moren: "Take these somewhere safe. You got ten more days. Keep the ugly things away until then and use the assault rifle to cut your way through the Saints if you have to to get out.”
Oliver: “....Why?”
Oliver choked out.
Oliver: “Why would you do this? You don’t know me.”
John Moren: "Yeah….”
He said shouldering the bag again and rising back to his feet.
John Moren: "You didn’t have to give me that shotgun either, but you did.”
Oliver: “You ever need anything? At all? I’m in that building where we met.”
The two men shook hands and John turned, heading the way he had come over the rooftops. The shot following him as Oliver hurried toward the building the two had escaped to offload the bounty given to him by a complete stranger.
The shot shifts to one of the City’s skyline as day slowly turns to night before shifting to inside the apartment building where Becca was waiting for John to return huddled around an LED lamp where she seemed to be working on repairing the shirt that the shrapnel had shredded with a needle and thread.
When the door opened, she looked up sharply but relaxed when the shot revealed it to be John carrying the bag. When she saw the condition he was in, she rose to her feet and stared at him in open shock.
Becca Calaway: "I can see by the bag you got the weapons you wanted….but look at you. Is that good…..or bad?”
John grunted and dropped the bag onto the floor, motioning with his right hand with the “Okay” circle gesture with his fingers. Becca chuckles and shakes her head.
Becca Calaway: "If this is ‘okay’ what the hell does not okay look like?”
That actually got John to laugh. He moved to the corner and took one of the bags of water and a small broken piece of mirror that he used to look at his face as he washed off the blood. The scratches weren’t nearly as bad as he had thought.
John Moren: "A little disinfectant and it should be alright.”
The shot comes in close on the mirror, showing John’s face, showing Becca appear over his left shoulder causing him to turn with the shot shifted out to show both.
Becca Calaway: "So...you got your weapons. What now?”
John Moren: "If we’re gonna walk into Saint HQ and out of the gate I’m gonna need one more thing.”
Becca Calaway: "What more could you possibly need?”
John Moren: "Did your mom and dad stockpile any explosives?”
Becca stared at John as if she hadn’t heard him correctly as the episode fades to black.
Phillip Lamont: “Good morning world! I am Phillip Lamont here with all your greatest moments from around the world, all brought to you for your own personal entertainment on behalf of our benefactors, the One World Government!”
Phillip smiled a big, plastered on smile and brought his hand up beside him where a square box appeared, a video already playing inside. The woman who had been living in the bank vault in City #1 was shown standing in the middle of an empty street struggling with a man dressed in all white beneath the burning glare of the street lights.
Phillip Lamont: “Roselyn Richards was discovered on a midnight scavenge when she was trying to get back to the bank she has been using for a safehouse. As you all can see, one of the Saints ran across her and tried to apprehend her.”
From somewhere outside the screen as the shot pulled back to reveal an old fashioned living room, came a scuffing chuckle of disbelief. The shot turns to find Lesli Moren brushing her teeth wearing a pair of sweatpants and a half top, her messy hair up in a ponytail sticking out from the side of her head.
Lesli Moren: “‘Apprehend’”
She scuffed again, this time making air quotes.
Lesli Moren: “The Saints are no more than thugs! Felix Salar the most of all!”
Phillip Lamont: “...But when he tried, he found that the little vixen had a lot more fight in her than he had anticipated.”
The shot turned to the screen as Lesli stopped brushing to watch, the end of the toothbrush hanging out of the corner of her mouth. The woman on the screen eats a back hand that drops the blonde woman to her knees on the street. She looks up, the camera zooming in on her blackening eye and busted lip, but before the man can strike again, she thrusts her arm forward, driving a small bladed knife into his groin.
Lesli Moren: “YEA! GO GIRL!”
Phillip Lamont: “Brutal! Absolutely brutal.”
There was a light hearted amusement to his tone, as if he was commenting on a game show. The shot then shifts to in front of a pair of buildings where men with assault rifles and a painted woman were walking another woman with red hair from the buildings.
Phillip Lamont: “Also, a lot of you may have missed last night but it appeared as if Felicity Yanc was in the company of Misfits second in command, the woman known simply as Lady, late last night. Those of you who have been watching us for a while know that Lady’s real name is unknown, she was one of those born in the City and appeared a few years ago to step into the spotlight beside Blink when he formed the Misfits.
And the woman with her, a lot of you may remember was a contestant herself a year ago. She lost her pass in the southern part of the City and, as you know, no one is allowed to pass the gate without one so she was unable to leave. She had since become one of Felix Salar’s wives.”
The shot shifts back to Lesli whose mouth opens slightly in shock. No sooner had the words left him then a loud slam could be heard. A few moments later her door swung open. The camera swings around to find Leann Perry dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a half top, her make up already done and her hair up in a neat bun.
Leann Perry: “LESLI! GET….Oh, you’re up.”
Lesli slowly turned her eyes to Leann and then back to the TV.
Lesli Moren: “Did he just say….”
Leann Perry: “Good, you’re watching. The second I saw it I came running.”
Lesli Moren: “If he loses his pass….?”
Leann Perry: “He’s stuck there.”
The camera shifts back to the television as the screen changes from the video of Lady and Felicity to one of the casinos the Misfits used as a base. The shot rushes forward into the screen changing slowly to day as it does.
Morning Star Studios presents….
The shot stays on the outside of the building as the small caravan of cars rolled by the entrance to the casino and around the corner. It follows them around to a garage door that rolls up, turning into the door just as the cars begin to travel down a ramp leading under the building with the words “The City” appearing over the cars as they begin down the ramp.
The City
Episode 4
"Building Trust."
Episode 4
"Building Trust."
Starring
Torian Drake
As
John Moren
And
Kendra Goldilocks Goganious
As
Becca Calaway
The cars continue down the ramps and into a parking garage where they all park one by one. The doors opened and the men with the rifles all stepped out followed by the passenger door of the front car opening and the booted feet and stockings of Lady appeared. From the backseat came another pair of slender legs, with the camera following them up to the red haired Felicity Yanc.
Sativa Nevaeh as Leann Perry
Zachary Sears as Trevor Perry
Johnny Maverick as Thomas
Bellamy Parteabon as Hayley
The shot follows the red haired Felicity as she is led into the casino proper with Lady walking behind her. Two men at the doors leading inside pull the doors open when they approach, revealing the interior of the casino, now turned into a hideout for the Misfits. Felicity looks around with a look of disdain at what she sees.
Felicity Yanc: "Ya’ll need a serious interior decorator.”
Lady: "No yapping, Little Bunny.”
The painted woman snapped and shoved the red haired woman in the small of the back.
Nathaniel as Blink
Maiko Adachi as Lady
Jasmine Matthews as Felicity Yanc
Harmon Janssen as Felix Salar
And
Caliban as Oliver Jamison
The two made it through the hideout to the door at the rear of the central floor where two men stood watching the women as they approached.
Guard #1: "That doesn’t look like Becca Calaway, Lady….”
Guard #2: "Blink isn’t going to be happy.”
Lady waved a hand and the two men pulled the doors open revealing the man sitting behind his desk. The two women cross the threshold of the door and Lady turns, looking at the two men and smirking beneath her makeup.
Lady: "You should be a little more concerned about me not being happy.”
The two men looked at one another apprehensively and she snapped her teeth shut at them before slamming the doors shut. She turns to find Felicity standing with her hands folded over the fanny pack and Blink looking up at her.
His head was down, but the painted woman could see the gold of his eyes looking up at her. His hand was closed around the hilt of his signature knife that was resting tip down on the desk. He looked from Lady to the red haired woman and back.
Blink: "That…”
He began and lifted the blade motioning with the tip to the red haired woman
Blink: "Doesn’t look like a seventeen year old brown haired girl to me, Lady.”
Lady moved to speak but Felicity stepped forward and opened her arms in greeting.
Felicity Yanc: "Alas, I am not but do not judge your second to harshly, Blink.”
Blinks golden eyes turned from the painted woman to the red head beside her. His hand moved the blades tip back and forth across the wood of the desk. Finally he pursed his lips and pulled the knife up into his palm with a flick of his twist.
Blink: "Arlight.”
He said leaning back in his chair, toying the blade tip back and forth over the thumb of his other hand.
Blink: "Convince me.”
Felicity Yanc: "Do you know who I am, Blink?”
Blink: "Naturally.”
He told her looking up from his thumb briefly.
Blink: "It’s the only reason we are still talking.”
Felicity Yanc: "I can offer you something far more valuable than some random little girl.”
Blink looked back up at her and then let out a barking laugh, throwing his head back with mirth. Felicity looked a bit taken back by this response which only made Blink laugh harder.
Blink: "I know that your freak circle you call Saints think I’m an idiot, but did Felix really think sending in one of his wives for a little....extra curricular...negotiation was going to change anything?”
Felicity looked a bit taken back by the suggestion that she would have slept with him but when she looked to the side at Lady, she didn’t find female companionship. She found someone loyal only to Blink who would split her skull if she so much as disrespected him.
Felicity Yanc: "No, that isn’t what I was suggesting.”
She said looking back at him from Lady.
Blink: "Okay, you have my attention.”
Blink kicked his feet up and motioned to her with the knife before bringing it back and going back to pressing it gently against his thumb.
Blink: "Go. Convince me not to have Lady send your head to Felix as a message for fucking with the borders.”
Felicity swallowed down the lump in her throat and gave a small nod.
Felicity Yanc: "What If I told you that I could tell you the exact moment that Felix is going to be off balance and dealing with internal struggle?”
Blink: "I’d call you a liar and call Felix desperate.”
Felicity stepped forward but had her arm grabbed by Lady. For so small a woman she seemed to have a hell of a grip. The red haired woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of yellow paper surrounded by clear laminate that was folded over in the center.
Blink motioned with the blade in his hand, curiosity alight in his eyes and Lady released her. After taking the object from her the camera shifts to an image of what it actually was. A yellow slip of paper laminated around the edges that said the person holding this after spending thirty days in The City was authorized to gain extra food rations.
Blink whistled in amazement and leaned back holding the paper up in his free hand.
Blink: "And where did you get your pretty little hands on this?”
Felicity Yanc: "Felix has a bunch of them. He trades them to the guards on the wall in exchange for allowing his contraband shipments to slip through.”
When she saw the look on his face she let out a barking laugh.
Felicity Yanc: "What? Did you think I was gonna stay here forever, Blink?!”
Blink: "And what’s stopping me from just...taking this and sending you back to Felix as a message?”
Felicity Yanc: "Because you aren’t stupid. You think people don’t know you want to control what Felix controls? You do that and you lose your only shot.”
The golden eyed man sat behind the desk, toying the tip of the blade around in a circle around his thumb.
Blink: "Say you’re right? What would you want in return?”
Felicity Yanc: "The girl you’re looking for? Help me find her and give her to me.”
Whatever Blink was expecting, that wasn’t it. The shock caused him to slip and slice open his thumb. Letting out a pained grunt he put the bleeding digit between his lips, all the while staring at her.
Felicity Yanc: "You help me get to Becca Calaway and I’ll tell you exactly when I’m going to make my move. And I promise you, Felix will be so focused on trying to find one of his most trusted soldiers and his wives he’ll never even be aware that you’re moving in until it’s too late.”
Blink watched the red haired woman in silence for a moment then looked up to the painted woman standing behind her.
Blink: "Find her. Bring me Becca Calaway.”
**
Voice of Becca Calaway: “You still can’t get anywhere near the gate without more weapons, John. And after that dust up you won’t wanna go anywhere near Misfit territory.”
The shot shifted to a street filled with light in the late morning sun. As it turned up and looked down the street, a shadow passed over the ground and it spun around and found nothing but an empty street and alley.
Voice of John Moren:: “What’s the nearest cache that isn’t controlled by the Misfits?”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “You aren’t gonna like it.”
Voice of John Moren:: “Will I like it more than an army of pissed off Misfits?”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “Probably not...no.”
The camera turns upward in time to see a figure launch himself from the building to the camera’s left, heading right. The shot shifts to the other rooftop as two military combat boots land with ease and the figure jogs across the room heading northeast.
The shot follows him as he moves from rooftop to rooftop, careful to avoid making too much noise or making any jumps that would have been too much for him. As he lands the last of a series of jumps, the camera spins around to look around the city and based on where the walls were? He was heading toward the center of the city.
Voice of Becca Calaway: “The nearest weapons storage house that isn’t in Misfit territory is here.”
John Moren: "Here? Kid, didn’t you tell me to avoid that area like it had the plague? Cuz, it kinda does?”
Voice of Becca Calaway: “It’s the only shot that is left.”
John lands on one of the roofs and makes his way to a balcony down a fire escape but when he reaches the fifth floor and passes a window the sound of a shotgun chambering a slug gives him just enough warning to throw himself past the window which explodes with glass shards amidst a huge concussive boom.
Voice: "God damn fucking freaks just won’t leave me alone!”
The sound of another slug being racked into a shotgun rings out and John pressed himself into the wall beside the window, brushing glass off his shoulder. A figure appears in the window beside him, a figure dressed in dirty blue jeans and a dirty shirt.
Voice: "Got you didn’t I, you disgusting fuck.”
The barrel of the shotgun breaks the plain of the window and John snatches it with a hand. Bringing the hand up the shotgun detonates with a loud concussion ripping into the top of the window just before the barrel connects with a dark skinned face. As the figure falls back from the blow, John yanks his arm forward ripping the shotgun from the man’s grasp.
The gun was quickly turned around in his grasp and John racked a shell in before lowering the weapons on the man on the ground. The man was dark skinned with dreadlocks and was staring up at John as if he had never seen anything like him before.
Man: “You’re...You’re...not one of them.”
John Moren: "You fucking think!?”
Man: “Look, I’m sorry….”
The man tried to sit up and John planted a boot on his chest forcing him back to the floor and leveled the barrel of the shotgun on his face.
John Moren: "Who, exactly, were you shooting at?”
Man: “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you….”
The man’s eyes suddenly turned to the ruins of the window and went wide giving John all the clues he needed. He spun around and squeezed the trigger blind, as the man had done to him. John knew fear when he saw it. The shot caught a man-like creature in the chest sending it into the railing of the fire escape and over the edge.
The thing’s skin had been covered by agonizing looking lesions, the hair had all but fallen away from his head leaving him bald and his eyes had taken on a milky white appearance. It’s skin was grayish with parts that hung off the body as if it was too big for the bones beneath it.
John Moren: "She wasn’t kidding about the freaks out here…”
Man: “We gotta go...now.”
John’s attention now back on the man who had tried to shoot him, he leveled the shotgun back on him.
John Moren: "You stay right where you are.”
Man: “You don’t get it! They travel in packs!”
The sound of dozens of feet hitting the metal of a fire escape was all John needed. His head came back around to see the fire escape shaking back and forth, as if it was vibrating. Not from someone shaking it from below, but from so many sets of running feet on it all at the same time.
Man: “We gotta go!”
The man shouted and turned onto his stomach, crawling himself into a run. As he passed the door leading further into the apartment building he grabbed a duffle bag, much like John himself had received and an automatic rifle.
At the door he stopped and found John still standing by the window.
Man: “COME ON! If we don’t get a head start we’re both dead!”
John heard the human cries of pain and hunger and immediately turned and sprinted through the door behind the man. The camera watched them both turn down a flight of stairs and begin down them. When they disappeared from view, the window was suddenly so filled with bodies it blocked out the light from the other side.
Three dozen of the strange mutated men and women came into the room, all clambering over one another to get inside. Once inside, they made a beeline for the hallway and the stairs.
The shot shifts to a hallway where the man and John appeared down a set of stairs with the man running out in front. He ducks into a room on the right and John follows, just crossing the doors threshold to see the man slip through the bathroom to the room on the to her side.
Man: “The barricades should slow them down!”
John Moren: “Barricades?!”
As he comes out of the second adjoining room he looks back to find book cases, desks and shelves stacked around and stop one another in the hallway. As they disappeared into another room, the group of mutants slammed into the barricade and true to his word, it did slow them down, but only by a few seconds before their sheer number ripped it down.
Down another set of stairs, they moved to another floor where the man zigzagged through the rooms leading to another set of stairs. All the while the creatures charged in behind them, unphased and untiring it appeared.
On the bottom floor, John burst through a door and found the front door of the lobby of the apartment wide open. As he moved toward it, a dark skinned hand closed around his shoulder and yanked him into a doorway.
The room was filled with old broken washing machines that the man and John now crouched behind. The man held his finger to his lips telling John to be silent as the thundering of the running feet grew louder. John tightened his hand on the shuttle of the shotgun, about to rack a shell in and the man shook his head without a word.
Don’t make a sound.
Together they waited until the sounds were completely gone, faded into the distance. Then and only then did the man come out of his hiding spot behind the washing machines. He crossed the lobby and looked outside, finding the crowd of mutants running toward the center of the city again. He ducked back inside and blew out a deep breath.
After a moment, a hand bumped his shoulder and he found himself staring at his shotgun held out in the hand of John. He shook his head and chuckled.
Man: “Nah, keep it, Man. You may need it being this close to the source.”
John Moren: "Thanks….Name’s John. Day 8 of my contest.”
Man: “Oliver. I’m on….Hell, I wanna say day 20? Got three kid sisters and our parents passed. Not enough food to go around.”
John shook his head and sighed. He’d heard that so many times.
John Moren: "Medical pass for my….girlfriend’s...brother for his heart.”
Oliver: “Sorry about the whole….”
Oliver mimicked the shotgun blast and John snorted shaking his head.
John Moren: "Don’t stress it. I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes.”
Oliver: “Where you headed?”
John made a face and motioned toward the way the group had just done.
John Moren: "That way. Looking for a hardware store on 76th and Hardison.”
Oliver: “Mason’s hardware?”
John Moren: "Yup. That’s the one.”
Oliver: “It’s been picked pretty clean last time I was in that area. Whatcha looking for there?”
John didn’t answer, instead setting the shotgun against his shoulder he offered one final set of parting words and began to head the way the group of gray skinned mutants had disappeared.
John Moren: "Stay safe.”
**
The shot shifts from outside on the street to a shot of the huge structure used by the Saints as their base of operations. The shot stays on the outside of the building for a few seconds before shifting inside and into what appeared to be a courtyard of sorts.
What had once been an outdoor yard for rest and relaxation had been transformed into something different. Bleachers had been created in a near full circle around the exterior yard. In the center of it was a large enclosed steel cage without the ceiling allowing everyone who sat high up to see inside through the gaping hole. The inside of the cage was made of what had once been a white mat but was now so stained with blood it looked a dingy brown.
The little mini-amphitheater was filled with dozens upon dozens of men and women, all of whom were wearing some variation of the white outfit known by which the Saints distinguished themselves.
Inside the actual cage, two women were fighting, one of them a lot more beat up than the other. The fight, however, was short lived as the less brutalized woman made quick work of knocking the other out, much to the adulation of the cheering crowd.
As the woman raised her arms in victory every eye in the area turned to a platform sitting directly in the center of the courtyard above the large double door entrance. The platform was set up like the rest of the bleachers, simply larger. It was made up of two seats with a comfortable amount of space between them and room for a handful of people to stand.
The reason all eyes turned to the platform was the doors opening revealing the huge frame of Felix Salar. He held a drink in one hand and the other hand up to all of those watching, a cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth. The blonde Hayley Calaway stood beside him in a rich gown of ivory with diamonds around her throat, though she didn’t wave.
Felix Salar: "Are we enjoying ourselves?!”
Felix asked into a microphone built into the front of the platform like a podium. To answer his question the group in attendance roared in approval and Felix raised his glass in response.
Felix Salar: "Good! I promised you entertainment and I have provided. I have always provided!”
Another roar came from the crowd as the camera shifted to show the second woman being dragged out of the cage by her wrists. The shot returned to Felix who motioned with his free hand down to the cage.
Felix Salar: "And now for the moment you have all been waiting for. He arrived in our home 31 days ago but like so many others here he lost his pass to the mutations that roam the center of it. Ladies and gentlemen….Grant Lincoln!”
The double doors below the platform opened and the jeering began. The man who walked out was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tank top but looked more like an accountant than a fighter. He was slender with a receding hairline. He walked out, looking more than a little unsure about what he was seeing around him with the shot staying on him only briefly before shifting to inside the cage where a huge mountain of a man was waiting. He was shirtless with a bald head and bulging with muscles.
Felix Salar: "Now, Grant!”
Felix leaned over the edge of the platform to look down at the man.
Felix Salar: "This is really very simple. You don’t even have to win. You just have to survive. You last 2 minutes inside the cage with Goliath and you get a pass of your choice from the Saints personal collective and an escort to the gate.”
The man he called Grant looked at the monster in the cage and swallowed down the lump in his throat.
Felix Salar: "There are rules of course. If you touch the cage to leave? You get shot. If you try and climb out? You get shot. You don’t make it 2 minutes and quit? You get shot.”
Felix grinned that sinister grin and put the cigar back in his mouth, talking around it with that muffled tone.
Felix Salar: "Good luck.”
The shot shifts down into the courtyard and the man who was slowly approaching the gate door. He made his way in and the door slammed behind him causing his head to spin around at the sudden metallic crashing. When his head came back around it was too late. The mammoth Galiath was behind him and took him by the head in both hands.
He began to shake the man back and forth like a rag doll while Grant began to scream in agony. As he screamed the shot pulled back to Felix who was now sitting in a chair beside Hayley with his eyes on the cage and the cigar hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Felix Salar: "Little bastard isn’t gonna last twenty seconds.”
Felix shot up and yelled down at the cage.
Felix Salar: "Put up a fight, you fucking weasel!”
Hayley didn’t say much as she watched in silence. Felix dropped down beside her, his eyes still on the man screaming in the cage as Galiath tossed him across the ring by the head..
Felix Salar: "You seen Thomas lately.”
He asked without warning, and though she didn’t look at all perplexed outwardly, the sudden sound of a heart beat in her ears told her, and the audience, how nervous she was.
Hayley: "He came to see me about Felicity a few days ago. Asked me if either of us had seen her.”
Felix Salar: "Strange. He didn’t come to me.”
Felix turned his gaze from the man trying to crawl away from the hulking figure to the blonde sitting beside him. His gaze was intense and penetrating.
Felix Salar: "You two aren’t...backsliding, are you, Hayley?”
Hayley let out a little laugh and shook her head, reaching out to affectionately touch his forearm.
Hayley: "Of course not, Dear. You know I would never do that. He probably didn’t want to come to you until he actually had something to show for it. You know how dedicated he is to his job.”
Felix bit down on the cigar in his mouth and let out a grunt, as if he accepted her explanation and turned his eyes back to the cage.
Felix Salar: "He comes to you again, you tell him to come to me. I don’t need any rumors floating around about you two. You know what happens to those who betray me.”
At the moment he said the words and turned his gaze back to her, a loud, piercing scream came from the ring followed by a loud wet crunching sound. The camera shifts quickly back to find the hulking Goliath literally standing with one foot where Grant’s head had once been.
It was now just a bloody puddle.
Felix rose from his chair and once again all eyes in the courtyard turned to him. The crowd let out a loud roar and Felix held out his hand for Hayley. Once she took it and stood the two exited back through the door where, once in the hallway, Felix turned one way and Hayley the other.
Once she got to the end of the hall, she glanced behind her and saw it was empty. Quickly she ducked into one of the rooms and pulled a square phone from her pocket and dialed. Bringing the phone to her ear she mumbled.
Hayley: "Pick up. Pick up. Pick up….”
After nearly a dozen rings a groggy voice answered.
Thomas: "....What do you want? I had a late night tracking Felicity.”
Hayley: "You need to speed this up.”
Thomas: "I’m going as fast as I can, Hayley.”
Hayley: "He knows…..”
The voice on the other end of the phone was no longer groggy when it spoke. Thomas’s voice was clear and focused. The idea that Felix was on to them got his full, undivided attention.
Thomas: "What do you mean he knows? What did he say?”
Hayley: "He came out and asked me when the last time I saw you was and if we were….backsliding…”
Thomas let out a big happy sigh and his voice lost a lot of the tenseness.
Thomas: "So he was concerned you were cheating on him.”
Hayley: "Is this a joke to you?! Do you have any idea the danger we’re in?!”
Thomas: "Hayley...we’re planning on leaving the City with our daughter and leaving him completely vulnerable to being attacked by anyone in the City. And you think I am underestimating the danger? Seriously?”
Hayley: "....”
The blonde woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked down at the floor.
Hayley: "Just...please hurry? I think we’re running out of time…”
**
The shot shifts to an empty street, barren of life, activity, or cars. The only figure on the street was that of John Moren who walked down the middle of the road with the shotgun on his shoulder. Though the camera did shift with his eyes into the windows of the buildings and the shops making out huddled masses inside the safety of the darkness inside the buildings.
The mutated people sleeping no doubt.
The shot shifts back to the street as John passes an intersection, with the camera catching the signs 76th and Hardison and as it did Becca’s voice returned.
Becca Calaway’s Voice: "When you find Mason’s Hardware, you are gonna see a bank directly across the street….”
John continued down the street, making nearly no sound as he did until he came to the hardware store and could see through the window, Oliver had been right. The place was nearly picked clean. His eyes then turned to across the street and found the broken windows of the bank sitting exactly where she said.
John Moren: "Kid knows her shit.”
Becca Calaway’s Voice: "There is gonna be a deli to the left on the end of the street, follow that around….”
John’s eyes followed the invisible girl’s words to the broken windows of the deli. He made his way past it with the camera shifting to look inside and found one of the strange gray skinned people standing in the middle of the room staring out at the road.
The shot shifts back to John as he comes to the end of the street and Becca’s voice returned.
Becca Calaway’s Voice: "....turn down the street and halfway down you are gonna come to a boarded up building that used to be a dry cleaner. Around the side of the building is a little catch for a ladder to drop down for roof access. You’ll miss it if you aren’t looking for it.”
Her voice was cut off at the last second as the gray skinned figure slammed into John’s back. The force of the impact threw him to the side into the side of the building shoulder first but the thing held on. Long fingers dug deep into the muscle of his shoulder blade but John reached up, driving the butt of the shotgun into the man’s face, sending him falling off John’s back.
John turns and levels the shotgun down on the man shaped thing and fires point blank into its chest. Blood and bone splatters across the pavement and the wall of the dry cleaners but it isn’t until after that John realizes how bad of an idea that may have been.
The screaming shrieks come from every direction and nearly every building the instant the report begins to echo around the streets.
John Moren: "Fuck.”
He turns toward the alley where the ladder is supposed to be, muttering to himself.
John Moren: "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
When he gets to the spot between the two buildings, he finds the ground has been overgrown with vegetation and no sign of any kind of level or switch. The first of the gray skinned former people comes around the corner sprinting at him and meets the blast of the shotgun, sending it back into the one coming in behind it, sending them both into the street.
Two more come from the other side of the alley and John swings around catching one in the chest with another blast, and the other in the shoulder and neck, sending both of them to the ground. As he does, one of them hits him from behind biting and scratching, but John turns with the momentum, throwing it over his shoulder to the ground where he brings down a boot onto the things face with a wet crunch.
As he turns to look for the lever again another appears from just off camera, coming in and slashing across his face, opening up three large slashes across his cheek and nose. When he brings the shotgun up it clicks and the thing comes forward again. He grabs it by the wrist yanking it into the wall and bringing the butt up to crush the things head against the wall.
As he does, the butt of the shotgun hits the lever, hidden in the overgrowth releasing the ladder, which comes down taking another in the head as it reaches for John. The force of the ladder coming down crushes the things head sending it to the pavement hard. John turns and begins up the ladder in a hurry with the things all gathered below him trying to get up at him. At the top of the ladder, he collapsed to his back panting, the gun discarded onto the rooftop beside him.
John was covered in blood, wounds leaking across his face, shoulder and arm but it wasn’t enough to slow him down. He rolls to his other side and makes his way across the roof where a small skylight stood open. Ducking into it, he found a rope leading down. At the bottom of the rope the dry cleaner shop had been all but cleared out and the room was filled with boxes upon boxes of weapons, taken from what appeared to be the same gun shop according to the logos on the boxes.
As he moved from box to box he found that a lot of them were empty. Along the back wall he found a large duffle bag, which he laid atop one of the boxes and cut a large hole in the end of. By the time he was done raiding the room, while the strange mutated things outside banged on the walls, the duffle bag was packed with multiple shotguns, three assault rifles, two long range sniper rifles and packed to the brim with ammunition boxes of all types.
Getting out proved to be a bit more problematic with the strange creatures all around the building. John moves to the front of the store and begins to very carefully, and very quietly, pry the boards loose on one side. Once he has all of them off one side of the broken windows he moves to the other side of the building where the alley stood on the other side of the wall.
The empty shotgun in his hand began to bang hard on the wall as John began to shout, loudly. The camera shifts to the outside of the building to show all the gray skinned creatures all coming around the side to find the source of the sound. John uses this chance to slip out through the loosened boards and slip back around the building to the street, all the while leaving the boards up.
The shot follows him down the street away from the building until the sounds of the creatures had all but vanished. As he neared the spot where it had all started however, that changed. The door that he and Oliver had left sat off to his left but his attention was drawn to his right where the sounds of a handgun going off was coming from around a final corner.
The shot stayed with John as he continued down the street and when he arrived at the intersection turned with his gaze to find a group of the strange gray skinned men and women all trying to get up a set of stairs leading to the roof of a long closed restaurant.
John Moren: "Oh, I’ve had enough of these fucking things.”
John growls and drops the bag to the ground with a gentle thud, though not enough to bring attention back to him. He drops to a knee with Oliver finally spotting him as he comes up from the bag, driving the magazine of one of the assault rifles into its home.
Unlike zombies, the gray skinned mutated people don’t require headshots and as John sprays the entire group with bullets from the assault rifle, they go down. By the time he’s done not a single one of them was left standing and Oliver came down panting. He was limping on what appeared to be a newly wounded knee.
Oliver: “Can’t say I was expecting to see you again.”
John Moren: "What can I say? These little pricks really got on my bad side.”
Oliver: “Yeah...they tend to do that.”
Oliver’s eyes fell on the bag and slowly his eyebrow raised.
Oliver: “Well, someone wasn’t going to the hardware store.
John smiled a bit of a sheepish smile and pulled the bag up but when he was about to throw it over his shoulder he let out a sigh and dropped it back to the ground. He fished out one of the long range rifles and held it out to the dreadlocked man, along with the assault rifle he’d used to take out the group of mutants.
Oliver took them wide eyed in shock, which only got wider as John piled boxes of assault and sniper ammo into his arms.
John Moren: "Take these somewhere safe. You got ten more days. Keep the ugly things away until then and use the assault rifle to cut your way through the Saints if you have to to get out.”
Oliver: “....Why?”
Oliver choked out.
Oliver: “Why would you do this? You don’t know me.”
John Moren: "Yeah….”
He said shouldering the bag again and rising back to his feet.
John Moren: "You didn’t have to give me that shotgun either, but you did.”
Oliver: “You ever need anything? At all? I’m in that building where we met.”
The two men shook hands and John turned, heading the way he had come over the rooftops. The shot following him as Oliver hurried toward the building the two had escaped to offload the bounty given to him by a complete stranger.
The shot shifts to one of the City’s skyline as day slowly turns to night before shifting to inside the apartment building where Becca was waiting for John to return huddled around an LED lamp where she seemed to be working on repairing the shirt that the shrapnel had shredded with a needle and thread.
When the door opened, she looked up sharply but relaxed when the shot revealed it to be John carrying the bag. When she saw the condition he was in, she rose to her feet and stared at him in open shock.
Becca Calaway: "I can see by the bag you got the weapons you wanted….but look at you. Is that good…..or bad?”
John grunted and dropped the bag onto the floor, motioning with his right hand with the “Okay” circle gesture with his fingers. Becca chuckles and shakes her head.
Becca Calaway: "If this is ‘okay’ what the hell does not okay look like?”
That actually got John to laugh. He moved to the corner and took one of the bags of water and a small broken piece of mirror that he used to look at his face as he washed off the blood. The scratches weren’t nearly as bad as he had thought.
John Moren: "A little disinfectant and it should be alright.”
The shot comes in close on the mirror, showing John’s face, showing Becca appear over his left shoulder causing him to turn with the shot shifted out to show both.
Becca Calaway: "So...you got your weapons. What now?”
John Moren: "If we’re gonna walk into Saint HQ and out of the gate I’m gonna need one more thing.”
Becca Calaway: "What more could you possibly need?”
John Moren: "Did your mom and dad stockpile any explosives?”
Becca stared at John as if she hadn’t heard him correctly as the episode fades to black.