s2Ep53

Series 2 | Episode 53
[A satellite moves through the night sky. Inside the Eagle Mountain Satellite Tracking Station, the Mallrats listen intently to the rest of the broadcast message. It's delivered in a remarkably unemotional voice]

Recording: There is an antidote; all the major cities have it. There were plans for world-wide manufacture, but the virus spread too quickly. Some of us escaped. We thought we may have been spared; we haven't been. Save yourselves. Find the antidote and may God go with you.

[Somewhere, a boy in a blue robe watching the night sky has seen the satellite. A procession of similarly-robed figures approaches another dressed in white. The leader perhaps. He stands before an alter of some sort, and there is a picture of Zoot placed upon it. He turns at the boys words]

Chosen: Your Grace. The time has come: a sign.

[The man dressed in white passes through the other figures, who bow as he passes]

[Inside the Eagle Mountain facility, there is trouble. The engines powering the station are producing a lot of steam, and a red light above a danger sign begins to flash. An alarm goes off. Patsy and Cloe get scared and turn to Trudy for comfort, while the older children look around them in confusion]

Patsy: What's happening?
Dal: The generator.
Jack: Come on Dal, let's take a look.

[The leader dressed in white and his blue-robed followers move through the night, their torches blazing. At the top of a hill, the leader looks to the sky. He appears to be pleased as he watches the satellite flash through the clouds]

[Dal and Jack move through the tracking station's inner workings. They are in a labyrinth of pipes and valves]

Jack: The important thing is, the antidote exists. And...I know where it is.
Dal: Where?

[The rest of the Mallrats wait in the control room. They look around as an announcement plays over the speakers]

Recording: Warning. Warning. System overload.

[Dal and Jack continue their discussion]

Jack: It's one of three government buildings. [He pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and shows it to Dal] All of which are top secret.
Dal: You got that from the computer files.
Jack: Yeah.
Dal: Providing it hasn't been--
Jack: Dal, quiet.
Dal: What is it?
Jack: What's that sound?
[There's some kind of loud clanking sound coming from the other end of the room. Dal and Jack run towards it and find themselves blocked by a fence. Behind it, the generator is blowing steam and shaking. The boys know this is bad and look at each other as they have the same thought]
Dal & Jack: Run!

[The rest of the tribe are listening to more alarming announcements in the control room]

Recording: Evacuate installation.

[There is an explosion in the generator room]

[The explosion coincides with the storm surrounding the blue-robed tribe. Lightning strikes violently in the sky. Atop a hill, the leader addresses his followers]

Guardian: It is a sign, brethren. Oh mighty Zoot, we shall be avenged!

[He raises his arms to the sky and shouts as the others extinguish their torches]

[The Eagle Mountain station is shaking in the wake of the explosion. There is screaming as the Mallrats run out in ones and twos. First Lex, then Trudy and Brady. They are coughing from the smoke they've inhaled. Trudy checks to make sure Brady is okay. Salene follows with Cloe behind her]

Salene: Trudy, is Brady--?
Trudy: She's okay. What about the others?
KC: We're here.
[KC, Patsy, Tai-San, and Ebony stagger outside. Close behind them is Ryan, carrying an unconscious Bray over his shoulder]
Ryan: Salene, help me. [She helps him lower Bray to the ground] I got it.
Salene: [To Ryan] Go check inside, see if anybody else is in there.
Lex: Where's Zandra?
[Dal and Jack know what it is they face and try to stop Ryan and Lex from returning to the building]
Dal: Ryan, NO!
Jack: Lex wait!
Lex: Get off me!

[Lex fights off Jack's restraining hands and tries to go back inside. There is a lot of confusion and another explosion, and everything fades away]

[In the morning, we see the tragic outcome of the previous evening's events. Lex stands stone-faced, looking at a makeshift cross marking one of two graves. The rest of the tribe, their faces grim and dirty, gather around them. But which of the Mallrats are in the graves? A few people are missing, but Ebony, who walks up beside Lex, isn't one of them. She seems to be the only one willing to break the somber silence, and the tribe resent her intrusion]

Ebony: This is why I never let myself get close to anyone. You only end up getting hurt.
Salene: Don't push it, Ebony.
Ebony: I'm trying to help!
[Uncharacteristically, it's Ryan who snaps back]
Ryan: We don't need your help! So just back off.
Ebony: Look, this wasn't my fault.
Trudy: Maybe not, but don't pretend you care! Just leave us alone.
Ebony: You guys have got me all wrong. I liked them. I liked both of them.
[Whether that's true or not, the rest of the tribe is quiet. They look on the graves and remember the friends they've lost. As Ebony leaves, Salene turns to Ryan]
Salene: I'm going to go check on Bray.

[Tai-San is tending to Bray inside the severely damaged building. Amid the burnt out remains, she holds a cloth to his forehead. She looks up as Salene enters]

Tai-San: How's Lex?
Salene: Still not talking. [She kneels down beside them and looks sadly at Bray] Did you know he made up with Amber last night, just before the explosion? Who's gonna tell him she's dead?
Tai-San: He's strong. He's gonna be okay.
Salene: Everyone is so confused and hurt.
[Tai-San places a comforting hand on Salene's shoulder]
Tai-San: Hey. We're still a tribe. Here, you take over.
Salene: What are you gonna do?
Tai-San: Call a meeting. We've got to pull together now.

[She looks determined as she leaves Bray in Salene's capable hands and returns to the others]

[A falcon flies overhead as the Mallrats stand by the graves and remember Amber and Zandra]

Tai-San: We've lost two special friends, two fellow Mallrats. Amber - so focused, so intelligent - was someone we could look up to: a natural leader. Zandra lived for pleasure, for beauty, and for fun. And these are also good qualities in a person. We have learned so much from both of them, and we have to carry these forward into the future.
[But she may be the only one to find serenity in the face of their deaths. Dal breaks in angrily]
Dal: What future? What's the point in carrying on?
Tai-San: I know how you're feeling Dal. Amber meant more to you than to any of us.
Dal: You think you know so much? Why'd you bring us here in the first place?
[She's confused by the sudden attack and doesn't understand that Dal and the others might blame her]
Tai-San: I'm sorry?
Dal: We trusted you, Tai-San, now Amber's dead. Why didn't you see that in your crystal ball
[He leaves upset as Ebony joins them]
Ebony: Blaming each other solves nothing. You heard. There's the antidote back there in the city, and with what he found in the computer files, Jack can lead us to it. Right?
Jack: I guess.
Trudy: What's in it for you Ebony?
Ebony: Life, what else. So what are we waiting for?
Ryan: What do you mean we, you're not even a Mallrat.
Ebony: Why do you call yourselves rats? Because you're the first to leave the sinking ship? Look, I'm sorry about your friends, but don't you realize we may be joining them pretty soon, unless we find this antidote. We have a chance to save ourselves, and the rest of the world too. Maybe.
Tai-San: Lex, do you have anything to say.
[Lex's reply seems to be colored by his grief for Zandra]
Lex: Sounds like you girls have gotten things pretty summed up.
Tai-San: What about the antidote?
Lex: I'm cured already, remember? I couldn't care less about the antidote.
[Salene runs up with news]
Salene: It's Bray, he's coming 'round.
Trudy: Did you tell him?
Salene: I couldn't.
Trudy: I'll do it.
Lex: No, I'll do it. Unless either of our two new leaders have any objections.

[Presumably he's talking about Tai-San and Ebony. The tribe watches Lex as he slings his bag over his shoulder and heads off to break the terrible news to Bray]

[Meanwhile, Dal looks out over the hills and the water as Tai-San joins him. He looks up at her approach]

Dal: I didn't mean it Tai-San. I'm not angry with you.
Tai-San: That's okay. Last night, before we got the message, you said you were gonna leave. Is that still true?
Dal: I don't know. Without Amber, it all seems pointless.
Tai-San: Dal, Amber would have been the first to go back to the city, you know that. That's why you have to come with us. Help us find the antidote, Dal, for Amber's sake.

[She puts her arm around his shoulder and turns with him to look out over the land they've traveled together, and hopefully will travel again]

[Inside the wrecked station, a surprisingly gentle Lex has broken the news to a devastated Bray, who doesn't want to believe that Amber is really gone. He's intensely angry and takes it out on Lex]

Lex: Look, I'm sorry.
Bray: No, you're lying!
Lex: She's gone. Now look, you and I are in the same boat. We've got to hold it together or this tribe's gonna break apart.
Bray: What do I care about the tribe?! [He pulls himself together enough to ask the question that must be on everyone's mind] What happened?
Lex: There must have been fuel tanks down there. When the generator blew, the whole lot went up. There was so much smoke it was- it was hard to find the exits.
Bray: Oh, every man for himself, eh Lex.
Lex: What do you mean by that? Look you're only alive now because Ryan hauled you out! You were lucky!
[But Bray doesn't see it that way and laughs bitterly]
Bray: I was lucky, was I?
Lex: Look, don't blame me for what happened! You're not the only one who--
[He breaks off, and Bray begins to see that he's not the only one who's in pain]
Bray: What?
Lex: I wanted to be the one to tell you, 'cause I'm the one who knows what you're going through.
Bray: Zandra? No.
Lex: Look I don't know if you knew, but she was pregnant.

[They're both lost in their own nightmare of grief]

[Sometime later, Bray and Lex stand by the graves of the ones they've lost. The rest of the tribe joins them, but only for a moment. The Mallrats have to pursue the only hope they have left and return to the city]

Salene: Kids, it's time to say goodbye. I know it's hard.
Cloe: Is Bray coming too?
Trudy: I don't think so.
Cloe: We're never gonna make it on our own.
Salene: You're not on your own, Cloe. Now come on.
Trudy: Salene, can you take Brady? I want to talk to Bray. I'll catch you up.
[She moves toward Bray, who's hunched over Amber's grave. Tai-San tries to talk to Lex, but Zandra's death has only made his shell that much harder to break through]
Tai-San: You all right Lex?
Lex: Why? You got a magic potion for me, Tai-San? Some kind of herbal remedy?
Tai-San: That's cruel.
Lex: It's a cruel world, or hadn't you noticed.
Tai-San: It's okay to feel bad you know; it's okay to cry.
Lex: Not in my book.
Tai-San: Why can't you admit you need us now?
Lex: I don't need anybody.
Tai-San: Then why are you coming with us?
[As she leaves, Lex sighs and takes up his bag. He can see Bray still immersed in his grief, not willing to let Amber go. This time it's Lex who does what's best for the tribe. He turns to join them as Trudy approaches Bray]
Trudy: Bray, isn't it enough that we've lost Amber and Zandra? Do we have to lose you too?
Bray: You're better off without me Trudy.
Trudy: We need you more than ever now. You're our leader!
Bray: Amber was the real leader. Goodbye Trudy. I hope you find what you're looking for.

[She turns away from him, disappointed, but he's lost in memories of Amber]

[The tribe heads back the way they came, and the first sight of the city is met with excitement and hope. KC turns to the others walking the hills behind him]

KC: Hey guys! look!

[Back at the graves, Bray sheds tears as he speaks his last words to Amber and remembers the tokens they exchanged to mark their love]

Bray: It's beautiful here Amber. You'll love it here.
[He remembers Amber giving him her ring and Bray giving her the set of keys from his old life]
Amber: This ring, my dad gave it to me.
Bray: The keys to my heart.

[He holds the ring in his hand one last time, kisses it, and places it beneath the rocks covering her grave. His hand rests briefly on the cross marking it, then he grabs his bag and walks away]

[The group of robed figures are reacting to the night's events as well. The leader, in his white robe, scatters rose petals over a small burning boat at the edge of a river. His followers watch reverently from the side of the hill behind him as he performs the ritual. There are large golden stars and circles also decorating the hillside]

Guardian: Oh Zoot. Oh mighty Zoot. We are purified.
Chosen: Oh mighty Zoot!
Guardian: We hear you Zoot, oh Great One! The journey, my brethren, has now begun.
Chosen: Zoot! Zoot! Zoot!

[The Mallrats stop to rest under some trees. Jack has obviously given some thought what happened at Eagle Mountain]

Jack: You know, it's all too convenient.
Dal: What is?
Jack: Well, you know, the observatory blowing up like that. Diesel is not that flammable, you know. It's almost like--
Dal: What?
Jack: Like it was booby-trapped.
Tai-San: Who'd want to do that?
Jack: Well, the government, so we wouldn't find out the truth.
KC: So these places we're going to, will they be booby trapped as well?
Trudy: Do we have to go looking for the antidote straight away? Why can't we go back to the Mall and rest?
Ebony: No! We have to find the antidote before somebody else does. Just think about it: the Demon Dogs got their hands on that stuff, they'd make themselves immortal and let everybody else die.
Lex: Whereas you'd distribute it to the poor and needy. Yeah, right Ebony.
Ryan: Why are we listening to her? She's not one of us. Lex, we don't have to do anything. We're all healthy; none of us has the virus. So why are we going back to the city?
Bray: Because people are dying, and that's why we're going back
[Bray has walked up the hill behind them without them seeing. The Mallrats stand up and gather around to welcome him]
Trudy: Bray! How did you find us?
Bray: You guys leave a trail like a heard of elephants.
Cloe: Are you back for good?
Bray: If you'll have me. Now this is what I think we should do: we split up into two teams. Ryan, Salene, and Trudy, you take the kids back to the mall. The rest of us will look for the antidote. We'll cover more ground that way and it'll be faster.
Trudy: Why did you change your mind?
Bray: I wasn't thinking straight. Amber would have wanted me to stay with the tribe. She would never have left us.
Lex: Right, let's do it.

[They set off again, happier now to have Bray back with the tribe]

[Eventually they reach the point in the road where the renegade tribe was blocking their way]

Dal: So where's the barricade?
Jack: Well they must have given up.
Ebony: Or else the virus got them.
Bray: Jack, let me see those maps. Alright, you and Dal take one, see what you can find. We'll meet you back at the Mall. Good luck.
Jack: You too.
[Dal and Jack set off for the city and Bray continues handing out assignments]
Bray: Lex, you go with Tai-San.
Ebony: Why can't I go with Lex? I think we'd make a good team.
Bray: Lex?
Lex: Whatever.
[They too set off, but Tai-San has concerns about the wisdom of pairing them together]
Tai-San: Taking a risk?
Bray: She'll be safe enough with Lex. Won't she? [Maybe not, which he seems to realize] You're right. You go with them, I'll take this third map.
Tai-San: On your own?
Bray: I work best on my own. You don't mind, do you?
Tai-San: No. Good luck. [She follows after the others, but turns back to him with a smile] Bray, it's good to have you back.

[Meanwhile, the blue-robed figures move along the coastline. They chant a name in unison]

Chosen: Zoot! Zoot! Zoot! Zoot! Zoot! Zoot! Zoot! Zoot!

[Ebony, Lex, and Tai-San use the map to locate their building. They haven't exactly been successful so far and they're somewhat irritable with each other]

Lex: I thought you said you knew this area.
Ebony: I do! It was the hippie chick who turned left back there instead of right.
Tai-San: I was following the map.
Ebony: The map? Why? Did your spirit guide take the day off?
Tai-San: I wish your mouth would take the day off Ebony!
Ebony: Ooh!
Lex: Knock it off. Both of you.
Tai-San: I think that's the place.
Ebony: You think?
Tai-San: Stay here. I'll take a look.
[She heads off to check out the building. It's the perfect time for Ebony to try some of her old tricks]
Lex: That wasn't nice. You'll be kicked out of this tribe before you've even joined.
Ebony: You wouldn't let them do that, would you Lex?
Lex: You want to bet.
Ebony: Creep. You don't fool me. You could have split this morning, but you didn't. You want the antidote for the same reason I do.
Lex: Power and Chaos, right?
Ebony: You can't do it on your own Lex. A king needs a queen.

[Lex doesn't look convinced]

[Meanwhile, Bray approaches his own target. He's careful to look around for any dangers and moves swiftly. The door is locked and he kicks it open into a dark stairway]

[Ebony and Lex have gone looking for Tai-San inside the building. There doesn't seem to be much there except some papers scattered on the floor and a lone bird flying through]

Ebony: Tai-San!
Lex: Tai-San! Where is she?
Ebony: Who cares.
Lex: Oh man. Good one Jack. Another dead end. I don't like this. Where is she?
Ebony: Are you scared Lex?
Lex: No.
[Oh, he's maybe just a little spooked]
Ebony: Good. 'Cause I'm getting hungry, so let's split up and find some food.

[According to the map, Dal and Jack have found the location of their assigned building. They stand around, uncertain of what to do next. They found it alright, there's just one small problem]

Jack: I don't understand it. This must be the place.
Dal: So where's this government building?
Jack: Well I, I guess I'm looking at it. Looks like the Demon Dogs had a party.

[Indeed they must have; quite some party too. All that's left is some burnt out wreckage. Mustn't have been a very big building though]

[Tired of looking for Tai-San, Ebony has decided to look for more rewarding targets, like the antidote. She's looking through some folders on a desk when Lex returns]

Lex: Look what I found.
[He shows her the tasty morsels he's managed to find, several jars worth. She's not exactly impressed]
Ebony: Anchovies? Garlic snails? Pickled mushrooms? Nice one Lex.
Lex: Well we didn't come here to fill our stomachs, remember? Maybe Bray or Jack have found the right place by now.
Ebony: Yep. Hear those flying pigs? [She rolls her eyes at his childlike optimism and then decides to turn on the charm] I know what you think of me Lex.
Lex: No, no. You have no idea Ebony.
Ebony: Ok, I threw you out to die when you had the virus. I had to, I was the leader of the Locos. Leaders can't look weak, you know that. You can't show affection.
Lex: Yeah?
Ebony: I'm trying to apologize Lex. I want to make things up to you. Especially now, in your...time of trouble.
Lex: Too bad I didn't bring my violin, eh?
Ebony: I could be a good friend to you Lex.
[She reaches out to stroke his hair and gives him a little come hither look. Lex isn't buying]
Lex: It's a little too soon for this, don't you think?
Ebony: Meaning, I might stand a chance one-day? [Before he can answer that loaded question, Tai-San finds them. From the look on her face, she's been standing there long enough to know what Ebony is up to] Where have you been?
Tai-San: I think I've found what we're looking for.

[She leads them to another room, some kind of laboratory. In the center of the room, there's a large canister holding a yellow liquid. It appears to be glowing and something in the room is making a kind of growling noise. Um yeah, don't think I'd be drinking that]

Lex: Jeez. That's it, that's the antidote.
Ebony: How do you know? Just because it's yellow. Could be anything.
Tai-San: She's right. We need to find some document or something.
Lex: There's a quicker way to find out. This stuff has a taste you don't forget too easily.
[He reaches up to put his hand inside the cannister, but Tai-San interrupts quickly]
Tai-San: Are you sure about this? It might be poison.
[Though he looks momentarily concerned, it doesn't stop him. And in a supremely stupid move, he sticks his finger into the unknown chemical substance and puts his finger in his mouth. He looks triumphant]
Lex: Jackpot.

[Ebony looks ready to buy in to that, but Tai-San doesn't seem to think Lex's taste test is proof enough]

[Bray is using his flashlight to navigate around the darkened building. Unbeknownst to him, he's not alone. And whoever else is there doesn't seem like the trusting sort. Hands reach for a crossbow mounted on the wall. Bray moves through a door into a lounge of some kind. There are couches, carpets, plants, and stuffed game animals. He's looking around him in wonder when there's a click as the crossbow is armed. It's raised in the unknown assailant's hands and pointed at Bray]

Danni: Hold it there. [He turns to the young woman as her face is gradually revealed] You so much as breath, I swear I'll kill you.

[She's beautiful, and deadly. She obviously knows how to use the crossbow and Bray is smart enough to raise his arms in surrender. Who is the mysterious armed woman?]