Nation Undead ‘We, The Jury…’ By Travis Olson

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus, tied up, sits in chair in front of the doorway; Mark, Jessica and Kim are seated at the table while Chris is seated in a chair pulled over near a wall. Brian stands near the table looking down at Gus.

Brian: So tell us what happened?

Gus winces in pain at the bruise and cut around his eye; he looks down to his restraints.

Gus: …Is this really necessary?

Mark: Peter was very adamant about it.

Gus: After what he did to me, I hope he’s in restraints too.

Brian: Please Gus, let’s just get started.

Gus nods yes and winces.

Gus: We were in the apartment building…

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Gus is following Billy and Whitney as Peter is in the lead with a shotgun; Gus pauses to stare at Whitney’s body. Billy looks back up at him.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus takes a second to reflect on look from Billy.

Gus: We were single file and quiet like Peter instructed us… We stopped at the first door that was open and Peter gave me the signal.

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Peter stands in the open doorway with Shotgun raised; Gus sees Peter look at him and give him a nod. Gus takes a deep breath and walks passed Whitney and Billy; he raises the baseball he’s holding and tightens his grip, he enters the apartment.

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment (Scav)- Day

Gus slowly advances through the apartment entry with a look of fear as he listens intently and holds the bat ready. He glances through each room and sees that it is abandoned; he gives a lot of double takes because of his nerves but feels satisfied that the apartment is empty. Gus walks back to the hallway.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus looks to each of his companions.

Gus: …The apartment was empty, so it was time for Whitney and Billy to start scavenging… Billy looked really scared so I followed them inside.

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Whitney walks passed Gus and he full on checks her out; Billy walks passed without looking at Gus. Gus looks up and sees Peter eyeing him, Gus winks at Peter.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Mark: …And where was Peter?

Gus: He was guarding the door at first…

Jessica: At first?

Gus: He started walking away right before I went inside… I think he heard a noise or something…

Brian: You didn’t go with him?

Gus: Like I said, Billy looked scared so… I just thought the kid would feel better if an adult came with…

Brian: Okay… Please continue.

Gus: We went inside the apartment…

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment (Scav)- Day

Whitney looks committed as she turns to the kitchen and begins opening cupboards; Gus waits in the kitchen doorway watching her as Billy walks toward the bedroom. Gus glances over and sees Billy enter the room.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus frowns.

Gus: Now, I don’t know how it happened…

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment (Scav)- Day

Gus stands in the bedroom doorway and looks at the floor; Billy is convulsing next to an overturned chair. Whitney rushes passed Gus; she screams and runs to Billy. Gus stares at the scene for a second.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus: Billy was shaking, like he was having a seizure or something…

Jessica: Was he standing when this happened or did he fall first and then start shaking?

Gus: I don’t know… I wasn’t in the room.

Jessica: Did you hear a crash from the room?

Gus: …I don’t recall…

Gus thinks for a second.

Gus: …Maybe there was? But he started shaking all over and then Whitney screamed… Then I heard the noises from the second floor. And I knew we were in trouble…

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment (Scav)- Day

Gus looks up at the ceiling; a sense of absolute terror occupies his face and he looks down at Whitney cradling Billy. Gus turns and runs to the hallway.

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Gus enters the hallway and looks both ways desperately. He faces the direction Peter went and begins running. Peter emerges from apartment door and nearly runs into Gus; Gus falls to the ground. Gus looks down the hallway and sees Three Zombies; his hand just raises up and points as Peter starts running and firing.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus snorts.

Gus: I tell you this much… Peter isn’t scared of anything… He ran right at those infecteds guns a blazing… His gun jammed or something and he got tangled up with one…

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Gus watches as Peter and Zombie collide; Gus realizes Peter is in trouble and stands up and charges at the Zombie with the baseball bat ready. Zombie is on top of Peter taking a swipe at him right as Gus swings bat and sends the Zombie rolling away. Gus smiles at his actions but then the fear returns as Five more Zombies appear in the hallway. Gus grabs Peter by the hair and drags him to his feet and the two run down the hallway.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Gus looks remorsefully at the floor.

Gus: We were out of ammo and had to make a decision… We left… It was save ourselves or…

Gus looks up at Brian.

Gus: If there was anyway to save Whitney and Billy… We would have…

Brian: What happened after you left the apartment building?

Gus sneers angrily.

Gus: Yeah, I’d like to know that, too.

Int. Van- Day

Kim is frantic looking in the driver’s seat; Peter and Gus jump into the Van and she begins driving immediately. Gus smiles and is thankful to be alive; he takes a deep breath of freedom and looks at Peter, who in that same instance, swings the shotgun butt into Gus’ face, knocking him out.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Peter stands in the doorway looking out, an empty chair behind him; Jessica and Brian are seated at the table while Chris and Kim are seated in chairs pulled over near a wall. Mark stands near the table looking at Peter.

Mark: …Tell us again.

Peter turns from the door and looks annoyed by Mark.

Peter: He went into the room with Whitney and Billy…

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Peter is holding a shotgun walking cautiously down the hallway; Whitney and Billy, her young son, both carrying tote bags are a short distance behind him; Gus, carrying a bat, is behind them. Peter stops at an apartment door; he knocks on it and places his ear to the door. Peter looks intense as he listens but hears nothing; he reaches for the door handle and tries turning it, it opens. Peter lets the door open slightly and waits; he points the shotgun at the door and pushes it open. He stands ready for several seconds before he looks toward Whitney, Billy, and Gus; he makes eye contact with Gus and nods to him. Gus rushes up to the door and raises the bat over his head, ready to swing, as he enters the apartment. Peter resumes his vigil at the door as Whitney and Billy look down opposite ends of the hallway. Gus comes to the doorway with the bat lowered; Peter turns from the door and stands at the ready with the shotgun pointed down the hallway. Whitney and Billy walk cautiously into the apartment. Peter glances over just in time to see Gus looking Whitney up and down; Gus catches Peter’s eyes and gives him a friendly wink as he walks back inside with them. Peter looks uneasy and then hears a door click; he looks down the hall and sees a door slowly opening, Peter raises the shotgun instinctively.

Int. (Office) Restroom- Day

Gus is sitting on a toilet with his pants down; he is tied up around the toilet, he looks tired and has a bruise and cut above his eye. Gus glances at the bathroom door.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Peter is staring at the bathroom door from the doorway of the break room.

Peter: …I heard a door open down the hallway and went to investigate…

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Peter, more intense, carefully takes slow unheard footsteps as he walks down the hallway to the door that is slightly ajar. He stands near the wall as he gets just outside the door; he takes a deep breath and cautiously turns his head to just barely glance inside the room. He can’t see much and reaches out his arm to gently push the door open.

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment (Decomp)- Day

Peter gently pushes door open; he steps inside the apartment with the shotgun raised and ready. He takes methodically slow steps as he comes to the kitchen; he swings himself and the shotgun in one motion and sees an empty cluttered kitchen. He advances through the kitchen and stops at the partition wall to the living room; he swings again into the room and instantly tightens the gun to his chest startled. A decomposing body sits on the couch in a forever watching television pose as the window curtains blow from open windows. Peter lowers the shotgun; he looks at the curtains blowing and exhales.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Peter walks from the doorway to the empty chair and sits down facing his companions.

Peter: Then I heard the scream…

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment- Day

Peter looks at the body; a woman’s scream is heard in the distance and Peter turns and runs for the hallway.

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Peter has the shotgun raised as he exits the apartment and enters the hallway; he faces toward the apartment his companions were in. Gus nearly runs into Peter and falls to the ground; Gus points down the hall and Peter sees the Three Zombies in the hallway, they are nearly upon the apartment Whitney and Billy are in. Peter runs toward the apartment, he fires twice on the run and drops one Zombie; the remaining Zombies disregard the apartment and zero in on Peter. Peter fires again and drops another Zombie; he is within five feet of the last Zombie when he discovers his gun is empty and with a look of utter terror; the two crash into each other and topple to the ground. Peter uses the shotgun as a brace to keep the Zombie from reaching him; the two roll over and the Zombie is on top of Peter in front of the apartment room with Whitney and Billy. The Zombie wriggles its arm free and tries to swipe at Peter but he turns his body to avoid the attack; he gets a quick glance into the apartment before a bat connects with the Zombie and flings him off. Gus grabs Peter by the hair and starts dragging him to his feet running, as Peter now sees the five new Zombies coming into the hallway. Peter and Gus begin running for their lives out of the hallway.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Peter is leaning forward in the chair.

Peter: …we got outside and that’s when Kim picked us up in the van.

Int. Van- Day

Kim is frantic looking in the driver’s seat; Peter and Gus jump into the Van and she begins driving immediately. Gus smiles and is thankful to be alive; he takes a deep breath of freedom and looks at Peter, who in that same instance, swings the shotgun butt into Gus’ face, knocking him out.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Peter leans back in the chair.

Peter: And here we are.

Mark frowns and looks back to the four others; Peter takes notice and gets mad.

Peter: He ran and let Whitney and Billy die…

Mark looks back to Peter.

Mark: Gus sees it differently…

Peter: I’ll bet he does!

Mark: We need to talk about this…

Peter: …You need to what?

Peter looks about at all his companions.

Chris: Both of your stories…

Peter gives Chris a very intense look of attentiveness.

Chris: …They make sense together…

Peter: He ran!

Mark: Peter. We’re going to discuss this matter and take a vote…

Peter raises his hand in the air.

Peter: He’s guilty.

Jessica: Please Peter… We need to…

Peter stands up outraged and turns to the door; Mark steps forward.

Mark: …Is there anything else?

Peter looks back his companions.

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment- Day

Peter wrestling with Zombie glances into apartment; Whitney is holding Billy tight in her arms, Billy’s head has a blunt force injury, and Whitney’s clothes have been ripped.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Peter looks into Mark’s eyes.

Peter: …Ask Whitney and Billy?

Peter turns and marches out of the room; Mark walks to the doorway and watches Peter march away.

Mark: Kim?

All eyes fall on Kim as she looks to Mark.

Mark: …You’re the only other person that was there.

Kim: I didn’t see much…

Int. Van- Day

Kim is lying back in the driver seat that has been descended all the way back; she is tense and nervous only able to look at the ceiling.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Kim fidgets feeling inadequate with her limited information.

Kim: …I sat up when I heard the gunshots, started the engine and waited…

Int. Van- Day

Kim hears three gunshots and sits up suddenly; she turns the ignition key and stares at the apartment building waiting. She waits for a long time; with each passing moment she gets more and more tense. She hits the power locks and the door opens; Peter and Gus jump into the Van and she begins driving immediately. Kim is focused solely on driving; she hears the hit from the gun and looks back at Peter who is now sitting back in his seat. She glances down and sees Gus unconscious and then looks in the rearview mirror and sees Peter light a cigarette; he smokes with a look of angered remorse.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Kim shrugs her shoulders.

Kim: He never said anything until we got back here and demanded Gus be tied up and confess to what he did…

Mark nods in acknowledgement and walks to the chair by door, he sits down.

Mark: I don’t know… The stories fit, right?

Chris nods yes; Jessica frowns.

Jessica: But…

All eyes fall on Jessica.

Jessica: …It’s the behavior of Peter that makes me think there’s more than he’s telling us…

Brian: You think Peter did something?

Jessica: No, not like that… Peter used to be a cop, I think, maybe, Gus did something in that room and Peter knows it…

Brian: Then why not tell us?

Jessica: Maybe he thinks he needs proof or evidence? Otherwise it’s his word against Gus’… Ask Whitney and Billy? I think that was what he was trying to tell us…

Chris: Then he should have told us that, maybe he wasn’t sure and just wanted to voice his frustration… We can’t speculate on his speculation to make our decision…

Jessica: But he was a cop.

Chris: So what. Gus was a fry cook…

Jessica interrupts.

Jessica: …And I’d go to him if I wanted some hashbrowns.

Chris: Excuse me, I wasn’t done… I was an Architect, I’m not making blueprints anymore, Gus isn’t stuck in a greasy spoon and Peter isn’t writing parking tickets… Doesn’t matter what we were but what we do now. Peter, by the way, was breaking and entering as well as larceny… Hell, you could throw in manslaughter…

Jessica: Oh please!

Chris: All I’m saying is, Peter’s previous occupation should be excluded as well as any speculation he may have suggested, he had his chance to say something, anything, and he chose not to.

Jessica crosses her arms and rolls her eyes as Chris looks about his peers for a ruling; Brian smirks.

Brian: …You two watch a lot of Court TV back in the day?

Chris smiles smugly.

Chris: Actually, some of my business partners were on a few programs…

Jessica: …figures…

Chris: …As correspondents.

Mark stands up for silence and crosses the room.

Mark: Let’s go over what happened again…

Jessica: We’ve been through it already.

Mark: …I know, but we’re not talking about the inconsistencies.

Chris: What inconsistencies?

Mark: We all can agree that Peter is well trained for what’s happening out there, yeah?

The peers agree.

Mark: So when he speaks about the operating procedures for our scavenging excursions, we all listen and obey in the field, otherwise, he said he would leave us out there…

Brian: So why didn’t he leave Gus out there?

Mark: Well, that’s one thing but I don’t think he’d do that. I think that’s more for motivation than anything else… No, what I’m referring to is the fact that he left his post to investigate another room, that’s an inconsistency that even Gus acknowledged…

Jessica: Gus was in the apartment instead of backing up Peter…

Mark nods agreement with Jessica; Chris looks annoyed with Jessica.

Chris: What’s your problem with Gus?

Jessica: I don’t have a problem with Gus…

Chris: Seems like it… No, you know what it seems like… Like we’re some daytime talk show that you used to watch and you’ve made up your mind that Gus is the Baby’s Daddy…

Jessica: Fuck you.

Mark: Hey!

Jessica and Chris avoid each other but fume their dislike. Mark stares at the two of them like a disappointed parent.

Kim: …Guys?

Kim slowly raises her hand.

Kim: What are we deciding here anyway?

The peers look to Kim.

Kim: I mean… We don’t really know anything except that Peter is upset with Gus and two of our friends are dead… World’s looking pretty bleak, we have to scavenge for food and relocate to find water. Our friends and neighbors are dead and contagious and still walking. Whitney, Little Billy, Peter and Gus, they risked their lives to try and help us and two of them didn’t make it back, the two that did, well, they’ll probably wish and act like the other one didn’t… So what are we even deciding?

The peers look away from Kim.

Kim: …Peter and Gus had to run because the situation called for it. They don’t like the outcome and maybe Peter is taking it out on Gus or maybe Gus did do something that may have caused the scene to disintegrate. We will never be able to control the outside World again, we can only try to survive it… And maybe it won’t be as honorable as we would like but we’ll all carry that shame with us, Peter and Gus got theirs today, and some of us have probably already got ours…

Mark looks at Kim.

(Insert) Int. Room- Night

Mark holds shotgun and ejects three shells from it; Jessica stands behind him.

Jessica: Mark?

Mark: I’m not letting the only one with a gun have enough shells for all of us.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Chris looks at ring on ring finger.

(Insert) Ext. House- Day

Chris, wearing mask, stands on front step of house; he looks through screen door at his sickly looking wife.

Chris: I’ll be right back…

Chris turns away with a look of infinite remorse.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Jessica looks at Chris as he fiddles with ring on finger; she then makes eye contact with Brian.

(Insert) Int. (Office) Break Room- Night

Peter walks into break room; Whitney, Billy, Jessica, and Brian are playing Uno.

Peter: Kim’s going to drive but I need Mules to carry the goods’ tomorrow, any volunteers?

Brian and Jessica sink away; Whitney and Peter take notice.

Billy: Can we, Mom?

Billy’s exuberant wide eyes pierce into Whitney’s; Whitney’s eyes on the brink to water.

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Kim stands up.

(Insert) Int. Store- Day

Kim leans over the counter as she writes on a post-it; finished, she picks up a heavy looking bag and leaves the store.

Post-It: “Kim Harris, I owe you for twenty cans of soup”

Int. (Office) Break Room- Day

Kim puts her hands on her waist and looks at her peers.

Kim: …So what are we even deciding here?

The room remains quiet as Kim stands.

Kim: I’m going to free Gus and then I’m going to get Peter… We’re going to sit down and discuss this like Civilized, well… Survivor-like people…

Kim leaves the room.

Int. (Office) Restroom- Day

Kim opens the restroom door; she stares in horror. Gus is hunched over as far as his restraints will allow him; he has a plastic bag over his head that has been duck taped around his neck. A Post-It note is stuck to the plastic bag.

Post-It: “Went to ask Whitney and Billy, Be back soon”

-The End-

-For Those That Want-

Int. Apartment Building: Hallway- Day

Gus comes to the doorway with the bat lowered; Peter turns from the door and stands at the ready with the shotgun pointed down the hallway. Whitney and Billy walk cautiously into the apartment. Peter glances over just in time to see Gus looking Whitney up and down; Gus catches Peter’s eyes and gives him a friendly wink as he walks back inside with them. Peter looks uneasy and then hears a door click; he looks down the hall and sees a door slowly opening, Peter raises the shotgun instinctively and begins walking away from apartment.

Int. Apartment Building: Apartment (Scav)- Day

Whitney looks committed as she turns to the kitchen and begins opening cupboards; Gus waits in the kitchen doorway watching her as Billy walks toward the bedroom. Gus glances over and sees Billy enter the room. Gus returns his gaze to Whitney; Whitney glances over and sees Gus watching her, she smiles friendly and gives him a wink. Gus averts his eyes sheepishly and Whitney returns to raiding.

Bedroom; Billy is looking about the room, he sees a wall mounted shelf with some children’s books upon it. He walks over to a chair and drags it over toward the wall with the shelf; he incidentally props it up with some legs on the floor and some on an unfolded towel. Billy steps up onto the chair and begins reaching for the shelf but the chair shifts unexpectedly and Billy falls, face forward, into dresser. He is sprawled on the ground and begins seizing instantly.

From the Kitchen; Gus and Whitney hear the crash and look to each other in worry. Gus moves first to the bedroom; he stops in the doorway and looks at the floor; Billy is convulsing next to an overturned chair. Whitney rushes passed Gus; she drops to her knees next to Billy, she is confused as to what to do and looks awkward as she reaches but then pulls away from the flailing Billy. Gus stares at the scene for a second; he faintly hears something and looks up at the ceiling; a sense of absolute terror occupies his face and he lunges forward to Whitney and tries to cover her mouth so he can hear more clearly. Gus tries to hold Whitney while looking up to the ceiling but Whitney is shocked and confused and begins flailing as wildly as Billy, her clothes rip in the struggle and she lets out a bloodcurdling scream of panic. Gus instantly lets go; he stares at the scene of Whitney and Billy, he turns and runs to the hallway.